Drugs, Life on Cocaine Corner

Stephen Shames

Philadelphia Inquirer

They used to be the Erie Boys, a loose gang of Puerto Rican teenagers who hung out most of the day in Philadelphia's Hunting Park area. They no longer idle away their time. Now they have steady jobs, pulling down $500 to $600 a week. They have cars and nice clothes. They sell cocaine. In fact, cocaine is probably the number one industry in the neighborhood. Cocaine is sold, openly, 24 hours a day, involving thousands of young people. The corner of Marshall and Tioga stands in the heart of cocaine territory. The photographer spent ten weeks covering the life of the dealers, the addicts, the police and the many law-abiding families who must live on Cocaine Corner. Here, a drug sale in progress.

Stephen Shames, "Drugs, Life on Cocaine Corner," in POYi Archive, Item #14133, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/14133 (accessed May 5, 2025).