Some of NKCDC’s unsung heroes are our Corridor Stewards, who are outside five days a week, year-round, to sweep, pick up trash, repair street furniture, clean graffiti, and report violations along local business corridors. Also working outside—through the hottest months of the summer—is our Open Space Management team who cleans and mows hundreds of vacant lots two times a month.
Now, thanks to new funding from the city’s PHL Taking Care of Business program, NKCDC is able to make several changes to our cleaning and maintenance work that we believe will improve the quality of life in Kensington, Fishtown and Port Richmond.
Starting this fall, NKCDC’s Corridor Stewards will be cleaning additional streets, including Somerset Street (Frankford to Kensington), Lehigh Avenue (Kensington to Richmond), and all of the underpasses along Lehigh Avenue.
In addition, the Open Space Management team will clear debris and clean the underpasses on Emerald Street, Tulip Street, Aramingo Avenue, Belgrade Street and Thompson Street. They also will get rid of trash collected by the Corridor Stewards every day, to make sure we are not adding to our area’s dumping problem.
Previously, through a contract with the Philadelphia Department of Commerce, NKCDC cleaned Front Street (Norris to York), Kensington Avenue (York to Cambria), Frankford Avenue (Delaware to Clearfield), Girard Avenue (Front to I-95), Allegheny Avenue (Tulip to Richmond) and Richmond Street (Allegheny to Clearfield).
Starting this year, the new Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District (FKABID) has applied for Philadelphia Department of Commerce funds to clean Front Street, Frankford Avenue and Girard Avenue, so we no longer receive Commerce funds to clean those areas. However, NKCDC staff have been contracted by FKABID to clean Frankford Avenue from Lehigh to Delaware.
NKCDC will continue to clean Richmond Street (extended from Allegheny Avenue to Ann Street), Allegheny Avenue (Tulip to Richmond), Front Street (extended from the Berks El Station to Kensington Avenue), and Kensington Avenue (from Front to Cambria).
To learn more about NKCDC’s clean and green initiatives, visit nkcdc.org. Corridor cleaning is just one way NKCDC supports the local business community. For more resources, email Jessi Koch at jkoch@nkcdc.org or Jake Norton jnorton@nkcdc.org.