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Posted Mar 18, 2018, 12:39 PM
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Midrise
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,538
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jsbrook
It was an article. It didn't originate here. It's something people noticed. Any savvy person who lives in this world could have anticipated it would be and recognized the issues with the rendering. Whether you think it's hypersensitive or not, it was a foreseeable reaction in this world. This and other things that have occurred on this project cast doubts about the developer's savviness and ability to identify and deliver what it is in demand. Still, I don't think the project is destined to fail for the reasons I just posted.
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And then too, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Here's a bit of nostalgia from a couple years before my arrival on the shores of Philly. We take you to 1978, when the Gallery I at Market East was shiny and new:
Rouse Philadelphia Inc. v. Ad Hoc'78
Excerpt:
On August 25, 1978, the defendant, T. Milton Street, and a large group of persons estimated to be from three to five thousand (3000 to 5000) strong, massed at various locations in and around the entrances to a downtown shopping mall in Center City Philadelphia known as The Gallery. They also converged on Gimbels Department Store located in the same area. Ingress and egress to both The Gallery and Gimbels was rendered difficult and, at times, impossible, by the group's activities.
The defendant and three to five hundred (300 to 500) of the demonstrators then entered The Gallery and marched throughout the mall shouting in loud voices and bringing business therein to a virtual standstill. The defendant spoke to the throng with the aid of sound amplification equipment and urged a boycott of the businesses in the mall.
*60 A temporary restraining order was promulgated by the court below on August 26, 1978, and on January 31, 1979, the court below entered an order enjoining the defendant and the persons acting in concert with him from "picketing, handbilling, speechmaking, demonstrating, and boycotting inside or outside The Gallery or Gimbels . . ." The court defined the area from which defendants were enjoined from engaging in the aforesaid activities as "the public areas therein [The Gallery and Gimbels], or any of the three colonnades located outside the entrance to Gimbels, or the exterior courtyard area, or the sidewalk which forms the immediate perimeter surrounding The Gallery, Gimbels and Strawbridge Store."
On February 22, 1979, the defendant and thirty-seven (37) other persons were arrested at The Gallery for allegedly violating the January 31, 1979 injunction decree. A hearing was then held at which witnesses testified that: Street and two hundred and fifty (250) to three hundred (300) people had congregated on the northeast corner of 10th and Market Streets in Philadelphia, in front of The Gallery and Gimbels; they also had congregated on the sidewalk and in the colonnades area of the mall; the group shouted and blocked the entrance to The Gallery and Gimbels; because they stood close together they were successful in preventing people from entering the stores; that during the incident members of the defendant's group chanted and shouted "boycott" to persons attempting to enter The Gallery; that a police officer, who had been empowered to enforce the court order enjoining the demonstration gave the defendant Street and his attorney copies of the January 31, 1979 order; that an officer then read the court order to the group using sound amplification equipment but the group continued to shout and chant "boycott" as the order was read to them; and that after giving the group five minutes to disburse the police arrested defendant Street and thirty-seven (37) of his followers. At the hearing defendant Street was given the opportunity to address the court and informed the court that despite the court order he intended "to go back to The Gallery tomorrow".
*61 On February 23, 1979, defendant Street went to The Gallery again and led a group of demonstrators onto the northeast corner of 10th and Market Streets. After being notified of the defendant's actions the court ordered the arrest of persons violating the January 31, 1979 Order. Street was one of the persons arrested. A hearing was held at 1:30 P.M. on February 23, 1979. Testimony adduced at the hearing revealed that at 11:20 A.M., the defendant led a group of thirty-five (35) protestors to the northwest corner of 10th and Market Streets then crossed the intersection. The group was shouting "boycott, boycott" throughout the incident. As the police attempted to read the court order of January 31, 1979 to them, the group marched east on the north side of Market Street for a distance of approximately twenty (20) feet then turned around and marched back to the northeast corner. This area lies in front of The Gallery. The defendant then led his group to a SEPTA boarding island which runs east to west in the 900 block of Market Street on the north side and is about twenty (20) feet from the sidewalk. During this period the group continued to chant "boycott, boycott, boycott The Gallery", which chanting was clearly audible to persons located at the entrances to and on the sidewalk in front of The Gallery. At this point defendant and his followers were arrested.
After the hearing, the defendant was found in civil contempt of court and was committed for ninety (90) days, conditioned upon his right to purge himself of the contempt by assuring the court that he would, in the future, abide by the court order until such order was vacated or stayed. He was also fined Five Thousand ($5,000) Dollars. On February 26, 1979, Street filed an appeal to this Court.
Defendant's first argument is that the court order prohibiting the "picketing, handbilling, speechmaking, demonstrating and boycotting of The Gallery" constituted an unconstitutional violation of defendant's First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and expression. Defendant's brief states at length defendant's belief that certain federal monies used in the construction of the downtown shopping *62 mall should have been used instead to provide for low-income housing for residents of North Central Philadelphia. Defendant also claims that his protest was justifiable because he was protesting the fact that only one business in the mall was black owned. Defendant claims that since The Gallery is owned by The Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia (RDA) that his boycott was one of a public building. However, the RDA leased the mall to Rouse Corporation for ninety-nine (99) years and Rouse, in turn, rents individual space within the mall to ninety-four (94) private owners. Thus, it is apparent that The Gallery is indeed comprised of ninety-four (94) private businesses and boycotting or picketing of it constitutes the boycotting or picketing of private business. Gimbels and Strawbridge and Clothier are private businesses and own the buildings adjacent to the mall in fee simple. Under such circumstances we find that the demonstrations in question were clearly directed at private businesses.
Defendant also argues that the court order was not lawful because the objective of the boycott was "to communicate a message to government regarding the expenditure of public monies". At the various hearings held on this matter it was shown that: the demonstrators shouted and chanted so loudly that normal conversation was impossible anywhere in the vicinity; that the group occupied virtually all of the walkways, stairs, and escalators in The Gallery; that the demonstrators carried umbrellas and signs which they brandished in a vigorous fashion; that a group of the demonstrators sat down and sprawled in the walkways of The Gallery and in the "Market Fair" area of the mall which is an area containing approximately twenty (20) fast food restaurants in the western end of the mall; that when so situated they listened to and gave speeches over amplifying equipment and stood on tables in the restaurants thereby denying patrons of ingress and egress to the area; that as a result of this activity shops in the mall closed, patrons left the area and business in the mall and other stores was brought to a virtual standstill. It was also shown that on *63 certain occasions during the demonstration several demonstrators had entered a McDonald's restaurant in the mall and had told patrons that the food was horsemeat and had maggots in it. At a bakery in the mall (Tiffany's) disparaging remarks about the quality of food were also made to the store's patrons and one demonstrator stuck her finger in her nose and then touched the produce. Several demonstrators had engaged in violent incidents during the picketing. One demonstrator, a Terrence Potter, had tripped the owner of the bakery during a demonstration. A group of demonstrators then gathered in front of the bakery and shouted obscene comments and racial slurs at the owner. Potter had also threatened to beat up another merchant in the mall. Another demonstrator, Harry Miller, had threatened to break a merchant's jaw. A group of demonstrators also threatened an elderly female patron of the mall telling her to get out of there "while she could still walk". The demonstrators also ignited a number of fires throughout the mall by igniting the refuse in trash receptacles located throughout the mall. It was also proven that Street had forged a copy of the court order of October 6, 1978 and had distributed copies of the forged order throughout the throng. The forged document distorted the court order so as to convey the impression that it was leafletting material. Street and other demonstrators had given several speeches in which they stated that the purpose of the demonstration was to bankrupt merchants in The Gallery and Gimbels. They also demanded "reparations" from Rouse, Gimbels and the other merchants. They demanded that appellees pay money to black, Spanish-speaking and poor white neighborhoods as "reparations" for the money spent by the Redevelopment Authority on the mall.
[snip]
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Philadelphia Industrial & Commercial Heritage
A public Facebook group to promote appreciation of Greater Philadelphia's industrial and commercial history and advocate for historic preservation and adaptive re-use.
Last edited by Jayfar; Mar 18, 2018 at 7:14 PM.
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