NIMBY values are set to hurt Philly's poorest again as an anti-bulletproof glass bill was passed Thursday by the city council's Public Health and Human Services committee. The bill will ban some stores, including delis in the city's most dangerous areas, from using the glass to protect its employees.

Somehow, removing a barrier against harm in high-crime areas is supposed to restore the "dignity" of dining in these establishments - or force them to close. Unlike the affluent areas represented by councilwoman Cindy Bass, who proposed this idiotic bill, the city's poorer areas rely on such businesses for many services - stamp and SEPTA token purchases, bill pay, and purchasing basic goods in otherwise retail-starved areas - and will be the ones paying the price. Hey, I guess it's more dignified for a struggling area to lose the few businesses it already has and end up with compounded blight, as these less-than-chic establishments close up. We all know what dignity it brings us to deal with long-abandoned storefronts, and the ever-savory activities that occur within them after they are boarded up. Law of unintended consequences for the win!

‍