The Chinese Lantern Fiasco

Between Stephan Salisbury's Philly.com article, Victor Fiorillo's piece in PhillyMag.com, and Inga Saffron's comments on Facebook, it seems the media has spoken: Franklin Square's Chinese Lantern Festival was a failure before it even opened. 

If you're not clear on what the festival is, you're not alone. It's essentially a light show that consists of about two dozen Asian themed lanterns. However, despite being hailed as "the first ever in the Northeast," its cultural or historic relevance is scattered. Historically, Chinese Lantern Festivals are held on the fifteenth day of the first month in the Chinese calendar, or in 2016, February 22nd. Franklin Square's festival opened last night and will run through June 12th. 

With the exception of a "sponsored by" logo for the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation on the festival's site, it has very little to do with neighboring Chinatown, if much else. In fact, the PCDC's website doesn't even mention the festival despite it occurring during the organization's 50th anniversary. Chinatown's tourism website doesn't say anything about it either. That's because the company running the show, Sichuan Tianyu of Zigong, didn't consult with the Chinatown community on the project. 

But what really fired up the media wasn't the festival's murky relevance or shoehorned history; but the park's closure, cover charge, and the foreboding black curtain that now lines almost the entire perimeter of Franklin Square. This isn't just a privately operated festival occupying a park for a week to generate some spending money for the non-profit Historic Philadelphia, it's being walled off from view for two full months, not including the absurd amount of time it's taken to set up.

Entrance to the park after 6pm will cost a whopping $17, blocking evening access to the historic merry-go-round and putt putt golf course. Historic Philadelphia was quick to point out that the park closes at 7pm this time of year. But the festival run until June, and the park has never closed earlier than 9pm during the summer. And although all of Philadelphia's public parks technically have a "closing time," they're open to pedestrians passing through twenty-four hours a day. 

The worst abuse of this space, though, is the black tarp running around the park. What would Rittenhouse residents say if the city's most popular square were not only closed, but blocked from view? The city would lose its mind. But this isn't just a Pope Fence or one of Independence Hall's security walls. In fact, Franklin Square already has a fence in place. This wall serves one purpose and one purpose only: to block the festival from unpaying eyes walking the sidewalks around the park, and ultimately Sichuan Tianyu's wallet. It's offensive and an insult to neighbors, particularly the hardworking Chinatown community that might not want to shell out $17 to see a festival that I have to assume was situated nearby specifically for them. 

If you really want to see this festival, I suggest you head here and buy yourself a $40 drone. It's still legal in Philadelphia and - unless Historic Philadelphia and Sichuan Tianyu decide to built a tarp over the park - there's nothing they can do about it.

PHS's Memorial Plaza

With Dilworth Plaza converted into a green Dilworth Park and the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk gliding atop the river, it's hard to look at the Philadelphia Horticultural Society's plans for the approach to the Ben Franklin Bridge and think, "bold."

The renderings are undoubtedly beautiful, and ever since Franklin Square was renovated, the base of the bridge has been an eyesore flanking Old City and Independence Mall. 

Like Dilworth Plaza, Monument Plaza at 6th and Race is a slab of uninspired concrete with some questionable artwork. Isamu Noguchi's A Bolt of Lightning...A Memorial to Benjamin Franklin is pretty cool looking, until you see the kite and key and realize just how literal the work of art is. 

But unlike Dilworth Plaza, which was usable even before its renovation, Memorial Plaza is almost entirely inaccessible. Unless you want to dart across five lanes of Jersey bound traffic, you're not getting there. 

And that is what truly makes the PHS's plan bold. It dares not only to remove a lane from 6th Street and two bridge entrance ramps, it dares to take away asphalt from those heading to New Jersey.

There's no love lost between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Before eastbound commuters make it through Chinatown they're pissed off and ready to get home, and most are high as Ben Franklin's kite on road rage. 

The new configuration would be great for Philadelphia. It will discourage commuters from leaving the city via Race, diverting them to Vine and 676, alleviating rush hour traffic through Chinatown by forcing it to the wider streets and expressway created specifically for commuters. But that is exactly what will ruffle feathers with many heading to New Jersey.

Unfortunately, trading streets for parks has never set well with those in charge of the approval process. It's nearly impossible to convince urban decision makers to look ahead. 

This plan has all the makings of the ultimate suburban turf warfare. Commuters will fear traffic jams, Negadelphians will look at a nonexistent park with a perceived nonexistent future, and NIMBYs will bitch about it all because that's what they do.

But for the city, Memorial Plaza is the last piece of Independence Mall's seventy year journey. It links Franklin Square to the Constitution Center with beautiful views of the Ben Franklin Bridge, and continuous green space that extends to Society Hill and ultimately the Delaware River. In short, it makes sense. But logic often takes a backseat to ire when it's fueled by road rage.