Pennsport Teens Buying Alcohol from Cornhole-Playing Men Under I-95
And now for another edition of Drunk, Out of Control Philadelphia Teenagers!
Last month at a Radio 104.5 block party show at the Piazza, some of the teenagers got rowdy! A neighbor saw drunk teens urinated all over her “entire” house; another said he filmed teens having sex out in the open. One person went to NBC 10, which filed a typical local news-style report.
If you ever need to know the difference between the people who live in Northern Liberties and the people who live in Pennsport, please refer to this story: When a parent in Pennsport saw a group of “between 100 and 150” teens drinking on one of the piers south of the Walmart in Pennsport, he didn’t go to NBC 10. No, his story ended up on PlanPhilly, where Kellie Patrick Gates filed a decidedly un-local news-like report. And look how reasonable people in South Philly are!
“These kids aren’t doing anything that you or I didn’t do, or anybody else,” said Pennsport Civic Association President Jim Moylan. But, he said, they are doing it in a much more dangerous area than dark areas beneath I-95. And if someone got hurt, they are “thousands of yards away from civilization.”
This is about as nice as you can be when tattling on teenagers for, essentially, drinking in the woods.
It’s not surprising teenagers are using abandoned piers to drink: There’s not always much for teenagers to do — I doubt they play halfball anymore — and the piers at night are indeed thousands of yards away from civilization (Thousands of Yards away from Civilization is the title of my forthcoming essay collection; nobody steal it.) And, get this: The teens are getting beer from an organized collective of South Philly lawbreakers.
Based on conversations with his child and others, the parent said many of the teens are buying beer from a group of men who have established a weekend business of sorts beneath the I-95 ramp behind the Wawa. “They are getting the teenagers to give them twice as much as a quart would cost,” he said. In between customers, the men play hacky sack and corn hole (aka, bean bag toss). Some kids and other parents have told him that several local establishments are both selling to the men under I-95 knowing they will re-sell to minors, or selling to the minors directly without asking for ID.
This is even more South Philly than a flaming barrel. I can only imagine winning a game of cornhole is how one makes his bones in this crew.
Also, please note the parent is not only concerned with the illegal alcohol sales, but that the kids are getting ripped off. The parent interviewed by PlanPhilly — who grounded his son after finding out about the waterfront beer blasts — is left anonymous because “he fears his kids would face backlash from other teens over their dad trying to shut down their parties.” This, I believe, is an anonymous sourcing we can all get behind.
Lest you think only TV stations can get results after teen drinking, the PlanPhilly article has already made real change: Police will patrol the spot where the Cornhole Mafia hangs out. The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (which owns some of the piers) will do random patrols of the waterfront. The LCB has even been notified.
And Pennsport wins the award for Most Relatively Chill Parents in Philadelphia.
Previously: Teens Urinate on ‘Entire’ Northern Liberties Houses, Have Really Long Sex
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