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A brief tour of mooncake makers in Phillys Chinatown

Source: Boston Globe / Getty

Philadelphia 76ers management has not been reluctant to relocating the their home stadium as the contract at their current residence, the Wells Fargo Center, is set to end in 2031. In Chinatown a Board of Trustees meeting was held to propose the relocation of their home stadium from South Philly, to Chinatown. Along with the newest reconstruction project to undergo in Chinatown very soon, residents and officials fear these new additions to the community to do more harm then good.

Students for the Preservation of Chinatown showed up as uninvited guests at the Board of Trustees meeting held at the Inn at Penn. Over 50 protesters were in there in disapproval of the relocation project. Due to previous encounters of these meetings being over-capacitated, only nine Penn students were admitted into the board meeting.

Taryn Flaherty, a college sophomore, and co-founder of Students for the Preservation of Chinatown, spearheaded the movement in making sure the team was present at the board meeting. “Our whole point is that we want the Board of Trustees to hear our concerns,” Flaherty said. “We as students at Penn, we as residents of the city need to actively be resisting the complicity in the destruction of neighborhoods across Philadelphia and tell Penn to cut off all ties,” Flaherty said at the protest.

Protester as well as members of the community believe the project will cause and influx commuters, and traffic, leading to more taxes and ultimately gentrification.

A statement was released by 76corp in response to the noted concerns about the project.

“As we continue to develop a meaningful plan to ensure the arena project can positively impact Philadelphia and its residents, it is disappointing to see some groups claiming to represent the broader interests of the city irresponsibly spreading misinformation about our proposed plans,” the statement said. “By spreading misinformation and ignoring these facts and the numerous public statements we’ve made about our intentions, these groups unfortunately also ignore what this private investment will mean for the future of Market East and the city as a whole.”