The Fashion district bans teens. Where do we go now?
By: Daijah Marrow
June 1, 2023
350 to 400 Philadelphia teens swarmed Center City in April 2023, causing a ruckus in the neighborhood. Due to these events, The fashion district set new restrictions; prohibiting minors from the mall without an adult.
The fashion district is a mall in the center city of Philadelphia. Teens started to go to The Fashion District in large groups, with up to 400 teens being there at once. Which result in a lot of fights and commotion. The general manager Ryan Williams shared with WHYY, how this affected the mall.
The mall typically targets teen shoppers, because many teens, like Felicia describe the mall as an escape and time to hang out with friends.
“it was fun to hang out with my friends. We went there almost every day… to get away from school.”, Said Felicia Warwick.
The mall had previous restrictions that let minors in without adult supervision before 5 pm. So many teens were surprised by how strict the new restriction is.
“ I thought they were playing because they said this before, but I guess they're taking them more seriously now”, said Felicia.
Due to these huge crowds of teens, the mall strengthened its age restrictions, prohibiting teens under the age of 18 from entering the mall without being accompanied by an adult age 23 or older after 2 pm. Teens like Jennifer felt like these new restrictions were not smart, and unfair.
“I feel like it's kind of dumb because, why are you making other people, pay for other people's actions? ”, said Jennifer Kaing.
The mall is now heavily secured and teens are carded before entering. Teens like Jeremy share how they were stooped from entering the mall.
“I was going there to see my girlfriend and then, we couldn't go inside… And then it was kind of like, we didn't know what to do from there,” said Jeremy Bermudez
Since the mall was explained as an “escape” for teens. Many teens are leaf wondering if was that effective and where they go to hang out now
“ Now that we can't go to the mall what will be the next place we’re banned from? what's next ? ”, said Jennifer.