Battered Broad St. merchants ready for another championship

Merchants on South Broad Street - the ones whose store windows were shattered like so many broken bats last October - say they aren't taking extra security precautions this year.

They hope the Phillies do well in the playoffs. Even more, they hope exuberant fans flooding the street after a victory will be much better behaved.

Philadelphia police vow to be out in greater numbers on South Broad, particularly between Sansom and Pine, where looters last year smashed windows, toppled trees and planters, and set fires in trash bins after the first World Series victory in 25 years.

"If the Phillies get to the World Series, we will have increased police presence in the areas where we had problems," said Police Sgt. Ray Evers. "So there are no incidents like happened last year."

Vandals won't find any planters to topple. They were ruined last year and have not yet been replaced by the city - at a $300,000 price tag.

And the trashed SEPTA bus shelter at Broad and Walnut, its glass broken and metal mangled, also has not been replaced.

That's very good news to Nancy Center, an owner of Robinson Luggage at 201 S. Broad, where looters wielded a metal pole from the bus shelter to smash windows, break into the store, and steal merchandise.

Although the store had shatterproof glass, one reveler grabbed the pole and hammered it until the glass broke. Insurance paid for the damage. Robinson Luggage declined to disclose the tab.

"It's a great city; we want the Phillies to win," said Center. "You can't let a couple people who got a little too excited ruin it for everybody else."

"We'll continue our normal course of business. We are not changing anything from what we did last year," she said. No extra staff or security in the store.

"We're not looking to put anyone in danger. The police were there, and that's their job. Our No. 1 priority is people's safety."

Next door, Greg Whiting at the restaurant Italian Bistro said he's "taking zero precautions. I hope they win it again because there's nothing better than another championship for the city."

Whiting said it took a few months to recover from the damage. Vandals ripped the neon signs from his glassed-in sidewalk café.

"They ruined the whole front facade of my greenhouse out on the sidewalk," Whiting said.

The damage to his place was $28,700, he said. "Luckily, we have insurance, and the insurance covered that. The city was actually gracious enough to cover our $1,000 deductible, which was very commendable."

Whiting predicted the city would "do a little better job policing this area" this time.

"In the 18 years my brother and I have been here, this has never been a problem area," he said. "I think police were kind of thrown by having a problem up here. Center City is usually just a big honking of the horns and people jumping and celebrating."

Two City Cab Co. taxis driving on Broad Street after the Phils' took Game 5 of the World Series were damaged, and a third cab from another company was destroyed, said City Cab office manager Mohammad Shokrollh.

This year, he said, taxis don't plan to be around crowds after playoff games, or during a World Series victory parade.

Up the block at Broad and Chestnut, F.Y.E., a music and entertainment store, was hit by vandals who shattered the revolving doors.

Dozens of police were on Broad Street the night of the championship and attempted to control the crowds. Seventy-six people were arrested, mostly college students, and charged with disorderly conduct. Several were charged with assaulting police, vandalism, and theft.