On the campaign trail, we asked Jim Kenney (and all candidates) to commit to stopping politicos from parking on the City Hall plaza and to restore the plaza to its intended use as a pedestrian space. On day one as Mayor, he held to his word, and the City Hall parking lot is dead. Thank you, Mayor Kenney!

Streetsblog celebrates the death of City Hall Parking Lot by saying:

The Jim Kenney administration is off to a promising start in Philadelphia. One of the mayor’s first acts in office was to end the thoroughly obnoxious practice of letting government honchos park on the sidewalk "apron" around City Hall... Ending the practice was on the wish list of urbanist political action group 5th Square. [emphasis added.] 

5th Square announced our very first round of endorsements from the City Hall parking lot in May 2015.

On Philly Mag's Citified blog, Holly Otterbein writes, "City Hall’s doorstep is no longer a parking lot for Philadelphia’s self-important political class. And thank God for that." Otterbein continues:

This move will greatly please urbanists, who have long complained that the VIP parking is an eyesore that detracts from the grand beauty of City Hall. In recent months, the urbanist PAC 5th Square railed against it, and an Associated Press editor created a single-issue Tumblr mocking it. But the so-called “City Hall parking lot” pissed off more than journalists and urban design geeks. Seeing politicians treat public space like their own personal driveway offended many residents on a gut level.

This is one of Kenney’s first (small-ball) moves as mayor, and it sends a smart, populist message: His administration will work for all Philadelphians, not just elites. [emphasis added.]

 Thanks to all of our supporters who contacted Mayor Kenney to support returning the City Hall plaza to pedestrians.