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As a streaming parade of cars made their way down Ninth Street during Monday night’s rush hour, one thing caught the attention of Randi Glatzer.
"What happened to the sign?" she shouted over traffic, referring to the bare pole near Christian Street that once displayed the state historical marker recognizing the Italian Market. The frequent shopper was surprised to see the sign gone.
"I think it’s terrible and it’s a wonderful marker for the neighborhood," the resident of the 600 block of Catharine Street said.
The seven-foot-high marker was dedicated Oct. 12 in front of a crowd of merchants, politicians and dignitaries, all excited for the newest addition to the 11-block span steeped in history.
Among them was Celeste Morello, a local historian who spearheaded the efforts to put the sign in place. Upon hearing of the Oct. 25 vandalism, Morello was deeply saddened.
"The fact that no one wants to reveal who these hateful people are is very disturbing," she said. "But it’s something I have come to accept living in this neighborhood and studying the social culture for so long."
Richard Montanez, assistant chief traffic engineer for the Streets Department, said the sign was physically removed from the six bolts that held it in place on the pole and thrown onto the street where it was believed to have been run over, leaving the cast aluminum sign "curved" and the paint scraped off. It was retrieved by employees at 12 Steps Down, 831 Christian St., who Morello said placed a call to the Streets Department Oct. 25, with Morello filing a police report with the 3rd District the following day.
According to Montanez, the marker was being held by the Streets Department where it was flattened out and repainted with the signature blue-and-yellow hues that distinguish every sign issued by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and has since been reinstalled. To Montanez’s knowledge, this was the first marker to be deliberately vandalized in the city, adding he was unsure of the repair costs.
Money is being collected by members of the Ninth Street Businessmen’s Association and other local merchants to pay the Streets Department for the marker, valued at $1,800, the roughly $350 for the installation and permit fees, as well as the cost of the repairs, Morello said. The money is being given to Father Joseph Kelly at St. Monica Roman Catholic Church, 17th and Ritner streets, who will give the funds to the Streets Department and allocate the remainder for parish needs.
The wording of
the marker — although it didn’t cause a stir among the merchants or those in the Businessmen’s Association — is thought to be the driving force behind the violence, Morello said. The marker’s title reads, "South 9th Street Curb Market" rather than "The Italian Market" — as it is commonly referred to — because, when founded, the site represented a number of immigrant cultures, commission Executive Director Barbara Franco told the Review at the dedication.
Morello said the choice to word it as such could have sparked anger in someone most likely of Italian ancestry — which she is herself — who decided to retaliate by defacing something Morello said adds value to the only market of its kind in the city.
"This is a historical marker, it’s not a commercial sign for tourists and visitors," she said. "It was placed there by the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission because they approved the market as an official historical site.
"It was intended to celebrate all ethnicities and races who have kept this market going to be the last curb market in the city to exist."
Glatzer, too, sees the vandalism as an unnecessary mode of expression.
"The way to deal with your problems is through political means and not through the violence of tearing a sign down," she said.
Morello added she would be surprised and dismayed if the violence can be directly tied to the sign’s wording.
"We never had a member of the [Ninth Street Businessmen’s Association] object to the wording at all," she said. "They work alongside people who are not of Italian ancestry. That’s just the way it is down there. Everybody calls it Ninth Street and all of a sudden people can only identify with the words ‘Italian Market.’"
