The Fashion District has begun banning unaccompanied minors after 2 p.m.: ‘It is what it is’

Shortly after 2 p.m. Monday, three teenage girls tried to enter the Fashion District at the Ninth and Market Street entrance, and a security guard asked them for identification. They left. The security guard would repeat the request whenever anyone who appeared to be a minor came through the doors.

Outside, Philadelphia Police guarded the entrance on bikes.

Skyi Brown, 16, was hoping to treat herself for her upcoming birthday and was among those asked to leave.

“I’m trying to get some clothes,” she said, thinking of where she could kill time before work now that her mall trip was dead.

“Obviously we can’t go in, it’s a little weird to me, but it is what it is. We can’t go against what they say.”

Inside, an already quiet mall felt, well, quiet, as security guards at all entrances began enforcing a new age restriction. Anyone under 18 needs to be accompanied by someone who’s at least 23 years old after 2 p.m.

Minors employed at the mall are still allowed in, with proof of work.

Earlier this month, mall management said the age restrictions were a way to address problems caused by large groups of teens after school and during spring break.

The move has people split. Youth advocates warn against villainizing young people who have limited spaces where they can hang out. Others say it’s too bad, but a few have ruined it for the rest.

The mall, which has struggled to live up to the promise of being a revitalizing force for Market East, was able to turn away unaccompanied teens easily. Like Brown, most didn’t argue, even if they didn’t agree.

The food court by the Jefferson Station entrance remained mostly empty — though most food stores were closed. One teen was told he couldn’t cut through the mall to get to Market Street. Stores such as Claire’s, Journeys, and GameStop remained free of young people. Giggly teens talking about crushes or posing for social media were hard to find.

The checks created some confusion among people blessed with youthful glows.

“You have to have ID to be at the mall now?” said one woman as she whipped out her card, clearly annoyed. She cleared the check.

Meanwhile, Dyshon Bryant, 18, home from college to run some errands, said being able to hand over his card made him “feel kind of grown-ish.”

“It’s a step in the right direction, you get better security,” said Bryant, as he learned about what prompted the age restrictions.

Hundreds of teens descended on the mall earlier in the month, resulting in a police response. Three teens were cited for disorderly conduct and a fourth for carrying an airsoft gun. Police said one officer suffered a knee injury chasing a suspect.

» READ MORE: Police give conflicting accounts over what happened at the Fashion District when hundreds of teens gathered

Still, 17-year-olds like Stephanie Humphreys and Samantha Nutley, who’d made the trip from Bucks County, couldn’t help but feel as though the Fashion District is making a mistake.

“It’s a lot of money being lost,” said Humphreys, ready to spend her paycheck on summer clothes.

The teens skewered the mall for the decision in a way only teens know how, calling it “a dry mall” and “really boring,” without a youth presence. Nutley accused the Fashion District of wasting resources and “taking away another thing youth has.”

Nutley, who had a boot on her foot, said she understood the intent of wanting to keep disruption to a minimum but didn’t think locking teens out is the way.

“I’m in a boot,” she said. “What disruption are we gonna do?”

As the after-school rush came and went, few teens tried to make it through the Jefferson Station entrance.

“Maybe the kids got the memo,” joked one man to the posted guard.

The guard just shrugged his shoulders as another teen approached.