We hope you can join us for our first Fishtown Neighbors Association monthly meeting of the year, this coming Wednesday, January 27th at 7:30 PM. The meeting will be held virtually on Zoom - please register using the link below. It will be a great opportunity for you to learn about activities in beautification, zoning, safety and outreach - and get involved! 
Our featured speaker will be Dr. Jennifer Ibrahim, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the College of Public Health at Temple University.  She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Philadelphia Department of Health.  She will be joining us to talk about the vaccination effort against COVID-19 in Philadelphia.
Also joining us will be Officer Cinnamon Smith of the 26th Police District. She will provide updates from our district and answer audience questions. 
Our meetings are open to the public, please share this invitation with others who might be interested.

We at the Fishtown Neighbors Association mourn with our community over the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many others. We strongly condemn racism, police brutality, and those individuals sabotaging well-intentioned protests by committing crimes of opportunity, while standing in solidarity with those demonstrating for change. We further reject hate speech, any form of prejudice or intolerance, violence towards peaceful neighbors, and other forms of hatred. 
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Monday night’s acts of intimidation and violence by some of the individuals attending the evening's “counter-protest” on Girard Avenue were intolerable, and they do not represent the Fishtown community. The failure of the 26th District police to disperse the crowd of over three dozen individuals —many of whom were wielding bats, hammers, and other weapons—after the Mayor's 6 pm curfew went into effect led directly to the assault of the press along with two other attendees.

The events that took place on Monday night left many of our neighbors and their children feeling unsafe in their homes and community. We will have a long way to go to reestablish this trust and continue in the positive direction we were headed prior to Monday's incredibly disappointing events. We, the Fishtown Neighbors Association, look forward to working with the police district and the captain on creating a path toward equality in the district, and building faith in a justice system that has historically been built on systemic racism and prejudice.

The FNA has been and will continue to be dedicated to promoting integration within the community and understanding of the diverse perspectives amongst neighbors to promote tolerance and break down barriers in our neighborhood. As an organization, we are dedicated to continuing to promote conversations and provide events and opportunities that help to broaden perspectives and increase diversity so that Fishtown can be a place that is more welcoming to all people. As we heal as a neighborhood, the FNA pledges to foster inclusion, promote safety, and fight injustice and racism so that Fishtown is a place all may feel welcome and secure.

Shannon Dougherty is absolutely giddy that on a pole outside the Fishtown bar she owns, there’s a small metal box that’s the latest tool in her personal war on litter.
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“There are so many problems in the world right now that are so complicated,” said Dougherty, the owner of Cedar Point Bar & Kitchen. “This just seems like an easy one to fix.”

The 19-inch rectangular receptacle is called a TerraCycle “zero waste” box. Installed in February by the Fishtown Neighbors Association, the box can hold hundreds of cigarette butts before they’re shipped to New Jersey, where they’ll be processed and recycled into things like ashtrays, fence posts, industrial supplies, and park benches.

The Fishtown Neighbors Association hosted its 8th Annual Chili Cook-Off on Sunday at The Fillmore Philadelphia.

Attendees and judges tested participants’ chili, cast their votes and listened to live music from the band You Do You, a Philly seven-piece funk band.
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Participants competed for two awards: People’s Choice and Critics’ Choice.  Each winner received a $250 cash prize and a gift card to a local restaurant. The runners-up also received gift cards to local restaurants. This year, both awards went to Fishtown businesses: the Critics’ Choice to Castellino’s Italian Market, and the People’s Choice to Sancho Pistola’s for the second year in a row.

Don't forget to join us this coming Wednesday the 24th for our next General Membership Meeting!
This month our featured speaking will be Nic Esposito, the Zero Waste and Litter Director for the City of Philadelphia. After serving Philadelphia Parks and Recreation (PPR) for 4 years as the PowerCorpsPHL Project Manager and then PPR's Sustainability Manager, he was brought on by the Managing Director's Office to take on this challenge of creating a coordinated public and private sector plan to address Philadelphia's litter problem while setting Philadelphia on a path to Zero Waste by 2035. He will be discussing the overall goals of the Zero Waste and Litter Action Plan as well as engaging with FNA Membership on specific strategies to stop litter in Fishtown.

Also featuring our monthly business spotlight Tarta 18.64, a local Venezuelan restaurant located at 1204 North Front Street

We will also have Committee Breakout Sessions from the Beautification, Zoning, & Safety/Planning. Drop in on a breakout session for more information about what's on the slate for 2018 and details about how to get involved.
Hope to see you there!