Does anyone know a number to call to report neighbors/their kids who trash the street on a consistent basis. A few are PHA houses but the PHA has never done a thing and I do not want to bother the poilce with a minor problem. Yes, I tried asking and teaching the kids but did not get very far. Any info would help

I feel for you. I have a similar problem with drunk on my block. He keeps egging cars. The best bet is to get a security camera from radio shack and keep calling the cops. You need the issues to build up in there database before much gets done. You can also go to www.ppdonline.org to file anon. complaints but I get the impression that they are largely ignored.

How about contacting PHA?! They have a neighborhood office at 1901 Spring Garden (side entrance)...

I have had success in the past calling PHA's scattered sites office at 712 N. 16th St., 215-684-4590. When PHA residents on my block were habitually leaving trash out days in advance, after about 20 calls, I got past the folks who screen calls and finally got a supervisor on the line who was a site manager for the area.

She paid one visit to the site, and the problem ENDED that day. I don't know what she said, but it sure was effective.

Best of luck. I'm sure you know you'll need persistence and patience.

I have a friend who works at the Mayor's Action Center. Although I've never contacted her directly for city issues, her teammates have directed me to the right people every time in a reasonable amount of time. (She'll kill me if it gets too busy down there...) Their office is just inside the East Market Street Portal, near the gift shop.

The Mayor's Action Center
City Hall, Room 116
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 686-3000; (215) 686-2250
Email: HelpMe@Phila.gov
Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

I'm not entirely clear whether it would be in their domain, but the police are currently taking quality of life issues/crimes very seriously under the new regime.

This is another quality of life issue, and after years, yes, years, of putting up with this, I don't expect anyone here to solve it, so just venting.

Someone, I believe, my neighbor, subscribes to magazines under my name. I started keeping a file on it, and if I hadn't gotten sloppy lately, it would easily be over an inch thick with invoices I have had to get canceled. Early on he also subscribed to a book of the month club, and ordered some ornaments under my name. Sometimes he even gives a gift subscription to someone else (not necessarily in this neighborhood). Nothing pornographic, altho a number of men's muscle magazines.

He uses the pullout cards you find in magazines, prints my name and address and sends it in. I've gotten some of those back from the magazines, and the printing is all the same, but I have no way of proving it's his writing. The closest thing I have to proof is that he uses a distortion of my first name 99.9% of the time, and he is the only person who ever calls me by that name.

The post office was willing to confront him directly, but I don't dare do that without proof. I live right next door to his family who I will not describe for fear that someone might just be able to identify them and alert them to my post. Sufficeth to say he is no youngster and has never worked in the nearly 30 years I've lived here, to the best of my knowledge. I seem to remember former residents of this block telling me of similar situations, but it was decades ago and I don't remember how they resolved it. He threw some stuff on the deck on the other side and the guys caught him in the act so had some leverage in confronting him.

I don't lose any money on this aggravation, just time, but I'd love to prove it is him. I am also suspicious that he keys my car because it has happened so often, and only my car gets damaged (yes, I know it could be anyone, but by now, I'm suspcious of anything that seems to target me, including plants being ripped out, dead sparrows being deposited on my stoop, etc). I don't even bother to fix the scratches on the car anymore (they are on both sides, the entire length of the car) because I'm sure if I did, the next day, they'd be back.

The joys of living in the neighborhood :{

There's really very little the police can do. Unless its done in their presence or the refuse has a name on it, the police can't make people be good neighbors.
I would recommend calling the 9th DS Community Relations Officer and see what enforcement or mediation the police can actually do.
215-686-3090

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