An eye-catching Callowhill building with a vivid orange steel front that often inspires passersby to snap a photo is on the market for $2.5 million.
The property on North 13th Street between Buttonwood and Hamilton Streets is owned by visual artist Ray Bartkus and his wife, Ina. The couple have used the building’s top unit, a tri-level with partial loft-like floors that allow light to flow through the space, as their home and Ray’s studio since purchasing it for $729,000 in 2013.
The kitchen and dining area of the Callowhill property.Donkin Media/Thomas Donkin
The Bartkuses purchased the building’s remaining portion for $420,000 in 2015. They have used its five studio-like units, each with kitchen facilities and a bathroom, for hosting visiting friends and family as well as short-term-stay guests. The building can be reconfigured into a single-family home or maintained as separate units.
The house is a playground for Bartkus’ artistic sensibilities. Included in the sale is a custom chandelier which he made out of car exhaust pipes that stretches two-and-a-half floors, as well as cheeky Philadelphia-themed artwork in the building’s central stairwell including impressions of Rocky Balboa and Questlove.
A lofted bedroom in the Callowhill property.Donkin Media/Thomas Donkin
Bartkus said he enjoyed bringing a Philly connection to each of the short-term-stay spaces through custom art.
Some of the building’s best attributes, however, are immaterial, said listing agent Brent Williams.
The rooftop deck in Callowhill.Donkin Media/Thomas Donkin
“The light really changes throughout the day, and that really influences how you live,” Williams said, noting that the building’s glass facades are east- and west-facing, meaning mornings get early, dewy sunlight and evenings get the rich setting sun. “The light and the architecture, the blend of glass and steel, it really is impactful in person.”
Bartkus sees the house as its own piece of art that he has tinkered with, helping coax out its unusual qualities over the years.
“Good artists have the ability to show the world details regular people didn’t see,” he said. “In a way this is this house.”
One of the bathrooms, with a spacious shower and luxury finishes.Donkin Media/Thomas Donkin
The building is heated via radiant heated concrete floors and, Bartkus said, has become much more energy efficient since buildings went up on either side of it with heating costs cut in half.
Other unusual touches include a two-car garage and parking for two additional cars, a loggia that provides sheltered outdoor space off of one of the lower units, and a rooftop deck.
One of the studio apartments in the building, with a colorful kitchenette.Donkin Media/Thomas Donkin
The Bartkuses have decided to downsize in Philadelphia from the 4,500-square-foot building.
“It fit us perfectly,” Bartkus said. But at 65, he’s ready to leave behind the rigamarole of short-term renting and maintaining such a large building.
He added, “I just want to concentrate on my art.”
Natural light floods into one of the bedroom spaces, which also has a sitting area.Donkin Media/Thomas Donkin
Penn Medicine’s newest mobile medical van features a giant mural of Philadelphia’s City Hall set against a bright, colorful eye.
It’s right on theme: the 26-foot-long van will travel around the city, offering free eye exams and education services to underserved communities. The project is led by Penn ophthalmologist Lama Al-Aswad, whose vision is to prevent blindness by improving access to eye care.
Called the Scheie Eye Institute In MOTION, the van will screen adults for the four major causes of blindness: glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and cataracts.
The goal is to detect eye diseases early, so they can be treated before progressing to blindness. Half of an estimated 2.2 billion cases of visual impairment worldwide could have been prevented or still haven’t been properly treated, according to the World Health Organization.
Lama Al-Aswad is the lead physician behind the new Scheie Eye Institute in MOTION mobile unit.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Al-Aswad had previously launched a similar effort in New York City that screened more than 8,500 people for glaucoma. She found more than half of them had never seen an eye doctor before.
By teaching community members about eye diseases and expanding access tocare, she hopes they can avoid worse outcomes.
“By the time we say [patients] have a disease, we are improving their eye health literacy, so they understand the impact and the need to follow up,” Al-Aswad said.
Those who cannot afford follow-up care can receive services for free, thanks to donations from Philadelphia native Rick Campbell and family, and the New York-based organizations, Save Vision Foundation and Envision Health Technologies.
The van made its first appearance at Saunders Park in West Philadelphia in mid-September. The unit aimsto run at least two to three times a week and see 25 patients at each event.
The Inquirer spoke with Al-Aswad about the new mobile screening van in an interview lightly edited for length and clarity.
Lama Al-Aswad speaks during an event introducing the Scheie Eye Institute in MOTION mobile unit.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
What should the public know as part of eye health literacy?
The four leading causes of blindness: That includes cataracts, which are reversible. People who have cataracts slowly lose vision, but once we do cataract surgery, it goes back to your baseline vision.
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness. It’s called the silent thief of blindness because it’s asymptomatic until the end.
Diabetic retinopathy is another leading cause of blindness. That’s preventable too, if there is annual evaluation for it and better control of diabetes.
Macular degeneration is a disease that affects the macula and, with aging, slowly over time can affect vision. That can be treated with injection and monitoring.
A lot of eye diseases can be blinding. But, in general, if we catch it early and take care of it continuously, we can prevent blindness.
What communities are you hoping to reach?
We are hoping to reach the underserved or vulnerable communities in West Philly, North Philly, and other places. We are even targeting the unhoused community with this mobile unit.
The inside of the mobile unit.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
What are some lessons that you learned in New York that will be guiding your new effort at Penn?
One of the lessons that I learned is how to close the loop.
Let’s say you go out to the community and you screen. But what happens after that? You tell the patient they have a disease. If you’re lucky, 50% follow up.
When we did a lot of the screening in New York, I did an analysis of the people who followed up and people who didn’t follow up. A couple of things came up:
It’s hard for individuals with mid- to low-socioeconomic status to take time off work. Second, eye health literacy is very, very important for blindness prevention. A good number of patients didn’t understand the need to follow up.
We would call them and they would say, “I have no problem, I don’t feel anything, and I have other priorities.” The other thing is how to target populations at a higher risk.
How will you help patients who require follow-up care after screening?
If we identify disease, we refer them to our practices to be seen in person by one of our physicians. If they are uninsured, we see if we can help them access insurance, and if they cannot access insurance, we can provide care for them for free, thanks to Mr. Campbell and his family’s generous support for this project.
Why is it important to catch eye diseases early?
People go to their internists or other doctors, but the last thing that they think about is their vision.
That’s because eye diseases most of the time are asymptomatic early on, so patients only go when it’s advanced. That’s a problem in itself because a lot of the vision loss we cannot reverse.
It’s really important to identify disease early and manage it for blindness prevention.
Donor Rick Campbell and his wife Marie Campbell walk into the Scheie Eye Institute in MOTION mobile unit.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
How do you feel about the launch?
Closing the loop is going where patients are, providing screening and diagnosis, providing education, and providing care to the uninsured. This is a dream come true to be able to do all of this together.
Mi Ja “Tina” Shin smiled at the man approaching the register at Sue’s Produce, her small food market on 18th Street, two blocks from Rittenhouse Square. They locked eyes. Silently, he pressed a $100 bill into her hand. Shin stared at it and gave him a hug.
And so it has been going lately at Sue’s, one of the few small grocery stores in a retail district dominated by restaurants, boutiques, and big-name brands.
While Di Bruno Bros. across the street offers scores of cheeses and elaborate charcuterie, Sue’s takes a more workaday approach to retail: Packaged Dietz & Watson cold cuts and everyday cheeses, plus dozens of varieties of produce, snacks, drinks, and pantry staples are jammed into the narrow storefront. Shin’s homemade Korean food at the counter is the house specialty.
James Shin talks with customers while stocking shelves at Sue’s Produce Market.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
But Sue’s is behind on its rent, and neighbors have been stepping up since Shin’s son James launched a GoFundMe campaign last week.
By early Friday, the fundraiser had exceeded $27,000 and was closing in on its current goal, $30,000.
James Shin said his last understanding was that his mother owed about $38,000 in back rent, which is why the fundraiser was initially set at $40,000. Diaa Sawan, whose family owns the building at 114-116 S. 18th St., said Thursday that the current arrears are about $32,000.
Sue’s has been struggling for some time, according to both Shin and Sawan.
Mi Ja “Tina” Shin chats with a customer at Sue’s Produce Market.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Sawan said the store has typically been three or four months behind, and has at times made partial payments. “We’ve been so patient,” he said. “My family and I are actually trying to give them a chance, and hopefully she can make it.”
Asked whether eviction proceedings were possible, Sawan said it was. “After a couple of years, I have no choice,” he said. “We have a mortgage. We have to pay the bank.” He said well-funded national tenants could pay thousands more in rent.
James Shin, who has been speaking publicly for his mother because she is not comfortable speaking in English, described the relationship with the Sawans as longstanding and accommodating. “They’ve always tried to help my mom out,” he said.
Sue’s Produce Market, 114 S. 18th St.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
A neighborhood rallies
So are the customers. The man who handed her $100 Thursday morning was Ron Schlesinger, a neighbor.
“I don’t like GoFundMe because they take a fee,” Schlesinger said. “I’ll give her more money if she needs it. My whole family has been coming here for 50 years.”
That history predates the current store. Tina Shin’s aunt Sue operated a produce business nearby before the family opened the 18th Street storefront in the early 2000s next to Byblos, the Mediterranean restaurant owned by the Sawan family. Vango, the Sawans’ club, is above both establishments.
Support is also coming from Amanda Shulman, chef-owner of nearby Michelin-starredHer Place Supper Club, who announced this week that she would host a Korean-inspired benefit dinner Oct. 16, with snacks provided by Shin and proceeds donated to Sue’s.
The dinner will have two family-style seatings, at 6 and 8:30 p.m., with 48 seats total at $275 per person, beverages included. Reservations will go online at 6 p.m. Sunday. The goal is to raise $10,000.
Sue’s is “such an integral part of our little Rittenhouse neighborhood,” Shulman said. “Someone from our team visits Sue’s at least two times and sometimes up to four times a day for this or that or a pick-me-up snack or gorgeous herbs when we’re shorted.”
‘Having a hard time’
James Shin, 37, who runs another market at Society Hill Towers, said the family’s problems built gradually. “My mom has a lot of business expenses, plus the slowdown of the economy and her trying to keep up,” he said. “Eventually, she fell behind on rent. I knew my mom was having a hard time. Business was slow.”
Part of the problem, he said, is that Sue’s was built around a shopping habit that has faded.
“We’ve always been a produce market, so people know us for produce,” Shin said. “But nowadays, no one really grocery-shops or buys produce as much as they used to.”
Tina Shin, 63, has had decades of experience in the food trade. Her son said she came to the United States from South Korea in the late 1980s after marrying his father, Dong Shin. In the early 1990s, the couple took over a fruit cart from a relative at 18th and Walnut Streets, outside of what was then Urban Outfitters and is now Anthropologie.
James remembers tagging along with his mother when he was young because the family had no babysitter. On rainy days, he said, he would crouch beneath the shelter of the building while she cut fruit inside the cart.
The family later operated a series of stores in North Philadelphia that failed through fire or economic downturns. In 2012, they took over Sue’s from relatives. “At the time, business was still pretty good, but it was shifting,” Shin said.
Rent then was about $5,000 a month, he said. Today it is $12,000, according to Sawan.
A survival strategy
As produce sales declined and costs rose, Tina Shin began leaning more heavily on prepared Korean food.
After the pandemic, she started with kimchi, then kimbap. At first, James Shin said, she made only five or 10 rolls a day and would be disappointed if one or two remained unsold. Then demand grew.
“She was selling 10, and next thing you know, she’s selling 20, 30, 40 a day,” he said.
She expanded into banchan and other dishes, studying recipes and techniques online and adapting them.
The cooking also extended an already-grueling workday. James Shin said his mother often wakes at 2 a.m. to prepare food, works at the store from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., then goes home, preps again, sleeps a few hours, and starts over.
But are the fundraisers just putting a bandage on a systemic problem? James Shin said he hopes that the attention will help in the long term.
People who are not donating online, he said, have been coming into the Rittenhouse store to buy Korean dishes, smoothies, and groceries.
“I feel like this is a good opportunity for us to catch back up and try to start — not fresh, exactly — but restart and get everything back together,” he said.
For his mother, he said, the strongest encouragement remains the simplest kind.
“What keeps my mom going is the customer who comes back and says, ‘Your food is the best. Your Korean food is really good,’” Shin said. “I feel like that’s the drive that’s been keeping her going.”
Two teenagers were wounded Tuesday night in North Philadelphia in what may have been a drive-by shooting, police said.
The 18-year-old and 17-year-old, both male, were found on the 1800 block of North Woodstock Street about 10:30 p.m., when police responded to a report of a shooting in the area.
Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters one of the victims told officers he believed the incident was a drive-by shooting. Police recovered at least 17 spent shell casings.
The 18-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of his abdomen, and the 17-year-old was grazed above his right hip. Both were transported by police to Temple University Hospital and were placed in stable condition.
Police said they did not have a motive for the shootingor a description of any suspects, and detectives are requesting anyone with information to call the department’s anonymous tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477).
An off-duty Philadelphia police officer was beaten by multiple people and robbed of his gun late Thursday, police said.
The gun — the officer’s service weapon — had not been recovered as of Friday, they said.
The officer, whose name was not released by police, was taken to Temple University Hospital with cuts to his head and scrapes on his legs and feet. Police did not disclose his condition, but said the officer was stable Friday afternoon.
Officer Tanya Little, a police spokesperson, said police were called to help the officer at about 11:45 p.m. Thursday on the 700 block of North 10th Street, between Brown Street and Fairmont Avenue in the West Poplar section of North Philadelphia, after the officer said he had been attacked by three people who stole his firearm.
Little said that investigators took two people into custody for questioning, but charging information was not available.
In the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, I went to New York to report on a story about Johanna Sigmund, a young woman from Wyndmoor who perished after one of the hijacked planes rammed the north tower.
Over the course of my career, I’ve spent more time than anyone would want writing pieces about people whose lives were cut short prematurely. One of the most memorable was Johanna, whose story and positive spirit remain seared into my soul.
Johanna’s parents invited me, a stranger, into their home at their worst hour. They took the time to tell me about their only daughter, and shared photograph after photograph after photograph — Johanna smiling after she ran the New York City Marathon, Johanna posing with her girlfriends at a wedding, and so on.
One image stood out.
It was a photo of Johanna, 25, and her brother, John, 23, smiling while standing arm in arm at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. The photo was taken two months before the terror attacks. In the background loomed the twin towers.
An article by Paul Davies about Johanna Sigmund in the Oct. 19, 2001, edition of the Daily News.Staff
Johanna’s story has stuck with me for a quarter century, but her life is emblematic of the promise and potential of so many others who were lost. At least 40 people with ties to Philadelphia and its western suburbs were killed in the attacks, including 18 from Bucks County, 11 from Montgomery County, five in Chester County, eight from Delaware County, and three from Philadelphia. It may be impossible for any of us to fathom how many other lives were forever impacted by the horrors of that day.
I wondered how Johanna’s family and friends had fared over the years.
So much has been lost in the 25 years since 9/11. Johanna would have turned 50 on the first day of summer — the longest day of sunlight. Her elegant beauty remains frozen in time, and — all these years later — her life remains a catalyst for good.
A scholarship fund set up in her name continues to help students attend St. Malachy School in North Philadelphia, as well as another at her alma mater, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.
Johanna packed a lot into her brief time here. She was the captain of the field hockey, lacrosse, and squash teams in high school. She studied economics and played field hockey at Fairfield University, and spent a semester in Paris before moving to New York in 1998 with three friends from Philadelphia.
When I met with Johanna’s roommates a few weeks after the attack, they shared stories of her love of cooking, dancing, and listening to U2, often replaying the song “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” that begins, “I’m not afraid of anything in this world.”
From left: Johanna Sigmund, Rory McDevitt, and Kim Ongaro were all bridesmaids at the wedding of their friend, Lexie Beatty, in May 2001. Sigmund was one of the victims in the 9/11 attacks.h
Johanna cared for others. She distributed pizza and McDonald’s to the homeless people in her neighborhood. She helped a woman who was thrown from a taxi get to a hospital. Johanna spent the night by her side and returned home in the morning with blood on her clothes.
Kimberly Ongaro, a roommate and friend from Springside, called her “an angel.”
The toughest interview in the weeks after the attack was with Johanna’s boyfriend, Joe Bonavita. They had dated for several years and had discussed marriage.
Their final weekend together was a whirlwind. They went to the Yankees game Friday night and drove to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., on Saturday, met up with friends, attended the Army football game, and walked through the cemetery for soldiers, which included Gen. George Armstrong Custer.
On Sunday, Johanna competed in a 5K race down Broadway before continuing on as part of her training for the Philadelphia Marathon. She and Joe shared dinner that night.
Johanna Sigmund and her boyfriend, Joe Bonavita, at the wedding of her friend Lexie Beatty Morris.
Johanna did not feel well on Monday, but went to work. When she was still under the weather on Tuesday — Sept. 11 — Joe urged her to stay home.
But she went into the office at an investment firm on the 93rd floor of the north tower.
Joe worked near the Trade Center. As he exited the subway, he saw the first plane smash into the north tower.
A life upended
I located her brother, John, and emailed him. He responded a few minutes later and graciously agreed to speak. When we connected after 25 years, it almost felt like old friends catching up.
John told me how 9/11 upended his life.
He had planned to move to New York after college, but lost interest after the attack. He visited ground zero to commemorate the first anniversary. President George W. Bush greeted families, including John’s aunt, who offered veiled advice regarding the plans to invade Iraq. “I hope you are making a prayerful decision,” she told the president.
Bush was taken aback, but continued shaking hands before circling back to tell John’s aunt that he prayed every day.
A photograph of Johanna Sigmund running in the New York City Marathon in November 2000.
After college, John, a Spanish speaker, spent a year with AmeriCorps teaching literacy to second graders in Kensington. After he explained to one class’s teacher why he wanted to take off for the anniversary of 9/11, she had her students write notes of support. John was struck by how many kids shared stories of loved ones they had lost to violence.
“Everyone has their 9/11,” he said.
Along the way, we all pay a price. Some more than others. But how one responds is a lesson for all as we navigate these trying times 25 years after 9/11.
John said he wonders how his life would have been different if not for Sept. 11. After a year teaching in Philadelphia, he moved to Texas, in part to get away. He earned a master’s degree in art education at the University of Texas in Austin before going on to teach at Say Sí, an after-school arts program in San Antonio.
John’s attempt to get away brought him back to New York. One of his students won an art award that included a trip for the student and teacher to Carnegie Hall. The artwork was displayed at the Winter Garden located near ground zero in May 2010.
“My heart sank,” John said. “I didn’t want to go anywhere near ground zero.”
Even then, nearly a decade after the towers fell, ground zero remained little more than a giant pit with the Freedom Tower slowly rising alongside it. In a macabre daily scene, tourists jammed the sidewalks, gawking and posing for pictures in front of what John could only see as a mass grave, while street hustlers sold photos of the hijacked planes crashing into the towers.
John tried to maintain his composure as he made his way through the gauntlet to the Winter Garden, but a man stepped in front of him and tried to sell him a fiery photo from the attack.
John snapped. He grabbed the stack of photos from the man, threw them in the air, and cussed him out. The two got into a tussle. After the fracas, John tried to gather himself by channeling his sister’s unflappable spirit.
John Sigmund (center) holds a picture of his sister, Johanna, as he and his family run down Kelly Drive toward the finish line of the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2001.d
“Johanna, help me,” he said to himself while overlooking ground zero. “I need to get it together.”
‘Beyond coincidence’
John calmed down and carried on. After the event, he met friends at a nearby bar. John was telling them about the run-in with the street hustler when he suddenly saw Johanna’s old boyfriend, Joe Bonavita, across the bar.
Joe had moved to New Orleans but, in a twist of fate, was in town for a 9/11 event. The two were not close but quickly bonded. John viewed the reunion as his sister’s handiwork.
“Some things are beyond coincidence,” he said.
Eventually, John did move to New York. The city helped him better find himself. After years of worrying about disappointing his parents or adding to their suffering, John told them he was gay. His parents, who have a deep Catholic faith, were supportive.
Twelve years ago, John returned to Philadelphia and fell in love with the city, and especially Fairmount Park.
After running the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2001, John Sigmund holds a photo of his sister, Johanna, and wears two medals around his neck — one he earned after finishing the race and another his sister won after completing the New York City Marathon in November 2000.Courtesy of Tony Webb / Office of the City Representative
But tragedy struck again in September. Three days after the 20th anniversary of 9/11, his father died.
For John, September remains the cruelest month. But he credits a strong support network of cousins and friends for helping him navigate life’s challenges — and added that Johanna always feels close by.
“I have a thing with the wind,” John said. “When I think about her, the wind will kick up.”
After losing his sister and father in September, John and his partner, Jaime, decided to add some positivity to the month. They got married last Sept. 26 and are planning an anniversary party in a couple of weeks.
A man allegedly shot his wife and then himself in what authorities said was a domestic dispute that unfolded Wednesday afternoon inside a car on Broad Street in North Philadelphia.
In a separate shooting about 40 minutes later, a man was fatally wounded on the 4900 block of Old York Road in the city’s Logan section, police said.
Just before 2:50 p.m., police responded to the 2900 block of North Broad Street near West Glenwood Avenue for a shooting and found a 36-year-old woman who had been shot twice, including in her face.
Police took her to Temple University Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition.
The gunman, 41, was taken by SEPTA Transit Police to Temple, where he also was listed in critical condition with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head, police said.
Police said the man shot his wife inside a Volvo on Broad Street. A gun was recovered from the scene.
No other details were immediately available.
In the shooting on Old York Road, the man who was shot was taken by private vehicle to nearby Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:37 p.m.
Nurses at three Jefferson Health facilities want to unionize under the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, saying their effort addresses safety and quality-of-care concerns.
Nurses at Jefferson Bucks Hospital filed paperwork with the National Labor Relations Board for an election to form a new union chapter at the hospital that, if approved, would represent 170 staff members.
In a separate filing, nurses at Jefferson Health — Center One, a primary care and outpatient facility in Northeast Philadelphia, and Willowcrest, a skilled nursing center at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital, are seeking membership in the existing nurses’ union at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia. If approved, the move would add 43 nurses from Center One and Willowcrest to Einstein Nurses United.
The organization efforts would bring more than 200 Jefferson Health nurses into union chapters affiliated with PASNAP.
At a news conference outside Jefferson Bucks Hospital in Langhorne Tuesday, nurses said they wanted to organize because hospital administrators have not heeded their concerns that understaffing, heavy workloads, and insufficient resources could harm patients and lead to staff burnout.
“Jefferson Bucks nurses are being asked every day to do more with less and less, and it’s getting harder and harder to feel like our concerns are actually being heard,” Ashley Bupp, an emergency room nurse at Jefferson Bucks Hospital, said in a statement.
Jefferson Health accused PASNAP, which represents some 11,000 nurses and other healthcare professionals across Pennsylvania, of “promoting a narrative that serves its organizing efforts and ultimately, its own bottom line.”
“PASNAP has once again relied on a predictable campaign of misleading claims and public attacks designed to generate headlines rather than constructive solutions,” the nonprofit health system said in a statement. “Jefferson remains focused on supporting our nurses, caring for our patients, and meeting the healthcare needs of the communities we serve.”
Kiersten McCalmant, a nurse at Jefferson Bucks Hospital, said she and her colleagues were inspired to organize by the nurses at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital.
Einstein Nurses United, which represents nearly 1,200 nurses, signed a new contract earlier this year that gave nurses raises, strengthened staffing, and included protections against forced shift rotations.
“We saw what a great contract they had already, and the fact that they were able to stand together and win improvements, and protect what they already had,” McCalmant said in a statement. “We thought, if nurses at Einstein can bargain with Jefferson and be successful, why can’t we?”
Six years ago, the Pennsylvania attorney general sued a group of tow-truck operators for allegedly towing cars unlawfully — and then using intimidation tactics, including the threat of a pit-bull attack, to pressure car owners to pay excessive fees.
Now, the office’s Bureau of Consumer Protection says the companies violated the terms of a 2022 consent order settling that lawsuit, and has asked a Philadelphia judge to find them in contempt.
The contempt petition, filed Sept. 2 in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia, seeks about $220,000 in penalties and restitution from the companies, Siani’s Towing and Recovery, Angelina’s Towing and Recovery, and Aubry’s Towing, which all operate out of the same address in North Philadelphia.
“The terms of this settlement were very clear, yet these companies continue to improperly tow consumers’ vehicles, and charge exorbitant fees,” Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a statement. “Predatory towing is a scourge that causes tremendous anguish and financial burden for the vehicles’ owners, and will not be tolerated.”
A person who answered the phone at the company hung up when contacted by a reporter.
According to the contempt petition, the Bureau of Consumer Protection has received 38 complaints about the towing companies’ conduct since the 2022 settlement.
Among them: The companies had persisted in towing peoples’ cars from spots not marked with proper signage, charging fees higher than what’s allowed by law, and harassing car owners who complained that their cars had been damaged while they were towed.
Some of the drivers were residents of apartment buildings, parking in the building lot with permission, when their cars were towed from their homes, according to the filing.
Broad Street, also designated State Route 611, has 31 speed cameras spread over 13 miles between Philadelphia’s northern and southern city limits. They began operating last September.
Since then, PPA has issued warnings or violations to nearly 800,000 speeders.
In October 2025, the Broad Street cameras issued 213,057 formal warnings to people who drove 11 or more miles per hour above the 25 mph limit.
Fines began the next month. In March, 70,498 fines were handed out based on speed-camera readings.
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“Fewer people are speeding, and that means fewer people seriously injured or killed on Philadelphia roadways,” Gabe Roberts, interim executive director of the PPA, said in an interview.
“That’s the goal and it’s how we measure the program’s success. We feel very good about where it stands today,“ Roberts said.
Drivers who travel more than 11 mph over the posted speed limit will eventually be ticketed, with fines starting at $100 and rising to $150 for those driving more than 30 mph over.
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When speed cameras were placed on Broad Street, some suburban commuters had concerns they were being targeted. PPA’s numbers found 59% of speeders lived in Philadelphia zip codes.
Speeding has dropped 95% on the roadway, based on the declining number of violations issued since the first month cameras were operating there, PPA said.
The Route 13 corridor — identified by the city as a particularly dangerous stretch of road — spans Baltimore Avenue in West Philadelphia, Hunting Park Avenue in North Philadelphia, and Roosevelt Boulevard in the Northeast before leaving the city by way of Frankford Avenue.
The first set of cameras along Route 13, in the Northeast, began issuing warnings in June, and there are not enough data to report from the corridor, officials said.
PPA also operates cameras to enforce school-zone speed limits at five elementary schools in the city. Those were installed in the spring and by law had to be shut down in the summer when school was not in session. Roberts said that the school zones will be assessed more fully in next year’s annual report.
