A Million Stories

During the day, Starr Garden looks like a park for kids: playground, recreation center, basketball courts, picnic benches. At 10 p.m., however, the "No Trespassing" signs go into effect, and the space on Sixth Street between Lombard and South transforms. The shady trees provide privacy; the child-safe rubber ground becomes a cushion. And the slide? Well, it's kind of like a steep liberator ramp.

Last week, one Queen Village resident found evidence of the park's after-hours function, and posted his discovery on phillyblog.com.

"After using a stick to discard a used purple condom found a few yards from a slide at Starr Garden, I found a wrapper for a grape-flavored condom by the swings. And no sooner did I see that than I noticed a very young child holding a used red condom," he wrote.

Ed Keer lives near Starr Garden. He hasn't found discarded rubbers there, but isn't surprised to hear people are using it for sex.

"Since I live on South Street, I'm used to finding things like condoms or lube packages on the ground," he says.

He doesn't buy speculation that prostitutes are responsible.

"I assume it's teenagers," he says. "Though I have heard that prostitutes are prevalent on Lombard street, my understanding is that they're more active further up around 12th."

For teens, the park is as easy access as a pantyless cheerleader. Conveniently located near South Street, two blocks from Condom Kingdom, Starr Garden's chain-link fence is low enough to scale.

On PhillyBlog, commenters expressed their distaste, and agreed that trespassers could at least clean up after themselves. Many, however, also sounded a note of empathy for neighborhood teens. A few even shared memories of their own experiences in parks and cemeteries.

Keer, eager to maintain the park's cleanliness for the sake of his children, is also able to relate.

"I drank a few 40s there as a teen myself," he says.

- Morgan Davis

Peggy Conver, Chestnut Hill Academy's business manager, hears frequently about the school's street signs on Willow Grove Avenue. "We get complaints quite a bit," she admits. Neighbors believe that CHA, a private all-boys prep school, illegally posts No Parking signs and operates a School Zone speed limit outside school hours.

"They think they can do anything just because they are rich bastards," wrote resident Joe Carter on PhillyBlog.

It's true that parents pay more than $24,000 a year for their kids to attend the Upper School at CHA. But according to the Streets Department, the No Parking signs are legit. And the speed zone, which operates from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., is police- and city-approved. "Our hope is that these ... help [drivers] be aware of the almost 600 children who need to be safeguarded," says Conver. Well then.

- Matt Petrillo

SEPTA may not be the most obvious of muses, but for a quartet of photographers led by Philly Skyline's R. Bradley Maule, the transit authority's $10 Independence Pass (all day, all systems) was inspiration aplenty. Maule, Steve Ives, Steve Weinik and The Necessity for Ruins blogger Chris Dougherty each spent a day on our beleaguered public transit system, snapping and transferring. Their photo essays at phillyskyline.com/independencepass are more than worth your time.

- Brian Howard