Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker took the Broad Street Line from City Hall to Cecil B. Moore Avenue Friday afternoon to deliver her “State of the City” address from the Temple Performing Arts Center on Main Campus.
Parker, who is closing in on one year as the city’s first female mayor, spent nearly two hours highlighting key wins during her tenure as mayor, including declining crime rates and public cleanliness efforts. Friday’s address came just one day after City Council voted to approve the Philadelphia 76ers’ controversial new arena proposal in Center City – an initiative Parker publicly endorsed in September.
“We’re proud of where we are as year one draws to a close,” Parker said. “Our city is becoming safer, our blocks are cleaner and there is more educational opportunities in our schools. Let me be clear: We have a long way to go and much, much more work to do. But I’m proud of our administration and every official and city employee working for the people of Philadelphia.”
The unfinished work Parker alluded to primarily involves ending the open-air drug market in Kensington — something she vowed to solve when she took office in January.
Parker kicked off her speech by thanking Temple President John Fry for allowing the address to be held on campus. She also welcomed former President Richard Englert, who stepped up as the university’s interim leader after the sudden passing of acting President JoAnne Epps in September 2023, to the stage and thanked him for serving both Temple and Philadelphia.
“This was Dick Englert’s third term as Temple’s chief executive officer,” Parker said. “He is the personification of service to Temple University and to our city. So I would like to bestow a token of appreciation from a grateful city.”
Despite taking a victory lap about improved public safety and cleaner streets, Parker still emphasized safety as the city’s top priority heading into 2025. Her election campaign centered around a tough-on-crime message, and gun violence in the city has dropped significantly since she took office almost a year ago.
The mayor highlighted a particular study that found that while gun violence has dipped in most big cities following the COVID-19 pandemic, it has fallen most quickly in Philadelphia.
“Homicides are down 37% compared with one year ago, and shootings are down 36%,” Parker said. “Let me be clear, that is not enough. The numbers do not mean a damn thing if you are a friend or relative of someone who has been immediately impacted by violence.”
Parker also announced a new city-funded drug treatment facility center would open early in 2025 — a key part of her administration’s plan for providing housing for people who use drugs in Kensington.
Parker also spent a large portion of her speech assessing promises her administration made at the beginning of her tenure, including her vow to make Philadelphia the “safest, cleanest and greenest big city” in the United States with access to economic opportunity for all.
Her key campaign promises included hiring 300 police officers to focus on “community policing,” creating 30,000 new units of affordable housing and providing year-round schooling. Parker said on Friday that all of those goals remain obtainable.
The city has hired 200 “community officers” so far but walked back the goal of 30,000 affordable housing units. Parker originally said she would release a “comprehensive housing plan” this fall but said on Friday it would now be during the first quarter of 2025.
“My message here is about the progress that we’ve made in the Parker administration during year one,” Parker said. “We are literally starting to show results for the people of Philadelphia.”
Parker closed her speech by looking ahead toward 2025 and the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026 — with plenty of events already planned. The city will host a number of parades, concerts and games, including its biggest Fourth of July celebration ever, the Major League Baseball All-Star game and Home Run Derby, FIFA World Cup championship matches, the NCAA Men’s March Madness tournament and other festivities.
“People from all over the world will be coming to our city, the birthplace of democracy,” Parker said. “And with all of you — every single one of you — working in concert with my Parker Administration, we plan to be ready. As Mayor, it is important to me that you watch what we do. I want our residents to feel a sense of hope and pride in their city government again.”
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