City officials told people in two homeless encampments in Philadelphia to leave by Tuesday morning art 9:00 a.m. However the order has not been obeyed and the crowds remain.
The city posted a notice Monday saying people at the parkway and Ridge Avenue camps needed to pack up and leave by 9 a.m. Tuesday.
6abc reporters said the Ben Franklin Parkway showed those in the encampment using traffic barrels as shields to form a barrier to keep city officials at bay.
About 30 minutes ahead of the deadline, people could be seen preparing for a confrontation and to barricade themselves, if needed. They gathered under a “Housing Now” banner.
As of 9 a.m., tents remained along the parkway and it did not appear the City or police were pushing anyone off the parkway.
By 11 a.m., the parkway camp remained with activists having set up a barrier blocking part of the road. There were some exchanges between demonstrators and people living in properties along the parkway, but no psychical confrontations were seen.
You can read: Philadelphia Parkway homeless encampment to be removed
City officials had posted a notice Monday saying those residents, along with the homeless living in the Ridge Avenue encampment next to the Philadelphia Housing Authority, to leave because they believe further negotiations with encampment leaders would be fruitless.
The tent encampment on a baseball field on the parkway, which began on June 10 and grew to an estimated 100 to 150 people, was slated to be closed July 10 but the mayor postponed the action in hopes of reaching a resolution. One organizer called the decision “disheartening and disturbing.
Mayor Jim Kenney said Monday, however, that after weeks of face-to-face discussions he had concluded that further negotiations would do no good. He said camp leaders’ demands keep shifting, and some of their demands are out of the City’s control or unachievable in the time they demand.
Noticias Newswire
