Conrail weighs ‘all viable options’ for Philly’s Graffiti Pier after collapse

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know! Philadelphia muralist Ash Ryan doesn’t think she would be getting paid to do art today if it wasn’t for her experiences on Graffiti Pier. That’s because when the world economy shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ryan lost her job as a floral designer. So she began spending hours outside at the old Port Richmond coal pier experimenting with cans of spray paint. “There weren’t a ton of people there. Just me and my friends,” Ryan said. “I was just blown away. I’d never seen such a massive place and every square inch covered [with art].” WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor More than 30 years ago, Graffiti Pier was adopted by renegade artists, musicians and dancers after industry stopped using it to export coal. Everyone simply slipped behind locked gates and defied no-trespassing signs to party, make art or fish. People experiencing homelessness pitched tents, the pier’s owner asserts there was open drug use and other illegal activity. The site has its own social media channels documenting the wide range of experiences from engagement...