Save The Meadows reacts to the “Community Conversation” on Jan. 26th

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  February 3, 2023
CONTACT:  savethefdrmeadows@gmail.com / Save The Meadows

Save The Meadows reacts to the “Community Conversation” on Jan. 26th

PHILADELPHIA - The Coalition to Save the Meadows is disheartened and frustrated by the failure of city leadership to meet community needs last week at what would have been the first public opportunity to provide input on the FDR Park Master Plan since it was released in 2019. 

The Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Department and the Fairmount Park Conservancy, along with several elected officials, hosted a public meeting that was advertised as a “community conversation” about the master plan. But these organizations chose to hold this public meeting at a venue that was only later termed a religious space in order to justify severe restrictions on speech. These restrictions were selectively applied to those opposed to the plan. Hundreds  of community members were not allowed to speak or even enter the facility, while supporters of the plan were allowed inside even after the venue had reached capacity. Worse, private security at the venue intimidated, and in at least two cases physically assaulted, members of the public who attempted to lawfully and non-disruptively exercise their free speech rights at this public, government-sponsored event.

What took place on January 26th at the Grand Yesha Ballroom in South Philadelphia was undemocratic, insulting, and disgraceful. The people of Philadelphia deserve better from our leaders. 

After experiencing this failure last week in person and witnessing the media dialogue that followed, we want to set the record straight.

• Before the meeting itself:

• Save The Meadows organizers reached out to both Rep. Regina Young and State Senator Nikil Saval to thank them for offering an opportunity for public dialogue and to ask questions about the event format and agenda. 

• Despite assurances that there would be a public Q&A, organizers were later notified that this Q&A opportunity had been withdrawn. 

• Because the public would not be allowed to speak, people created signs as a means of peaceful expression of their questions & concerns. 

• Despite being conceived and advertised as a public ‘community conversation,’ only officials were allowed to speak inside the meeting. 

• Attendees, including children, were not allowed to bring in signs. 

• All media and all civilians were barred from any photography or filming at this public event.

• Private security (bouncers) at the door selectively prevented people from getting into the building. Bouncers asked members of the public 'who are you with?' and, based on their answer, either allowed or refused them entry. 

• The choice to host this event at this specific location allowed the bouncers to eventually assert the room was 'at capacity.’ Yet they continued to let in sympathizers of the FDR Plan, some of whom were carrying sports trophies in hand, seemingly as a signal to allow them entry. Even when individuals left the Ballroom, the bouncers still wouldn’t allow in others. 

News coverage estimates as many as two hundred people were not allowed in. Folks were understandably upset. They had been told by the Fairmount Parks Conservancy that “this Community Conversation event will have opportunities for learning about the plan and sharing feedback.” That wasn’t true — even for those who registered online in advance, showed up before the event even started, and patiently ‘trusted the process’ all evening.

To add insult to injury, there have been comments made on social media and via press release that are both inflammatory and divisive. Some of these comments sow misinformation, division, and false blame, and we were shocked to see them come from government sources.

• Unnamed groups were accused of “busing in protestors” — but these allegations are unfounded and false. The only buses that brought people to the event were local SEPTA buses. That a government official would make and spread this false claim is alarming.

• Event bouncers were aggressive and, at one point, forcibly shoved a civilian to the ground; they also ripped up and stole artwork from individuals, including signs made by children. 

• Only after entry restrictions had been imposed — after the meeting was well underway — did the meeting facilitators attempt to justify these new restrictions by stating that the meeting was taking place in a sacred space. 

• This is a serious affront to the freedom of speech — if the Ballroom that was rented is a sacred place where free speech must be restricted, then the Parks Department (a government entity) and the Conservancy (a government-funded entity) should not have chosen this location for a public meeting and a “community conversation.”

• One representative continually makes a point of noting that she only serves those in her district; yet, we know all too well that the climate crisis does not respect or abide by electoral districts. Furthermore, FDR Park and The Meadows serve individuals far beyond their boundaries, including those across all districts in Philadelphia (and beyond). 

As an organization built around different backgrounds — including race, religion, age, and socio-economic status — Save The Meadows will always work to understand, include, and amplify the voices of the silenced and the oppressed. We welcome the opportunity for dialogue that incorporates different stories, diverse voices, and distinct perspectives — readily. But this type of dialogue was exactly what was missing from this “community conversation.” 

We reject any attempts to sow mistrust or division in what should be an inclusive process open to all. Not allowing voices is sowing division. Spreading unfounded rumors in press statements is sowing mistrust. Making sweeping generalizations about individuals and organizations is hurtful to people - people whom elected officials are charged with serving. Focusing on the things that divide us compromises our collective capacity to engage in the pursuit of justice for people and their public land. True leaders unite and connect their people, in spite of different backgrounds, creeds, and beliefs. Trust is built on transparency and two-way dialogue. If the community is asked to trust the process, it should be expected that trust is a two-way street.

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Save the Meadows is a campaign of everyday people to protect FDR Park’s Meadows, one of the largest forests in Philadelphia, accessible to all residents by foot, public transportation, and bike.

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HOW TO HELP!

Were YOU present and blocked from entering, filming, or speaking? Please reach out to us about this blatant violation of your rights at a public meeting.

Call your elected officials and share your opinion about the future of the Meadows, or your thoughts about this public meeting.

Sign the petition: Save the FDR Meadows

To: Mayor of Philadelphia & City Council

We, the people of Philadelphia, demand that you STOP the destruction of the FDR Meadows, South Philadelphia's only public green space with urban meadow and woodlands. The development and privatization of our public lands is out of control in Philadelphia.

The administration’s plan for FDR Park does not reflect the present-day needs and wants of the community. It is dangerous for the environment and public health, and it sets a precedent of privatization of our public lands that we, the public, do not accept.

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Sign this petition telling Mayor Kenney and City Council to STOP the destruction of the FDR Meadows, South Philadelphia's only public green space with urban meadow and woodlands.

Why should you add your signature?

The current FDR Master Plan is wrong in many ways for Philadelphia, its communities, and the environment:

• The Parks & Recreation Department would clearcut public parkland to build a $100 million sports complex with artificial turf fields, stadium lighting, and parking lots,to be rented out privately for tournaments — instead of investing it in the chronically underfunded parks, pools, and playing fields in our neighborhoods.

• Artificial turf fields, including those with plant-based infill, are toxic and are linked to cancer, especially in children. Other municipalities, including Boston, are banning new artificial turf for health and environmental reasons.

• Parks & Rec would destroy South Philadelphia’s largest tree canopy, habitat, and migration zone; this green space protects our neighborhoods from stormwater flooding, increasingly hot summers, and pollutants from surrounding industry.

• Thousands of community members discovered the healing effect of the Meadows during the pandemic. We learned the importance of having access to nature, but the plan, created from 2018 to 2019, does not reflect what was learned. 

• The wetlands project that has already cleared part of the Meadows is part of another assault on the environment. It is a trade with the airport, enabling destruction of a large area of wetlands and woods in nearby Tinicum, a substantial net loss for our environment.

• The plan was developed behind closed doors. There’s no evidence that Parks & Rec incorporated community input into the design in any significant way.

PRESS RELEASE: CALL FOR THE REMOVAL OF PARKS COMMISSIONER OTT LOVELL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12/5/2022

CONTACT: savethefdrmeadows@gmail.com / Save The Meadows

Community members and organizations call on Kathryn Ott Lovell’s removal
as Philadelphia’s Parks and Recreation Commissioner

PHILADELPHIA - The Coalition to Save the Meadows announced today their call for the removal of Kathryn Ott Lovell as Philadelphia's Parks and Recreation Commissioner.

Appointed by Mayor James Kenney in January, 2016, Ott Lovell was instrumental in the development and approval of the controversial Master Plan for FDR Park, which includes engineered wetlands in its “environmental core,” now underway, and 16 artificial turf athletic fields at its western “urban edge,” where meadows now exist after the closure of the golf course in 2019.

The text of the call:

CALL FOR THE REMOVAL OF PARKS COMMISSIONER OTT LOVELL

Year after year, Philadelphians tally up the losses in our tree canopy, and wonder how this can keep happening. The city has acknowledged the importance of trees in climate resilience, stated its goals for canopy growth, and labored over its Urban Forest Strategic Plan. Environmental activists, tree tenders, and community members plant tree after tree. Yet Philadelphia’s tree canopy decreased by 6% in just 10 years.

The loss of tree cover is just one example of community efforts being undermined by a Parks Commissioner who, charged with the stewardship of our natural resources, surveys our public parklands and searches for opportunities to monetize them, clearcutting the urban forest and approving and greenwashing projects regardless of community needs and input.

• In Cobbs Creek Park, Ott Lovell endorsed the destruction of nearly 100 acres of forest and meadows as the city signed over 350 acres of the park to a private foundation for a golf course, under a 70-year lease, for one dollar. The public was barely notified or consulted in this large-scale privatization of public parkland.

• In Tinicum Marsh and FDR Park, two projects that devastate tree canopy and natural wetlands have become intertwined under Ott Lovell’s leadership. In order to expand cargo services, the city-owned PHL Airport plans to pave over 40 acres of emergent wetlands and waterways in Tinicum, but must make up the loss elsewhere. In a negotiated land swap, Ott Lovell invited the airport to clearcut and excavate 70 acres of trees and existing wetlands in the park and create 33 acres of engineered wetlands, a net loss. Artificially created wetlands do not offer the same carbon offset benefits or biodiversity as natural wetlands.

• Ott Lovell allowed the airport’s contractor to begin aggressively felling trees with heavy equipment without notifying park users, fencing off construction areas or even posting warning signs. Park users and their animals were endangered by trees falling across paths they were using, some only narrowly escaping injury or worse.

• Ott Lovell’s Master Plan for FDR Park requires the clearcutting of hundreds of additional trees, including protected heritage trees, to replace the remaining 90 acres of sedge meadow and woodland with artificial turf, roads, and parking lots, even though in the 2018 community engagement process, respondents consistently prioritized trails and paths over athletic fields. Then the golf course closed, the public discovered the Meadows, and COVID changed our relationship to public space. Ott Lovell did not invite new community input, despite mounting public requests and outcry.

Ott Lovell ignores the critical and inherent importance of our woods, meadowlands, and wetlands for mental health, for violence reduction, for reducing the heat island effect, for managing stormwater and floodwater, for mitigating air pollution, for creative play or passive recreation, and for providing habitat and migration zones for wildlife. She publicly acknowledges the need for shared, natural green spaces to help combat the crisis of gun violence, but she requested no budgetary support for natural spaces for 2023. In fact, her decisions eliminate those spaces.

Ott Lovell acknowledges the importance of youth sports, but has ignored calls for equitable investment in our neighborhood athletic fields, many of which sit neglected, often behind locked gates. Rather than upgrade them, she would spend $99 million on carcinogenic artificial turf fields in the far south of the city to generate some $300,000 a year in market-rate rental fees from adult leagues and tournaments.

Commissioner Ott Lovell is not a responsible steward of our public spaces and shared natural resources. As Grid magazine put it on March 27, 2022, “Philadelphia deserves an administration that puts its residents first and takes their environment, environmental justice, and access to public space seriously.”

We agree. The Department of Parks and Recreation with Ott Lovell at the helm threatens Philadelphia’s urban tree canopy and climate resilience and sacrifices community needs on the altar of increased revenue.

Enough of the destruction. Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell must be removed.

Our next Parks Commissioner should be not just a deal-maker, and more than a competent administrator. They must be a proven and committed protector of our natural resources and a tireless advocate for all of our parks — not as a source of revenue, but as a public resource for our whole community to share and enjoy.

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Add your comments and signature below to join in our call.

WHAT THE INQUIRER GOT WRONG ABOUT FDR PARK

The Inquirer Editorial Board waded into the controversy over the redesign of FDR Park last week, declaring their support for the Fairmount Park Conservancy’s Master Plan to turn the naturally-occurring meadows in FDR Park in South Philly into an outdoor sports complex, featuring artificial turf fields.

They were wrong to do so.

As I laid out in The Citizen several weeks ago, the city needs more sports fields. For sure. And, as a longtime Anderson Monarchs fan (love you, Mo’ne Davis!), sports parent (go Philadelphia Dragons!) and Philadelphian who spends a whole lot of time with children experiencing poverty and living in neighborhoods rife with gun violence, I 100 percent recognize Philly’s absolute need for more playable sports fields. We need safe spaces where kids can learn teamwork and develop all manner of strategic, physical and leadership skills…

… But we need these spaces in neighborhoods all over the city, in places people can walk to, or that are a couple of bus stops away.

Most people — 80 percent — who go to FDR (which longtime residents call “the Lakes”) drive, according to the Conservancy. A few take SEPTA, bike, or rideshare. Almost none walk, because FDR isn’t near much housing, and is across two fairly hard-to-cross streets. Some weekends, the Lakes have their own traffic jams.

FDR is a destination public park. It is not a neighborhood park.

Of course Philadelphians need and deserve to have public sports fields, even complexes of them. But we also deserve to have accessible nature. We deserve to have both. We are worth it. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.

I know. I’m there a lot. My kid plays baseball there. His elementary school hosts its fundraiser there. My family and friends used to go to the hilly golf course-turned-Meadows to walk, swing on the tree swing, bike, picnic, throw a ball, or just take a minute. In the midst of the pandemic and beyond, the Meadows felt absolutely magical: the fields of tall grasses, the birds, the paths through woods, the hidden ponds, even the invasive vines that covered a copse of trees looked otherworldly.

I’d encourage you to visit, but you can’t now, because it’s cordoned off and full of bulldozers.

Yes: FDR Park needs help. It floods. Its fields get soggy. When it rains, some of the baseball dugouts turn into tiny ponds. This is from rain, but also, reports the Conservancy, from runoff from the seas of pavement on three sides of the Lakes — adjacent Pattison Avenue and Broad Street and the parking lots for the Linc, Citizens Bank Park, NovaCare Center, and the rest. It is also because the tidal gate is broken, because of climate change, and most of all because long before the Olmsted bros were hired to redesign it, it was marsh, a place meant to absorb extra water from the river next to it.

If we want to make FDR most useful for the citizens who use it — the hundreds of people who work in and go to the amazing Southeast Asian market on the weekends; the thousands of beautifully diverse families who rent affordable picnic spaces there for kids’ birthdays, Eid, reunions, graduations; for the folks who come fish, walk, jog, cycle, hike, birdwatch, skate or just hang out — we could fix the drainage, mitigate the invasive species, improve the current sports fields, and preserve the Meadows part of it.

Related from The Citizen

How to end the endless fuss over FDR Park

By Lauren McCutcheon

Vacant lots? They are abundant. Nature? Not so much.

One thing South Philly has lots and lots of: Vacant, flat land, perfect for soccer, football and other sports fields. The massive, mostly empty parking lot directly across Pattison Avenue from FDR, for example. The vast swaths of cracked concrete in the Navy Yard, next door to the Lakes. All that unused, weedy space along Columbus Boulevard, even abandoned lots right there in Packer Park … Why can’t we put a major span of sports fields there, or, better yet, fix parks in neighborhoods whose residents desperately need them?

One thing South Philly has none of: Natural space.

Months ago, Keith Russell, program manager at Audubon Mid-Atlantic, born-and-raised Philadelphian, and nationally revered Black naturalist, spoke with me about what Philadelphia is doing to develop natural spaces like Cobbs Creek and FDR for more sports.

“There’s pressure on politicians to convert parkland to areas of specific recreation,” he says, “We need areas for people to let go and do lots of things, including nature observation and just peaceful reflection. With the stress that people are under in life, an easy and very effective way of coping with it is to walk through the woods. And when your local woods is fenced, or not there anymore, what are people supposed to do?”

Russell says experiencing nature as a city kid changed his life. He believes it can do the same for more Philadelphia kids, if they have access to it. He believes Philadelphia kids deserve great sports facilities and nature. That’s why he worked so hard on establishing the Discovery Center in Strawberry Mansion, another hidden gem.

The Meadows at FDR Park under a cloudy sky last spring

Also: The planners of this $225 makeover didn’t exactly consult many youth or adult sports leaders about bringing their games or matches to the park.

Two of us at The Citizen spoke with African soccer teams in Southwest Philly, a Haitian soccer team, players and leaders of the fútbol teams who play on FDR’s current, pitted soccer fields on Sundays, South Philly’s Sigma Sharks youth football club, and the Dragons. Two people from that list were consulted about the plan while it was being formulated. Fairmount Park Conservancy and Parks and Rec just assumed that if they built these turf fields, they would come.

They might. These amateur athletes are really resourceful. The Monarchs have said they’d use the new fields. Anthony “Coach Ant” Meadows of the Sigma Sharks dreams of having a multi-team youth football tournament there (or anywhere).

But, to a person, every coach and player says they’d prefer to play closer to home. They’d prefer parks nearby were playable — usable, even.

Like Eastwick’s Suffolk Park, where African soccer players can’t even get the City to give them trash cans or fix their basketball hoops. Like Vare, which is currently getting the redo the Sharks have been waiting for, for a long time. Like Columbus Square, whose field’s recent expensive overhaul isn’t working out quite as expected. (It now floods worse than ever.)

These teams deserve to have safe, playable fields close to home. They also deserve to have a sports multiplex where they can host tournaments and the like. But that sports complex does not have to be on the one beautiful, natural spot left in South Philly.

“There’s pressure on politicians to convert parkland to areas of specific recreation,” Keith Russell says, “We need areas for people to let go and do lots of things, including nature observation and just peaceful reflection.”

In July, before bulldozers arrived, I suggested Fairmount Park Conservancy and Parks and Rec convene these sports groups at the park, and let them experience what nature made, and talk about alternatives for siting the proposed turf fields. It’s possible FPC listened. They scrapped the plan to remake a golf driving range there. But there wasn’t a meeting. There wasn’t a concerted effort to compromise, to find middle ground.

I can’t speak for nature — trees don’t complain; birds can’t go on the record — but it’s reasonable to assume red-tail hawks and bald eagles that nested there liked the Meadows as they were. So did the deer, groundhogs and migratory birds — all being run out by construction work. (If you want to see videos and photos of the destruction going on, visit savethemeadows.com, or on Instagram @savethemeadows. Warning to animal lovers: Some photos are disturbing.)

Philly students would have liked it too, had they been able to take field trips to the Meadows. So might have nonprofits who are working hard to heal our citizens from trauma from gun violence, opioids, poverty.

Of course Philadelphians need and deserve to have public sports fields, even complexes of them. But we also deserve to have accessible nature. We deserve to have both. We are worth it. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.

PRESS RELEASE UPDATE: Community Pushback Grows As Meadows Destruction Continues

As trees began falling in the FDR meadows this week (see yesterday’s release), community members are voicing their concerns that the destruction has begun despite pushback from the very residents this project is supposed to serve. 

Meanwhile, as of August 25 a few small fences and gates have been placed in some parts of the park, but they're not everywhere and they're not alerting park users of the unsafe conditions to walk along all of the trails. This invites the question as to whether these small, sporadic fences are intended for actual safety or are being used as a means to prevent the public from seeing the clear-cutting, which is progressing as quickly as possible to destroy as much as possible before public opposition mobilizes. Police presence has been dramatically increased, with officers from Philadelphia Police and Civil Affairs and even federal agents patrolling our public park.

Thoai Nguyen, Chief Executive Officer, SEAMAAC (Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Association Coalition):

As a Vietnamese refugee who has called South Philly my home for the past 47 years, with deep connections to FDR since childhood, I am shocked at Mayor Kenney's disregard for the concerns of his constituents and deeply disappointed with PPR's decision to move forward with the destruction of large swaths of FDR.

At a time when we are faced with environmental devastations on a global scale, it's unconscionable to destroy more natural green spaces for short-term profit.

Carolina Torres, South Philadelphia resident and former park ambassador:

I was a park ambassador for FDR in 2018 to collect surveys of what the Latino community wanted to see at the park. It’s appalling to see the lack of transparency and twisting of data to fit a narrative where it makes sense to chop down fields of meadow and trees. At no point during the planning process with WRT [the design firm] were we told about the environmental impacts and destruction at the park. 

My community, in particular the latine soccer players and folks vending food on the weekend, had very clear priorities: cleaning up the current soccer field, creating a safer playground and having bathrooms with handwashing sinks nearby. None of which have been prioritized before the $30,000,000 investment to destroy the meadows. 

The meadows provide respite for our community and natural wildlife. Destroying this oasis to create a for-profit commodity sends a strong message that PPR and parks director Justin DiBerardinis care more about “soccer professionals” than the general public. The needs expressed in the 2018 surveys have been completely ignored. 

For interviews with community leaders, please contact: 

• Kermit O, hello@kermito.com, PP4FDR

• Kat Kendon, katakendon@gmail.com, Save the Meadows

• Thoai Nguyen, nguyent@seamaac.org, CEO of SEAMAAC

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The Coalition for a People’s Plan for FDR Park (PP4FDR) is a group of 24 community organizations who support creation of an updated plan for the park that reflects the current needs and interests of South Philly communities, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the face of a changing climate.
Save the Meadows is a campaign of everyday people to protect FDR Park’s Meadows, one of the largest forests in Philadelphia, accessible to all residents by foot, public transportation, and bike.

PRESS RELEASE: FDR Park Meadows Destruction Rife with Safety Hazards and Broken Promises, Community Calls to Pause Work to Address Safety and Community Concerns

Community members enjoying the park endangered as trees fell around them with no perimeter secured, safety protocols violated

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA—As destruction of the FDR Park Meadows began this week, despite community outcry and multiple petitions with more than 5,200 signatures to conserve the wild natural area, safety violations endangered people walking in the Meadows with pets and family. They saw decades-old trees fall around them. No perimeter was secured around the construction zone, and the park did not adequately communicate the start of work onsite. 

Local residents rallying together around the cry to “Save the Meadows,” are calling on FDR Park, Parks and Rec, and the City of Philadelphia to halt the destruction immediately to keep community members safe and give them an opportunity to make their voices heard.

• PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF SAFETY HAZARDS

• PHOTOS OF DESTRUCTION

• ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHT PHOTOS

““We’re asking for FDR and Parks and Rec leadership to pause this plan and meet with the community to hear and address these concerns, so we can establish a park plan that truly works for all of us.””

— Lady Danni Morinich, local resident, forager, and natural educator

This initial phase of destruction is being funded by the Philadelphia International Airport, based on its obligation to create wetlands for every acre removed by the cargo expansion project that puts the already flood-prone Eastwick community at greater risk. However, the portion of the Meadows that is being destroyed in this phase already features wetlands, as well as a mature tree canopy. It will still be a net loss. Enormous amounts of excavated material will be dumped in a “permanent soil mound” of nearly equal area, destroying another large section of the Meadows in preparation for playing fields that are not yet funded.

Since the announcement that large swaths of the beloved Meadows would be destroyed, the local community has called to “Save the Meadows” in light of the community’s changed relationship to the Meadows during and after the pandemic. A broad coalition of community organizations has demanded a halt to the work, greater transparency, and a new "people's plan" based on community input. To that end, an open letter was sent in June to Mayor Kenney, Parks Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell, and members of City Council. Community members have written opinion pieces for the Philadelphia Inquirer, called City leaders to halt the destruction and listen to community concerns, and showed up at the Meadows to make signs notifying park goers of impending destruction. 

As a local parent commented, children need safe play options close to where they live,

“I don’t need fields at the farthest southern point in Philly,” she told the Citizen. “There is a soccer field that is currently permanently locked two blocks away from my house. Sports fields and playgrounds belong in neighborhoods unlocked and maintained.”

Senator Nikil Saval tweeted that he could not support the new plan including the destruction of the Meadows:

“Despite public outcry, this design still calls for a substantial portion of the Meadows to be razed. I cannot, and will not, defend the destruction of a public space so beloved by my constituents.”

Philadelphia Councilmember Helen Gym today voiced her support for the City to revisit its plan:

“Those who know FDR Park understand that the Meadows are an integral part of FDR since they were opened to the public,” Gym said. “I have supported the diverse coalition of thousands of community members who have called upon the City to revisit the FDR Park Master Plan to protect the Meadows, particularly as we seek to improve representation and voice for people of color and immigrant communities and neighbors. That is why I join many constituents who are upset that large-scale construction began this week that will radically change the park's landscape.”

A recent update to the FDR Park plan still fails to meet residents’ core demand to protect and conserve the Meadows. Parks and Rec and FDR Park leadership has refused to meet with concerned neighbors to address these concerns. 

Lady Danni Morinich, a local resident, forager, and natural educator who frequents the Meadows said:

“Destruction of the Meadows began this week, a huge surprise and safety hazard to all of us who know and love the park, without clear communication from those in charge. The lack of communication puts lives in danger. 

“People who were out enjoying the meadows yelled to make themselves seen by workers, as trees fell around them, as there was no safety perimeter secured. Stunned wildlife, including deer, stood among the wreckage as their habitat was destroyed. Destruction of the Meadows must immediately stop to keep park goers safe, and to address community concerns about the razing of our beloved and wild green space. 

“The city’s plan for FDR Park was developed before the pandemic, before our relationship with the outdoors changed dramatically, and before residents discovered the beauty of the Meadows as a quiet and safe oasis. The pandemic changed everything, and the FDR Park plan must change too. 

“We’re asking for FDR and Parks and Rec leadership to pause this plan and meet with the community to hear and address these concerns, so we can establish a park plan that truly works for all of us.”

For interviews with community leaders, please contact: 

• Kermit O, hello@kermito.com, PP4FDR

• Kat Kendon, katakendon@gmail.com, Save the Meadows

• Thoai Nguyen, nguyent@seamaac.org, CEO of SEAMAAC

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The Coalition for a People’s Plan for FDR Park (PP4FDR) is a group of 24 community organizations who support creation of an updated plan for the park that reflects the current needs and interests of South Philly communities, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the face of a changing climate.

Save the Meadows is a campaign of everyday people to protect FDR Park’s Meadows, one of the largest forests in Philadelphia, accessible to all residents by foot, public transportation, and bike.