North Philly Residents Rush To See Crap

Yesterday was the grand opening of developer and Joey Sweeney patron — that’s a joke, people — Bart Blatstein’s new Avenue North complex in North Philly.

Although there are drawbacks — “It’s definitely going to bring a lot more people. A lot more traffic. I’m definitely going to have to use the crosswalk rather than jaywalking,” Stanley Daniel told Metro — the benefits of the retail/student housing project on Broad Street inbetween Oxford and Cecil B. Moore seem to outweigh having to cross the street at the light.

There $100 mil project features 1,200 student housing units, 20 retail spaces — Qdoba! Foot Locker! Bank of America! — and, best of all, a movie theater. Although Blatstein’s company also built Riverview, The Worst Movie Theater In The City™, prospects are a little better for the Pearl.

But although you can put a $100 million dollar complex in North Philly, you can’t buy taste. Just ask our friend Daniel:

With the gala red carpet opening for the first movie theater in North Philadelphia to open in 60 years going on across the street, Stanley Daniel was trying to get movie times. “Is the new ‘Van Wilder’ playing here?” he asked, while the well-dressed patrons inside ate popcorn and hors d’oeuvres at the opening of the Pearl Theatre at the new Avenue North complex on Broad Street last night.

Unfortunately, The Pearl isn’t playing National Lampoon’s Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj. But the dollar movies running right now aren’t so bad: They have Invincible!

Theater of engagement [Metro]