Philadelphia’s Unemployment Rate Drops to Lowest In 30 Years

Philadelphia unemployment rate

Philadelphia’s unemployment rate is lower than it’s been in decades.

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Philadelphia Unemployment Rate Drops to Lowest In 30 Years

As we shared with you last week, Philly Mag’s April cover story is “An Optimist’s Guide to Philadelphia”. And it’s exactly what it sounds like it is: A thoughtful, data-driven glass-half-full look at a city that is usually viewed from a more glass-half-empty point-of-view. My personal contribution to the optimistic (but not unrealistic!) feature was this: “Yes, Philadelphia Is Safer Than They Say On TV”. Because it really is!

And it turns out that we here at Philly Mag aren’t the only ones bearing good news about Philadelphia. The Pew Charitable Trusts just released their annual “State of the City” report on Philadelphia. And it includes plenty of data that should make you happy, or at least hopeful.

Philadelphia’s unemployment rate in 2023? Down to 4.2 percent, on average. That’s the lowest Philadelphia unemployment rate in more than 30 years. Median household income? That went up 19 percent from 2019 to 2022. Good news? Yes. But, as Pew rightly points out, our median household income is still significantly below the national average. We’re also becoming a more diverse city, with the percentage of residents born outside of the United States at 15.7 percent, the highest percentage since way back in the 1940s. (Of course, depending on your politics, you might think that’s a very bad thing; we don’t.) And 36 percent of our residents have a four-year degree or better, a number that goes up to more than 50 percent when looking at those between the ages of 25 and 34.

The Pew report certainly doesn’t ignore major problems the city still faces, including with public safety (though that’s clearly improving), public transportation, poverty and the opioid crisis.

“In this year of transition,” reads the report, “the challenge is clear for Philadelphia and its new leaders: They must nurture and strengthen the positive trends while making progress on a set of deep-seated problems that can sometimes seem intractable. That mission won’t be easy. But its success is essential for the future of the city and its people.”

You can say that again.

Read the full Pew report on Philadelphia for yourself here.

More Deadlines!

Yesterday brought with it an important deadline: filing your taxes. And today brings with it yet another important deadline: requesting a mail-in ballot in Pennsylvania. You can request one here. You can also just go to your county’s local election office, get a ballot and hand it in. The biggest race you’ll be voting in is Pennsylvania Attorney General. Here’s what you need to know about all that.

Local Talent

Code Emo is a local musical duo that performs, well, emo tunes, as well as music of other genres. And they got a major assist over the weekend when playing a set at the popular Green Parrot bar and restaurant in Newtown, Bucks County.

As they were rolling through “Whiskey Glasses” by Morgan Wallen, they noticed a big guy at the back of the room singing and dancing along. At some point, Code Emo’s lead singer realizes said big guy is none other than Philadelphia Eagles crooner (and offensive tackle) Jordan Mailata, who lent his stellar pipes to those Eagles Christmas albums.

Knowing that Mailata is a John Legend fan, Code Emo immediately starts playing a John Legend song. And before long, the staff at the Green Parrot is telling Code Emo that Mailata wants to do some songs with them. And he does! It doesn’t get much better than that for a local bar band.

You can check out some of the action on Code Emo’s Instagram page.

By the Numbers

$600,000: Speaking of Bucks County, this is the amount that the former director of medical staffing at Doylestown Hospital just pleaded guilty to stealing from the the hospital’s charitable account. That money was supposed to help the community as well as hospital employees in need. Instead, Norma Galagarza used the funds to pay her taxes, car payments, credit cards, and cell phone bill. Hey, at least she actually paid her taxes!

50: Stories expected at the really tall Harper Square, an apartment building that’s about to go up in Rittenhouse Square. The project has been under discussion for about four years and is finally moving forward with construction. No word on what the rent is going to be, but keep in mind that you’ll want to budget for regular meals at Goldie and The Dandelion, which are just around the corner.

0: Number of independents who will be able to vote in Pennsylvania’s primary, which is a week away. That’s thanks to Pennsylvania’s silly closed primary system. But some are working to change that.

And From the Unlikely-Hero Sports Desk …

In last night’s Phils game vs. the Rockies, Trea Turner doubled in the third and Bryce Harper singled him home to give starter Aaron Nola a 1-0 lead, but Michael Toglia tied it in the fifth on a solo homer. Nola made it through the seventh, in which he struck out the side, and started the eighth as well before coming out for José Alvarado. Nola had nine strikeouts and only allowed four hits and one walk.

In our half, Kyle Schwarber walked to lead things off and took second on a wild pitch. Trea Turner struck out, Bryce Harper flied out, Cristian Pache came in to run for Schwarbs, and the Rockies made a pitching change, bringing in Jalen Beeks to face J.T. Realmuto, who made the third out with a fly ball. On to the ninth! Jeff Hoffman was masterful through two batters, with a pop fly and a strikeout, before Elías Diaz doubled off the wall. Hoffman’s wild pitch sent Diaz’s pinch runner, Kyle Freeland, to third, Nolan Jones was intentionally walked, and this went down:

Nice body block, Jeff! The Rockies challenged the call to no avail. Last chance for the Phils, but Brandon Marsh, Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott couldn’t do squat. Tenth time, with Seranthony Domínguez on the mound. Harper made a nice play to stop a potential single, the runner on second took third on a long fly, and Brenton Doyle flew out to end that threat. In our half, Whit Merrifield sac-bunted second-base runner Bryson Stott to third; Alec Bohm, pinch-hitting for Rojas, grounded out; and Pache, of all people …

The first walk-off winner of his career. Woo! The Rockies are up again at CBP tonight, same 6:40 start.

Got Any NBA News?

As a matter of fact, we do. Joel Embiid is on the USA roster for the Paris Olympics. And there’s this as well:

And please enjoy this replay of former Sixer and current Houston Rocket center Boban Marjanovic deliberately missing his second free throw in order to provide free chicken to the masses:

What a guy. The Flyers also play.

All Philly Today sports coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.

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How Philly’s Get the Led Out Became the World’s Best Led Zeppelin Tribute Band

led zeppelin tribute band get the led out, also known as GTLO

Paul Sinclair (left) and Paul Hammond of the Led Zeppelin tribute band Get the Led Out / Photograph by Lisa Schaffer

It was 1970 when Paul Hammond’s father began playing Led Zeppelin on the family’s reel-to-reel in Montco. Then-five-year-old Hammond wasn’t exactly a fan. “I was so scared of that music,” he says. “It was dark. I was much more comfortable listening to the Beatles, who seemed so … happy.”

Decades later, Hammond, who still lives in Montco, stands in for Jimmy Page in the most successful tribute band there is to Led Zeppelin, a group that hasn’t performed since a 2007 one-night reunion. Get the Led Out, in which Hammond plays guitar alongside singer Paul Sinclair and a lineup of four top session musicians from the Philly area (the two Pauls are the only original members), takes a break from a 50-city tour this month to play a three-night run at Collingswood’s 1,050-seat Scottish Rite Auditorium. And then they’re back in the area for shows at the Keswick in June.

“We play 130 shows a year,” says Hammond, now 58. “And not in small rock clubs — in theaters. It’s fair to say I don’t have to do anything else to live. This is it.”

In the early 2000s, Hammond and Sinclair weren’t exactly selling out theaters. They were working recording-studio jobs while playing a classic rock cover band’s monthly bar gig. Then, in 2003, Sinclair got a call from somebody who wanted to launch a Led Zeppelin tribute. The caller didn’t just want the band to sound the part. He wanted the members to look like Led Zeppelin, too. “Paul pretty much put his foot down when they said he should dye his hair blond to look like Robert Plant,” Hammond says of his dark-haired bandmate. They quickly abandoned the look-alike plan.

What would set Get the Led Out apart, the pair decided, was that their tribute band would perform, note for note, the album versions of Led Zeppelin songs, complete with vocal and guitar overdubs (which Led Zeppelin utilized heavily in the studio) and sound effects, such as the wild theremin-punctuated interlude in “Whole Lotta Love.”

We play 130 shows a year. And not in small rock clubs — in theaters. It’s fair to say I don’t have to do anything else to live. This is it.”

Because Led Zeppelin was a four-piece band, and, well, because its members were likely inebriated much of the time, this was something the iconic original group couldn’t do had they wanted to. Hammond acquired and performs on the same guitar and amp models — down to the year — that Page used. Hammond says the value of one guitar is $25,000. The result is like you’re sitting at home listening to the album, except it’s being performed live. Meticulously. And it all seems to have worked.

“We really didn’t have to pay our dues,” says Hammond. “Nobody else was attempting it, and we were all virtuosos. So it just took off.”

Another reason for Get the Led Out’s success: It’s unlikely you’ll see the same show twice in the same town. Hammond promises that all three nights of the Collingswood leg will be different from each other — and even distinct from the last time the band played there. Sinclair keeps a database of each show in every town to ensure just that. The same will be true for Get the Led Out’s 10th performance at massive Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado later this year.

In retrospect, Hammond confesses, he originally wanted nothing to do with a Led Zeppelin tribute — or any tribute, for that matter. “I just wanted to help out Sinclair,” he says. “But I have to admit: This isn’t exactly a bad gig.”

Published as “Whole Lotta Led” in the April 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.

Disney World Has a Major Comcast Problem

Mickey Mouse at Disney World, which is just down the road from Comcast's Universal Studios

Mickey Mouse at Disney World, which is just down the road from Comcast’s Universal Studios (Getty Images)

Check phillymag.com each morning Monday through Thursday for the latest edition of Philly Today. And if you have a news tip for our hardworking Philly Mag reporters, please direct it here. You can also use that form to send us reader mail. We love reader mail!

Disney World Has a Comcast Problem Thanks to Universal Studios

Around here, Comcast is mostly known as the company that delivers cable TV and internet services to your house. But let us not forget that Comcast bought NBC Universal more than a decade ago. That means Comcast is very much in the television and movie business — and Comcast did very well at the Oscars last month — as well as the theme-park business, via its Universal Studios parks around the world.

The best-known theme park in the universe is, of course, Disney World. But Comcast’s Universal Studios have been slowly nipping at the heels of Disney. That’s thanks, in no small part, to the Harry Potter rides and experiences Universal offers. There’s also plenty for fans of Jurassic Park and those Minions.

Comcast’s Universal presence in Florida — just down the road from Disney World — is in the middle of a massive expansion. And this expansion comes while Disney World lags behind in terms of major new developments. That, and Disney World turned some smiles upside down with recent price increases and more on the way.

“It is a classic case of the smaller rival taking on the industry leader,” write Wall Street Journal reporters Jacob Passy and Robbie Whelan in this in-depth analysis of the rivalry that dropped over the weekend, ominously headlined “The Threat In Disney’s Backyard.”

The authors go on to explain that while Disney is currently way ahead of Comcast in terms of revenue — Disney’s division that includes theme parks posted $32.5 billion last year compared to Universal’s $8.95 billion for the corresponding division — Universal has positioned itself to flip Disney World fans. And even if families don’t opt to go to Universal instead of Disney World, what if families who used to spend five days and all their vacation dollars at Disney World suddenly decide to do three days at Disney World and two at Universal?

Some notable comments on that story:

Feedback from co-worker just back from an Orlando spring break trip: Universal was great, Magic Kingdom a dud. Too crowded and overpriced.

Legitimate and concerning culture war issues aside, Disney is unparalleled. Iconic timeless characters and a unique and unforgettable vacation experience. There’s something for everyone.

You forgot to mention that some of us will never spend another dollar on Disney anything ever again. Their trans and queer programming directed at children was the end for me.

Absolutely zero interest in artificial attractions such as these. My travel is focused on experiencing the history, culture, and art of our own country, and other countries and regions of the world.

I have to agree with the last commenter. Never been to Disney World. Never been to Universal. Am so glad that my kids never showed any interest. Zilch.

Center City Stabbings

The crime-talk of the weekend in Philadelphia was most definitely the stabbings that took place in Center City on Saturday. First, a 24-year-old woman was stabbed in the chest and a finger near 13th and Chancellor streets around 8:30 on Saturday morning. And just after noon, a one-year-old boy was stabbed in the arm in the Rittenhouse Square area. On Saturday night, police arrested Takeira Hester in West Philadelphia and charged her with the crimes. Fortunately, none of the injuries were fatal. There’s reportedly an open warrant for Hester out of New York, where she allegedly stabbed a person who was trying to break up a fight on the subway.

By the Numbers

60: Years ago today that MLK delivered a speech at Cheltenham High School. He was paid $1,000 for the appearance.

60: Years ago tomorrow that Wawa opened its first convenience store. Why am I telling you this today instead of tomorrow? So you can plan on stopping by your local Wawa for a free cup of coffee. Wawa says it will give away about 1.5 million coffees of any size to celebrate the anniversary.

145,298: Fans who attended the two-night WrestleMania 40 event in South Philadelphia last weekend. That’s not counting all the folks who came into the city for some of the other festivities, like the wrestling matches that happened in the middle of a shut-down South Street. Officials are already angling to bring WrestleMania to Philadelphia again. Prior to WrestleMania 40, Philadelphia hadn’t hosted the wild show for 25 years.

11:59 p.m.: Today’s deadline for filing your taxes. Well, that’s the deadline for filing online. If you’re filing on paper (do people even do that anymore?), you need to get your envelope postmarked before your local post office closes today.

Local Talent

Congrats to Dionicio Jiménez, the chef behind Kensington’s much-lauded Cantina La Martina. And he just earned a rare four-star review from Philly Mag restaurant critic Jason Sheehan. As if it wasn’t already hard enough to get a table there, Jason.

Congrats are also in order for the Philly filmmaking team behind the hit sports documentary Kelce, which is all about you-know-who. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences just nominated the film for two Sports Emmys, one for Outstanding Long Documentary and one for Outstanding Editing. We’ll find out the winners on May 19th. If you still haven’t seen Kelce, you can do so here.

And From the Weekend-Wrap-Up Sports Desk …

For their next-to-last regular-season game on Friday night, the (mostly healthy!) Sixers (then 45-35) started Kyle Lowry, Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Joel Embiid against the Magic (then 46-34). And guess what? It was close — right up until Tyrese heated up at the end of the first quarter, which ended with us up 40-27. Hey, have you seen Joel’s new AT&T commercial? Pretty cute!

Orlando battled back to within five toward the end of the first — and Joel headed to the locker room after wrenching his knee. Yikes. At the half: 68-61 us, with some help from a technical foul on Franz Wagner for mouthiness. Joel came back, thank God, in the second half, and the lead stretched back out, though Joel was a little gimpy. This was fun, though!

He had 32 points in the final, much needed seventh straight win: 125-113. But he was out for Sunday afternoon’s season finale vs. the Nets, also played at home, so starters were Oubre, Maxey, Mo Bamba, Lowry and Harris. The report said keeping Joel out was a “precautionary” measure. Tyrese was hot from the jump, and the Sixers set a healthy lead before the Nets climbed back up and we chilled off. End of the first quarter: 23-22 Nets. The Sixers started hitting threes, though, and led 55-44 at the half. The Nets were cold through much of the third, and a Buddy Hield buzzer-beater let the Sixers grow an 81-64 lead. A 10-0 Sixers run in the fourth quarter helped them stretch things out to a 107-86 win. You want to know the complicated course of things henceforth in the playoffs? Here you go! For now, play the song.

How’d the Phillies Do?

On Thursday night, Ranger Suárez went six scoreless innings against the Pirates, struck out eight, gave up two walks, and allowed just two hits at CBP. A fourth-inning homer by Alec Bohm was key, and Brandon Marsh tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on a long fly ball off the top of the fence. Hold on, let’s take another look at that. Yup, it’s a two-run homer! Then Nick Castellanos got on, and Bryson Stott whacked his first homer of the year! Bohm had a wild catch to end the game at 5-1 Phils.

On Friday night, debuting their new City Connect unis (which are ugly as phuck), Cristopher Sánchez was on the mound and walked three and had an error and a wild pitch in the first inning, putting the Phils in a 1-0 hole. He’d notched five K’s by the end of the third, but he allowed another run in the fourth before Brandon Marsh doubled and Bryson Stott hit a blooper that pitcher (and former Phillie) Bailey Falter misread, bringing Marsh home.

Sanchez had retired seven in a row by the close of the fifth but came out after the sixth for Yunior Marte, and the Pirates got another after his pitch crossed up J.T. Realmuto  and hit the catcher in the wrist, laying him flat: 3-1. With two outs, Marte then walked the bases loaded on a timing violation. Double yikes. But he struck out Oneil Cruz to end the pain. Damn, two more added in the eighth, off Ricardo Pinto. We loaded the bases in the bottom half vs. Aroldis Chapman and got one in on a walk, but Marsh struck out to end it. And that was the final: 5-2.

Saturday’s 4:05 start saw Spencer Turnbull taking the mound, and it was déjà vu all over again as Pittsburgh jumped out to a 1-0 lead. But Schwarber led us off with a long homer to center to tie things up, and Trea Turner followed that with a double. After two quick outs, Nick Castellanos singled him home for the lead. Oneil Cruz gave the Pirates the lead with a two-run homer at the start of the fifth, and that brought on Matt Strahm, who struck out five Pirates in a row through the sixth.

Gregory Soto came on for the seventh and got Cruz to hit into a double play. In our half, Schwarbs walked and took second on a passed ball by Chapman, then third on a fielder’s choice. After Harper walked as well, Bohm singled to tie things up. Pitching change! Colin Holderman struck out Castellanos and got Stott to fly out. Jose Alvarado got through the eighth unscathed, but so did Hunter Stratton. On came Jeff Hoffman and got ’er done; Jose Hernandez pitched the ninth for Pittsburgh and gave up a Schwarbs single. Whit Merrifield came on to run for him, Turner walked, Hernandez made a wild pitch to advance the runners, and then made another wild pitch — but Harper struck out, and there was one last pitching change, for Roansy Contreras, with Castellanos at bat.

Maybe you stayed indoors to watch Sunday’s series finale. But the rest of the world was in the glorious outdoors, enjoying a perfect spring day. Me, I was digging up dandelions and thistles from the lawn at my kid’s new house. And that was a wise decision, as the Phils got a 9-2 shellacking by the Pirates. We were actually ahead 2-1 until starter Zack Wheeler had a disastrous sixth inning, giving up a grand slam and opening the gates of hell. Just about the only bright spot was Trea Turner’s homer. A three-game home series with the Rockies kicks off today at 6:40.

Any Doop News?

The Union managed to preserve their undefeated season in an away match vs. Atlanta United — barely — with a stunning 2-2 comeback tie on a Mikael Uhre goal in the 73rd minute and a stunner from Kai Wagner in the 77th.

That was the good news; the bad news was another injury to goalkeeper Andre Blake — just back from concussion protocol — in the first half. Thank heaven for next weekend’s bye.

The Flyers also played.

Rejoice! Be Well Philly Fest Is Returning This May

Be Well Philly Fest is back! This year, our wellness event will happen on May 19th at Bok. / Photography by Zara Neifield Photography

We are thrilled to announce that Be Well Philly Fest presented by Independence Blue Cross is returning this year!

So, mark your calendar: The 2024 Be Well Philly Fest is happening on Sunday, May 19th from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Bok!

Be Well Philly Fest is our annual event focused on all things wellness to help you feel motivated, empowered and inspired. Expect an array of express workouts (so you can get a “taste” of different modalities), hands-on wellness activities, and learning opportunities.

Plus, there’ll be an interactive marketplace where you can sample and shop from local businesses. Even better: You’ll get a healthy lunch and access to our end-of-event happy hour so you can mingle with fellow attendees.

Be Well Philly Fest’s interactive vendor marketplace

This year, we are delighted to welcome an incredible group of fitness instructors and wellness practitioners. Here’s who you can expect to move with and learn from throughout the day:

Workouts

Enjoy workouts and wellness activities on Bok’s rooftop.

Wellness Activities

Tickets are on sale now for $45 — and your ticket gets you access to the entire event, including all classes, lunch and happy hour.

So text your friends, snag your ticket, and save the date! We can’t wait to see you on May 19th!

Four Years After the Pandemic Began, Are We All Just Awkward Now?

awkward social interactions

Did I make it awkward? / Illustration by James Boyle

My mom is a retired therapist. When I was growing up, one of my favorites of her mantras about her profession was this: “Most people’s biggest problem is other people.” You can see where I get my ­chronic introversion. Psychological research tells us it likely is hereditary, and in my case, I believe it. Of the six members of my immediate family, only one could accurately be described as a people person. But lately, that number has doubled.

In 2022, I moved from the outer borders of Temple’s campus and onto an idyllic street in Queen Village. Something about daily life here made me want a sense of routine — to feel like a real part of a neighborhood, rather than a transplant. People were so friendly that at first, it seemed I’d gone to sleep and woken up on Sesame Street. Strangers on my block greeted me and asked how I was doing, occasionally complimenting my clothes or my hair. I wasn’t used to it, but eventually, I sort of liked it. I wanted to return their energy. The strictest of distancing guidelines had been lifted, and life seemed ripe for sociability again. Maybe it was time for me to be sociable, too. So I set out to earn the rank of “regular” at the handful of bars and coffee shops I frequented. I joked with the hardware-store owner and offered beers to the old ladies I passed on my way home from the Whole Foods. The neighborhood required that I open up a little, and I was ready to oblige. But in opening up to neighborliness, I found that I was opening up to moments of profound mortification as well.

One evening in the late summer after my move, I stopped at Southwark, a Queen Village restaurant I’d begun to patronize for some weekly quiet time with a glass of wine and a book. The staff had started to recognize me as soon as I walked in. This time, a waiter I’d never seen before appeared at my table on the patio. His name was ­Aiden. Though it was the first time I’d been attended by him, he looked oddly familiar, with his cropped sandy hair and mild but friendly expression. My evening proceeded as it usually did; the pet-nat was refreshing, and the book was good. But something was nagging at me. By the time my bill came around, I’d figured it out but resolved to keep it to myself. I settled up, said goodbye to the bartender, and rounded the corner to head home. On my way, I passed the patio’s iron doors and saw my waiter again, clearing away my glass and plate. Some spirit of impropriety possessed me in that moment. I waved him over to the entryway and said: “Has anybody ever told you you look like Tim Robinson?”

Not changing expression at all, he confirmed that he had indeed heard that before. He didn’t seem particularly pleased by the comparison, not that I expected him to jump for joy at being likened to the somewhat goofy-looking recent Emmy winner.

“Everyone loves Tim Robinson! It’s not a bad thing,” I insisted. This didn’t seem to soften the wet blanket of awkwardness that draped our exchange. I don’t remember what I said after that, just that the shame of a failed attempt at gaining social points was beginning to choke me to death. I walked home, replaying the conversation in my head and praying we would both forget what had happened.

Ahem. A few weeks later, I was at a fund-raiser. A guest bartender there looked familiar to me, and he seemed to recognize me as well. We stood for a moment, trying to place each other, and suddenly he laughed and exclaimed: “Tim Robinson!”

It was the bartender from Southwark. This was what my flub had spiraled into: a moment of social ineptitude so powerful that it had spread among the entire staff of a restaurant at which I longed to be a regular. I was the “Tim Robinson” woman who ran around comparing people to celebrities. The bartender confirmed that many of his co-workers had heard about me, and though he said some agreed on the resemblance, embarrassment made me sick to my stomach. Not sick enough to stop going, but enough that in my handful of visits to Southwark after that, I could barely look Aiden in the eye, or even in his direction.

I’ve had other clumsy encounters on my home turf since then — a paper-straw fiasco at a smoothie shop, a bit of overheard gossip at a cafe. And then there was the clown-­costume incident (more on that later). I wanted so badly to be part of the world again, but it seemed that every time I opened my mouth, my foot wound up in it. Life had become an inescapable episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and I was Larry David.

But it’s not just me.

Shortly after COVID vaccines began approaching mass availability and hope for the resurrection of sociability among Americans rose, publications including the Washington Post, the New York Times and Forbes reported on the epidemic of awkwardness brought on by the pandemic. By late 2021, these outlets had decided that yes, the social world was back, but it was … different.

Awkwardness in the COVID era could easily be chalked up to the weirdness of social distancing and anxiety about illness. Yet nearly three years out from the worst of it, the awkwardness remains. In a Forbes Health Survey, 59 percent of respondents said they found it harder to form relationships since the onset of the pandemic. Research on prisoners, astronauts and hermits has shown that isolation atrophies our social skills. Now we, too, seem to have lost our grasp on basic interpersonal norms, from greeting people to splitting the bill at dinner to, yikes, comparing total strangers to famous people they resemble.

The question this raises is the same one we ask about so many facets of life since the pandemic: Will things go back to normal? Will we be awkward forever, or are we simply shaking off the cobwebs?

•

A number of psychological and sociological concepts could be at play here.

Some experts see a wide-scale reevaluation of the merits of even being social taking place. We all know the stats — ­Americans of every age, gender, ethnicity and income are hanging out less than ever. Leisure time is decreasing; screen time is increasing. Our “third places” — ­locations outside of home and work that enable socialization — are disappearing, and with them, so is our greater sense of community. Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy diagnosed us with a “social recession.”

And while shrinkage of our social circles over time is natural, Laëtitia Mwilambwe-Tshilobo, a postdoctoral research fellow for Princeton’s Social Neuroscience Lab, explains to me that it typically doesn’t occur so quickly. “This is, in psychology, called socio-emotional selectivity theory: As people age and how they view their life shrinks, they become more selective in who they want to socialize with,” she says. “I wonder whether because of the pandemic, that realization might have happened to people much earlier, and they might be doing that much faster than they normally have.”

Laurence Steinberg, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Temple University, notes, “A lot of people, and I would put myself in this category, realized that maybe they didn’t like socializing as much as they thought they had.” In other words, he says, when face-to-face socialization paused during the pandemic, many of us expected to feel lonely and deprived of interpersonal contact, only to now come out of it and discover that we never really enjoyed dinner parties, after-work happy hours, and chitchat with the bagger at the grocery store. People are increasingly fine with the three or four friends they regularly talk to and no more. This would certainly make it seem, well, intrusive when some Nosy Nellie walks up to you at work and says you look like a nutty TV comedian.

Another possibility is that sociality seems different because the rules of engagement — and how we engage with those rules — are different. Pre-pandemic, Steinberg explains, the many social scripts we follow in everyday life were natural to us — so much so that we weren’t even aware we were following them. We didn’t have to consciously think about what to say to co-workers, how to order a drink, how to initiate or dodge conversation with a neighbor. But then we put those scripts on the shelf. In the throes of the pandemic, we adopted new social scripts and norms to adhere to isolation and social-­distancing guidelines. These norms were deeply abnormal to social creatures like us, but we (or most of us) adapted to them anyway.

“Now that all the restrictions have been lifted, you’re going back into the world, and you’ve got to relearn those things,” Steinberg says. Much as if you stop exercising or speaking a language for a time, your familiarity deteriorates, and routines have to be reintroduced, often uncomfortably at first: “There is going to be that period of awkwardness at the beginning.”

What might put a hitch in our re-­education, though, is that we may all be reacclimating to different scripts. In February of last year, New York magazine’s The Cut ran a guide listing a staggering 194 rules of etiquette for today’s society, positing that recent social turmoil (a pandemic, labor issues, the culture war, etc.) has essentially done away with any consensus we once had over what is “polite” and how our scripts should proceed. With millions of us getting back into the swing of things, opportunities abound for that dissonance to cause discomfort or even outright conflict.

While all these sociological concepts may be at work, the answer could be much more internal. Research tells us that loneliness, rates of which have exploded in recent years, can have a physiological impact on social cognition — our cognitive ability to engage with the social world and process social information. Our brains interpret isolation as mortal danger, the deprivation of a need. And while we’ve returned to a time where we can enjoy the company of others as much as we please, we’ve lost our finer touch in complex social interactions. We’re hypervigilant, oversensitive and withdrawn. (It shows even in our digital spaces. Been on Twitter lately?)

Changes in both self-perception and perception of social cues due to loneliness have been well documented. Mwilambwe-Tshilobo describes a study of the neuro-imaging of lonely people and not-lonely people in response to stimuli. The expectation was that brains looking at the same stimuli would respond similarly. But in the study, lonely brains didn’t just fail to respond to certain stimuli in the same ways not-lonely brains did. Lonely brains didn’t even respond similarly to each other.

“What this tells us — and there’s got to be a lot more work on this — is that we know social perception is changed, but there seems to be something more,” says Mwilambwe-Tshilobo. “It’s more than just lonely people negatively interpreting a social situation, either for themselves or others. How they are viewing the world seems to be very different from how not-lonely people might. These changes can have a downstream impact on how a person engages with others.”

Maybe my self-flagellation was a consequence of my physiology; my brain simply hadn’t caught up with my quest to get involved in the neighborhood. It’s not that the world has lost interest in its extroverts and Chatty Cathys — this is life as a new, post-pandemic people-person. It’s striking up conversation with anyone standing next to me in public — and then over-analyzing my every word as soon as I get home.

The extroverts in my own life agree. “All the time, I find myself thinking, ‘Did I make it weird?’” says Symone Salib, a South Philly artist and educator I befriended at a recent work event. Since the pandemic, more and more, she, too, has found herself navigating awkwardness and working overtime to make the most basic conversations fun. “As an extrovert, I have a lot of high energy,” she says. “I try to be very aware of my energy when I come into the space.”

•

Bartenders at my other local haunts tried to comfort me when I (naturally) regaled them with my Tim Robinson story. “A lot of times when there’s an awkward interaction, there’s one person that is completely absorbing all of the awkward energy and one person who has no idea what even happened,” Ryan Rayer, the general manager at Grace & Proper in Bella Vista, told me. (I had another inelegant moment at that very bar when I encountered the host of my favorite podcast, Kelsey McKinney of Normal Gossip, and, completely forgetting to play it cool, did a cartoonish double take: My eyes flew open, my jaw dropped, the whole nine yards. Luckily, she wasn’t totally put off by my gawkishness, and we made plans to connect later. When we did, McKinney, a recent Philly transplant, made an observation I’d been hearing since I moved here seven years ago: This is a big city, but it’s a small town. You run into the same people, information gets around, and jokes can take on a life of their own. “I think something really cool about this city is that it’s confrontational in a playful way,” she said. “It feels more common to get razzed by people you don’t know.”)

But with all these theories and studies and statistics duking it out in my head, I knew I needed the objective truth to end my distress. So one evening after a party in mid-February, I stopped by Southwark with a friend and took a seat at one of the booths. We ordered coffee and dessert, and who else but Aiden brought them to our table. Before I could finish apologizing, he assured me he wasn’t mad and said he’d be glad to talk more later. I couldn’t fit that in before my deadline, but knowing he was willing to sit down with me — and that there was probably no picture of me hanging on a wall somewhere for Aiden and other staff members to throw darts at — was a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. Now that I had a better look at him, he didn’t really resemble Tim Robinson all that much.

Awkward situations continue to find me in my quest to surrender to neighborliness, and predictions of when the social world will get back to pre-pandemic norms are speculative at best. But I still think that gab is a gift. The Harvard Study of Adult Development, a long-term analysis of adult happiness, found that the key lies in good relationships. And while the road to this goal is a bit rocky at the moment, many of us haven’t given up on small talk.

“There’s a lot of intentionality now where there didn’t used to be in terms of just existing socially,” Ryan Rayer says. “People are joining groups where you go out to dinner with people you’ve never met. I met a girl a couple of months ago who said she was on a mission as an adult to ‘hard-launch friendships’ immediately.”

Mwilambwe-Tshilobo, whose research focuses on loneliness, commends such endeavors. “It can just be a bit of a mess in how loneliness impacts an individual,” she says. “But what allows people to kind of snap out of it was just getting over that barrier and trying again, going into different social situations where you’re able to connect.”

As for the return of normalcy? It might be in your best interest to get acquainted with the new normal. Though many experts are sure our difficulties will eventually subside, exactly when is hard to say. And with no end to remote work in sight for many of us, including me, the onus of socialization is now on us — and will likely remain there for the foreseeable future. Why not get a little weird with it?

I, for one, am more than willing. On Halloween weekend last year, I suggested to my friends that we take a break from clubbing and bar-crawling to go speed-dating. The flier encouraged attendees to come in costume, and while this form of people-­meeting would typically seem a bit bleak to me, for reasons I still don’t understand, I felt I’d do it more comfortably in my get-up of the past few Halloweens — as a rodeo clown. So I threw on my cowboy hat and glued on a cheap red foam nose. When I got to the bar where the event was being held — 30 minutes late — a living nightmare unfolded: I was the only one in costume. The average person would have fled the scene, tail tucked between legs — or died on the spot of shame. But in my case, the spirit of impropriety returned in full force. I doubled down and proceeded to make conversation with a handful of strangers for an hour or two. By the time I got home, I was glad I had. At least now I had another funny story for my collection. Something Salib said rings very true when I look back on that incident: “This world is so much more fun when we’re being silly and goofy and ourselves.”

Published as “Did I Make It Awkward?” in the April 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.

From Mexico to Philadelphia: Cantina La Martina Is a Journey of Flavor

cantina la martina kensington philadelphia mexican restaurant

From left: Camaron suizas; Chef Jiménez preparing barbacoa in the backyard of Cantina La Martina. / Photography by Michael Persico

I don’t know where to start but with the thing that everyone talks about: Cantina La Martina exists in a piece of Philly hit hard by the opioid epidemic. It’s on the corner of Kensington and D, and there’s just no way around that. There are needles in the gutter, the scars of campfires on the sidewalks, some of the city’s most abandoned on the same block. It’s hard to look at, and it should be, because ignoring it helps precisely no one.

But then there’s the other thing everyone talks about: that Dionicio Jiménez has created something here that is remarkable — one of the best restaurants in the city in one of the most challenging places it could be. Calling Cantina La Martina an oasis is insulting, because it’s fully part of this neighborhood — with its Mexican music and weekend events on the fenced patio, killer happy-hour deals and Taco Tuesdays. In Cantina’s first year, Jiménez was a James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic. Now, in its second year, he’s received another nod from the foundation, this time for the national honor of Outstanding Chef. And that all makes sense, because everything he makes in this kitchen – ­everything he touches – becomes the best version of that dish you’ll ever try.

Cantina La Martina mexican restaurant kensington philadelphia

Diners enjoying bites over margaritas

The camaron suizas–the shrimp curl like pink corkscrews inside the loosely rolled tortillas, topped with pickled red onions, doodles of Mexican­ crema, melted queso fresco, and, most importantly, this amazing­ creamy-white salsa verde flooding the plate and holding­ everything together. It turns the fluffy white rice served in a bowl on the side (half a bowl, really) into a star all on its own, the smoky black beans (in the other half of the bowl) into a garnish, and the entire dish into something that makes you put your elbows down on the table and focus — that makes you scrape the plate with your fork to get every last drop.

AT A GLANCE

★★★★

Cantina La Martina
2800 D Street, Kensington

CUISINE: Mexican

PRICES: $$

Order This: Enchiladas suizas for lunch; shrimp tacos
and the siete mares for dinner.

The rest of the menu is just as good. Every plate shows the steps Jiménez has taken over decades in the business — as a dishwasher, a line cook, Vetri’s sous-chef, Solomonov’s opening chef at Xochitl, Starr’s exec at El Rey — and what he has learned along the way.

Who else is going to attempt a Mex-Italian fusion like Jiménez’s siete mares riff on the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes (done as a soup), or his food-nerdy red pozole, studded with chunks of tender pork and hominy and lime and jalapeño and threaded with ramen noodles? It was actually the ramen that got me into Jiménez’s dining room the first time, months ago, because I thought something like that has no safety net. It either has to be laughably bad or so good that it colors the entire menu — offering depth and a sense of humor bordering on whimsy.

Needless to say, it was the latter.

The kitchen’s tacos are monsters — street tacos given center-plate status, overstuffed and tightrope-walking that narrow line between upscaled and overcomplicated. All of them are good. The camarones (again) and the cochinita are great — the shrimp because they’re plainly influenced by that beach-bum vibe so many city taquerias reach for and miss, and the cochinita because that’s where Jiménez and his kitchen get to show off.

cantina la martina

Noodles at Cantina La Martina

There’s an achiote braise that turns everything orange, a slow cook for an almost impossible tenderness, hints of chili and lime and black pepper, pickled red onions for a little acid brightness, cabbage for crunch (I always pull that off), and then the house’s pulpy, electric green salsa cruda that tastes like no other salsa cruda I’ve ever had, like spicy garlic, kinda; like hot tomatillo with a savory top note. That’s good times, right there. That’s a dish you talk about.

But two years in, and there’s still the conversation: Why this neighborhood? Is it really worth going?

And the answer is yes, obviously. Yes, if you’re comfortable enough. You walk in out of the tragedy and into the vibrant barroom, with its brick-backed long bar and exposed beams. The El rattles the walls, the radio plays MGMT’s “Time to Pretend,” and you can sink into the easy comfort and infectious joy of this room and forget everything else.

Cantina La Martina mexican restaurant kensington philadelphia

Cantina La Martina’s dining room

You shouldn’t, but you can. For a little while, anyway. But the world is still waiting outside. And while it’s beyond asking one restaurant to fix a problem as entrenched and multi-faceted as what exists outside the front doors, in a community that has had so much taken away from it, Cantina La Martina is giving a lot back.

They’re here. They’re part of the neighborhood. And they’re not looking away.
4 Stars — Come from anywhere in America

Rating Key
0 stars: stay away
★: come if there are no other options
★★: come if you’re in the neighborhood
★★★: come from anywhere in Philly
★★★★: come from anywhere in America

Published as “Cantina La Martina Is a National Treasure” in the April 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.

Just Listed: Renewed Federal Townhouse in Society Hill

house for sale society hill renewed federal townhouse exterior front

Society Hill stands out among 1960s urban renewal projects because it left the neighborhood’s historic integrity in place. The 2020s renovation of this townhouse at 518 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19106 (third from left), did the same thing. / Photography by Plush Images via CCL Real Estate, KW Empower

The Colonial and Federal architectural styles are separated more by time than by their elements. And yet some differences set the two apart.

Where the Colonial style often features ornamentation more like that of its English cousin, Georgian architecture, the Federal style is simpler and less ornate, befitting the spirit of a democratic republic. But because of this, Federal houses adapt themselves more easily to the clean lines and minimalism of the modernist style.

And so it is that, when this Society Hill renewed Federal townhouse for sale got refreshed, it got modern furnishings to go with the early-1830s features.

house for sale society hill renewed federal townhouse living room

Living room

In the early 1850s, this house was home to the parents of American artist John Singer Sargent, who would be born in 1856, after the parents had taken up residence in Florence, Italy.

You enter the house via an entrance hall that deposits you in the living room through the two leaded-glass doors you see in this photo.

house for sale society hill renewed federal townhouse living room

Living room

The arch of the doors is echoed in the arch of the built-in china cabinet next to the living room fireplace. Wall sconces give the room’s traditional detail a modern accent. The King of Prussia marble mantel and wide-plank pine floors have been lovingly maintained and restored.

stair hall

Stair hall

There’s a powder room off the stair hall beyond the living room.

family room

Family room

The fireplace mantel in the adjacent family room, renovated by Sherman & Gossweiler, has dentils that match those in the two front rooms’ cornices. Three of this house’s four fireplaces, including this one, still work; two burn wood while the other runs on gas.

house for sale society hill renewed federal townhouse kitchen

Kitchen

In a past life, the family room was probably the formal dining room, but in this version of the house, the dining area has been relegated to a window-filled corner of the kitchen.

dining area and kitchen

Dining area and kitchen

The kitchen has plenty of cabinet space, including china cabinets. It also has ample counter space, including a center island. And it has a 48-inch, six-burner dual-fuel Wolf range, a Sub-Zero refrigerator/freezer and two dishwashers that let you handle a large feast, though you would need to bring in a bigger dining table for it. Or return the family room to its original use for a night.

dining area

Dining area

The dining table sits next to large windows looking out onto the rear patio.

rear patio

Rear patio

The patio contains an outdoor kitchen that lets you entertain outdoors.

wine cellar

Wine cellar

And the 1,200-bottle wine cellar in the finished basement means you will always have wine on hand at the proper temperature.

primary suite sitting room

Primary suite sitting room

The private living spaces upstairs are just as simple and just as elegant. The second-floor primary suite begins with a sitting room in front with a large library and a second marble fireplace.

primary bedroom

Primary bedroom

There’s also a marble fireplace in the primary bedroom on the other side of the stair hall.

primary bathroom

Primary bathroom

The bathroom behind the bedroom has dual vanities, a wall of mirrors behind those vanities, a stone-tile-lined shower, a soaking tub and a toilet closet.

Each of the two floors above has two bedrooms and a hall bath.

The new hardware added to this house — the shutters on the outside, the windows and the fourth-floor skylights —are all historically approved and make this house more energy-efficient.

And while it has a four-car garage in a former carriage house behind the rear patio, you can keep your cars at home when exploring the area around you. And there’s lots to explore: Head House Square is five blocks away, Three Bears Park three blocks, and Washington Square two. Plus there’s an Acme supermarket and neighborhood shops right around the corner. And Old City is also within walking distance.

So you get modern style, convenience and comfort with this Society Hill renewed Federal townhouse for sale, all wrapped in a handsome Early American package.

THE FINE PRINT

BEDS: 5

BATHS: 3 full, 1 half

SQUARE FEET: 4,500

SALE PRICE: $2,600,000

518 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19106 [Olena Shumska | CCL Real Estate | KW Empower via Zillow]

It’s Now Cheaper to Fly to Pittsburgh From Philadelphia Than Drive

You can now get dirt cheap flights from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh on Frontier Airlines. (Photo illustration by Jamie Leary)

You can now get dirt cheap flights from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh on Frontier Airlines. / Photo illustration by Jamie Leary

Check phillymag.com each morning Monday through Thursday for the latest edition of Philly Today. And if you have a news tip for our hardworking Philly Mag reporters, please direct it here. You can also use that form to send us reader mail. We love reader mail!

Cheap Flights from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh Cost Less than Driving

It costs $36.50 in tolls to make the five-hour drive from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. And that’s assuming you have EZ-Pass. Otherwise, it’s more than double that. And then you have to drive back and pay the same amount in tolls. Plus, you have the gas, the cost of which just went up again. Ugh.

But what if there was a way you could fly from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and spend even less than it costs you to drive to Pittsburgh?

A plane from Frontier Airlines, which is offering cheap flights from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh

A plane from Frontier Airlines, which is offering cheap flights from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh (photo courtesy Frontier Airlines)

Frontier Airlines just announced that the company is starting non-stop flights from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh (and back, of course) beginning on May 16th. And the introductory rate? $34. That’s round trip. Dirt cheap.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Sure, they say these rates are available, but will they be when I try to book them? I did some searching on Wednesday and again on Thursday, and sure enough, I found plenty of flights from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh for $34 round trip. And, no, I didn’t have to be a member of their discount program to find those fares.

Of course, you’d pay extra for a carry-on item. But I’m able to squeeze a weekend’s worth of stuff into the free “personal item” they allow. (It’s amazing what you can fit into a laptop bag, especially if you tightly roll your clothes, and then, of course, you wear a bulky jacket and stuff the many pockets full of extra things.) You’ll also pay extra if you want to pick where you sit. But I’m here to tell you: It’s Frontier, and pretty much anywhere you sit is going to be tight. But you’ll be in Pittsburgh before you know it. And, hey, at least Frontier is not the world’s worst airline.

If you’re wondering about flight-time math, the flight takes about an hour and fifteen minutes. Figure on showing up at the airport an hour ahead of time. So that’s two-and-a-quarter hours versus five hours. And it’s not like the five-hour drive on the Pennsylvania Turnpike is filled with excitement and gorgeous vistas.

Eh, screw it. Anyone who knows me knows I’m “frugal,” meaning I’m a cheap bastard. So I just have to snag one of these $34 tickets. And I’m going to do so immediately after publishing this story.

By the way, if you have absolutely no clue what to do in Pittsburgh, some good news. Recently, I went to Pittsburgh and wrote this Pittsburgh travel story. If you go, I’d love to hear about your trip. Two nights is all you need.

The Death of the Dollar Store

In case you hadn’t noticed, dollar stores are shutting down left and right. They’re pretty awful places. But then again, when I needed 20 purple balloons two weeks ago (long story), the dollar store did me right. If you’re confused as to why dollar stores don’t seem to be working in an era when everybody is complaining that things are too expensive, here’s a pretty good explainer.

Now, I have a bit of local dollar store trivia for you. The Dollar Express chain, which eventually grew to more than 100 stores before selling to Dollar Tree, was founded by the late Philadelphia entrepreneur Bernie Spain, who sold many, many millions of those smiley face buttons and stickers in the 1970s. Keep that one in your back pocket for Quizzo night.

Local Talent

Think all 24-year-old female musicians are making mindless pop tunes like so much of what you hear on the radio? First of all, that would be sexist. Second, you’d just be wrong. The best evidence of the latter is the Main Line’s own Lizzy McAlpine.

Lizzy McAlpine, as seen on the cover of her new album, Older

Lizzy McAlpine, as seen on the cover of her new album, Older (Photo courtesy RCA Records)

She just released her new album, Older. (You can stream it here.) This is a deeply moving, confessional album that at times veers into total heartbreak. So far, reviews are great, and she comes to the Met for two shows in June if you want to hear it all live. Bring Kleenex.

By the Numbers

5: Arrests quickly made by Philadelphia police after a shooting erupted during an Eid al-Fitr celebration in West Philly. Fortunately, no one was killed. And, yes, it made national news. Fox News talked about it for what seemed like 20 minutes. Believe me, they had plenty to say. And David Muir led World News Tonight with the shooting, mentioning the incident not once but twice during his intro.

64%: Drop in monthly student loan payments for this one Philadelphian, who explains how they did it here. Their payments went from $800 to $285. Now if I could only get my mortgage payment to do the same.

35 to 50 mph: Wind gusts expected in the region on this rainy day. I’d tell you to bring your umbrella, but the wind would probably turn it inside out and then you’d get soaked and look all silly at the same time trying futilely to fix it.

And From the Squeaked-By Sports Desk …

Yesterday afternoon’s rain-soaked Phillies/Cardinals game was the epitome of our guys this season. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Kyle Schwarber scored on an error and Alec Bohm had an RBI single, but starter Aaron Nola let the Cards creep back in with a run in each of the second and third on solo homers by Iván Herrara and Brendan Donovan. The Phils obligingly scored two more for Nola in the sixth as Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos both hit RBI singles.

But Nolan Arenado’s RBI single off Seranthony Dominguez in the eighth made it a 4-3 game. Against all odds, that’s where it stayed.

J.T. Realmuto had two hits and scored two runs (a day after being struck in the throat by an errant Zack Wheeler pitch), and Trea Turner managed two walks. We’ll host the Pirates at CBP tonight, starting at 6:40.

There’s News About the Eagles?

Big news: The NFL announced that the first game of the upcoming season will be the Eagles vs. Packers — in Brazil. Brush off your Portuguese – it counts as an Eagles home game.

Tonight? Well, the Flyers play.

All Philly Today sports coverage is provided by Sandy Hinsgton.

Just Listed: Upside-Down Modern Townhouse in Rittenhouse Square

house for sale rittenhouse square upside-down contemporary townhouse exterior front

This 19th-century townhouse at 2014 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19103 stands out from its neighbors. But you’d never know it just passing by. Which means that you can be original and blend in with the crowd here. / Photography by Tom Donkin, Donkin Media, via Seltzer Group, Compass

Are you one of those people who pride themselves on marching to the beat of their own drummer?

If so, you should buy this Rittenhouse Square upside-down modern townhouse for sale, because you can drum to your heart’s content here.

The drummer for Patti LaBelle’s backup band sure did on those occasions when they practiced here, for her husband Armstead Edwards once owned this house. Edwards, himself a music producer, had his office here and maintained a studio on the second floor.

All traces of this onetime function have been scrubbed clean, though. In their place is the striking modern townhouse the owners who bought it from Edwards created.

house for sale rittenhouse square upside-down contemporary townhouse foyer

Foyer

And what they created is unique in several ways, starting with the modern lighting and stair rail in the foyer.

house for sale rittenhouse square upside-down contemporary townhouse first-floor stair hall

First-floor stair hall

Those merely set you up for the work of art in the stair hall, however. The sinuous iron banister you see here coils its way up the bottom three floors of this house. It’s the work of Robert Phillips (1962-2012), the sculptor who created the striped bass that graced Neil Stein’s Walnut Street restaurant of the same name, and it’s a truly unique masterwork.

An elevator serving the basement and the bottom three floors sits opposite the stairs, and a full-length mirror between the two hall closet doors makes the foyer appear much larger than it is.

house for sale rittenhouse square upside-down contemporary townhouse bedroom/home office

Bedroom (home office)

Next to the foyer is an office space with lounge seating (shown in the floor plans as a bedroom). That makes this house perfect for anyone with a home-based business or practice. A gym and a two-car garage round out the first floor.

To get to the main living area, you take the elevator or stairs to the third floor. Besides enabling the owners to insert a garage on the ground floor, the third-floor main living area also allowed them to maximize the light flowing into it. “The former owners spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get light throughout the home — something deep rowhomes are typically handicapped by,” writes listing agent Alon Seltzer of The Seltzer Group at Compass.

living room

Living room

They started by placing the living room on the third floor so it faced south. Since it’s level with the other houses on this block, that means it gets excellent sunlight coming from across Locust Street.

living room

Living room; stair hall at right rear

Four tubular skylights in the stair hall also fill the space with light and provide a midcentury-style transition between the living and dining rooms. The living room also has a fireplace, and the stair hall also has a powder room tucked under the stairs to the fourth floor.

dining room and kitchen

Dining room and kitchen

More large windows grace two sides of the kitchen and dining room. Note the custom Snaidero Italian cabinetry that unites the two rooms.

kitchen

Kitchen

The kitchen also boasts granite black leathered countertops and backsplashes, an island with bar seating, Bosch appliances, and a beverage fridge.

house for sale rittenhouse square upside-down contemporary townhouse kitchen and door to deck

Kitchen and door to deck

roof deck

Roof deck

A deck behind the kitchen is outfitted for outdoor dining. It has a grill with a gas line, a great view of the Center City skyline, and a retractable awning.

primary suite hallway

Primary suite hallway

In between the first and third floors are two of the four bedrooms. A hallway lined with closets and a dressing table leads from the stair hall to the primary one in back.

primary bathroom

Primary bathroom

primary bathroom shower

Primary bathroom shower

On the way there, it passes dual bathrooms that flank a shower stall with a frosted glass enclosure.

primary bedroom

Prmary bedroom

primary bedroom

Primary bedroom

The bedroom itself contains a gas fireplace, a ceiling fan and a second wall of windows.

fourth-floor bedroom

Fourth-floor bedroom

The fourth bedroom occupies a fourth-floor penthouse accessed by separate stairs from the third floor. It has its own en-suite bathroom. So does the third-floor front bathroom.

roof deck and fourth-floor bedroom at night

Roof deck and fourth-floor bedroom at night

(If you so desired, you could turn the roof outside the rear window into yet another deck.)

The laundry room and one of this house’s two climate-control systems live in the basement.

You could call what the former owners of this Rittenhouse Square upside-down modern townhouse for sale did with it a facadectomy, for that facade is all that remains of the original 1800s townhouse. But since they did everything within its existing shell, it counts as a gut rebuild instead.

And what a rebuild it is. And it’s in an ideal location, close to the square and the 20th Street commercial strip. Don’t feel like dining in? The James Beard Award-winning Friday Saturday Sunday is just around the corner.

THE FINE PRINT

BEDS: 4

BATHS: 5 full, 1 half

SQUARE FEET: 3,529

SALE PRICE: $2,650,000

2041 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19103 [Alon Seltzer | Seltzer Group | Compass]

When That Phone Call From Your Kid Actually Isn’t

Phone scam image via Getty Images

Phone scam image via Getty Images

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When Your Kid Calls You Frantically In Need of Money But Isn’t Actually Your Kid

It’s happened again.

Phone scammers targeting a Bucks County couple managed to get $34,000 out of them after the couple received a frantic call from a person they believed to be their daughter. Naturally, it wasn’t their daughter. But, as they told 6 ABC, it sure did sound like their daughter. Police arrested her after a deadly car crash. She needed money. A “lawyer” and a courier materialized. And now the couple is out $34,000.

It wasn’t long ago that the most pervasive scams were emails you’d receive from some former treasury minister of some country somewhere on the other side of the world. The supposed treasury minister needed help getting $40 million in gold out of some account and would reward you handsomely if you would just help him. Most people just deleted those emails. Some didn’t, and lost a ton of cash.

But these days, scammers are far more sophisticated and turning more and more to these fake phone calls. They usually surround some kind of fictional emergency involving a loved one of the person the scammer calls.

I know two people this has happened to in recent months.

In the one instance, the scammer called a Lower Merion grandmother, pretending to be her grandson. He said he hit a pregnant woman with his car. He was in jail, needing immediate cash. And he gave her the number of a lawyer to call to make the transaction happen. She swore up and down that the voice sounded exactly like her grandson. Fortunately, she called another relative before doing anything, and the jig was up.

The other instance involving another friend of mine in Delco was very similar. The target in question knew from the get-go that the whole thing was phony.

I’m guessing that most people don’t actually give up the money. But if you try to scam 1,000 people and only two percent cough up $30,000, you’re doing OK for yourself.

It’s a strange, strange world and only getting stranger. So be careful out there.

Judge Orders Theater to Show a Movie

Yes, you read that right.

Bryn Mawr Film Institute had been scheduled to show the Israeli documentary The Child Within Me last night. Just a single screening as part of the 28th Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia, which is taking place at a few venues in and around Philadelphia.

Then on Monday, the Bryn Mawr Film Institute decided to cancel the screening amid protests and outcry from groups critical of Israel. And just when we thought that was that, the whole thing wound up at an emergency hearing in court. And the judge ordered the theater to show the film, which it did.

Protesters showed up. There are calls to boycott the theater and some of its sponsors. Basically, it’s all exactly the big mess that you’d expect it to be. And you can read more about it here.

Local Talent

Congratulations are in order for Kalaya, the Philly spot that has turned the Thai food scene on its head. Kalaya opened five years ago today, on April 10, 2019, and has won so many awards and accolades since that I’ve lost count. The key to Kalaya’s success is, of course, the restaurant’s talented chef-owner, Nok Suntaranon. We caught up with her recently to talk $95 tom yum soup and why she dislikes the terms “New American” and “Progressive American” so much. You can catch the full interview here.

Lisa Ann Walter

Lisa Ann Walter (photo courtesy Lisa Ann Walter)

Though she’s not actually from South Philly, comedian Lisa Ann Walter sure seems like she is when she plays the hilarious role of South Philly teacher Melissa Schemmenti on the hit ABC show Abbott Elementary. Walter just announced three shows at Helium in July. You can pick up tickets here.

Finally, if you see Philly’s own Colman Domingo (he was recently nominated for the Oscar for his brilliant work in Rustin) running around town, it’s because he’s filming a new Netflix series here.

By the Numbers

1,462: Rolling average of Philadelphia shooting victims as of today. If you need a reminder on what the rolling average is (I discussed it on Monday), this is the number of shooting victims over the past 365 days. It’s a useful tool for measuring just how violent Philadelphia actually is, as opposed to relying on the bleeds-it-leads local TV news broadcasts. 1,462 is the lowest rolling average since July 12, 2019. If we keep going at this rate (and let’s hope that we do!), we’ll be looking at 2018 numbers pretty soon.

12,000: Free haircuts a barber under the El in Kensington has given out over the last ten years. One might call him a hair-o. (Sorry!)

2: Number of days we’re forecasted to hit 79 degrees early next week. But let me save you the trouble: The Jersey Shore is still lingering in the 60s. So save up those sick days.

And From the Half-and-Half Sports Desk …

As my esteemed colleague Victor has mentioned, I missed a few days of sports action in traveling to see the eclipse at Lake Erie with the kids and grandkids. (Photos below.) It was a magnificent celestial spectacle we observed with a few thousand other folks at Shades Beach Park, and as glorious as the shadow falling across the sand and beach chairs was, even more thrilling was sharing it with — well, with more other people than I’ve been around since COVID began, I think.

What struck me most was how friendly and genial our fellow eclipse-gazers were, as we all ooh’d and aah’d together, sure, but also as we picnicked under the pavilion, as the kids ran rampant in the playground, and even in the incredibly lengthy lines for the Port-o-lets, not just at the beach, but at the rest stops all along our 11-hour journey home. (The traffic woes were not exaggerated, my friends.)

The whole experience gave me a renewed sense of hope for our nation. My more cynical son said we eclipse-viewers self-selected for, well, wackiness: How far would you go to see a shadow? But in the general good humor and geniality, not to mention the wildly creative assortment of bumper stickers and license plates we saw on the road, I felt more than that. There still are some events momentous enough to unite us as a nation — to make us laugh together and gasp together and share toilet paper and hand sanitizer outside the Port-o-lets. Maybe there’s hope for America after all.

And hope for the Sixers, apparently, who’d won five in a row going into last night’s home matchup with the Pistons, with and without Joel Embiid. He was back on the court to start the final week of the regular season, though Tyrese Maxey was out following his career night on Sunday, and Kyle Lowry was resting for the game. The Sixers started hot, with Joel, Cam Payne, Tobias Harris, Nic Batum and Kelly Oubre Jr. sprinting to a 30-22 lead halfway through the first quarter behind some fancy dancing by Joel, then reeling off six straight to start the second quarter. They held on and were up 64-50 at the half.

Jaden Ivey had the hot hand for Detroit as they fought back in the third and came within a single point before our guys regrouped and got it back to 90-78 to close the third. Hey, Bricken for Chicken! The Sixers stormed ahead in the final frame and closed it out handily, 120-102 — a good sign for the playoffs to come. Joel had 37 points in 36 minutes, including this.

https://twitter.com/SecretaryHurts/status/1777869210284118088

Two more games to go …

How’d the Phils Do?

Zack Wheeler took the mound last night in the Phils’ away game against the Cardinals, and he got into a pinch in the second with men on first and third before striking out Masyn Winn to end the threat. Other than that, it looked like a pitcher’s duel between Wheels and Sonny Gray until Nolan Gorman whacked a solo homer in the fourth to put the Cards up 1-0. They notched two more in the fifth — so much for that pitcher’s duel. Bryson Stott beat out an infield hit with one out in the seventh, and Nick Castellanos got on with a broken-bat single before reliever JoJo Romero walked Brandon Marsh to load ’em up, but Whit Merrifield struck out. Could Kyle Schwarber get the job done? Nah, he struck out. The fan base was … not pleased.

Wheeler started the seventh by giving up a base hit and a walk before J.T. Realmuto got really hurt on a crappy-ass pitch in the dirt that bounced up into his throat and took him out of the game. Marsh saved Zack’s arse with a terrific running catch, and Trea Turner started the eighth with his second infield hit of the night, but naught came of that, either. Ricardo Pinto came in for Wheeler and gave up a walk and a single but escaped unscathed. On to the ninth … in which the Phils did nada. Pfft. One last chance against the Cards, this afternoon at 1:15.

And Thanks Are Due …

To the Eagles’ Fletcher Cox, who held a belated retirement news conference yesterday. One of the greatest ever to play the game.

The Flyers also played.