LeBron James announced he was coming to Philadelphia. Within days, someone had intentionally sunburned a No. 23 jersey onto his back. That’s commitment.
A Delco man spent a day at the beach in Sea Isle using zinc sunscreen to leave behind a perfectly outlined “James 23” sunburn. His family thought he’d lost his mind, and beachgoers assumed he’d lost a bet. But later that night he got to proudly show it off at Ocean Drive like he’d just gotten fresh ink.
The man called it “Philly toughness” … sure. This is exactly why Philadelphia sports fans have the reputation we do. We climb poles, tattoo the Phanatic on our bellies, and name our dogs after backup quarterbacks. And now someone has a LeBron jersey they can’t take off for a week.
Longtime 6abc meteorologist Cecily Tynan has spent more than 30 years as a member of the Action News team.6abc
The end of another Action News era: F
Thirty years is long enough for someone to become part of your routine without you even realizing it.
For decades, Cecily Tynan has been the person telling Philadelphia whether to grab a jacket, brace for a blizzard, or enjoy a sunny weekend. You hear the forecast while making dinner or before heading out the door and rarely stop to think about who’s delivering it.
Cecily Tynan leaving feels a little bigger than another broadcaster calling it a career because Action News is part of the city’s daily rhythm. Generations have eaten dinner while those familiar voices played in the background.
But it’s hard to argue with her reason. She’s retiring while she’s healthy enough to spend more time with her family, cheer at her daughter’s track meets, water ski in Florida, rescue animals, and, perhaps most shocking of all, cook Thanksgiving dinner for the first time instead of picking it up from Whole Foods.
First Jim Gardner. Now Cecily Tynan.
Good luck to whoever has to tell Philadelphia there’s snow coming next. Those are big rain boots to fill.
One of the best parts of watching a movie or TV show filmed in Philadelphia isn’t the plot. It’s playing, “I know where that is.”
The trailer delivers plenty of that. You get SEPTA stations, Market East, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, Center City rooftops — Reacher himself even slams a guy’s head against an Inquirer vending box. We knew Reacher was filming here last summer but seeing the finished product is still oddly satisfying.
Maybe the action scenes will be great. Maybe the mystery will keep us hooked. But let’s be honest: Half of Philadelphia is going to spend every episode pointing at the TV and announcing exactly where they filmed it. (Bonus points if you can call out shots of Toronto masquerading as Philly.)
NBC Sports Philadelphia analyst John Kruk following the Phillies’ loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday.NBC Sports Philadelphia
John Kruk on national TV: A
Every time John Kruk joins the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast, it feels like someone accidentally invited your funniest uncle to a black-tie wedding.
This week, the conversation somehow turned into Kruk admitting he doesn’t really own ties, that most of the ones he brought were clip-ons, and then struggled to button his collar while Joe Girardi and Jason Benetti narrated the ordeal like it was Game 7 of the World Series. At one point, Kruk declared facing Randy Johnson was easier than putting on the tie.
That’s why Philadelphia loves him.
Kruk makes millions of viewers feel like they’re sitting in the living room watching baseball with a friend who wandered in wearing whatever he found in the closet. He’s knowledgeable without acting like the smartest guy in the room, and he’s never afraid to laugh at himself.
Sure, NBC can put him in a jacket and hand him a tie, but they can’t make John Kruk stop being John Kruk.
From left: Former Eagles receiver Terrell Owens, the Phillies’ Bryce Harper, and former Flyer Eric Lindros.Associated Press
LeBron James is the latest reminder that the biggest names in sports don’t just tolerate Philadelphia anymore — they want to play here. And once you start thinking about it, the list is pretty impressive: Bryce Harper, Saquon Barkley, Terrell Owens, Jim Thome, Cliff Lee, Dr. J, Eric Lindros, Moses Malone. Each arrival felt like a holiday. Not every move worked out perfectly. (Sorry, T.O.) But that’s beside the point.
For decades, Philadelphia fans carried around the idea that stars preferred bigger markets, warmer weather, or flashier franchises. We were the “underdogs.” Now, one of the greatest basketball players of all time looked around the NBA and decided he wanted to spend the final chapter of his career was South Philly. (We just have to convince him to move here now.)
A crowd strolls along the boardwalk in Wildwood on Monday, May 26, 2025.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Now comes the important part: Please film it there.
Hollywood has a habit of setting shows in one place and shooting them somewhere completely different. But Wildwood has too much personality to fake. The boardwalk, the neon motels, the tram car. If you’re going to call the show Wildwood, you have to earn it.
Besides, if The Four Seasons can film down the Shore and Reacher can turn Philadelphia into an action movie backdrop, there’s no reason this one can’t let Wildwood play itself.
If nothing else, we deserve a season of spotting familiar landmarks instead of arguing online, “That’s clearly not Jersey.”
Riq Woolen stopped in his tracks. Following Thursday’s practice, the newest Eagles defensive back was sprinting off the field when he was waved down by one of his all-time favorite players: Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins.
Woolen — who is the second tallest cornerback in the league — was enamored by the Eagles legend’s build at 52 years old.
“He’s big as hell,” Woolen said with a laugh. “I didn’t expect him to be that big, bro.”
People inside the building have been saying similar things about Woolen since he signed with the Eagles. Woolen, 27, is not your typical corner. Whereas other defensive backs stand at an average height of 5-foot-11 according to Joker Mag, Woolen has an impressive 6-foot-4, 210-pound frame. This physical advantage made him a Pro Bowler in 2022 and a key cog in the Seahawks’ Super Bowl run last season.
These traits are the reason why general manager Howie Roseman handed him a one-year deal worth up to $15 million in March. With Woolen, Quinyon Mitchell, and Cooper DeJean in the defensive backfield, the Eagles now have three Pro Bowl cornerbacks for the first time in team history.
Riq Woolen has an atypical build for an NFL cornerback. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
So, how are things going with this potentially dominant trio so far?
“It’s pretty cool because it’s just learning how to fit in with these guys,” Woolen said Thursday. “I know my personality, I get along well with everybody. So just being able to become close with these guys, that’s all I really care about.
“I’ve got to be the best version of myself, and for me to do that, I’ve got to be comfortable with them, and they’ve got to be comfortable with me, and they’ve got to get to know me, and I’ve got to know them.”
Woolen has had an excellent start to his NFL career, collecting Super Bowl hardware and 12 total interceptions. He could have signed with plenty of teams in free agency, but he said team culture brought him to the Eagles.
“Honestly, just the culture here is just an amazing culture,” Woolen said. “They preach to us we got to work hard. It’s a hard working team. Everybody in this organization works hard. So just being able to be coached by them, I feel like it’s going to help me as a player and it’s going to push me to be a great person.”
Riq Woolen reached a Pro Bowl and won a Super Bowl in four seasons with the Seahawks. Kyusung Gong
It might not be a long-term marriage. The Eagles still need to pay Mitchell and DeJean, so Woolen could possibly serve as a one-year mercenary. But if he can replicate his elite production from Seattle with the Eagles, Roseman certainly won’t complain. Since his rookie season, Woolen has limited quarterbacks to a 54.2 completion percentage, which ranks 14th of the 139 corners (with at least 100 targets). He recorded his fourth consecutive season with 10-plus passes defended last year.
Woolen’s new defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio, is thrilled about what he can do in the Eagles’ defense.
“Well, he’s a rare guy in that you don’t see many corners in the league that are 6-foot-4,” Fangio said in May. “You don’t see many that are 6-foot-2 or even 6-foot-1 and there’s a reason for that. It’s hard to find guys at those heights that can move and mirror receivers that are hard to cover. He can do that for a guy his height. He can get in and out of breaks. He obviously has good downfield speed and his length is more of an asset than a detriment in his case.
“I’m excited to have him. He’s been here since we started the offseason. Seems to be a great guy. He’s into being here and really looking forward to working with him.”
President Donald Trump’s administration may be creating a difficult choice for low-income immigrants who could be denied green cards by seeking public assistance to feed and access healthcare for their U.S.-born children.
Under the “public charge” rule — which the administrationplans to put in place on Sept. 18— a person could be denied permanent residency in the United States if immigration officers believe the individual would become a drain on the country by accessing government benefits, which could include SNAP, Medicaid, and housing vouchers.
In Philadelphia and throughout the region, the rule, though not yet official, is nevertheless having a chilling effect, frightening parents who are legal immigrants into avoiding public benefits for their children, say advocates who work with immigrants and low-income communities.
“It could prevent families from going to food cupboards, or keep women from accessing domestic violence shelters. The effect will be broad,” said Maripat Pileggi, an attorney with Community Legal Services in Center City.
Advocates say the administration’s public charge rule could have a major impact on so-called mixed-status families made up of immigrant adults awaiting green cards and their children who are U.S. citizens.
Immigrant parents have customarily been permitted to apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as well as Medicaid and housing assistance on behalf of their children, as long as they were not seeking help for themselves.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said people in the United States legally “have nothing to fear” and reiterated that U.S. policy has been that immigrants “should not depend on U.S. taxpayer resources to meet their needs.”
As the Trump administration pursues its highly public crackdown on undocumented immigrants, the rule highlights ways in which its policies have also targeted all immigrants, including ones on track for lawful permanent residency.
“They throw another hurdle people have to worry about into their path, making America seem less desirable,” said Jeff DeCristofaro, executive director of the Camden Center for Law and Justice.
“What happens next is people gathering around their kitchen table and deciding it’s too difficult to be in this country. So they give up and self-deport.”
DeCristofaro said his organization, which provides free and low-cost legal services to individuals with low incomes, is “already getting calls from people who have to make agonizing choices.”
What is the public charge rule?
The public charge rule dates back to the Immigration Act of 1891, when entry to the United States was denied to people who could not take care of themselves, primarily “paupers.”
In 1999, the Clinton administration clarified the public charge to deny entry to a person who would be primarily dependent on the government for cash subsistence, such as TANF (previously known as welfare), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or long-term Medicaid. However, the guidance explicitly said that noncash benefits such as SNAP, non-long-term Medicaid, or housing help would not be considered public charge determinations.
But near the end of Trump’s first term, the public charge definition was expanded to penalize green card applicants for using legal public benefits such as Medicaid of any kind, SNAP, and housing assistance. President Joe Biden later rescinded Trump’s version of the public charge, reestablishingthe earlier iteration of the rule.
Currently, the Trump administration’s second version of the public charge rule does not explicitly state which benefits will be penalized. Advocates, however, expect a return to 2019 standards.
The Department of Homeland Security has calculated that more than 950,000 individuals will either disenroll from public benefits or forgo enrollment into them because of the policy, according to the Federal Register.
Ann Sanders, the director of public benefits policyat Just Harvest, an anti-hunger nonprofit in Allegheny County, worries the disenrollments will exacerbate the already growing demands on food pantries in the state.
“You’re going to have kids going hungry because parents will be trying to keep families together by not going for SNAP benefits,” she said. “It’s insidious. It’s awful.”
The fear among advocates is that by not delineating the public benefits that can trip up a legal immigrant, U.S. immigration officers will be free to use the public charge rule in any way they see fit, which could severely limit the number of people accepted into the country.
That is not the best way to assess thepolicy, according to Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, a conservative think tank created by former Vice President Mike Pence.
“It allows immigration officers to take a holistic view of the alien being considered for a green card. The old rules about obtaining cash and noncash benefits were rigid,” said von Spakovsky, who was a contributor to Project 2025, a more than 900-page document intended to serve as a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second presidency.
He called the public charge rule an important tool for determiningwho should obtain a green card, a major step toward U.S. citizenship. “We want immigrants to be productive members helping the economy without relying on benefits,” von Spakovsky said. “It’s a matter of being more selective.”
The public charge rule is expected to be challenged in court before the end of the summer.
Jonathan Grode, an immigration attorney in Center City and adjunct law professor at Temple University, argued the policy stems from one of the goals of Project 2025, which is to reduce all immigration, not just illegal entry into the country.
“What’s in the rule is secondary to the rule’s primary purpose: changing people’s idea to come to this country in the first place,” Grode said.
Market Day Canelé’s savory tart is a scrapbook of sorts for owners Gil Ortale and Nem Ngo. It’s sold at farmers’ markets on weekends, each tart a collection of every interaction they’ve had through the week, shopping from their fellow vendors at Rittenhouse, Headhouse, Chestnut Hill, and Swarthmore Farmers’ Markets, and filling in the gaps at Reading Terminal Market, where Ortale once ran Fireworks, a charcoal-grill stall four decades ago.
It’s tomato season, and the Market Day savory tomato tart ($30) is an ode to this area’s most covetable, most anticipated fruit. Crimini and white button mushrooms, corn, herb-roasted cotto ham from Claudio, Alderfer Farm eggs, and gruyère play supporting roles to the tomato slices splayed across its top. It’s a tart that’s also a philosophical meditation on produce.
“Flavors [in my cooking] should be crystal clear examples of the very thing you imagine,” said Ortale, whose resume reads like a highlights reel of Philadelphia’s most storied restaurants, as he has worked everywhere from Frog to La Terrasse. “Like when you’re a child and tasting herring or Roquefort for the first time.”
Ortale’s goal is to make food that tastes exactly like one’s first recollection of tasting any food. And so, his tomato tart reminds me of the first time I tasted fresh tomatoes cooked gently on a pizza, when I was five years old. It made me think of the first time I had sweet, fresh corn and the kernels burst in my mouth, and the savory British pies I ate growing up in Hong Kong.
Nem Ngo and Gil Ortale are the folks behind Market Day Canelé. They were photographed in their Philadelphia home on Thursday, July 30, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
It’s so good that I was hesitant to write about it, as Ortale and Ngo usually only make two dozen to sell every week, and if you get one, there’s far less of a chance I’ll be able to get one.
The crust is intentionally imperfect and not uniform, which makes it so flaky, it will stop you in your tracks, mid-bite. Ortale makes every single tart by hand. He doesn’t use a mixer or a Robot Coupe. “He blends the butter into the dry ingredients for each dough ball. That’s why they taste the way they do, they’re light and never stodgy,” said Ngo. “You can’t get that without elbow grease. It can’t be done with a machine.”
This approach is also why Market Day Canelé has never opened a brick-and-mortar bakery. They have no desire to scale up.
“We’re not hardcore capitalists. We just genuinely want to make good food. The farmers’ market industry is the most supportive and values-driven part of the food economy. People are shopping there because they want to know where their food is coming from and they want to see the faces of the people who make the food. We try to uphold that by doing everything by hand, with love, and to the best of our ability,” said Ngo.
The canelé by Market Day Canelé is a vanilla custard pastry that is the traditional pastry of Bordeaux. It was photographed in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 30, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
The airy, honey-combed crevices of beeswax and butter-slicked canelés may be the emblem of their business. They certainly have sent Ortale and then Ngo down an obsessive path of perfecting a corner of French-rooted baking traditions. But their savory tarts, with a rotation of ultra-local ingredients, many sourced from their friends, are the finest illustration of how skilled hands and devotion to one’s community can produce extraordinary things.
Market Day Canelé, instagram.com/marketdaycanele. Hours: Every Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rittenhouse Farmers’ Market and every Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Headhouse Farmers’ Market. Every other Saturday: Chestnut Hill Farmers’ Market and Swarthmore Farmers’ Market, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Jalen Carter said something very sweet and very incorrect during a news conference Wednesday. In answering questions about his new contract extension with the Eagles — an extension that reportedly guarantees him $106 million — Carter paused while answering a question and mentioned all the people to whom he was grateful.
“Wanna slow it down,” he said. “First, I want to say I’m thankful to God for putting me on this earth. Thankful for the coaches, the players, Mr. Lurie.”
Then he nodded toward the media members gathered in front of him.
“Thankful for you guys, too,” he said. “You guys put out some good information, some good facts about me, stuff like that. We’re all one family.”
Now, some of the people in the media tent at that time definitely were. Members of Carter’s actual family were on hand, as were several Eagles staff members and his friend and teammate Jordan Davis. And some other people there either don’t mind thinking of themselves as members of the Eagles’ family or have bosses who would like them to be thought of that way.
But a fair number of us weren’t there to congratulate Carter for his newly attained wealth or share in the optimism that he will fulfill his potential and become a Hall of Fame-caliber defensive tackle. We were there to listen to what he said, to listen to what Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni and Carter’s teammates said, to listen to other people in and around the Eagles’ organization said about the signing, and to explain what happened and what it might all mean. We might even point out that Carter has made some pretty big mistakes in his life and football career, and those mistakes raise the possibility that he won’t live up to such a lucrative contract, and he and the Eagles ought to be held to account for such decisions and mistakes.
We were there to tell people what’s really happening or what we really think. We’re not going to sit on information or a story because it might embarrass or anger a coach or player or make things more difficult for the franchise. We were there to report, not to support. There’s a difference, and when you note that difference nowadays, you risk coming off like a scold, a jerk, an egomaniac, or all of those things at once. You face the inevitable barrage of complaints from those who want to be told only what they want to hear; who presume that you root for the athletes and teams that you cover and, when they find out that you don’t, insist that you should; and who can’t comprehend how someone could report or write something in good faith that was critical of those hometown heroes. Which is OK. That complaining, even the nastiest of it, comes with the job, and you have to be able to take it.
Put simply, we’re there to be as fair and accurate and honest as we can be, but we’re not part of the team. We’re not part of the family. We’re not supposed to be.
Quick hitters
Wilt Chamberlain lived in Manhattan while he played for the Philadelphia Warriors. JJ Redick lived in Brooklyn while he played for the 76ers. If you are genuinely dismayed that LeBron James might not live in Philadelphia or any of its surrounding towns and suburbs during his (brief) career with the Sixers, please get in your car, drive it north on I-95, and, for perhaps the first time in your life, continue past the Street Road exit. There’s a whole world up there. …
Kudos to Tom McCarthy: Phillies TV play-by-play man, former radio voice of the St. Joseph’s Hawks, all-around gem of a human being. During Tuesday’s Phillies-Marlins telecast on NBC Sports Philadelphia, he delivered a brief and beautiful eulogy for Chris DiJulia, the son of longtime St. Joe’s athletic director Don DiJulia and as familiar a presence as anyone connected to the school’s athletic program. Chris, who had cerebral palsy, died Monday night. Tom even mentioned the moving tribute that former Inquirer staffer Mike Jensen wrote to Chris on Mike’s Facebook page. …
I’ve visited At My House a couple of times, scouring the aisles for quirky vintage pieces, loving the eclectic vibe of the store even when I didn’t buy anything. So I was not surprised to see them hosting what is possibly the most whimsical art show I’ve ever been to, displaying art about the size of a postage stamp.
The Queen Village clothing and homewares store is run by Kelly Braun who, in collaboration with artist Fabiola Lara, started the mini art show last year. They invited artists to create art that was 3 inches x 3 inches, so this year, it had to be even more silly, cutting it in half to 1.5 inches x 1.5 inches.
Prints by artist Fabiola Lara for sale at “The Mini Mini Art Show” at the store At My House on Fourth Street in Philadelphia on Friday, July 24, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
The opening reception for the show was absolutely buzzing, with people grabbing cocktails and lining up around the store to view the wall of tiny pieces. There was tiny clothing, houses, rooms, closets, and classic art pieces — those were made by Lara, who is no stranger to mini art.
You may have come across her mini art vending machines, of which there are 13 around the city.
Leann Curly (middle) and Karen Sarappo (right) were thrilled with artist Fabiola Lara’s (left) mini art print that they purchased from the mini art print vending machine during the opening/public reception of “The Mini Mini Art Show” at the store At My House on Fourth Street in Philadelphia on Friday, July 24, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
After visiting several major museums with grandiose pieces, I never thought I would see people get the most excited over art that can fit in the palm of their hands. But there was an infectious energy and a sense of joy at At My House.
In a world where large-scale exhibits are so heavily celebrated, getting giddy over comically tiny art felt like a therapeutic break from artistic snobbery.
“The Mini Mini Art Show” is on display through Aug. 2 at At My House, 760 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia. atmyhou.se
— Morgan Ritter
Philly band Hurry’s new album is “Zoned Out.” They play Main Street Music in Manayunk on Aug. 1 and Philly Typewriter on Aug. 22. Luke Ivanovich
Harmony-happy Hurry is back with ‘Zoned Out’
Matthew Scottoline is Zoned Out. That’s the title of the transporting new album by Hurry, the jangly Philadelphia band that has been his creative outlet since 2012, when Scottoline — previously the bassist in Philly emo band Everyone Everywhere, stepped out as leader of his own power-pop project.
Now six albums in, Scottoline continues to refine the harmony-happy Hurry approach, where longing and yearning and experiencing a bittersweet melancholy is elevated to an art form.
In his notes to the album — which began as home recordings on cassette and was completed at the Metal Shop in East Kensington — explains that the dreamy, hypnotic song that gives the collection its name came about because “I tend to disassociate. I zone out and sort of crawl into my own head.”
In this case, that dissociating is a result of facing life changes — the end of one relationship, the beginning of another, and the decision to become a parent — “and how [expletive] scary that is,” as Scottoline puts it in his notes.
But while that tension exists as an undercurrent, Scottoline’s knack for breezy, cascading melodies mean that Zoned Out is always riding a pleasurable, reassuring wave. The album — which features a cameo from Gerard Love of Scottish power-pop heroes Teenage Fanclub — conveys a sense that any conflicts or “Complications” that may arise will ultimately resolve themselves, just as the melodies do on this seriously catchy set of 10 songs.
Hurry will perform for free Aug. 1 at Main Street Music, 4444 Main St. in Manayunk with Planette Automatic, mainstreetmusicpa.com. After heading to England and Scotland for a short tour, the band will be back in town at Philly Typewriter, 1735 Passyunk Ave., with Chime School and Te Vista on Aug. 22. r5productions.com.
— Dan DeLuca
A photograph of Mary Oliver from Sasha Waters’ documentary, “Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World.”Courtesy of Kino Lorber
Saved by Mary Oliver
Before Mary Oliver’s poems became the stuff of Instagram inspiration posts, she was the patron saint of college girls discovering love and nature for the first time. I was 16 when I read “Wild Geese,” almost crying at the lines: “You do not have to be good. / You do not have to walk on your knees / for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.”
In the years since, I have met so many women in love with her words: a former coworker had a tattoo of her lines, a friend will often quote from Oliver’s “The Summer Day” from memory just to describe her joy of being in a beach on a day so hot that the water shimmers as it evaporates in the horizon.
Oliver, who lived with her partner, Molly Malone Cook, in Provincetown for several years, is also a queer icon whose words never fail to soothe a soul in need of a reminder of the love and tenderness in this world.
Now, a documentary on her life and career — featuring readings of her poems by the likes of Helena Bonham Carter and Oprah Winfrey — celebrates the poet who died in 2019. Peppered with poetry, remembrances, interviews, photos, and notebook pages, Sasha Waters’ Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World is a treat to those who love Mary Oliver and those who are waiting to start.
“Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World”plays July 31-Aug. 6, at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr. brynmawrfilm.org
— Bedatri D. Choudhury
Jeweler Steven Lagos’ flag is among the 120 flags from national and international designers celebrating America’s 250th birthday in Rockefeller Center. The flags will be up through Sept. 4, 2026.Lagos
Steven Lagos’ Philly pride at Rockefeller Center
Philly master jeweler Steven Lagos’ flag blows along the perimeter of Rockefeller Center with graphic images of a cracked bell, 13 stars, and red-and-white striped detail. At first glance, it does not look much different than other art shouting out Philly’s history.
Then, I noticed Lagos’ golden caviar bead ribbon dancing in the center of the red, white, and blue canvas and thought this is special in a Lagos loves Philly kind of way.
Those caviar beads are Lagos’ trademark, a part of the design dictionary of Philadelphia, where Lagos has lived and worked for more than 50 years. It’s amazing to see him continuing to integrate Philly in his work.
Lagos’ flag is among 130 featured in the “United Flags of Fashion,” a joint project between the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Vogue, Rockefeller Center, and America 250 to honor the country’s milestone birthday. CFDA describes the project as a “sweeping tribute to American creativity, identity, and design.”
Other household-name fashion brands with flags flying high are Tommy Hilfiger, Vera Wang, Calvin Klein, Gap, and Kenneth Cole. Bucks County-born Thom Browne’s flag is steely gray flag and features a crest; Main Line-bred Tory Burch’s red, white, and blue flag also showcases a Liberty Bell, but her image hovers over the words virtue, liberty, and independence. These Pennsylvania makers are full mast.
While those designers proudly say they are from the Philly area, Lagos — whose red and white stripes represent the columns at the Philadelphia Museum of Art — stayed in Philly. His flagship business is on Philly’s toniest street and, as evidenced in his Rockefeller Center banner, Lagos reps Philly in everything he does.
The flags will fly at Rockefeller Center through Sept. 4.
— Elizabeth Wellington
Michelle Buteau as Mavis in the Netflix comedy “Survival of the Thickest.” MUST CREDIT: Netflix photo by Vanessa Clifton
God bless you please, Michelle Buteau
It’s hard to say goodbye to one of my favorite shows, but the third and final season of Survival of the Thickest felt like a fitting ending for Michelle Buteau’s witty comedy. She plays Mavis, an aspiring fashion designer who wants to make clothes that fit all body types — thick girls, genderqueer folks, and anyone else who thrives outside of the fashion world’s narrow beauty standards.
In this season, (part-time) Delaware County resident Wanda Sykes joins the cast as Mavis’ fertility doctor and she’s a cool-headed, hilarious scene partner who deflates her patient’s babbling anxiety with well-timed precision.
The show remains funny, warm, and sassy, but the emotions reach new depths as Mavis experiences a miscarriage and struggles in her recovery. Nothing keeps her down for long though, and it’s such a comfort to see Mavis get back up. It’s an uplifting and heartwarming story that could help any viewer overcome summertime (or other time) sadness.
The novelist Emma Copley Eisenberg is not supposed to write about her new South Philly neighborhood.
A longtime resident of West Philly, Eisenberg wove its eccentricities and institutions into two books of fiction: the 2024 queer road trip novel Housemates, and the newly released Fat Swim, an interconnected short story collection featuring, among other local allusions, a pool inspired by the one at West Philly’s Kingsessing Rec Center.
Then about a year ago, Eisenberg and her partner, Art Phung, moved together across the river. Phung suggested that maybe Eisenberg could avoid writing about their new environs, so they wouldn’t have to move again. (Eisenberg made no promises.)
On her perfect Philly day, Eisenberg treks between fresh and familiar haunts, floats in the city pool immortalized in Fat Swim, and browses at least three bookstores.
8 a.m.
In a perfect world, I wake up at 8, and I go to Café y Chocolate, a wonderful Mexican brunch and breakfast spot in our new neighborhood. I read my book for a little bit until meeting a friend. The mocha they make is pretty life-changing. When my mom was in the hospital, she was like, “All I want is café con chocolate from there.”
I like to look at all the dogs. I don’t have a dog, my partner says I’m not responsible enough. So I force a friend who has a dog to bring their dog to the park to meet me. I like to run into people and hear the queer gossip of the day — who went out last night, what’s going on.
A lot of my friends have kids now, so it’s usually a good excuse to see some of their kids and hear about theirgossip at school.
Noon
At the Kingsessing pool, I like to just kind of flop around and float. I can’t ease my way into the pool, I have to jump all the way in. I’m not a particularly good swimmer per se, but it makes me happy. After doing the pool, I always feel 10% less dead inside.
Walking from Old City back to South, I stop at Head House Books. It’s kind of magical: whatever the book is that I want, they always have it. They have good book clubs, they’re supportive of local authors, they do a lot of events.
Head House has a really good children’s section. I usually try to buy a couple of board books because they’re good for little kids and they’re cheaper. I also have a soft spot for the classic things that I read when I was a kid, like The Baby-Sitters Club and Nancy Drew. I buy a couple of kids’ books and put them in little free libraries because I find that joyful.
I also cut over to Giovanni’s Room, because they have all those $1 paperbacks out. I’ll browse around to see if they have anything that’s cheap that I want to buy for my library or for one that I pass on the way home. I might wind through a few little free libraries. I could hit the one at the Singing Fountain on East Passyunk, and say hi to Little Yenta Books.
6:30 p.m.
My partner and I go to Cafe Nhan at least once a week. I love their vermicelli bowl with grilled pork, and fried spring rolls. They have an amazing limeade too. If you follow Cafe Nhan on Instagram, they often show what broths and soups they have going that day, so you can get excited.
Eisenberg poses with a billboard along Interstate 95 promoting the release of “Fat Swim.” Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
8 p.m.
I used to be partial to Fred’s on 54th and Chester. I put Fred’s in Fat Swim. However, I will say that at Chuck’s Water Ice [on Snyder], the texture is incredible. It’s very fluffy. The flavors they have are really special — tangerine, blood orange. I like to get a gelati of tangerine and vanilla custard. I eat it as I walk home.
8:15 p.m.
If I’m feeling like I want a little nightcap, I go to Brewery ARS.They have good beer and it’s kind of a hole-in-the-wall, but not in a sports way. More in a “we might have a weird musician” way. They probably wouldn’t have the game on, but they would have a Sun Ra music video on.
10 p.m.
I watch a comfort episode of television or read a book. Right now I’m doing a rewatch of Girls, like everybody else. I get into bed at 10 and go to sleep by 11, if I’m honest.
The conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
The juxtaposition of a flamingo and a honey bee may not have doubled you over in laughter, but it had me pause while walking into a South Jersey farm market. And it made me smile.
Then I started to overthink it. Am I missing a joke here? “Q: What’s the difference between a flamingo and a honey bee?” Or, “a bee and a flamingo walk into a bar.”
Nope. That doesn’t work either. Nor does a meme about having “the” birds and the bees “talk.”
All this to justify picking that picture to feature with this column. Some weeks it’s an easier choice, and this week’s got me thinking about what in the newspaper business is called a standalone photo.
A standalone photo made while my colleague was taking the escalator to his assignment at the International Congress of Mathematicians at the Convention Center on Monday.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Aka, a photo feature or wild art, a standalone is a picture published without an accompanying article. I talked about it in a previous column (click bonus: the photos there are from a cold, snowy January day. Maybe refreshing to look at now, as we’re here in the dog days of summer).
In the heyday of dead-tree, printed ink-on-paper analog versions of newspapers not every story had a picture, so standalones were used when editors wanted to add some visual variety to a page that was all gray. That is precisely the 1998 origin of this column: it broke up a text-heavy page containing community news, calendars, traffic reports, school information, and volunteer listings.
Online publishing changed everything, and digital design evolved toward image-heavy layouts. Since our brains process pictures much faster than words, photos make a story more likely to grab a reader’s attention while scrolling.
Suddenly every story on news websites had an image attached. Pictures became plentiful.
A standalone of two prominent Freemasons – Benjamin Franklin and George Washington – standing in bronze outside the Grand Lodge Masonic Library and Museum across the street from City Hall. (“The Bond” was created by sculptor Jim West in 2018.)Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
And that’s the paradox. Even though the internet is highly visual, it favors rapid consumption rather than contemplation. Lost in the mishmash array of thumbnails on a website, it is harder to appreciate a storytelling standalone photo, or enjoy the much slower experience of pacing through a dozen images and captions in lengthy photo essays.
And that brings me around to a photo I saw this week. A reader submitted a picture they’d snapped of a young man outside Reading Terminal Market dressed in a solid-color button-down shirt with trousers held up by suspenders instead of a belt and wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat closely examining a parked Uber Eats’ delivery bot.
I reacted to it just as I did with the flamingo/honey bee, with a smile.
For decades the old weekly LIFE magazine had a standing feature on the last page called Miscellany. It was mostly pictures of people and animals in unexpected or humorous situations. A standalone.
Even with an abundant canvas there really isn’t a place on our website for a standalone photo — like the bot — without an attached story.
Or maybe there is. I have this column where my unattached images are displayed every Saturday and I’m happy to share some of the space (means less writing for me). So readers, if you see and take a picture like those on LIFE’s back-of-the-book page, email it to me.
(By the way, even though it was taken in a public place we wouldn’t have used the Amish/bot photo anyway. The subject may belong to a community that doesn’t enjoy being photographed, and he was minor. The photographer needed to talk to him — and a parent — to provide more context. But then it would no longer be a standalone.)
And remember, if a bee lands on you, freeze. Let it investigate and it will leave without stinging as long as it doesn’t detect a threat. If a flamingo lands on you, well, you’ve got a different problem.
Since 1998 a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in the print editions of The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:
After nearly 50 quizzes, it’s time to bid adieu to Citywide Quest! We’ll show you a photo taken in the Philly area, you drop a pin where you think it was taken, and we’ll tell you a fun story behind the photo. Good luck.
Round #44
Question 1
Our very first Citywide Quest question was this photo. Where was it taken?
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ClickTap on map to guess the location in the photo
ClickTap again to change your guess and hit submit when you're happy
You will be scored at the end. The closer to the location the better the score
Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Pretty good/Not bad/Way off! Your guess was from the location.Spot on! Your guess was exactly at the location. Here's also where a random selection of Inquirer readers guessed.
The theme of our first ever Citywide Quest was arts and culture institutions in Philadelphia. The “Paint Torch” sculpture by Claes Oldenburg was installed at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2011.
Question 2
Where is this mall outside of city limits?
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Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Pretty good/Not bad/Way off! Your guess was from the location.Spot on! Your guess was exactly at the location. Here's also where a random selection of Inquirer readers guessed.
Back in November 2025, we asked you to pinpoint this photo taken at King of Prussia Mall. We received a lot of reader emails about this. One reader pushed back, saying, “It says Philly quiz and the second answer was King of Prussia Mall. Not in Philly is it?”
We do say the photos are in the Philly area, but they are right: The mall is not within city limits. Of the 132 questions, this was easily the one with most feedback.
Quiz continues after ad
Question 3
Where is this Easter egg?
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Jasen Lo
Pretty good/Not bad/Way off! Your guess was from the location.Spot on! Your guess was exactly at the location. Here's also where a random selection of Inquirer readers guessed.
Our Easter-themed quiz had to be an Easter egg hunt. Interactives journalist-engineer Jasen Lo hopped on his bike with a bag full of eggs and took photos across the city – including this one taken of the German Society Of Pennsylvania, from the median of Spring Garden.
One reader presumed the eggs were Photoshopped into existing photos. We could have done it that way, but where’s the fun in that?
Question 4
Where is this sundial, which is definitely where it’s supposed to be?
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Jasen Lo
Pretty good/Not bad/Way off! Your guess was from the location.Spot on! Your guess was exactly at the location. Here's also where a random selection of Inquirer readers guessed.
For a time-themed edition of Citywide Quest, we asked you to identify the location of this Calder-created sundial sculpture — but not before we unintentionally caused a small panic at the Fairmount Park Conservancy.
When we sent a photographer to Fairmount Park to capture the sculpture, it could not be found! We called park officials, worried that it had been stolen. Another visit and more accurate coordinates quickly resolved the mystery and put everyone’s concerns to rest.
Question 5
For our final question, where is the room where Citywide Quest happens?
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Jasen Lo
Pretty good/Not bad/Way off! Your guess was from the location.Spot on! Your guess was exactly at the location. Here's also where a random selection of Inquirer readers guessed.
The Inquirer office building is located on 100 S. Independence Mall West, where – every week since October – the Interactives team has created a new round of Citywide Quest. We’ve asked you to guess the locations of photos taken all over the Philly area, from down the Shore to islands on the Delaware and Schuylkill.
Our summer intern last year, Levi Jiang, designed and developed the game that you’ve come to know and love. Thanks, Levi!
Your Score
ARank
Amazing work. We hate to say adieu.
BRank
Good stuff. Take a bow, and we’ll take our leave.
CRank
C you later, alligator.
DRank
D isn’t great. We’d hoped to depart on a better note.
FRank
We don’t want to say you failed, but maybe it’s for the best we all moved on.
You beat % of other Inquirer readers.
We would like to thank everyone who played Citywide Quest over the past year. Unfortunately, we have some sad news: this is the last ever weekly edition of Citywide Quest. Thanks for playing, and stay tuned to the Inquirer, as Citywide Quest isn’t the only quiz in town.
Staff Contributors
Reporting: Jasen Lo, Garland Fordice, Charmaine Runes, and Sam Morris
The buyers: Nick Matteo, an accountant, and Sandy Matteo, a nurse, both 63.
The house: A 2,282-square-foot split-level coastal colonial with 3 bedrooms and 2½ baths built in 1993.
The price: Listed for $699,000; purchased for $650,000.
The agent: Maria Sacco Handle, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach-Margate
The ask: The Matteos were ready to sell the home in Willow Grove where they raised their family to fulfill the dream of moving year-round to the Shore. They wanted a place that their children and grandchildren would want to visit and that would combine their love of the Shore during the summer with enough year-round community appeal.
“By the time I was 58, I was trying to convince my wife to move down there full time in Wildwood,” Nick said. “That took a lot of convincing.”
Nick and Sandy Matteo wanted a home that combined their love of the Shore with enough community to keep it interesting all year long. Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
The search: The Matteos shared two condos with another family in Wildwood and initially focused on the Wildwoods in their search. But people kept talking to Sandy about the charms of Brigantine.
“People were telling us that you’ll get much better value than you would in Wildwood,” Sandy said.
They were very close to making an offer on a house in Wildwood, when Sandy decided they should drive back up the Garden State Parkway, down the Atlantic City Expressway, and over the bridge to Brigantine.
“We looked at 10houses in twodays in Wildwood,” Nick said. “We found one we thought we liked, looked at it the second time, and put a bid in for $130,000 less than the asking price of $880,000. The offer never made it to the seller.”
In Brigantine, they fell immediately in love with asplit-level house facing the golf course with a for sale sign out front.
“It was 5:30 p.m., and I looked on my phone and saw a couple places, and we drove by here,” Sandy said. “I said, ‘This is the one.’ ”
They called the listing agentfrom out frontof the home, and she offered to show it to them the next day. “I said, ‘No, we’re about to buy a house. Can you show it to us, you know, any chance tonight?” Sandy recalled.
“She said, I’ll be there in 15 minutes.’”
Nick and Sandy Matteo were in love at first sight with this Brigantine split-level. They called the real estate agent from the car. Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
The appeal: Although the house needed some upgrades, it immediately spoke to them, combining the Shore location, across from Brigantine’s golf course, with the sturdy bones of a year-round house. “We went from one split-level to another,” said Nick.
“We came in and I saw the staircase, and the fact that it was all split-level, I just love that,” Sandy said.
The deal: The house was listed for $699,999, and they offered $600,000. The seller came back at $650,000, which they accepted. The seller, whose sisters had lived in the house, later offered a $1,000 credit for the non-working oven.
The money: Nick says that once he was able to sell the shared condos in Wildwood, one for $450,000 and the other for $569,000, the couple cleared enough money to start their search. They started with a budget of $800,000.
Selling their family home in Willow Grove, which they’d bought in 1992 for $152,000, meant they would be able to pay off the mortgage soon after closing. But to get there, they first put 20% down, and the rest in a 6.25% mortgage. Once the money from the Willow Grove sale comes in (sale price was $640,000), Nick says they will pay off the Brigantine mortgage.
“Brigantine was economical for us,” Nick said. “It will allow us to maybe buy other things, like a pontoon boat.”
The move: They closed on the Brigantine house May 29 but didn’t make the full-time move until July 16, after their Willow Grove house sold. Sandy went down first with the movers.
Life after close: The first week afterthey moved in, the drains backed up with seaweed and other unappealing things, requiring an urgent visit from theplumbers from Zoom Drain. The oven needs replacing, and the Matteos are awaiting the installation of a new deck, a hot tub, and new shrubbery out back. They’d like to freshen the facade and get to some other upgrades, like central air, but have discovered the near impossibility of getting contractors down the Shore in summer.
The oven is one of the things that needs to be replaced or updated at Nick and Sandy Matteo’s Shore house. Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
Despite those challenges, the family is ecstatic. Their son, daughter-in-law, and 6-month-old grandson claimed a sunny upstairs room with a bay window, and everyone is raving about the view of the golf course and community garden across the street.
“My kids are elated,” Nick said. “They want to come down every weekend. My daughter-in-law said, ‘I’m going to bring the baby, and I’m going to set up shop down there.’ That was just the home run.”
They’ve been warned about Brigantine’s notorious buzzing greenheads, but otherwise think they’ve found a warm and active year-round community, with Atlantic City right over the bridge if they need any excitement. The beach is just a few blocks away.
“I love it,” Sandy said. “It’s a true community.”
Did you recently buy a home in the Philadelphia area or South Jersey? Share the story of how you did it. Email Inquirer real estate reporters at properties@inquirer.com.
