Manayunk Bridge turns viaduct park, Zoning reform moves, Peale portrait sells and his early gallery, Christmas Village moves

The Reading Viaduct isn’t the only rail-viaduct-to-linear-park project cooking in Philly. Thanks to an exciting multi-municipal planning endeavor, the Manayunk Bridge over the Schuylkill will be redeveloped into a “park in the sky,” NewsWorks reports. The unused early 20th century rail bridge will connect the Cynwyd Heritage Trail in Lower Merion Township with the Ivy Ridge Trail in Philadelphia, creating an important link between the city and the suburbs for cyclists.

Yesterday zoning code reform took another step forward: City Council voted to send recommendations for zoning code reform back to the Zoning Code Commission (ZCC), including 40 proposed amendments generated since May. PlanPhilly’s Jared Brey reports, the ZCC has 30 days to rework the code and send it to Council for a final vote.

The Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent continues its controversial plan to deaccession pieces of its collection to finance its major restoration campaign. The Inquirer reports the Philadelphia History Museum sold a Charles Wilson Peale portrait of a free African American to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Peale’s Yarrow Mamout was created for his museum, and is not only one of the earliest formal portraits of an African American, but also a practicing Muslim.

Speaking of Peale, PhillyHistory blog ponders the Independence Hall’s Long Room where Peale’s first American museum and portrait gallery was installed and asks, “Is there any hope for new life in the Long Room?”

Occupy Philly protesters aren’t the only ones getting kicked out of Dilworth Plaza due to planned renovations. The Inquirer reports the Christmas Village will be relocated to LOVE Park this year.

The Buzz is Eyes on the Street’s morning news digest.