Philly Chinese Restaurants Looking to Get Late Night Curfew Lifted
2005 ordinance led to creation of the Chinese restaurant association.
The Greater Philadelphia Chinese Restaurant Association is looking to get a 2005 ordinance requiring commercial establishments in residential areas to close by 11 p.m. repealed, as Philly.com reports. The association was formed after the ordinance was first passed. The ordinance called businesses like take-out spots, Stop'n'Gos, and convenience stores "nuisance retail shops" that had "become a haven for drug activity, crime and underage drinking," a common refrain in some cities. Community leaders in Camden pushed for a curfew in 2011, saying patrons at take-out spots were "more interested in buying drugs than Chinese food or fried chicken," as Philly.com reported at the time. My favorite pizzeria growing up in Newark was targeted by local community leaders for being an alleged drug hotspot. It eventually co-located with a liquor store and then finally shut down.
As for crime, Philadelphia homicides hit a nationwide high in 2011 but has been down recently. Most tellingly, the ordinance that forced businesses to shut down at 11 p.m. didn't offer any specific data about crimes occurring near such establishments, even though such data likely existed. One restaurant owner Philly.com talked to, however, said his busiest hours were between midnight and 2 a.m. Now after 24 years he is looking to sell his business but no one is looking to buy.
Elsewhere in Philadelphia, the Office of Property Assessment appears to be reneging on tax abatements that have attracted new homeowners, specifically targeting those that appear to live in "wealthy" neighborhoods, as one such homeowner wrote at Philly.com.
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The Greater Philadelphia Chinese Restaurant Association
I bet they throw awesome dinner meetings.
Ironically, they meet at McDonalds.
RE: Philly Chinese Restaurants Looking to Get Late Night Curfew Lifted
A late night curfew is necessary not only in the City of Brotherly Love but everywhere in our country. The little people have no reason to stay up past their bedtime. In all honesty, they all need to be in their ‘jammies ready for sleepy time by the late hour of 9:00 PM. They are not capable of reasonable decisions in the daytime, much less during the later hours of the day and the wee hours of the morn if they are to be productive worker bees for their obvious betters ruling over them. Plus, letting the untermenschen out late only allows them to do as they please, meet new people and engage in dangerous mischief such as not putting money in parking meters. Worse yet, our kind and friendly police forces would have to do their jobs during these un-Godly hours instead of doing such wonderful activities as sleeping in their patrol cars, having a four hour lunch breaks, and rushing through stop lights with their flashers on for no reason. But the most important part of curfews is controlling the lowly plebian classes. Keeping them in their houses is the best way to make sure they do no start engaging in such dangerous ideas as having fun, enjoying themselves or making decisions for themselves. Instead of condemning curfews, let us all re-think this issue correctly as would our benevolent elitists enslaving us would and embrace the wonderful idea of a curfew.
You missed the benefit of getting a good night’s sleep so they don’t doze off while driving their car. Think of the children saved in crosswalks, etc.
Right you are.
I stand corrected.
Think of the children!
Scienfoology Song? GAWD = Government Almighty’s Wrath Delivers
Government loves me, This I know,
For the Government tells me so,
Little ones to GAWD belong,
We are weak, but GAWD is strong!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
My Nannies tell me so!
GAWD does love me, yes indeed,
Keeps me safe, and gives me feed,
Shelters me from bad drugs and weed,
And gives me all that I might need!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
My Nannies tell me so!
DEA, CIA, KGB,
Our protectors, they will be,
FBI, TSA, and FDA,
With us, astride us, in every way!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
My Nannies tell me so!
We the people, acting through our democratically elected city government, wanted the curfew, but businesses are now prioritizing their selfish desire for profit over democracy. People before profits. If we really needed to order Chinese food late at night, the ordinance would be repealed, since, as Tony told us, markets are not self-correcting, but government is.
You’re right about one thing.
I can’t argue with the concept of how many times the government has corrected itself.
That’s why we all live in a perfect society.
Drug dealers get hungry too
I see you’ve been to Philly.
I was gonna say something about where are drunk Philadelphians supposed to get their drunk-food late at night, but then I remembered that Philadelphians are drunk all the time, so really what’s the difference?
I declare this the unofficial evening food and drink thread given the nature of the article.
Generous Angostura bitters splashed in my gin & tonic is wonderful and refreshing. Still haven’t tried that tonic syrup recipe that GILMORE linked to months ago.
I want to rebut the individual that said the Netflix documentary on General Tso’s chicken was stupid. I learned a lot of new things about the way Chinese restaurants get their new immigrant labour through associations, as well as how adapted Chinese food became quintessentially -Murrrkin comfort food.
I have switched totally over to ground pork butt burgers seasoned variously with fish sauce, some sugar, and generous proportions of Euro Maggi and pulverised garlic ever since HM talked about pork burgers on 4th of July.
Tonight life is contentificationing. Thank you for bringing this standard of life to me, capitalism/free enterprise.
So their murder rate is more than triple ours in NYC, and we would laugh at the idea of a “curfew”. WTF is wrong with Philadelphia? I’m thinking it’s something other than “nuisance retail shops”.
“WTF is wrong with Philadelphia?”
Nothing! It’s always sunny here!
There’s a Chinese place near me that I really like, but whenever I order, the owner goes into the back followed by lots of people screaming at each other in Chinese and what sounds like the kitchen staff trying to beat each other to death with pots and pans.
I’ve always wondered what the heck is going on back there.
That’s a greeting for the evening and a calm rattling off of inventory low items in Mainlandese.
Sounds about right.
They’re just trying to cover up the sound of the microwave warming up your frozen sweet and sour pork.
Singapore mei fun, usually
You know who else enforced quotas?