Finnegan’s own private street | Fishtown’s meat man | a better Kensington | ATV/dirt bike debate | abandoned Mt. Sinai

Finnegan’s Wake will get to privatize and pedestrianize a short stretch of Bodine Street, reports Kellie Patrick Gates from Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting. The Commission supported striking a portion of Bodine Street but not the bar/catering hall’s proposal for balconies looming over the Spring Garden Street sidewalk. City Council will get final approval.

The Inquirer visits Kissin Fresh Meats, a specialty meatpacking business in Fishtown, to talk fine meats with owner Stephen Verica. Unlike its once-plentiful competition, Kissin Fresh has held on despite the advent of “cryo-vacuum beef” and changing taste for 50 years.

In 2012 Jamie Moffett sees a better Kensington already. Moffett, an activist and documentary filmmaker, has a piece in today’s Daily News heralding cooperation between residents, Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and the 24th Police District on quality of life improvements in the neighborhood. He writes, “Despite missteps in the past, city organizations, community groups and neighbors are coming together to make something beautiful and transformative.”

Dirt bike and ATV season is back in full swing, and several Daily News reporters spent some time with riders in Hunting Park, Belmont Plateau, and on Beach Street in Kensington. “We’re like a family. Bikes bring us together. We’re not a gang; it’s a movement. We are about positive things,” one rider from West Oak Lane said. Even though the presence of daredevil ATVs and dirt bike riders is commonplace on city streets, they’re illegal and many neighbors are begging the city to crackdown on the dangerous behavior. The Police Department recently announced a stricter approach to illegal ATV/dirt bike riding.

Mt. Sinai, the abandoned hospital in Pennsport, gets its due thanks to GroLart writing for Hidden City Daily. The hospital, designed by Henry Magaziner, closed in 1997 and is on the market for a cool $8 million. Isn’t it time for reuse?

The Buzz is Eyes on the Street’s morning news digest. Have a tip? Send it along.