July 27, 2006
Hang a left on Skerski Ave.?
This is a few days behind, but dammit, we've been busy here at Philly Confidential. On Wednesday, we called attention to a grassroots effort to turn Castor Avenue into Skerski Avenue.
Skerski, a married father of two, gave his life in May trying to save the patrons of a neighborhood bar located on Castor Avenue near Arrott Street in Northwood. The move to rename the street was a no-brainer to retired cop Ailis Rogan.
Rogan enlisted the help of the American Police Veterans, a national group that supports and advocates retired and disabled cops. With the help of the APV, Rogan started an online petition to encourage City Council to rename Castor Avenue. She also printed up petitions that attracted a ton of signatures at fundraisers for Skerski.
Rogan, like this half of PC and countless others in this city, had no idea that Castor Avenue is already named for Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor's family.
Castor caught wind of the effort to rename the avenue when he was asked to sign the petition as a law enforcement officer. "I'm proud to have a road named after my family," he said, noting that his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents landed in NE Philly in the 1730s and founded the Frankford Presbyterian Church.
"I wasn't upset," Castor said, "but I thought, 'couldn't it maybe be another street?'" Castor contacted his pal, Fraternal Order of Police president Bobby Eddis. Though the FOP was not a part of the effort to rename the avenue, Eddis put a call into City Council to look at the possibility of lending Skerski's name to streets in a new housing development in the Northeast.
A solution has yet to be reached. For his part, Castor said he would be open to renaming the block of Castor Avenue where Skerski was killed. "I wouldn't feel any opposition to that," Castor said. He also suggested renaming the street Skerski was born and raised on.
Eddis said the FOP has talked to Skerski's widow, Anne, about the possibility of naming a host of playgrounds after the fallen officer as well. "We'll support anything that Anne agrees with," Eddis said.
In the meantime, folks in favor of the renaming effort can go to 15th District, Skerski's former stomping grounds, to sign the petition, or visit the above link. Our two cents? Renaming one small stretch of Castor Avenue to mark the spot where Skerski was killed would be a classy move.
Posted by david at July 27, 2006 06:32 PMIs Ailis Rogan, the individual that is spearheading the drive to rename Castor Avenue, the same person that was in the news about a decade ago for camping out in the hallways at City Hall, attempting to create a scene with then-City Council President Street after the City denied her claim for medical benefits?
As I recall, she alleged back then, that she had contracted hepatitis while on the job. I believe that she used the name "Alice Rogan" at that time.
If these names are one and the same person, it begs the question of whether this petition, started by an individual who lives in another state, is really about honoring the memory of Gary Skerski or whether it represents an attempt to gain publicity for another, unrelated personal agenda.
Perhaps you should check your news archives to determine if there is a connection. If there is, you need to ask Ms. Rogan some pointed questions when she appears at the fundraiser for Officer Skerski this Friday evening.
Posted by: Lawrence Yaremko at August 2, 2006 09:17 AM