Philadelphia Graffiti Pier Is Off-limits And Irresistible

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Make your way past the Port Richmond Village Shopping Center, weave underneath I-95, dodge the cars drag-racing down Beach Street, and you'll reach a locked gate. Hop over, slip around, or duck under it and you're on the well-worn path to what's known as Graffiti Pier - a postindustrial ruin, open-air art gallery, and informal park that has, in recent years, become perhaps Philadelphia's worst-kept secret. The 500-foot-long pier has long drawn teenagers from the River Wards to drink beer and ride dirt bikes. [...] the qualities that make a place like Graffiti Pier dangerous - its isolation and lawlessness, its grit, its feeling of a wilderness in the city - are the same things people love about it. After heavy snowstorms, he's watched snowboarders build ramps and perform elaborate tricks. [...] visiting were Jamie Igou and Lauren Burawski, in town from Wilmington, cans of spray paint in hand, to make their mark on the concrete structure. On Beach Street, a police car rolled by the entrance to the path, sending about a hundred cars scattering. [...] securing the pier is tougher. "Because of the remoteness, especially back by the river, that is an extreme challenge," he said. Neighborhood and waterfront advocates would like to see the pier's longtime public use preserved in a safe and sustainable manner. Shanta Schachter, deputy director of the New Kensington Community Development Corp., said the constant foot traffic "speaks loudly to people's interest in accessing the waterfront."

 

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