Do-gooder in Philadelphia to be charged with trespassing after cleaning vacant lot

The city government of Philadelphia is looking to press charges against a man who took it upon himself to makeover a trash-filled abandoned lot owned by the city (at 20th and Annin).

Real-estate developer Ori Feibush, who owns a coffee shop adjacent to the lot in question, allegedly spent $23,000 of his own money beautifying the empty space, hauling away over 40 tons of trash as well as putting in new landscaping, sidewalks and picnic tables.

The lot before the make-over, with an alleged 40 tons of trash.

Meanwhile, the lot's actual owner is the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, aka the City of Philadelphia, and from a city perspective, Feibush is a trespasser.  Says the govt:

"Like any property owner, [the authority] does not permit unauthorized access to or alteration of its property. This is both on principle (no property owner knowingly allows trespassing) and to limit taxpayer liability."

Since the story broke out, "the Internet" has been up in arms, defending Feibush and lambasting the city as corrupt, backward, evil, etc.  Sites like Reddit.com have been filled with comments along the lines of "he just wanted to make the world a little bit nicer!" or "fuck the City of Philadelphia!"  And today, online vigilante group Anonymous posted a video planning to "go after" the government to fix this "tyranny and corruption."

But despite his good intentions, the truth remains that Feibush went onto someone else's property and completely overhauled it.  Whether it looks beautiful now, or is good for the community, or wasn't being done by the city, may be true but it's irrelevant.  He spent $23,000 modifying property that is not his.

The lot after Feibush's make-over.

If Feibush had simply cleaned the lot, lazy city officials may have still been embarrassed, but it's not likely they would want to charge him with anything.  But as Feibush's pictures show, the lot was changed significantly with construction and installations.  (I've clean a few trashed spaces in my home town with my friends, simply to feel good about it, but you can be sure if we constructed tables and fencing and landscaping we'd have been in trouble).


Trespassing laws are the consequence of living in a country with strong notions of individual liberty and personal property.  While Feibush seems like a nice guy with good intentions, imagine a city where people set out to "make over" any piece of property they feel is in disrepair without the owner's consent.  If the city of Philadelphia makes it impossible to improve or upkeep its vacant lots, the citizens should raise awareness of how best to streamline the government channels, or group together to purchase a lot to set an example, but violating property rights is a dangerous and ineffective precedent to making any city a better place to live.