Letters to the Editor | April 17, 2024

In building playing fields in FDR Park, Philly will be cutting down over 40 rare heritage trees. Heritage trees are at least 24 inches in diameter and generally over 75 years old. In many cases, they are irreplaceable. Instead, the city is planning playing fields with PFAS-laden artificial turf, the so-called forever chemicals linked to cancer. Considering climate change and rising temperatures, cutting down these trees is indefensible. You have to wonder whether these fields will even be usable as temperatures climb. What are city officials thinking?

Charles Adams, Philadelphia

The Environmental Protection Agency took a major step forward when it revealed new limits on toxic PFAS in our drinking water. It is estimated that systems serving at least 100 million people are likely contaminated, and no amount of these “forever chemicals” is considered safe. It is no exaggeration to say that these rules will likely save lives. Water utilities are concerned about the costs to meet these new standards, and we must make sure the bill isn’t passed on to ratepayers. The bipartisan infrastructure law provided a down payment to clean up PFAS, but we will need more to get the job done. A bill called the WATER Act, which already has dozens of cosponsors in Congress, is the right vision to fully fund our public water infrastructure and ensure safe and clean water for all. Lawmakers like U.S. Reps. Madeleine Dean and Chrissy Houlahan should join their colleagues and support this bold clean water legislation.

Ginny Marcille-Kerslake, Food & Water Watch, Exton

Jefferson has been a vital part of the Market East community since 1824 when what was then known as Jefferson Medical College leased its first building. Two centuries later, we renewed our commitment to Center City by opening a $762 million, 19-story, state-of-the-art outpatient care center at 11th and Chestnut Streets: the Honickman Center. The center was designed for and by patients to be a place where compassion and technology intersect to deliver world-class care. For that reason, virtually every detail — from our sunlit, healing spaces to our pet-friendly areas for service animals — reflects patient input.

In the same respect, we strongly believe that the Honickman Center is a fundamental building block for Market East and Chestnut Street’s future as a thriving, multifaceted, and multicultural part of Center City life. In fact, the center’s construction directly supported 3,400 jobs, had $772 million in economic impact, and created $25 million in city tax revenue. And we’re not done yet. Jefferson’s students, employees, and patients depend on a safe, vibrant neighborhood to learn, work, and access health care. We intend to continue investing in our Center City academic campus and health-care facilities.

But we can’t do this alone. We all must work together to turn the possibilities we imagine into reality. It will take collaboration and investment from the business community, the government, nonprofit organizations, and public safety partners. We must think outside the box, like others have, to tap Center City’s potential as a mixed-use corridor ripe with retail, entertainment, hospitality, and more. And any revitalization efforts must also prioritize improvements to public transit and preserve access to health-care facilities. Jefferson has already convened many stakeholders toward this shared goal, and, as an anchor institution in our region, we will continue to do so well into our third century.

Joseph G. Cacchione, chief executive officer, Thomas Jefferson University

On March 26, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed into the frigid water below. Eight Latino immigrants working on the road crew patching asphalt went down with the mangled steel. Two survived; six perished. They were fathers, sons, and brothers working thankless jobs most native-born Americans would not take. What they were not were “criminals, drug dealers, rapists,” as Donald Trump referred to immigrants in 2015. Talking about asylum-seekers at the southern border in 2023, Trump resurrected his anti-immigrant rhetoric and proclaimed: “This is an invasion. This is like a military invasion … Drugs, criminals, gang members, and terrorists are pouring into our country at record levels. We’ve never seen anything like it. They’re taking over our cities.”

No, they’re not. Of course, Trump cares little about facts when a lie better serves his purposes (30,573 verified lies across his presidency). The fact is immigrants are overwhelmingly less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans. Certainly, it is not an immigrant who is facing 91 felony counts across four criminal indictments. The adage that people in glass houses should not throw stones applies. There is an invasion happening, but it has nothing to do with the tragic loss of the men on the bridge. It has everything to do with how close we are to returning a criminal to the White House.

Joseph R. Fischer, Northumberland, jrf53dr@yahoo.com

The 2100 block of Edgely Avenue, off Belmont Avenue, has been missing its street sign for weeks. This block houses buildings for the elderly and handicapped — the very people who depend on taxis, Ubers, and ambulances for transportation. If those vehicles don’t have GPS, how can they locate Edgely? If they do find Edgely, they then have to navigate many potholes. Some are so broad and deep that with all the recent rains, they have been developing their own ecosystems, much like miniature tidal basins. Calls to our City Council member have not brought the needed repairs. How can we expect Philadelphia with its new mayor to win its drug and crime wars when it can’t even supply basic infrastructure?

Sandra Kittner Myers, Philadelphia

The Inquirer’s coverage of the passing of Lori and George Schappell was both sad and uplifting, as were the lives they led. Here’s an interesting postscript about a very busy woman who had time to make a difference for them. The Schappell twins were in a home for the elderly early in life, for lack of a more suitable place. One day, Ginny Thornburgh, then first lady of Pennsylvania, visited the facility. Seeing the twins needed and deserved more care and a better social situation, she worked with the chaplain of the institution and others to find the twins the place where they went on to spend much of their lives. Later, they were guests of the Thornburghs for lunch at the governor’s home in Harrisburg. It was just a social occasion — no publicity. Ginny Thornburgh earned many awards over 50 years for her work and advocacy for the disabled, and one of her husband Dick Thornburgh’s proudest achievements as U.S. attorney general was the Americans with Disabilities Act. But the small things count, too.

James M. Seif, Kennett Square, james.seif23@gmail.com

U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean has taken a bold and clear stand for peace in Gaza, calling for the U.S. to suspend weapon transfers to Israel. She and 39 other colleagues from the House sent a letter to President Joe Biden on April 5, which said, in part: “In light of the recent strike against aid workers and the ever-worsening humanitarian crisis, we believe it is unjustifiable to approve these weapons transfers. We again strongly urge you to withhold any offensive weapons transfers until the investigation into the airstrike is concluded and, if it is found this strike violated U.S. or international law, those responsible are held accountable. And we again urge you to ensure that any future military assistance to Israel, including already authorized transfers, is subject to conditions to ensure it is used in compliance with U.S. and international law.” Peace-loving people everywhere welcome such moves for peace in that embattled land.

Andrew Mills, Lower Gwynedd

Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 200 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.