Police Will Ticket for Pot Possession; Playboy Hearts Penn

Newsletter for September 16, 2014

INSTAGRAM OF THE DAY

LOVE Park right after the rain.

POT IN PHILLY: THE GOOD NEWS (AND THE BAD)

You may have noticed: It’s about to be less illegal to carry pot in Philly. The measure, approved by City Council and about to be signed by Mayor Nutter, means those caught with a small amount of marijuana should get a $25 ticket rather than a pair of police bracelets and a trip to jail. What’s new: Police Chief Commissioner Charles Ramsey vowed to WHYY that this new law will be enforced — that officers will, indeed, write tickets rather than sending people to jail. But the devil’s in the details — the plan didn’t work out that way in Chicago, where arrests didn’t fall because that’s how police performance is measured.

SOUTH PHILLY’S BRUSH FACTORY TO BECOME THE ‘ARTISAN LOFTS’

Heads up: About 150 apartments are opening soon in South Philly, PlanPhilly reports. The old paintbrush factory at 1201 Jackson Street is getting a facelift, as well as a new building and a bunch of new trees. The complex will be renamed Artisan Lofts, and will feature a round-the-clock doorman. The plans, which PlanPhilly has also posted, were unanimously approved by the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment.

PLAYBOY HEARTS PENN, PUTS THE IVY ATOP ITS PARTY LIST

Your grandfather’s skin magazine has named the University of Pennsylvania the top party school in the U.S., according to the PBJ. Setting aside the fact that the Princeton Review also ranks party schools (and while Penn State and Lehigh made its top 10, Penn is nowhere to be found)… why? “These renegades pony up thousands of dollars’ worth of liquor for their parties — and competition among the houses means a balls-out war of debauchery. Aboveground, casual sex is rampant, as coeds value careers over coupling.” Ew. Way to make sex less sexy, Playboy.

TONIGHT: HEAR SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND IN PERSON

The lawmaker whose colleague once memorably told her “you’re even pretty when you’re fat” (she was pregnant) will be in the city tonight to talk about the book that made headlines.

WHAT: New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, “Raise Your Voice, Change The World”
WHERE: National Constitution Center, 525 Arch Street
WHEN: 6:30 PM
HOW MUCH: $20/members, $25/nonmembers (includes a copy of the book)

BILLY PENN LIKES

PHILADELPHIANS USED TO PAY TO SWIM UNDER THIS EL STOP

Philly’s always been a city in love with water. (Indeed, we boast the most municipal swimming pools in the nation.) And once upon a time, the way Philadelphia swam was via public baths. (Fun fact: This used to be in the Schuylkill. Well, until the river got too polluted, around 1870, and that practice was mercifully discontinued.) Hidden City recalls one such now-shuttered building, the Front and Thompson Public Bath. It was open for five decades — an era when public baths drew some 6 million visits per year.

WHAT IF THE AMTRAK AT 30TH STREET STATION WAS MORE LIKE THE BROAD STREET LINE?

No, we’re not talking about that funky smell — it’s the boarding process. As Vox notes, “at its most heavily trafficked stations (DC, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc.) Amtrak has passengers form a single-file line before heading to the track where their train will board. By contrast, commuter rail operators normally just announce a track a bit in advance and let people wait there. ” The bill would force a review of the process (while it would also cut Amtrak funding, so there’s that). It’s unlikely to pass — but that idea of letting more people on at once? That’s pretty genius.