Marquis

ARE YOU FED UP with filth in Philly? Email me at trash@phillynews . com, or find my page on Facebook. NO HOUSE, NO SERVICE: Last week I met Joe Moran, who lives in Grays Ferry and was ticked that trash collectors who rumble down Newkirk Street aren't required to pick up garbage that is illegally dumped on Reed Street near 28th. Streets Department officials said that since no homes are on that block, there should be no trash to collect. If only it were that simple.

IF YOU HAVE a bone to pick with litterbugs in your neighborhood and you want to take a bite out of grime, email the Marquis at trash@phillynews.com , or find my page on Facebook. In late May, I visited the New World Shopping Plaza, at 6th Street and Washington Avenue, where the South Philly springtime breeze smelled more like a dirty diaper. Neighbors near the shopping center, at the crossroads of the Queen Village, Bella Vista and Southwark neighborhoods, said trash was overflowing from the Dumpsters - attracting cat-size rats, and forcing a foul smell into their homes when they opened doors and windows.

A PROPOSAL from City Council to tweak the laws concerning one of the city's many dirty habits - and to monetize it - has incensed some neatness freaks, who say that the idea will make it even more difficult for Philadelphia to clean up its act. Proposed legislation from Councilman Curtis Jones and Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell would allow advertisers to post "bandit signs" for 90 days, after paying a $1 fee for each sign they plan to post. The signs usually tout services, like erasing bad credit, buying ugly homes and hauling away junk cars for cash.

The annals of American history have given the Marquis de Lafayette a unique place in the heritage of our nation. They have granted him the status of great friend of the United States and a hero of its Revolutionary War. Locally, a number of places bear his name. A college in the state was named for him, and across the country there are several towns named after him. Many historians believe that he secured these honors because of his leadership in a military maneuver at Barren Hill in May 1778.

AMONG CRIME, vacant properties and litter, it's hard to decide which annoys Philadelphians most. Disgruntled - and disgusted - neighbors told the Marquis that all three issues feed off one another to make life in the City of Brotherly Love a living hell. They're frustrated with calling city agencies that claim to be overwhelmed and underfunded to make their slice of the city more desirable. They're also angry that their cries for help seem to get lost in the multitude of organizations charged with improving living conditions, like the Streets Department, Licenses & Inspections and others.

IT MAY NOT totally solve the problem, but at least it's progress. Police have arrested two men for short dumping on an overgrown lot on Beach Street next to the Delaware River, in Port Richmond, that is home to thousands of discarded tires and a few teetering trash heaps - and which you may have read about in a previous Marquis column. The lot, owned by Glasgow Inc., a highway-construction company based in Glenside, has also been the site of at least two fires since September and is the target of an Environmental Protection Agency complaint from neighbors.

NEIGHBORS NEAR the New World Shopping Plaza, at 6th Street and Washington Avenue in the Southwark section of South Philly, are fed up with trash from Dumpsters there spilling over into the parking lot and onto the sidewalks. A restaurant manager at the shopping center says he's just as upset about the situation - and has lent his own time, energy and money trying to fix it. Harry Tran, a manager at the Ba Le Restaurant and Bakery, said all the businesses in the shopping plaza use a common trash area behind his restaurant.

THE TRASH on Daggett Street, in Southwest Philadelphia, is not enough to push Kim Jones, a lifetime city dweller, out of the neighborhood. However, her next-door neighbor, Ahlicia Bullock, is ready to make a run for the 'burbs. "I'm trying to pack up and get the hell out of here," she said on the steps of her home. ALLEY SPAT: Neighbors on Daggett Street near Dicks Avenue are confronted with a pile of discarded couches on the street and a festering pile of garbage in an alley behind their homes.

LAST WEEK, I stopped by the New World Shopping Plaza, at 6th and Washington, after a neighbor complained about overflowing Dumpsters that were taking over a corner of the lot. The Marquis checked back Wednesday afternoon and the Dumpsters were nearly full, but were far from overflowing into the parking lot. Progress may be slow, but it's a start. If you want results, send me an email at trash@phillynews.com or find me on Facebook at www.philly.com/MarquisFB . PARKING-LOT BLUES: An Indian restaurant, a Chinese takeout, a pizza place and a salon are among businesses sharing the block on Oakland Street near Cottman Avenue, in the Northeast - and the trash that litters the crumbling parking lot behind the stores is arguably as diverse as the services.

TWO VACANT and trashy lots on Dover Street near Thompson don't do much for the overall curb appeal of the houses in that slice of Brewerytown. Carol Diament, who's trying to sell a rental property she owns near the two lots, says the eyesores are dragging down property values in the neighborhood - along with her asking price for the house. Diament said that a block of Dover Street near Jefferson is spic-and-span and that she thought her block would eventually look the same way. "But it just hasn't gone anywhere," she said.