Letters to the Editor | Dec. 16, 2024

A recent poll indicates most Philadelphians oppose an arena in Center City while only 18% support it. Commissioned studies indicate that the potential impact of an arena on existing businesses in Chinatown is almost universally negative.

That’s because arenas are self-contained businesses that contribute little economic benefits to surrounding communities. They are designed for the sole purpose of retaining and entertaining attendees while extracting as much income as possible from ticket sales, food, drink, merchandising, and services — then sending everyone home.

The arena is expected to hold 150 events per year, accommodating up to 18,000 people, with about 5,000 cars that need parking spaces. The resulting traffic will cause major gridlock for large portions of Center City.

That the mayor cited the construction of a downtown arena as a historic achievement for the city is baseless and disturbing. The obvious solution is to build the arena in South Philly as part of a world-class sports and entertainment complex with plenty of parking and easy public transportation access.

For eons, Philadelphia has unfortunately been beholden to machine politics and deep-pocketed interests at the expense of taxpayers. Now is the time for citizens to speak out.

Henry Hauptfuhrer, Philadelphia

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The argument in favor of the construction of the new Sixers arena primarily has to do with the idea that this new venue will be good for the overall economy of the city. My opinion is that the facts tell another story.

Jefferson University Hospital recently completed construction of its $1 billion Honickman Center. The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania has several new buildings centered around its $1.7 billion Pavilion. Comcast has two towers that cost $2.6 billion. How has all this new construction benefited Philadelphia?

Today, per-student funding for education in the city is about $10,000. When we walk across City Avenue, we enter the Lower Merion School District. There, per-student funding is about $26,000. If you think there is something wrong with this gross inequality in funding for education, you are not alone.

Last year, after hearing four months of testimony in a lawsuit challenging the legality of how schools are funded in the state, Commonwealth Court Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer ruled that the inequality of funding in education in Pennsylvania is unconstitutional. We might consider that Gov. Josh Shapiro took an oath to defend the Constitution. Yet, according to Judge Jubelirer, the governor and the state government are in violation of the law.

This all underlines the reality that the huge amount of construction in Philadelphia in recent years has done nothing to correct the illegal discrimination against the students of this city. If we are to discuss how the 76ers arena might help the city financially, my opinion is that this is a good place to start.

Steven Halpern, Philadelphia, hnbpjs@gmail.com

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Do you remember when the Phillies were going to relocate to Chinatown? Remember the opposition from the residents of Philadelphia, Chinatown, and the taxpayers? Team management wanted the taxpayers to foot the multibillion-dollar bill for their new home. Lots of promises were made about more union jobs, increased city tax revenue, and, of course, little to no disruption to local traffic flow because of parking or congestion.

In the meantime, the developers were down in South Philadelphia buying up all the old warehouses, closed businesses, vacant buildings, and excess property near the sports complex that they could find. With all the focus on Chinatown, property near the stadiums could be had at a bargain. How do I know? Well, I was active at that time in the Philadelphia-area development business and knew most of the players.

When most of the property was secured near what would become the new Citizens Bank Park, everyone suddenly realized the Chinatown location was not viable and the sports complex was perfect. Public transportation was already there, plenty of parking, easy access from I-95, union jobs for construction, and politicians could take a victory lap for solving a problem that never should have existed.

Is history repeating itself?

Patrick Thompson, Media

The Inquirer’s reporting has revealed many important problems at the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office. Since taking office, Sheriff Rochelle Bilal has held far fewer sheriff’s sales than her predecessor, resulting in millions of dollars in delinquent taxes and debt. She has misused public money for purposes never even considered by her predecessor. You now report the security and prisoner transport at the county courthouses are dangerously lacking compared with her predecessor’s standards. Yet you never mention her predecessor’s name. If it were up to you, Jewell Williams should change his name to “Her Predecessor.”

Ben Hayllar, Philadelphia, bhayllat@comcast.net

I was appalled to read the cheerful, yet blinkered, article on the real start of fall in Philly: fire barrel season on Ninth Street. This Italian Market tradition of burning wood and producing boxes for warmth is unhealthful.

The smoke from wood burning is made up of a complex mixture of gases and fine particles. To “smell the market before you can see it” means you are inhaling particle pollution, carbon monoxide, and toxins including benzene, formaldehyde, acrolein, and methane. Produce boxes often contain phthalates, a group of chemicals used to enhance the durability of cardboard. Burning these items adds to our shared pollution burden.

It is well-documented that particle exposure from wood-burning smoke, whether from rusty 55-gallon barrels or wood-burning stoves, can cause asthma attacks and bronchitis and aggravate heart and lung disease. Inhalation of phthalates can have metabolic effects on the body. According to the American Lung Association, there is no safe threshold to breathe in fine particles. It gives Philadelphia a grade of “C” every year for airborne particulates.

We must do better. Barrel fire pollution is not contained to Ninth Street between Wharton and Christian. It travels through our neighborhoods. Mayor W. Wilson Goode Sr. got it right when he called for this “tradition” to end almost 35 years ago. Let’s end it now.

Janet Lorenz, Philadelphia

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