Best of Philly 2026: Best Philadelphians

It’d be premature to stamp “Mission Accomplished” on the crime-reduction strategies of Mayor Cherelle Parker, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, and Chief Public Safety Director Adam Greer, but it’s not too soon for a round of applause. Violent crime has plummeted across Philly in the first 36 months of this administration, most spectacularly illustrated by homicides, which have dropped to lows unseen since the 1960s. If they can sustain these numbers, don’t rule out a statue.

On the other side of the public safety coin, and with all due respect to the real-life mascots of Philly corruption — Johnny Doc wearing a Sixers flat-brim hat, anyone? — there’s never been anyone quite like Deputy Sheriff Justice. Purchased by the scandal-ridden Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office with $9,000 in taxpayer money, Justice is a costumed character who appears at community events wearing a giant plush cowboy hat, reminding us with her terrifying smile that political tomfoolery is alive and well in Philadelphia. She’s a lumbering avatar for the city’s need for reform.

Raise a cheer for Phoenixville resident Nancy Hornback, who voluntarily took a three-month leave of absence from the real world — no phone, no computer, no social media, no internet, nada — to live in total isolation on a farmstead in upstate New York as prep for three episodes of the Fox Nation TV game show Greg Gutfeld’s What Did I Miss? Three months?! Man, at the pace life is going these days, you’d never get caught up!

We tip our mortarboard to John Ternus, the Penn School of Engineering Class of ’97 grad who was named Tim Cook’s successor as CEO of Apple in April. Interesting fact #1: Graduating from Penn that same year was some guy named Elon Musk. Interesting fact #2: For his senior project, Ternus built a mechanical feeding arm for quadriplegics. After graduation, he went to work at a startup building virtual reality headsets, then joined Apple four years later. He’s said to be a “man of the people.”

Another guy at the top of the class this year is Haverford High School history and African American studies teacher Leon Smith, who’s been anointed the 2026 National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Officers. Smith has been at Haverford High for 25 years, teaches AP U.S. History and AP African American studies, coaches basketball, and serves as the school’s African American cultural enrichment adviser. “His passion for the role of high-quality, representative teachers in public education is evident in his daily interactions,” Smith’s superintendent, Matthew C. Hays, says. Lord knows we need more folks like him right now.

Meanwhile, Thomas Culbreath, a manager at vending machine operator One Source Refreshment, had one of those ideas that simply won’t go away: What if instead of soda and gum, he could dispense … kindness? Miraculously, he got his bosses to sign on and installed a (free) vending machine at Pottstown Regional Library that serves up encouraging cards handwritten and decorated by local elementary school kids. He doesn’t expect it to change the world. But he says it “might change somebody’s Tuesday. Maybe their Wednesday.” Sometimes that’s all you need.

Two minutes of camera time and a cone from Mister Softee was all it took for Jamele Ransom to become an internet sensation. The heroic crossing guard’s delightfully unbothered recounting of a car crash at a playground near 55th and Kingsessing — he had to pull whatshername’s nephew out! — made Ransom an instant star, and had the whole city “bobbing and weaving” for days.

In 2002, the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition was founded to rally for the acknowledgment of the slaves who served George Washington in Philadelphia. The (eventual) result was the slavery exhibit at the President’s House at Independence National Historical Park. So when the Trump administration took a crowbar to the display as part of its purge of American history, coalition founder Michael Coard once again came calling. The result? A June ruling requiring the restoration of the panels — and then an opposing ruling that allows Trump’s lackeys to dictate the wording. But Coard and his coalition aren’t giving up, and what’s more American than fighting for what’s right?

We’re blessed in Philadelphia to be constantly surrounded by some of the smartest scientists on the planet. But, being constantly possessed of chips on our shoulders, we’re also always a little surprised when someone else recognizes that greatness. That was the case this year when the ($3 million!) Breakthrough Prize for Life Sciences was awarded to Penn’s Jean Bennett, Katherine High, and Albert Maguire for their work in developing the first FDA-­approved gene therapy for an inherited condition. The therapy dramatically improves sight in people with a form of blindness, and the approval provided a road map for the approval of similar therapies.

He may not be a Breakthrough Prize winner, but artist Clancy Philbrick brought his own kind of genius to the world this summer. In anticipation of the World Cup coming to Philly, Philbrick had an idea: He would reimagine the famous World Cup statue — entirely with fingernails and toenails. (Yes, you read that correctly.) He hosted events where people could trim their nails, and encouraged folks to mail him bags of their trimmings. Exceptionally gross, exceptionally Philly.

Back in April, Southwark Elementary in East Passyunk had a literal shit-show on their hands: The school’s plumbing had gotten so bad that 400 kids were forced to use just one stall. When City Councilmember Mark Squilla caught a whiff of the problem, he sent a plumber in that night to make sure the issue got fixed.

When ­astronaut Christina Koch boarded ­Artemis II on April 1st, she squirreled away a surprise — a handful of confetti from the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX victory in honor of her husband’s superfandom. Nearly 700,000 miles later, the confetti returned to Earth.

 

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In January 1988, Kathy O’Connell showed up at the doors of WXPN for the first-ever episode of Kids Corner. In June, nearly 40 years later, the show signed off for the final time, leaving a gaping hole in the heart of Philly’s radio world. With her ever-present wit and undying affection for her pint-sized callers, O’Connell raised generations of radio listeners — and reminded their parents to lighten up a bit.

Mekia Elizabeth is fostering community of another sort in Germantown, whether it’s transforming an empty parish building into an after-school clubhouse for teens, starting a vegetable garden in a derelict plot, or sacrificing her own porch to open St. Harmony Café, a coffee shop staffed by neighborhood kids. A civic superhero, Elizabeth is the rightful winner of The Philadelphia Citizen’s 2026 Block Captain of the Year.

Philly sports fan extraordinaire Neil Beck has a collection of some 1,700 sports jerseys decorating his Ardmore man cave, including a closet containing the history of Eagles uniforms from 1933 through Super Bowl LIX. His all-time fave? A Fletcher Cox number 91, complete with Super Bowl LII patch. How did he decide among such riches? “It’s not hard for me,” he says.

Remember when a skinny 13-year-old Mo’ne Davis captured our hearts and broke a glass ceiling from atop a pitcher’s mound in the 2014 Little League World Series? Today, that girl is a woman with a master’s of science in sports management from Columbia University, a roster spot in the debut Women’s Professional Baseball League, and jobs both pitching for the Indianapolis Clowns — the Negro League–inspired team by the Savannah Bananas — and coaching girls softball for the Anderson Monarchs, the rec center where Mo got her start besting the boys.

You’d be hard-pressed to pick a more dominant month in the history of the Phillies than the one Cristopher Sánchez lived in May. What started as one spectacular outing on May 5th — eight shutout innings, 10 strikeouts — snowballed into a 50 2⁄3-inning scoreless streak, the fifth-longest in MLB history. That six-year, $107 million contract extension he signed back in March is looking even better in hindsight.

As the ovations for Sánchez were starting in May, those across the parking lot at Xfinity Mobile Arena were beginning to wane. Though there was plenty to cheer about for the Flyers this year, props need to go to Flyers fans for dragging their team into the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Long beleaguered, oft forgotten, the fans reminded the city why, in a city dominated by the Eagles and the Phils, the ones wearing the orange and black remain the most dedicated.

As for the next generation of Philly sports fans, we have the Philly Sisters to thank. Proof positive of the old saying “If you want to get something done, ask a busy mom,” two such moms, comedian Wanda Sykes and her wife, Alex Niedbalski-Sykes, have been moonlighting as the public faces of the Sisters Sports Group. The mostly female group announced last year that Philly will finally get its own WNBA team in 2030, and it brought Unrivaled, the Miami-based three-on-three women’s basketball league, to Philly for two sold-out games.

Speaking of hoops, did anyone think V.J. Edgecombe would be that good in his rookie season? His confidence, fearlessness, and, yes, his ever-present smile made him one of three finalists for NBA Rookie of the Year, alongside much more widely (initially) touted Dukies Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel. The Flagg guy, whoever he is, won in what Philly considers a huge miscarriage of justice — or would, if V.J. hadn’t suffered that uncharacteristic collapse in Game 5 against the (eventual world-champ) Knicks in May.

Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t remember Isaiah Zagar, Dito van Reigersberg, and Dan McQuade, three people we lost in 2026 who truly defined what it means to be a Philadelphian. Zagar’s mosaics dot and enliven the drab corners of this city, van Reigersberg’s outlandish pomp and sparkling wit as Martha Graham Cracker stretched the boundaries of performance, and McQuade’s singular writing spread the gospel of Philly across the globe. All created a Philadelphia that is more exquisite and weird than before. May we all strive to create something even a fraction as brilliant.

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Published as “Best Philadelphians” in the August 2026 issue of Philadelphia magazine.