Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration plans to clean every Philadelphia neighborhood over the next 13 weeks.
City officials kicked off the summer citywide cleaning program Monday. Parker has prioritized sanitation since taking office in January 2024, vowing to reverse the city’s reputation for dirtiness and banish the moniker “Filthadelphia.” She rolled out the One Philly, United City Citywide Cleaning Program last year with a promise to clean every block.
Carlton Williams, the head of the mayor’s Office of Clean and Green Initiatives, said the cleanups will occur twice-a-year going forward, with a spring/summer and a fall/winter schedule.
“This is the third cleanup that we’re doing in two years,” Williams said. “Why is this important? Because the work that Philadelphia needs to happen must occur on an ongoing basis.”
Crews will begin in the Frankford and Kensington neighborhoods this week before moving on to Logan, central North Philadelphia and Fishtown, Williams said. The initiative will wrap up in Northeast Philadelphia by Aug. 1. A map with a schedule for each area is available at officeofcleanandgreen.org.
Staff from the city’s Sanitation Department will come to each block the day after trash and recycling collection with brooms, blowers, trimmers and other equipment, officials said. Then, flushers and street sweeping vehicles will be deployed.
Once the job is done, they will spray temporary spray paint through a stencil to put the program’s “Join the Fight” logo on the block, letting neighbors know it has been cleaned, Williams said.
Dozens of cleaners were out at the kickoff event Monday morning at Harrowgate Park, near the Market-Frankford Line’s Tioga stop, with vacuums, weed whackers, blowers, rakes and other gear. Meanwhile, branded trash trucks and Philadelphia Parking Authority tow trucks lined the surrounding streets.
“You will see them out in full force on the streets in groups of 10 or more, making sure that this effort continues,” Sanitation Commissioner Crystal Jacobs Shipman said. She added that her department has 10 cleaning teams.
In conjunction with the sanitation crews, the PPA, Community Life Improvement Program, SEPTA, the School District of Philadelphia, the Department of Licenses and Inspections and other agencies and departments will be coordinating to enhance cleaning efforts.
Similar 13-week cleanups were organized beginning in June and November 2024. Williams said more than 35,000 blocks were cleaned; 450 vacant properties were sealed; and more than 5,000 abandoned cars were removed as a result of the efforts.
