Mayor's office says city doing away with ‘block party blacklist'

PITTSBURGH — The city of Pittsburgh decided to get rid of a list that contained 19 streets within the city that were banned from having block parties due to past violence or complaints.

Carey Alton Jr., a resident of Homewood, said he and his wife were denied a $25 permit for the block party they and their neighbors were planning to host because their street was blacklisted by the Public Works Department.

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“Apparently some years ago there was a big fight a couple of blocks down. I don’t know if there was a shooting but they banned the whole street,” said Alton.

Alton said he believes that people who pay property taxes and are contributing to their community should not be punished for the acts of a few people.

Katie O’Malley, of the Mayor’s Office, said that Mayor Bill Peduto did not know about the banned list and that it is something that goes against the city’s goal of bringing people together.

“It’s safe to say this is not a practice they will be maintaining,” O’Malley said.

There is no timetable for when the city will get rid of the list, and Alton said his community will attempt to hold another block party next year.

WPXI