The Real Zombieland Photo Request

The corner of Kensington Avenue and Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia is literally the city's "ground zero" for the fentanyl-opioid crisis. As someone wrote in his own words, "if you look up videos of the worst of the opioid epidemic, you will see Kensington's "zombies." "People seem to fall asleep standing up, lingering under bridges and near subway stations". 

In 2016, my first year into photography, I took a couple of pictures of SEPTA's Metro L train station building of Kensington and Allegheny Avenues. I've always liked the architecture of this building, in addition of being the train station I took to work to the Health Center every day.

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from the editor-in-chief of a magazine called Novellum Magazine. He said they came across one of the images I took of the corner of Kensington and Allegheny in Philadelphia (Ground Zero of Philly's Opioid Crisis) and asked for permission to use my image as a cover picture for their magazine. 

After reviewing the magazine, I agreed to their request. The top picture is a copy of the corner of Kensington and Allegheny Avenues train station building; the bottom image is a sample of their magazine cover.

A Recipe For Disaster

When Ed Rendell was elected as governor of Pennsylvania in the early 2000’s, he began a campaign to shut down hospitals for the mentally ill, and shelters for the homeless in Pennsylvania. The skeptics argued that it was a recipe for disaster.

Rendell claimed that community programs were less expensive than residential treatment hospitals. His goal was for residents to end up in privately run group homes, public housing or with family members.

At that time, my employer offered medical services and outreach to one of the city  biggest shelters. Our health center provided in-house two fulltime social workers and two medical providers embedded in the shelter. When the shelter closed down, we lost over1,000 patients.

Now 20 years later, the city of Philadelphia in conjunction with SEPTA is in the process of implementing outreach services to people dealing with homelessness, addiction, and is planning to arrange for shelters to those in need. One of the reasons why SEPTA (the city public transportation services) is getting involved, is because almost daily someone using drugs or suffering from mental illness jumps or falls onto the train tracks. 

In my opinion, the main reason they are getting involved is because ridership for SEPTA is down pre-pandemic levels. Less people are using public transportation than ever, people feel unsafe when they see open drug use and behavior like that. In my opinion, it is too little and too late for them to take action now. 

As you are probably aware, Philadelphia has the nation's worst opiod crisis and probably homelessness in the United States. If you look at the posted images, they were taken by me recently in the Kensington-Allegheny area infamously known as the Badlands. 

The homeless guy on the first picture was so high on drugs at the train platform, that he stepped on his shoelaces and dropped the cardboard full of dozens of needles in front of me. The second picture is of a bus bench being used by homeless drug addicted individuals to get high and sleep all day, everyday. The third image is of a young man so high on drugs, that he decided to sleep in front of the entrance door of the local pharmacy.

Twenty years ago the skeptics were proven right, it was a recipe for disaster.

I am guessing that since we have elections in less than 30 days, the local politicians are now desperate fishing for votes to stay in power. It is the typical wash, rinse and repeat survival mode of our useless politicians.

Allegheny & Kensington - Philadelphia Badlands

The intersection of Kensington and Allegheny is arguably the city's largest heroin market and a hot spot for gun violence. It’s the worst neighborhood in the United States, as far as homelessness and drug abuse. 

Every year, especially during election time, Philadelphia city officials show up when they are looking for votes, and announce that they are taking drastic steps to address the open drug use and addiction on the streets of Kensington. They claim that they are going to clean up the neighborhood so that businesses can thrive, families can feel safe and kids can play without the fear of stepping on needles. 

This is a picture I took this morning at the Allegheny & Kensington SEPTA Market-Frankford line in Philadelphia; it shows how effective these politicians are in keeping their promises.

Perfect Instagram Photograph

I noticed this mural of the American Revolution in one of Philadelphia's most dangerous neighborhoods, and was surprised there was no graffiti damage. I was unsure how to safely approach the mural to use it as a backdrop, with my motorcycle in the foreground. It is a great photo to share in social media.

Decided to shoot the image early on a Sunday morning. I figured at that time the drug dealers are in bed, and there is less car traffic on the road, no pun intended. I guess that is why police arrest people in the early morning, criminals are not anticipating a visit from the police or the FBI. Besides, a lot of criminal activity takes place at night.

Arrived early one Sunday morning and took several images without any unexpected trouble. Perfect Instagram photograph! 

In A Compassionate Way

Lately I have been carrying with me my GoPro Hero action camera during my photo walks, trying to experiment with the different camera settings.

A couple of days ago, I was waiting for the bus in the corner of Kensington and Allegheny Avenue when I took this picture. 

Learned recently that this area was the location for the Philadelphia Nativist Riots in the 19th century. According to Wikipedia: 

"The Philadelphia nativist riots also known as the Philadelphia Prayer Riots, the Bible Riots and the Native American Riots were a series of riots that took place on May 6–8 and July 6–7, 1844. The riots were a result of rising anti-Catholic sentiment at the growing population of Irish Catholic immigrants. The government brought in over a thousand militia, they confronted the nativist mobs and killed and wounded hundreds".

This was also the birthplace of the K&A Gang, (an Irish American organized crime association known for their distribution of methamphetamine) currently known as the Northeast Philly Irish Mob.

Unfortunately, Kensington and Allegheny is now famous for being the epicenter of the opioid epidemic. Even the pandemic has not slowed down the drug supply around this area where drug is used openly on the streets. 

I don't feel comfortable taking pictures of drug users, but if you are interested to see more, search for "Jeffrey Stockbridge, Opioid Crisis: Photographing Addicts in a Compassionate Way"