Grays Ferry community members say CHOP garage is a ‘health hazard’

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Dozens of residents, health professionals and advocates rallied in Grays Ferry on Saturday to protest a proposed parking garage for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Attendees gathered under a blazing sun in the vacant lot at 3000 Grays Ferry Ave., where CHOP plans to build a 1,005-unit garage, holding signs reading “Parks not Parking,” and “Choose health over profit.”

A hospital spokesperson said that as the hospital has grown, parking needs have also increased. The site at Grays Ferry was selected for a garage “due to its size, proximity to CHOP’s Philadelphia Campus, and location on a commercial corridor.” The hospital plans for employees to park there and use a shuttle service to reach the West Philadelphia campus.

The No CHOP Garage Coalition, made up of organizations including Philly Thrive, 5th Square, Asian Americans United and Reclaim Philadelphia, hosted Saturday’s rally.

Community members said they are concerned that the garage and accompanying traffic could exacerbate air pollution and adverse health conditions, such as asthma. Speakers pointed to the fact that a playground is located across the street on one side of the lot.

Shawmar Pitts, co-managing director of environmental justice group Philly Thrive and a lifelong resident of Grays Ferry, said the community has already suffered from higher rates of asthma and other health impacts because of air pollution from the nearby PES Refinery, which was shut down in 2019 after a fire and series of explosions.

“You’re going to bring all of these cars here and you’re going to add more fumes and more bad air quality to our community where we suffer from those ailments big time,” he said.

“We don’t want it. We don’t need it,” said Valerie Carr, 77, another lifelong resident of Grays Ferry and a Democratic committeeperson. “It’s a health hazard.”

Christal Heath, a member of Philly Thrive who grew up in Grays Ferry, said the hospital is “trying to get rich off of a Black and brown neighborhood.”

“What they’re doing right now, putting this garage in there, they’re getting rich off of our children,” she said. “Because when they get sick, they’re not going to take them to Saint Christopher’s. They’re not going to take them nowhere else. They’re going to take them straight to CHOP. And I don’t think CHOP needs to build this garage because it’s a health hazard to the whole community.”

Michelle Rose, a CHOP pediatrician and neighborhood resident, told WHYY News that she was among 120 hospital employees who signed a petition opposing the garage and submitted it to CHOP administrators this July.

“There are a lot of doctors here today that just stand against the environmental pollution that’s going on and the environmental toxicity that’s being burdened on this community that already has so much burden from the past 100 plus years,” Rose said.

She said the community suffers from higher rates of asthma, diabetes, depression, leukemias and cancers.

“We find it abhorrent that a children’s hospital wants to build a giant garage that will bring 1,000 cars to the area that wouldn’t even serve the community, that’s just gonna make all that pollution even worse, trigger more asthma and create worse health outcomes for all the residents that live in the community,” she said.

Rose said response from the hospital has been “slow, but … steady.”

“I think that because of our voices and because of all the voices in the community, they’ve had such a strong voice themselves, that they’ve opened the door for more meetings, more negotiations, hopefully more compromise, if not just stopping the garage from happening,” she said.

The hospital said in a statement that it has engaged with the community in 10 meetings to discuss how the garage would impact residents.

“We recognize there have been multiple concerns related to this garage, and we are taking them seriously,” the statement reads. “As a result, we have modified the project design to include a ground-floor community health space, more greenery and public art, and improved pedestrian features like benches, bike racks, ADA access, and crosswalks.”

The hospital also said it “is promoting child and community health in the Grays Ferry neighborhood through several community-requested initiatives,” which include five-year grant funding for Grays Ferry nonprofits, exploration of expanded pediatric clinical services in the neighborhood and support for local employment and parking options for residents near the garage.

The hospital previously told The Philadelphia Inquirer that construction was slated to begin late this summer, for an opening in fall 2026. A spokesperson told WHYY News on Saturday they could not provide further details on the project’s timeline.

More than 1,000 people have signed the coalition’s petition calling for CHOP to end the project. Rallygoers said they plan to continue to protest the garage.

“That’s not going to stop, not today,” Carr, the Grays Ferry resident, said. “That’s going to continue, because the more you fight, the more we might, you know, get what we need out here, and we don’t need CHOP.”

Speakers invited protesters to attend the Philadelphia City Planning Commission’s meeting on Sept. 22 from 6-8 p.m. at Finnegan Recreation Center. The CHOP garage is not on the agenda, but Pitts said he is urging residents to voice their concerns about the project.

“We want to be a meaningful part of the process, not just window dressed as you talk to the community, right?” Pitts said. “Because you did talk to the community, and we’ve stated over and over again, we don’t want a parking garage here.”