Construction at 30th Street Station is killing newsstand owner Randy Mapp’s business.

For 19 years, Upshur R. "Randy" Mapp Sr. has carved out a living from his newsstand, located just west of 30th Street Station on Market Street. It is, of course, a coveted prime vendor location considering the thousands of commuters and travelers who walk past the newsstand every day on their way to and from one of the East Coast's most heavily traveled train stations. Well, it was a prime location until last month when SEPTA began work on an elevator construction project at its 30th Street entrance, less than 10 feet away from Mapp's newsstand. The subway entrance was sealed off and a chainlink fence put up to separate pedestrians from the construction site. Unfortunately for Randy Mapp, the fence has also had the secondary effect of separating him from his newsstand customers. Since that day in early January when the jackhammers broke ground, Mapp says, he's been riding the train to the poorhouse.

"My business is off 90 percent. I was making $300 to $400 a day in sales until this," Mapp says, jerking his thumb at the construction site. "Now I'm lucky to make $50 or $60."

To illustrate his point, Mapp pulls out his sales book. Actually, it's just a dime store daily planner in which he tallies his daily take, but it serves the purpose. Prior to Jan. 5, the numbers average in the $300-$400 range, sometimes a little more, some days a bit less. After Jan. 5, there's a steady decline: $250, then $200, then $150, then less than $100. Some days much, much less. He hasn't seen a triple-figure day in a couple of weeks, he says, and the financial storm clouds are gathering.

"I'm having a lot of trouble paying bills," Mapp says, "and between you and me, I've been dipping hard into my savings. I don't know how much longer my wife and I can hold out."

Mapp, 65, a West Philadelphia resident originally from Norfolk, Va., moved to Philadelphia in 1959 and found a job driving a truck. In six years he had saved enough to buy his own lunch truck, and spent the next 20 years providing for his family by serving hot coffee and sandwiches to factory workers. When he sold the truck in 1984 and purchased the newsstand, Mapp figured he was set. Nice little cash business, picture perfect location and so many police nearby he'd never have to worry about robbery.

"My intention was to eventually retire, but I enjoy my newsstand so much, I haven't given any thought to retiring until this month," Mapp says. "I'm doing the best that I can, but I can't sustain myself on this kind of money for long. And I hear this SEPTA project might take two years. I don't have two years. I don't think I have two months."

SEPTA Community Relations Manager Louis Grisoglio says the transit authority sympathizes with Mapp's plight, and will make every effort to make him whole.

"We're exploring different avenues to assist Mr. Mapp," Grisoglio says. "We are looking into relocation and reimbursement. It is not our intention to hurt hard-working taxpayers. If we can relocate Mr. Mapp's newsstand to an appropriate location until the work is completed, we'll work with him on that."

Grisoglio says that as a government-subsidized agency, SEPTA can't just hand over wads of cash to Mapp, no matter how cruelly he's been inconvenienced. There are, however, cost contingencies built into every construction contract, and Grisoglio insists there's a distinct possibility that Mapp could be reimbursed out of these funds.

"There's no way that we're not going to work with him," Grisoglio says. "Sometimes these things get complicated, but believe me, it is our intention to see that Mr. Mapp is not inconvenienced any more than necessary and that he's compensated for his losses. We're working on it, we just ask Mr. Mapp for a little more patience."

SEPTA public affairs spokesperson Jim Whitaker confirms that the 30th Street elevator project could take two years, but defends the project and SEPTA's treatment of Mapp.

"We have to install the elevator to make the station handicapped-accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act," Whitaker says. "It's a necessary and worthwhile project, but we understand that Mr. Mapp has legitimate concerns. We have discussed those concerns with him and among ourselves, and we will continue to keep the lines of communication open with Mr. Mapp and work with him toward a solution that makes everybody happy."

Mapp says that while he's not crazy about the idea of relocating the newsstand, he would be open to it if SEPTA finds him a similar high-traffic location and assures him that when the elevator project is finished, he can have his old spot back. Negotiations are ongoing.

"I know that this is all in the name of progress," Mapp says. "I just don't want to be progressed right out of business."