Why is it that the press always looks to police for answers,The philly press only looks at police.They never want to blame the neighborhood.They should look back to the 90s they did the same thing,and look 17 years later their doing the same thing and nothings changed.If you really cared you would look atthe core of the problem and write about that.So what if the bar gets shut down,you dont think another one will replace it.

LOL.

Very good David........it seems it is possible for someone to at least consider other points of views, and to look at least a little harder for these type positive signs and "baby steps".

I will myself keep that in mind when bird dogging and offering my own humble commentary on your Sylvester Johnson reporting.

Remember my friend, each long and difficult journy starts with a first step.

And usually the first steps are the hardest.

Its this stupid drug war,we keep the border wide open to be bring in in tons of weed,cocaine,heroin and whatever else and then we lock people up for selling it.This country is backwards we keep fightin unwinnable wars.

Random,

I don't expect or believe that the Police Department can solve every problem. In this particular situation, they can, however, have an immediate impact, which I think is what Sylvester Johnson was getting act.

Shutting down the bars and putting foot patrols on the block won't solve all the problems -- not by a long shot -- but it can have a positive impact. I think everyone realizes the need for our communities to begin stepping up to the plate and taking back their neighborhoods. The cops can't do it alone, that much is for sure.

I know its just a show but on hbos the wire the cops designated ''hampsterdam''were innocent people would be safe from gunfire and wouldnt have to troll through addicts and dealers.I know it sounds dumb, but were never going to stop drugs or violence look in the history books its really nothing new.

You can't do nothing with 52nd street. That's a headache for another time. Probably something like what happened to the folks down on the Scukhill, with another Mayor named Street.

David,

I know you did do a good job.Its when our mayor started one of his 10 operations,What he didnt tell the public is he moved all these thugs to my neighborhood in the lower n.e.When cops flood an area it squezzes it to another.I guess im just frustrated with the solutions.The cameras sounded o.k but what are you going to do have them on every block,Nobody even brought up the question what happens when they move a block over and in.Maybe street should start another op safererer.

Funny how Kenny Gamble owns property in and around 52nd Street, bought just about the time when his vaunted "developments" on South St and Hawthorne got taken over by PHA and sold at Sheriff sale for property tax debt.

Seems like whereever Gamble gambles, residents overall lose on safety.

You'd think most owners would want the drugs gone, not let dealers sell on the front steps of property owned by Gamble's wife, like at 16th and Catharine.

Funny how the "South Central" plan is the only open air drug market in Center City. And the man is a good friend of Street and Shamsud-din Ali, even acting as a witness for the unsuccessful defense of Ali.

HMMMMMM.

I want to know:

1. Who owns "The Corral"

2. Whose Councilmanic district it is in

3. What that person has done, who, when, where, and what, like who in L&I they've been in contact with, and the follow up

4. and what the Narcotics Strike Force is saying, what the dealers are saying, and the people in the street.

People know what is going on. When we were cleaning up the drugs in SWCC, the ties to the drug trade stretched all the way up into City Hall, and the FBI bug was uncovered at the same time.

Our mayor was part of a drug sting. He was taking money from drug extortionists who carve up turf AND donate money to politicians.

There.

I said the crux of the issue on 52nd and all the drug hot zones in one paragraph. Why is the PMH timid to link "spin the s--t" Brady, who defended Street, Street, White, the criminal element of the black muslims, and the criminal element?

They are all in bed. Organized black crime is organized crime.

It's a perverse tradition at the papers to regard black crime as not organized, in an effort to remain politically correct.

The truth is that black crime in Philly is MORE deadly than organized Italian crime now.

Where is the work on it?

When people get close to the solution the local Democrats rally around the perp:

When the FBI was gathering information on why Street's exec. sec. was taking drug money from Shamsud-din Ali, who himself got that money from known top dealer Dawud Bey, (former employee of Universal, oddly enough) here was the local political response:

"You have an African American Democratic mayor who is pulling ahead in the polls... suddenly there are newly placed listening devices in the mayor's office." -- John Dougherty

The FBI lets out that this is part of a criminal investigation that is ongoing, unrelated to the election.

"I let it rip. I was giving voice to what a lot of people were feeling... that this thing just smelled bad and it was entirely within the realm of the Republican party, in an effort to wrest control of the city from the Democratic machine to set up a win for George W. Bush." -- Frank Keel

"There are some people particularly in the AA community, that believe this is too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence." -- John Street

"Racial profiling." A. Bruce Crawley, about the two main paper's coverage of the FBI probe of extortion, mail fraud, wire fraud, racketeering, and campaign contributions as quid pro quo.

"There's no AA mobsters...it's unbelievable what they can do to an African-American...and a muslim." -- Shamsud-din Ali

"The conduct of your personnel raises suspicions that this might be an attempt to intervene in and even [to] compromise an election." Bob Brady, Chaka Fattah, Joe Hoeffel, in a letter to the FBI.

"I was just spinning the shit, and it worked." Bob Brady, to Philadelphia Magazine, 2004 after indictments involving narcotics and municipal corruption were handed down.

Note that not one pol expressed revulsion, horror, or condemnation at the obvious possibility that the drug trade reaches high up into the local political structure.

If we want to clean up the drugs and drug murders, it is not "civility" that is lacking and we really can "arrest our way out of the problem" in contrast to crony Sylvester Johnson's assertion.

It's the drugs and the drug money that permeates the local machine and top ten or so African American and/or local machine Democratic businessmen and political supporters in the grease.

What shocks me is how little the press writes of this. Why write about crime at all, if there are certain names off limits? Philly crime actually has a seamless continuity, connection of one boss to the next, that makes it more like the Sopranos than the press -- focused on the tears and soggy stuffed animal piles -- runs with.

I want to read not just the pain, but the witness statements, the informant logs, the transcipts of wiretaps, the FBI files, basically the investigative journalistic work, that brought down the South Philly Italian mafia, done on a drug war far more bloody and violent than any that made SP infamous.

To the above pooster, i voted for street.Your wrong, there are half the number of drug dealers now then there were.I live in fairhill and mayor street, not mayor rendell cleaned it up.And hes doing a great job.He took all those open air drugmarkets basically out.A murder takes two seconds to commit.Street is working on quality of life issues.I see the police bust someone,Then there off the street for 45 minutes or so.If you want murder to go down you cant bust evrey nickle and dimer you come across then youd have more of a presence to stop a would be murderer if you were a cop youd know that.If you were really a cop you couldnt deny that.

Mayor street=tony soprano
T.milton street=christopher moltisanti
Jani blackwell=adrianna lacerva
bob brady=bobby bucleieri
shamsud din ali=pauly gultiari

Intereeting piece and position.

You might want to check you grammar.
"more powerful than me "

Your english teacher is shuddering and your desk editor ought to be.

Yes paul your comment was very INTERETIN its interesting you dumbass.You definetly are a philly teacher.

Who cares if scumbags die.You should do a piece on soldiers who died in iraq.From philadelphia.

Thanks for the heads up, man. I think the walls might start to close in on the Corral soon. I'll have to do an update story in a month or so to see if anything has really changed.

Yo dg,was just on52nd just scored some oxy,s cheap.I relapsed,but leave that corner alone i might need more.

love,deeny
p.s Im wacked bro can i borrow 20 bucks.

That was hilarious.

I understand the cynicism of most of the comments so far. But I'm actually very happy that 52nd St. will get some positive attention. I've seen it (& the area around it) decay over the last 35 years; I'd love to see things turned around. The housing stock is basically good and solid and I would guess that much of it could be renovated. Yes, it will take a multi-disciplinary effort, with plenty of difficulties, but the neighborhood can (& should) pitch in - people will learn a lot of skills in the process. Let's go!

Yes, ur right carol you just dump your life savings in first.We will follow your lead.

Yo dg,
Whose gonna win this mayors.

Dont worry deeny, no matter the crime plan youll still be able to get your oxys.

Not sure, Random. Nutter's suddenly surging (say that five times fast), which has added an interesting wrinkle to the whole race.

What do you guys think?

I dont believe that new poll iv talked to alot of people and theyve said the black community doesnt like him cause of his ''stop and frisk''and they also say hes not black enough.I think its still knox or fattah.

You should do a Piece on all the past mayors crime operations that didnt work.That way the new mayor will try something new.The ones that i remember are
opertions,
cold turkey:
safe streets:
safer streets:
sunrise:

Well, some of you here want to know why ops dont work and another talks about the wires "hamsterdam".Im old philadelphia pollice,retired in 2002.

Spending my life carrer in the 25th and 26th precincts, we sorta had a hamsterdam,Yes we know we couldnt eradicate drugs,Drug dealers have to go somewhere now there all over except center city.In my day they were isolated in east and west division.We knew they were theyre and would bust up the street hoods every now and then,Hours later theyd be out on the street doin the same thing.So to quell the violence and if they would play nice nice well,we'd sometimes look the other way.

No one in the department will tell you truth like this but somebody has to say it.The truth of the matter it quelled violence.Now they kill over fragile drug territory and spread out over neighborhoods.

Politicians put a band aid on it the year their up for election then the same things happen election after election.If they would just let us do our jobs and not put on a show for you guys in the the media,We could probably cut homicides but the people will go for a dog and pony show everytime.

I hope this answers your questions.

Thanks for posting that i wished the mayors would just let the police do their job.

VOTE KNOX

I wont vote nutter cause his policy to stop and frisk

David........if I could totally misuse your blog to shamelesly plug another site on behalf of my Domelights friend, the fair maiden Summer. I do the same for you and Simone, so please grant me this one.

The site address is www.the heroplace.com.

She is just starting it up, so please feel free to stop by and add something.

Plug away!

The heroplace

That guy must be on something i need to get my hands on no web address exists

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