Even after agreeing more than a month ago to amend the part of a proposal that suggests the name change of several neighborhoods in the western section of Penn Hills, some stakeholders of the once regarded “elite community for the middle class” are still fuming about the plan that still includes restricting traffic on back streets that lead from Homewood into Penn Hills. They say it unjustly targets Homewood and will cause an unneeded divide among Black communities that have enough problems.
Joyce Davis, Penn Hills NAACP president and executive director of the Lincoln Park Community Center, is one of those largely opposed. “I’m offended and Homewood residents are offended. We’re connected to the larger community. It’s not like all crime in the city originates in Homewood.
We know that’s just not true. We have people who are doing things in Penn Hills,” she said. “Every community has people doing things that are inappropriate. It’s not fair to stigmatize one community and say, ‘you’re the problem, so I’m going to keep you out and then everything is going to be good.’”
She added, “I don’t believe someone would say let’s block off the (Penn Hills) streets from Monroeville,” which has had issues with drugs.
Davis said since the proposed plan’s introduction she has received numerous calls.
In October, Penn Hills resident Marcia Cereza, a member of the Penn Hills Community Development Corp. and president of the Zoning Board, held a town hall meeting at the Lincoln Park Center to announce a plan to address concerns about safety and blight in several Penn Hills neighborhoods, such as Lincoln Park, Eastwood, Eastwood Park and others, which border the city’s Homewood section.
The plan not only proposes restricting traffic from Homewood into Penn Hills, but it also includes implementing block and crime watches on every street and changing the names of the above mentioned neighborhoods to “Blackadore Estates,” which Cereza said was only suggested as a way to bring in money and developers to address blighted properties and build homes once promised to those neighborhoods. She said developers shy away from the project because they associate the neighborhoods with Homewood.
After multiple expressed concerns that the history of Lincoln Park would be lost with a name change, Cereza, who admits that proposing to change the name may have been insensitive, has since dropped the suggestion, but said she will, however, continue to fight for the other points.
“As far as changing the name to Blackadore Estates, that’s out. But I’m still adamant about blocking off the streets that go directly into Homewood or making them one way out of Penn Hills into Homewood and not from Homewood into Penn Hills,” said Cereza. “And this is for safety.” She later stated, “I’m trying to better the community.”
Similar changes were made years ago to her street which leads into Homewood, Cereza said, and it has made her block safer.
She gave the example that when a crime is committed in the city, the actors can travel back roads to Penn Hills, causing Penn Hills police to get involved; the actor can then travel to Verona, causing another police department to get involved; and then back to the city. She said blocking the streets eliminates most of that and any potential danger to innocent bystanders that could stem from a chase like that.
Cereza said neighborhood block and crime watches allow for everyone to know each other and look out for each other as well as their investment.
“Every other house on this (her) street is vacant. We have no ‘pharmacies,’ if you will, we have no squatters, we have no broken windows; we have nothing.” Cereza said. “I’m going to bring, hopefully, safety in the area that I’m responsible for. I want the people to know, ‘you’ve put your money in it, you’ve invested in it, whether you’re gonna give it to your children, your grandchildren, whatever you’re going to do, you bought it.’ Let’s take care of our investment and each other. That’s the bottom line.”
She also said, “No we’re not a part of Homewood. I don’t want us to be a part of Homewood and I don’t want us to be labeled as part of Homewood because I want the contractors to come in, I want the developers to come in and they’re not going to as long as we’re linking with Homewood. That’s a shame, but that’s the reality of it.”
Meanwhile, Homewood has several development projects underway.
Cereza said her plan originated through meetings with Penn Hills Mayor Anthony DeLuca Jr.
DeLuca Jr., who attended the October town hall meeting along with his father, State Rep. Anthony DeLuca Sr., said he agrees with the plan’s suggestions.
“When Marcia originally talked to me about the name change, I told her I would help her only if the residents wanted a name change. And from the town hall meeting and from the numerous calls, the residents are proud of the name Lincoln Park. So that was immediately off the table,” DeLuca Jr. said.
“But the other things, the neighborhood crime watch and blocking the streets, those are all good things. It’s important that residents get involved in their community so that they know what’s going on. And so they can see what neighbors still live there and if there is any trouble they can report it to the police.”
While restricting traffic on back streets with a high number of vacant homes or no homes at all could cut down on issues such as illegal drug activity or dumping, which DeLuca Jr. said Lincoln Park has a lot of, when asked specifically about blocking off streets or making streets leading from Penn Hills into Homewood one-way, he said he would only do it if the residents wanted it.
“These are all ideas. One of the things in my administration, if the public does not want to do it, no one is going to come in and force it. If we’re able to block off one road and the community is for it, then we’re going to do it. If they don’t want to do it then we’re not going to do it, ” he said.
In addition to the proposed plan, DeLuca Jr. said he is also looking into getting a grant to buy cameras that will capture license plates and send them to the police department where they’re checked for warrants, etc. If a warrant is found, a bulletin would then go out, informing officers that the car is in the area. He also said three officers were recently added to the department to keep a closer watch on drug activity.
Davis, whom Cereza claims is not a Penn Hills resident, said limiting access to Homewood would not be a productive move. She said her facility offers resources not only to Penn Hills residents, but Allegheny County residents as a whole, which includes Homewood, and that there is a partnership between the two communities.
She recalled that when a roof collapsed at a near by Penn Hills row House in November, she got calls from people in Homewood who were looking to donate.
Davis said instead of trying to target Homewood, officials should try to find a solution to address the problems within the Penn Hills community. She said there needs to be more resources “developed and strengthened” for families; people need to be made aware that those resources are available, especially in regards to mental health services; and that there needs to be a more intervention with the children.
“Community is not just those people who you can go outside and look around and see. Community has to be larger. We have to work together as Black people to help each other,” Davis said. “We don’t (need to) push each other down, stigmatize each other; we should be moving to help each other.”
When asked his thoughts on the proposed plan, Penn Hills Councilmember Rev. Dr. J-LaVon Kincaid Sr., said he was unaware of the plan and would not comment until he gained further information.
Penn Hills School Board President Denise Graham-Shealey, whom Cereza said signed up as a block watch captain, was also contacted, but failed to respond by this publication’s deadline.
As for the plan’s future, Cereza said she plans to hold a town hall meeting in March where she will get updates from those who signed up to be crime and block watch captains. A date has yet to be determined.
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