The Power Fifty 2009

21. Andy Reid, lifestyle
Coach, Philadelphia Eagles
New to list

Nothing taps into our wellbeing as Philadelphians like the Eagles’ success (read: failure). Eleven years into running the team, Big Red’s near-misses have been our ultimate tease, but the strange signing of quarterback/dog-abuser Michael Vick and a deep draft have given renewed hope for this year’s younger and faster version. Plus, Reid, 51, is utilizing that youth in oddball formations and plays. Maybe …

22. Carl Greene, transformational
Executive Director, Philadelphia Housing Authority
New to list

Brought in by Ed Rendell in 1998 to transform the housing authority, Greene, 53, actually made the patronage-ridden dumping ground legit. Remember the projects Southwark, Martin Luther King, Richard Allen, Tasker Homes? He rebuilt them all. His agency is the largest city landlord, overseeing more than 15,000 rental units, and one of the best; a decade ago, the average wait for a PHA service call was 209 days; now, it’s 10. Greene’s latest score: securing the third largest HUD allocation of stimulus money in the country to get housing renovation projects going again, which will create an estimated 2,200 jobs locally.

23. Dick Hayne, lifestyle
Chairman of the Board and President, Urban Outfitters
New to list

Urban’s intensely private billionaire co–founder has built an -international — and, so far, recession-proof — empire of cool. His success secret: a honed knack for delivering retail -environments — and goods — that women want, even before they know they want them. Away from work, Hayne, 62, quietly wields his influence, surreptitiously gifting Drexel $25 million for expansion of its arts and design center, presiding over Springside’s board of trustees, furnishing -private-school scholarships to needy Philly kids, pioneering tenancy at the Navy Yard, and turning his green thumb into Terrain in Glen Mills, the country’s prettiest, hippest, newest garden-center concept.

24. Bill Hankowsky, influencer
CEO, Liberty Property Trust
2005: Not on list :: 2000: 34

Hankowsky is taking the green building movement very seriously: Liberty has dozens of LEED -projects — from Philadelphia to -Arizona — done or in the works. And in the role he assumed from Willard Rouse, he seems to be deftly steering his Malvern-based $5.4 billion real estate investment trust and commercial development firm through these tough economic times. While Hankowsky didn’t make our list in ’05, we did note then that he was a well-respected, under-the-radar power broker. Still one of those guys everyone seems to admire, he has risen on our list owing to his part in the changes to our city skyline: One source says he’s the reason the Liberty-developed Comcast Center can lay claim to eco-friendly LEED certification — the nation’s tallest building with that distinction. We’re grateful, too, for the little, curse-breaking William Penn statue he affixed to its top.

25. Dominic Pileggi, influencer
PA Senate Majority Leader
New to list

Pileggi, who turns 52 this month, has risen fast since 2002, when he joined the Pennsylvania State Senate to represent the 9th District, which includes parts of Delco and Chesco. He took over as Republican leader in 2006 and has set himself up as something of an anti-Fumo, working to make the state’s government what it’s never been: transparent. Last year he pushed through a rewrite of the Open Records Law. He was front-and-center during this fall’s budget-wrangling; going forward, insiders say he could exercise considerable power as the anti-Fumo in another way: by blocking state funding for city-based initiatives.