A new bill would impose curfews on some businesses in Kensington’s open-air drug market as addiction and crime run rampant in the Philadelphia neighborhood.
City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada introduced a bill on Thursday requiring some commercial establishments and restaurants to close between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. if they are within a specific area of the Kensington neighborhood, including the infamous Kensington Avenue.
The proposal is one of the latest to address issues in Kensington, an area that has become the epicenter of the city’s drug crisis.
“In order to address the crisis in Kensington, we need a better understanding of who is there and what is happening,” Lozada, whose district includes Kensington, said in a press release.
Kensington, known internationally for its excessive public drug use, is among the Philadelphia areas most impacted by overdose fatalities, according to city health department data.