How did Sylvester Stallone make and star in Rocky? Well, he had to put up a fight.
The trailer for the forthcoming biopic I Play Rocky has officially been released by Amazon MGM Studios. The film follows a young Sylvester Stallone, played by Anthony Ippolito, on his harrowing journey pitching and filming his Oscar-winning movie.
Scenes from the trailer show the many hardships that went into making the movie, including Stallone convincing the producers to breaking his hand while filming the meat-punching scenes.
Filming took place from October to December 2025, in Los Angeles, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, according to USA Production News. The filmmakers created their own version of the iconic run up the museum steps, filmed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and filming was also seen taking place in Kensington.
Ippolito is best known for portraying Al Pacino in the Paramount+ miniseries The Offer,another biographical production about the making of a film — in this case, The Godfather. The I Play Rocky trailer shows the rising actor looking nearly identical to Stallone, with the thick, deep voice to match.
Other main roles include AnnaSophia Robb as Stallone’s wife, Sasha Czack; Matt Dillon as Stallone’s father, Frank Stallone Sr.; and Stephan James as Carl Weathers, who played Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise.
Peter Farrelly, born in Phoenixville, Chester County, directed the film. He is best known for directing and cowriting the 2018 comedy-drama film Green Book, which won the Oscar for Best Picture.
The real-life Sylvester Stallone is not involved in the production.
I Play Rocky is set to have a select theaters release on Nov. 6, according to Deadline. This will gear up the movie to be eligible for awards season.
Members of Philadelphia City Council say they are concerned that the city’s recently released property reassessments will mean tax hikes for thousands of residents, and they are demanding to know more about the methodology used to determine property values.
Councilmember Mike Driscoll, a Democrat who represents the Lower Northeast, authored aletter sent Monday to Chief Assessment Officer James Aros Jr. and other top officials in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration, expressing concerns on behalf of a half dozen Council members.
He wrote that his office has received “numerous” calls from constituents whose homes will see sharp increases in valuation, the measure that is used to calculate property tax bills.
“Many residents are struggling to grasp how their assessments were calculated. Others are worried about what these increases will mean for their property tax bills,” Driscoll wrote. “At a time when families are already facing higher costs for housing, utilities, groceries, and other daily expenses, these concerns need clear answers.”
He outlined six questions for the Philadelphia Office of Property Assessment related to its process and methodology, and set an Aug. 15 deadline for the administration to reply, saying “property owners deserve answers now as they review their assessments and consider whether to file an appeal.”
The 3100 block of C Street in Philadelphia on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. Property values sharply increased on this Kensington block.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
The letter — which was signed by six Council members who are cosponsors of previously introduced legislation to probe the city’s property assessment process — is one of the first formal steps that lawmakers have taken to challenge the citywide revaluation since last month, when property owners received notices of their new assessments.
Citywide, there was a 3% median change in valuations from the 2025 tax year, the last time there was a mass reassessment, according to an Inquirer analysis of assessments of single-family homes.
But some neighborhoods saw much steeper increases. The biggest jump was in Kensington, where median values increased 15.3%. Driscoll represents part of the neighborhood, which has been long beleaguered by the open-air drug market there and where the city has made a concerted effort to improve the quality of life.
There was also a 15% median increase in property assessments in Mantua and a 12% rise in Kingsessing, both of which are in West Philadelphia and border University City.
Parker administration officials have said that the city offers a variety of property tax relief programs, including the popular homestead exemption, which erases the first $100,000 in valuation from being taxed for owners who live in their home as their primary residence. Property owners must sign up for the free program.
But for years, dating back long before Parker took office in 2024, Council members have criticized the city’s property reassessment process, saying its methodology is opaque and its results have a disproportionate impact on low-income homeowners.
Multiple reviews are already underway.
In addition to a yet-to-be-scheduled Council hearing, the city controller is conducting a performance audit of the property assessment office and the city’s appeal process, according to Driscoll’s letter. Controller Christy Brady’s office has sought feedback from residents and left flyers in neighborhoods where property values are rising.
The Parker administration convened a task force in 2024 to develop recommendations for how the city can improve its appraisal practices.
And the city is in the process of hiring an outside consultant to examine the fairness of its reassessments. According to city records, that analyst will be expected to draft a report by the end of this year.
Data reporters Yaelle Tang and Lizzie Mulvey contributed to this article.
Philadelphia City Council is already looking to 2027. And with all 17 seats on the ballot next spring, the elections are shaping up to be a pivotal test of whether the city’s established politicians can withstand a rising tide of frustration with the party among Democratic voters.
All of the incumbents have said they intend to run for reelection, and several are likely to face serious challenges from new candidates focused on grassroots organizing and progressive groups — hoping to seize the opportunity presented by a nationwide leftward shift amid President Donald Trump’s second term.
Three districts have emerged as key battlegrounds.
And the city’s progressive organizations, emboldened by a series of wins locally and nationally, are targeting two other districts: the 1st, which stretches from South Philadelphia to Fishtown and is represented by Councilmember Mark Squilla, and the 8th, which includes parts of North and Northwest Philadelphia and is represented by Councilmember Cindy Bass.
“We’re definitely feeling confident,” said Robert Saleem Holbrook, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Straight Ahead. “Anyone who is going to be running under a progressive banner or a progressive movement is going to have to be running against the establishment, not toward it.”
A competitive race also appears to be taking shape for the seven Council seats that represent the city at-large.
Five of those seats are all but certain to be won by Democrats, making the May 2027 primary the key election in deep-blue Philadelphia.
The other two at-large seats — set aside for Council members outside the majority party under the city’s Home Rule Charter — will be decided in the November 2027 general election. Currently, the two minority party seats are held by Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke of the left-leaning Working Families Party.
Jane Golden, founder and executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, takes the stage during the dedication of the Super Bowl LIX mural at Spike’s Trophies on June 17, 2025 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Golden, 73, said last week that she is not currently running for Council, but acknowledged she has thought about it for years.
“It’s always something that is tempting to me, because I just love the city so much,” she said. “I feel honored that people even think of me.”
Progressives eye Bass’ North Philly seat
Philadelphia’s progressive activists this year see two key opportunities to expand the loosely organized left-leaning bloc on Council, which currently consists of four members. Winning additional seats could also grow their influence by enticing more moderate members to vote alongside them if they believe primary voters are moving left.
Leftists have notched high-profile wins in Democratic primaries across the country this year, including in Philadelphia, where democratic socialist State Rep. Chris Rabb (D., Philadelphia) bested more moderate candidates for a seat in Congress representing about half of the city. The district is one of the most Democratic in the nation.
Anderson-Oberman, 55, the executive director of the progressive group Reclaim Philadelphia, said last week that he is “leaning” toward taking another swing.
“We’re in a moment in this country and this city where people have had enough,” he said. “People are looking for new answers. … Cindy represents the old way of doing things.”
Union organizer Seth Anderson-Oberman, running for 8th District City Council, joins in a small rally with community and Happy Hollow Advisory Board members along Wayne Avenue at Happy Hollow Playground in Philadelphia on April 2, 2023.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Another Council run by Anderson-Oberman may test how far progressive momentum can go in Philadelphia. He was a member of the Communist Party USA in his 20s, and has said he is proud of that experience.
Bass, 58, said she is ready for the race no matter who her opponent is.
In June, she survived a contentious fight for another four-year term as Democratic leader of Mount Airy’s 22nd Ward. She was criticized for her handling of the process, and the party ordered a redo of the election.
She and her progressive opponent, Octavius Price, tied, then struck a power-sharing agreement. Through it all, Bass said, longtime residents stuck by her — and she is confident voters will do the same next year.
“My voters are people who are based in this community, committed to this community, intend to stay in the communities that they are in,” she said.
City Councilmember Cindy Bass (center) attends the watch party for Democratic candidate for mayor Cherelle L. Parker at Laborers 332 in Philadelphia on May 16, 2023.Heather Khalifa / Staff Photographer
Jeff Jones, a community leader and social justice advocate from Germantown, has also said he intends to run in the 8th District.
“I want to bring that new vision and a new voice to the 8th District, where residents and children and families can know that their voice matters, their concerns will be heard, and their challenges will be met,” said Jones, 61, a first-time political candidate.
Squilla could see a lefty challenger
Leftists are also eying Squilla’s seat, which represents the area along the Delaware River from Pennsport to Kensington. Since Squilla took office in 2012, the district has transformed from a bastion of working-class white voters to one of the most progressive swaths of the city.
Squilla, 63, who has strong labor ties and is one of the most pro-development district Council members, said being a centrist has likely put a target on his back in the 2027 election.
Another contributing factor may be Squilla’s support for controversial legislation in 2024 to approve the 76ers’ since-abandoned plan to build a new arena in Center City. The project, which would have been in Squilla’s 1st District, was opposed by advocates for Chinatown, which the arena would havebordered.
Councilmember Mark Squilla arrives in Council chambers on Nov. 12, 2024, before the start of a public hearing on a proposed Sixers arena.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Despite the fierce objections, Council approved the project with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s support in December 2024. Weeks later, the basketball team announced it was abandoning its Center City plan and would instead build its next arena in South Philly.
Squilla said he is prepared to defend his actions, noting that he worked to ensure any arena deal would benefit his district and that many of those promises are moving forward despite the 76ers withdrawing their proposal.
“The goal as an elected official, and also as a leader, is not always to make the popular decision,” he said. “The goal is to have a process to make the decision that would be best for the people around it.”
One prominent opponent of the Center City arena plan was Will Gross, the owner of Ox Coffee in Queen Village and a progressive who is the Democratic leader of the 2nd Ward. He is seen by political insiders and progressive organizations as the most likely candidate to take on Squilla.
Gross declined to comment.
In this 2023 file photo, Will Gross and Kay Yoon, of the No Arena in Chinatown group, deliver petitions to Councilmember Mark Squilla. Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
A progressive challenger may also emerge in the North Philly and Kensington-based 7th District, which is represented by Councilmember Quetcy Lozada.
Some insiders have speculated that Celin may run again. He declined to comment.
Lozada, 55, said she “can’t focus” on potential challengers.
“If I spend my time listening to the buzz about who is running,” she said, “we won’t get any work done.”
A battle takes shape in the 5th District
In the 5th District, a seat that represents parts of North Philadelphia and Center City, a handful of Democratic challengers are lining up to take on Young, 40, who is seen as one of Council’s most vulnerable members.
That is in part because of the unusual way in which he was elected in 2023. He ended up being the only Democrat on the ballot after several others, including party officials’ preferred candidates, were removed amid legal challenges.
Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. in chambers as City Council meets Dec. 11, 2025.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
One of those candidates was Curtis Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to former City Council President Darrell L. Clarke. Two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the campaign dynamics, said Wilkerson is considering running for the seat again next year.He did not respond to a request for comment.
Also likely to run is Jalon Alexander, an attorney who unsuccessfully ran for an at-large seat on Council in 2023. Alexander, 33, formed an exploratory committee last year and is expected to formally declare his candidacy later this summer.
Two others are also considering running.
Dustin Dove, a lawyer and the president of the Fairmount Civic Association, said neighbors and community leaders have encouraged him to get in the Council race, and he is “taking the possibility of running seriously.”
“I think our city government should work for everyone by keeping our neighborhoods safe and streets walkable, making housing affordable, and ensuring fairness and access in public services,” Dove, 38, said last week.
Jalon Alexander, an attorney and community advocate, speaks to attendees at a meeting about potential SEPTA budget cuts hosted at Garden of Prayer Church in Strawberry Mansion on June 9, 2025.Erin Blewett / For The Inquirer
And Max Tuttleman, 37, a philanthropist who unsuccessfully ran for an at-large seat in 2023, said he “cares deeply about the 5th District and would never close the door to serving Philadelphia.”
He added that “Center City and the neighborhoods around it should be growing faster than they are.”
Young said in an interview last weekthat he intends to run for reelection, but that challengers are not his focus.
“I‘m focused on serving my constituency, serving my community,” he said. “The work that we’ve been doing will hopefully earn the support of the residents of the 5th District.”
A smaller, but competitive, at-large field
Over the last several election cycles, dozens of candidates lined up to run for at-large seats during a time of immense turnover in Council.
But with seven incumbents all looking toward reelection in 2027, there may be fewer challengers who line up to take them on. So far, only Golden and a handful of others have emerged as possible contenders.
David Alexander Jenkins, a cultural strategist known for delivering impassioned speeches during Council’s public comment section, said he is considering a run, encouraged by fellow community members.
“When the community that is around you constantly pushes you to intercede on their behalf, then it’s because they have trusted you to do what it is that you do best,” Jenkins, 39, said. “I think it would be incredibly unwise to ignore that.”
And Jude Husein, 28, a Palestinian-born community activist who was raised in North Philly, has already launched her campaign. If her bid is successful, Husein, a former staffer for State Sen. Art Haywood, would be the first member of Gen Z on Council.
In this 2023 file photo, Jude Husein, of North Philadelphia, speaks at a rally for a Day of Solidarity event at the Art Museum steps.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Leaders of progressive organizations said they are closely watching her candidacy. However, Husein is not exactly running as a leftist. She said that her policy positions are varied and that she will seek endorsements from any institution that is “values-aligned.”
“I’m running because I think government should work for the people who pay for it, and should make neighborhoods affordable and safer,” she said.
Also in the running for Council at-large seats are Billy McCann, 46, a former teacher who lives in Port Richmond, and Isaiah T. Martin, 26, who lives in West Philly and leads a community development nonprofit. The pair, who both said they are progressive, have established something of a slate with Jones, who is challenging Bass in the 8th District.
They said they would prioritize public education, affordability, housing assistance, and government accountability, and they argued that establishment Democrats are failing to connect with voters.
“A new day is coming,” said Martin, another member of Gen Z who would make history on Council if elected. “It’s time we get people who are going to do the actual work and not just sit here and talk about it.”
Law enforcement officials seized nearly $6 million worth of crack-cocaine destined for Philadelphia as well as thousands of fentanyl pills in a monthslongdrug operation, authorities said Monday.
The seizure was the culmination of an 18-month joint investigation into several men who supplied or sold the potent synthetic opioid and other deadly drugs in the city’s Kensington neighborhood and elsewhere, according to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who said the cocaine seizure happened last week.
In all, Krasner said, law enforcement recovered 58 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of $5.8 million and fentanyl pills worth around $200,000.
The bust is the latest eye-grabbing effort to stem the flow of fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the city, and specifically to Kensington, considered one of the nation’s largest open-air drug markets.
The FBI targeted a sprawling criminal syndicate in the neighborhood last year when it arrested 33 members of the Weymouth Street gang, which was accused of running a 24/7 market for fentanyl and other drugs on the narrow block for nearly a decade.
In the latest raid, investigators were tipped off to the criminal activity in December 2025 when members of the Delaware River Port Authority Police pulled over 46-year-old Raabitah Reynolds as he drove back to Philadelphia from New York City.
After obtaining a search warrant for Reynolds’ vehicle, officers recovered a 9mm handgun and equipment for packaging drugs.
Later, when they searched a South Philadelphia stash house tied to Reynolds, they recovered 2 kilograms of fentanyl that was ready to be packaged, a gallon jar of PCP, various pills, and more firearms, according to Assistant District Attorney Stephen Girman.
Reynolds was charged with two counts of felony possession with the intent to deliver, two counts of criminal conspiracy, and related crimes. He is being held at the Curran Fromhold Correctional Facility with bail set at $500,000.
The haul was “a significant drug seizure in and of itself,” Girman said, but investigators did not stop there.
Reynolds’ arrest led them to one of his buyers, Khalil Dandy, a drug dealer who is accused of effectively controlling sales on a block at Kensington Avenue and E Street, according to Girman.
Dandy, 36, ran that operation from his home at a Center City condominium located near 12th and Chestnut Streets, Girman said.
Officers began visiting the Kensington block to conduct undercover buys, according to Girman, learning that Dandy was supplying fentanyl and crystal meth to street dealers in the neighborhood.
Dandy was arrested on March 18 and charged with possession with the intent to manufacture or deliver and related crimes. He was released from custody on bail as he awaits a preliminary hearing.
Meanwhile, investigators offered information about Reynolds to the DEA field office in New York, which led to the raid of a “pill mill” operating out of a Brooklyn apartment.
There agents recovered more than 20 kilograms of fentanyl that had been pressed into blue pills to pass off the deadly drug as oxycodone, Girman said.
These pills “are exceptionally dangerous, because people can take them thinking they are a regular prescription painkiller, and they can be filled with a fatal amount of fentanyl,” he said.
And as investigators traced Reynolds’ network, they learned he was also involved in bulk cocaine sales that came from a supplier on the West Coast.
Those shipments were shipped to Philadelphia in crates to be sold throughout the region, according to Girman.
In early July, investigators intercepted two of those containers, and with the assistance of a K9 unit, recovered a total of 58 kilograms of cocaine from within.
They arrested another Philadelphia man, 51-year-old Ephraim Ramsey, who had showed up to pick up the drugs.
Ramsey was charged with one count of felony possession with the intent to deliver and one count of criminal conspiracy.
And when Philadelphia police went to arrest Reynolds at an apartment in the city’s Kingsessing neighborhood, he led them on a chase through a second-story window and into a back alley before being apprehended.
From a separateapartment on City Avenue, investigators recovered more than 2,000 of the blue fentanyl-laced pills as well as counterfeit Adderall, according to Girman.
In a third residencein Olney — a house being prepped to stash the cocaine shipments — officers recovered an AR-15 rifle with an obliterated serial number.
Krasner, touting the success of the operation, said he was pleased that law enforcement officers had targeted large shipments of contraband as opposed to targeting “young people with a small amount of drugs in their pocket.”
“This, in my opinion, is a much more important and much more effective approach,” he said.
Caleb Zimmerman needed a new place to crash, fast.
It was August 2019, and the 27-year-old was finishing a remodel with his brother, Micah, on a Strawberry Mansion house. He had purchased the property with plans to rent it out post-renovations and was living there in the meantime.
With the remodel nearing completion, Zimmerman wasn’t seeing any interesting properties to take on as his next project — and next place to live.
In desperation, he turned to Craigslist. And there, listed for $85,000, was the three-bedroom Kensington rowhouse he’s called home ever since.
“I bought it the next day” for $82,500, he said, confirming, no, that’s not hyperbole. “I knew the location was incredible and was just going to keep getting more incredible.”
Even before walking through the two-story house, Zimmerman had an idea of what he wanted this next project to look like. Though the house needed a full gut remodel, he saw that the structure could accommodate his vision of an open floor plan with a floating staircase and basement steps concealed by a trap door on a pulley system. It was, to be sure, a huge project, but Zimmerman knew he could get it done.
The kitchen, which was built by a family friend, Aden Stoltzfus.Allie Ippolito / For The InquirerThe entrance to the home and the living area.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
“I feel like the Mennonites have it in their genes,” said Zimmerman, who’s of Mennonite heritage and who just wrapped a stint as an instructor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. “I’m primarily a philosopher, but I wanted to kind of prove my chops, I guess, prove that I can also do things with my hands.”
Zimmerman and his brother moved in that summer and began work the first day of Christmas break. He took a leave of absence for a semester from Temple University, where he was working on his Ph.D. in philosophy, to see the project through.
Everything in the house needed to be replaced, so that meant everything needed to come out.
“The kitchen was an atrocity,” Zimmerman recalled. “There were mice running around.”
Custom wooden shelving is fastened to an exposed brick wall in the kitchen.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
For demolition, which included removing the floors and pulling down the lathe and plaster throughout the house to reveal its underlying brick, guys in the neighborhood would often stop by to see if they could lend a hand for an hourly wage, Zimmerman said. One guy, in particular, “has so much sweat equity in the house that anytime he knocks and needs some help” Zimmerman opens his door to him to this day.
Throughout the project, the Zimmerman brothers lived in two of the three bedrooms upstairs with Micah as Zimmerman’s right-hand helper and renter. The first night he moved in, Zimmerman said, he slept on the floor. It was just the beginning of the long discomfort he’d endure living among the renovation, but it encouraged him to push to get the project done.
For rebuilding, Zimmerman drew on his Mennonite heritage and connections. He and Micah brought in wood from an Amish mill for kitchen beams and the custom staircase. A family friend, Aden Stoltzfus, made the kitchen — his daughter Hadassah Stolzfus recently spoke to The Inquirer about her own home renovation, also featuring a kitchen created by her dad.
The home’s centerpiece of engineering is a trap door that conceals the basement and opens with a pulley system and remote-controlled actuator. It was built by Gabe Stoltzfus, Hadassah’s cousin. Gabe also handled the bathroom renovation, where Zimmerman planned to remove the tub and install a standing shower with a glass enclosure to make the small room feel larger.
Zimmerman opens the trap door to his basement. He removed a wall with a door to the basement and created more open space by incorporating the trap door.Allie Ippolito / For The InquirerZimmerman installed a glass-walled shower to make the bathroom feel more spacious.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
Zimmerman had some experience laying hardwood floors, so he installed the new wood floors that run throughout the house. A friend, Kevin Bucher, helped install some trim, including, in a feat of patience, a piece that he cut to mirror the topography of the brick wall in what is now Zimmerman’s office.
Zimmerman did bring in some outside help to install drywall, seal the fireplace, and rewire the house. The renovation cost about $80,000 in total.
By the fall of 2020, “it was livable,” Zimmerman said, though he had lived there all along. His brother Micah stayed for a while, too, but moved out in 2022.
An upright bass is on display in the guest room.Allie Ippolito / For The InquirerExposed brick and wood paneling on the wall in the guest room.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
Now Zimmerman entertains often and said people always say his red refrigerator is their favorite aspect of the house. Knowing how much custom behind-the-scenes work went into every aspect of the property, he receives that comment about a store-bought appliance with some chagrin. It’s only because he knows how much was accomplished before that final, finishing flourish.
Reflecting on the renovation, “I doubt that I will do anything like this again,” he said, “but I wanted to know I could do it.”
Is your house a Haven? Nominate your home by email (and send some digital photographs) at properties@inquirer.com.
The biggest jump in Philadelphia’s property assessments this year occurred in Kensington, a measure that means many homeowners in the long-struggling neighborhood are likely to see higher taxes amid a concerted effort by the city to clean up the area.
That is according to an Inquirer analysis of recently released property assessments of single-family homes, which found that, citywide, there was a 3% median change in valuations from the 2025 tax year, the last time there was a mass reassessment.
That increase is far more modest than the widespread jump in valuations that homeowners saw two years ago, which captured multiple years of real estate growth and the volatile post-pandemic market.
What remains the same: who will be most affected.
The Inquirer’s analysis of this year’s property assessment data shows that low-income neighborhoods near gentrifying areas saw the sharpest jumps in valuations compared with the rest of the city.
The four areas that saw the largest percentage increases in median assessments — Kensington, Mantua, Grays Ferry, and Kingsessing — all border more gentrified neighborhoods like Fishtown, University City, and Point Breeze. The results of the analysis are a further sign that market pressures in higher-income areas are pushing into pockets of the city that have long been primarily home to Black and brown working-class residents.
Of the eight neighborhoods that saw the largest increases between the 2025 and 2027 tax years, five have median annual household incomes around $40,000 or less, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data. The federal poverty level is $33,000 for a family of four.
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In a statement, officials with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration noted that many homeowners in those five neighborhoods are benefiting from a popular city tax break. The city said that the median 2027 value in those five neighborhoods is $123,600, so for many homeowners in those areas, the median taxable assessed value is just $23,600.
That is because of the homestead exemption, a tax break for homeowners who live in their house as their primary residence that exempts the first $100,000 in home value from property taxes. Homeowners must sign up to be included in the free program.
At least 60% of homeowners in those neighborhoods have signed up for property tax relief programs, according to the city.
James Aros Jr., the chief assessor of the Philadelphia Office of Property Assessment, and Revenue Commissioner Kathleen McColgan said enrollment rates in property tax relief, including the homestead exemption and multiple tax freeze programs, are “encouraging.”
They said the city will “build on this progress through extensive targeted outreach, community partnerships, and efforts to make enrollment as simple and accessible as possible.”
The current property tax rate is 1.3998% of assessed value, which has not changed for nearly a decade. The revenue is split between the city and the Philadelphia School District.
Rising home values in Kensington
Citywide, the steepest increase in valuations was in Kensington, where the median property value jumped 15.3%, from $115,700 in the 2025 tax year to $133,400 now. That median increase would translate to a roughly $250 annual property tax hike.
That comes after Parker’s administration in 2024 launched a multipronged effort to address the long-entrenched open-air drug market in Kensington, which is the epicenter of the city’s opioid crisis and a site of sprawling homelessness.
In this 2021 file photo, a glass building at J and Tioga sits near a beer store in Kensington.Inga Saffron
Some neighborhood leaders have watched with anxiety as luxury housing developers and out-of-town investors gobbled up properties in the neighborhood, fearing that poorer residents and middle-class homebuyers may be priced out.
City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, a Democrat who represents the 7th Council District, which includes parts of Kensington, said she knew speculators from outside the area would want to make it “the next gentrified neighborhood” once the city changed its strategy to more aggressively clean up trash and improve public safety.
But Lozada said there are not enough programs specific to Kensington aimed at preventing displacement as a result of rising property values, especially as the city is investing millions of dollars a year to improve the neighborhood. She said her office is exploring additional tax relief measures.
“I’m going to do whatever I have to do to make sure that residents who have lived in that community can stay there, can raise their families there,” Lozada said. “We have witnessed what has happened on the southern end of the district, where there has been rapid gentrification.”
In this March file photo, City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada stands in Council chambers during Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s budget address.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Lozada also said rising property values in Kensington are part of why she has been “so careful with projects presented to me” and has prioritized what she sees as equitable development in the neighborhood — at times to the chagrin of developers who think she has been too restrictive.
“I’m all about people making a return,” she said, “but you can’t continue to do it on the backs of poor people.”
The 3100 block of Arbor Street in Philadelphia on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Continuing change in pockets of West Philly
There were also significant property value increases in parts of West Philadelphia.
The median increase in Mantua, the neighborhood north of University City, was the second highest in the city, at 15%, according to The Inquirer’s analysis. The median increase was 12% in Kingsessing, the neighborhood south of University City that in 2025 saw the largest jump of any neighborhood in Philadelphia.
Newly developed buildings along Fairmount Avenue in the neighborhood of Mantua in Philadelphia, Pa., on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, a Democrat who represents West Philadelphia and has made preventing displacement a key initiative, said that there has long been racial bias in the city’s property assessments and that the city must “get serious” about protecting low-income homeowners by revamping its system.
“There has to be a higher level of urgency in making sure that the city doesn’t have a hand in pushing out all of these homeowners that make Philadelphia what it is,” Gauthier said. “It’s unconscionable for us to destabilize our neighborhoods and the longtime homeowners who live there because we didn’t take enough care to make sure that our process was fair and equitable.”
For too long, she said, city officials have said they intended to examine the property assessment practices and identify improvements. In 2024, Parker convened a task force to study the process.
Aros told Council in April that the task force’s report was “being finalized.” He said OPA would look to implement recommendations from the report, including conducting more regular reassessments and improving property-level data such as property condition.
The city is also planning to hire an outside consultant to examine its mass appraisal practices, according to city records. The analyst will be responsible for drafting a report by the end of this year.
Deputy creative director John Duchneskie contributed to this article.
When chef Evan Snyder and business partner Julian van der Tak began searching for a home for Emmett a few years ago, they envisioned a restaurant that could do it all: an ambitious chef’s counter, hearth cooking, and a broad exploration of Mediterranean flavors. The Girard Avenue space they found wasn’t large enough. So when Emmett opened in early 2025, they focused on becoming a neighborhood restaurant first.
This fall, the partners plan to open Jean (pronounced “gene”), a 15-seat fireside tasting-menu restaurant above Emmett at 161 W. Girard Ave., the former home of destinations such as Modo Mio and Cadence. Rather than expand across town, they chose to build the missing piece just upstairs.
The team from Emmett (from left): managing partner Julian van der Tak, general manager Marissa Chirico, chef-partner Evan Snyder, and chef de cuisine Antonio Pizzo.Gab Bonghi
“We could have opened another restaurant somewhere else,” van der Tak said. “But the best part is, I can walk 12 steps and be in both restaurants.”
For nearly two years before opening Emmett, Snyder and van der Tak staged pop-ups while searching for a property that could accommodate both a neighborhood restaurant and a chef’s counter. They never found one.
“The original idea was always a larger restaurant that combined what upstairs will be with what downstairs became,” van der Tak said. “It was always meant to have a chef’s-counter feel and blend these cultures, but we simply couldn’t do it here because of the space.”
Rather than seeking a new location, they decided to finish the concept in the former apartment above the restaurant.
“In many ways, upstairs is the concept we originally imagined for Emmett,” Snyder said. “Downstairs became what it is because it was our first restaurant, because of the demands of the neighborhood, and because initially people didn’t yet trust us.”
Jean will center on a seven-foot wood-burning hearth, where Snyder and chef de cuisine Antonio Pizzo plan a 12-course tasting menu inspired by French North Africa — particularly coastal Morocco — and the southern Mediterranean. Emmett’s menu draws more heavily from the eastern Mediterranean and the Levant.
For van der Tak, who grew up in southern France, the menu reflects childhood memories shaped by the country’s colonizing of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Lebanon.
“Especially in southern France, those influences are deeply ingrained in the food, the personalities, and the people,” he said. “It’s essentially become part of the southern French identity.”
A tagine that begins cooking as guests are seated, and roasts over the hearth throughout dinner, will be served family-style with Egyptian flatbread, dips, ferments, and pickles after a series of smaller courses.
Snyder believes customers are ready for something more ambitious. “We’ve earned that trust,” he said. “Now we’re asking guests to trust us a little more and let us present a more ambitious experience.”
Despite the tasting-menu format, the partners insist that Jean won’t feel formal. Inspired by Henri Matisse’s Moroccan paintings, the dining room is designed as a fireside parlor with custom ceramics by Lauren Rider and Megan Stover, glassware from Philadelphia’s Remark Glass, and artwork by local artist Jacob Des.
Wine director and general manager Marissa Chirico will oversee an Old World-focused wine program alongside a small selection of batched classic cocktails. Snyder expects the menu to start around $225, though pricing has not been set.
“I don’t want to be the guy who opens charging $300 just because everyone else does,” Snyder said. “We’re still a family-run, community-driven restaurant. I don’t want people to feel gouged. I want them to leave feeling they got value.”
Construction has continued without interrupting Emmett’s nightly service. Before Jean opens, Snyder plans to preview the concept through collaborative pop-ups in other cities.
“When people hear ‘tasting menu,’ they assume you’re chasing something,” van der Tak said. “That’s not what this is. The opportunity came along, financially it made sense, and what’s important to us is that the restaurant feels approachable and never stuffy.”
The name continues a family tradition. Emmett is named for Snyder’s son. Jean is the middle name of van der Tak’s son and also honors his maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother.
“It’s just a name with a lot of family history for me,” van der Tak said. “Continuing the theme from downstairs, it’s a very deeply personal project for us. We want to carry on our family legacy and do something that’s really important and close to home.”
Editor’s note: This story contains spoilers for season one of “Task.”
The cast and crew of the HBO crime drama Task will descend on Manayunk next week to begin filming Season 2, according to notices posted around the neighborhood and on a local Facebook group.
The company Random Productions wrote that filming is scheduled for July 7-9, when certain streets will be closed to accommodate trailers, equipment vehicles, cast, and crew members. Parking restrictions, however, will begin earlier on specific blocks, starting Sunday, July 5.
“We will try to keep these closures as minimal as possible and will not prevent residents from accessing driveways or parking lots,” the notices state.
Actors Tom Pelphrey (left) and Mark Ruffalo, from HBO’s “Task,” do interviews before the Philadelphia Eagles game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
What fans need to know
The Mark Ruffalo-led series from Mare of Easttown creator and Berwyn resident Brad Ingelsby will again center on the dogged and empathetic FBI agent Tom Brandis, this time as he spearheads a new task force where, as the logline reads, “the deeper the operation runs, the harder it is to tell who’s the target.”
Brandis’ rival this season will be Philadelphia DEA agent Eddie Barnes, played by Mahershala Ali, the Oscar winner who starred in Moonlight, Green Book, and the 2019 HBO crime show True Detective. (Season 1 saw Brandis face off against robber Robbie Prendergrast, played to critical acclaim by Ozark actor Tom Pelphrey, who grew up in Howell Township, N.J.)
Joining Ali as fellow DEA agents are Pillion and Harry Potter actor Henry Melling, who will play a hothead named Brennan Boylan; The Assassination of Gianni Versace star Edgar Ramirez, cast as second-in-command Miguel Contreras, described as a “devoted family man … torn between duty and guilt”; and Star City actor Adam Nagaitis, playing loyal agent Luke Clemmons.
On the FBI side, 1923 actor Aminah Nieves will play Nataly Zamora, who Deadline described as “a no-nonsense FBI agent and dedicated young mother who fights hard to protect the community that raised her.”
It’s not yet clear whether other cast members from Season 1 will return. That includes Silvia Dionicio and Phoebe Fox, who played Brandis’ daughters, and Andrew Russel, their incarcerated brother who killed their mother accidentally during a schizophrenic episode. The emotional and bittersweet finale concluded with Brandis testifying at his son’s trial and affirming that he would be welcome home whenever he’s released.
Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) hugs his family after his son Ethan’s parole hearing in the “Task” finale.HBO
Season 1 received millions of viewers — and, of course, a strong Philadelphia following — with the finale alone reaching an audience of 4 million in the U.S. within three days of airing. HBO has said that Task was one of its “top three fastest-growing, debut seasons.” Viewership overall outpaced Ingelsby’s Emmy-winning Mare of Easttown, which broke HBO viewership records in 2021 and may return for a second season. (It’s likely that Task, too, will receive Emmy Awards attention when nominations are announced July 8.)
Returning to Task behind the scenes are South Philadelphia native Jeremiah Zagar, who was a director and executive producer on Season 1; the son of late Philadelphia mosaicist Isaiah Zagar will serve as executive producer. Ruffalo will again executive produce the show, alongside Ingelsby and others, including Mare of Easttown executive producer Mark Roybal.
The first season of Taskfilmed in and around Philadelphia, including Delaware, Montgomery, and Chester Counties, and further out into rural Pennsylvania. Creator Inglesby has proudly said that the show is a Delco story, and his team aims for authentic portrayals of the region, down to the signature Delco accent.
Part of that effort means hiring local crews and background actors. In Season 1, the production hired 777 Pennsylvanians as cast and crew for 177 days, investing $230 million in the regional economy.
Actor Mark Ruffalo (right in black suit) shoots for the HBO series ‘Task’ at the Delaware County Government Center and Courthouse on June 17, 2024.Courtesy of Delaware County Government Center and Courthouse
Last fall, Task received a record-breaking $49.8 million tax credit from Pennsylvania, the highest amount the state has ever granted a single production. HBO estimates that Season 2 will bring some 3,700 jobs to the state and the studio expects to invest an estimated $194.1 million in Pennsylvania’s economy as it pays for local crews and hotel accommodations, among other expenses.
Kensington-based casting agency Heery Loftus has led local casting efforts for the show, most recently announcing a call for “Latino men who can portray organized crime figures” and “men and women of all ethnicities who can portray law enforcement personnel.”
A premiere date for Season 2 has not yet been announced.
“Task” showrunner Brad Ingelsby and star Mark Ruffalo on set.Warner Bros. Discovery
What Manayunk residents need to know
Per two notices from Random Productions, “No Parking” signs will be posted on these streets during these dates:
Sunday, July 5 at 6 p.m. to Wednesday, July 8 at 11 p.m.:
Cresson Street between Cotton Street and Gay Street
Monday, July 6 at 6 p.m. to Wednesday, July 8 at 11 p.m.:
Grape Street between Silverwood Street and Cresson Street
Levering Street between Cresson Street and Silverwood Street
Cotton Street between Cresson Street and Main Street
Main Street between Cotton Street and Levering Street
Grape Street between Main Street and Cresson Street
Levering Street between Main Street and Cresson Street
Wednesday, July 8 at 6 p.m. to Thursday, July 9 at 10 p.m.:
Dupont Street between High Street and Smick Street
Baker Street between Dupont Street and Green Lane
Baker Street between Dupont Street and Mallory Street
These streets will be closed during these dates and approximate times:
Tuesday, July 7 from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Wednesday, July 8 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.:
Grape Street between Silverwood Street and Cresson Street
Cresson Street between Cotton Street and Gay Street
Thursday, July 9 from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.:
Dupont Street between Smick Street and High Street
Please note: This breakdown of parking restrictions and street closures may not be comprehensive as the company released multiple neighborhood notices.
🍦 Stella’s Ice Cream out of Idaho (yes, Idaho) just opened on Front Street in Fishtown/Kensington, and Bea has the early scoop.
🍦 Winners, rocking a feel-good message, is new on South Street in Graduate Hospital. As Kiki Aranita says, Winners’ appeal is more than just the flavors, like Sweet Success S’mores.
🍦Our guide to our favorite ice cream is right here.
Critic Craig LaBan is back from his annual Jersey Shore exploration, and he’s shaking the sand out of his notebook. In Part One of his roundup, he heads to the mainland to find some gems. Read that here.
Looking ahead: Part Two, Craig’s reviews from Long Beach Island and thereabouts, will be online this weekend. On July 11, he’ll share his discoveries from points farther south in Part Three.
Ember & Ash on East Passyunk Avenue will be closed for an undetermined period after smoke and flames shot up through the ventilation last week just after closing time. No injuries were reported.
This weekend will see the debut of Broad Street Beer Garden at LOVE Park, the first phase of a planning reuse of the so-called flying saucer building at 16th and JFK. Here’s the long history of the city landmark.
We munched on fried silverfish that reminded us of French fries in Little Saigon, Argentine empanadas in West Philly, and a vegan po’ boy in Old City that tasted like the original.
Scoops
Intrigue! Albert Zheng, whose holdings include Javelin in Fairmount, is backing a yet-to be-named dual concept on the way to 808 Chestnut St., formerly a Dunkin’ Donuts. In front, the feature will be wagyu omakase, while the rear will be what he calls a Cambodian speakeasy. He says it’s six or seven months out.
Mylar Bar, a cocktail bar inspired by the spirit of South Philly’s Dino’s Party Center, is expected to open later this summer from hospitality veterans Liv Arterbridge and Gina Piccari. They bought the former building at Ninth and Morris Streets where Dino’s sold balloons, decorations, and party supplies for decades before it moved across the street. “We want the whole thing to feel like a party,” Arterbridge said. “Nostalgic, fun, a little silly, intentionally unserious — but not a theme bar,” Piccari said. Cocktails will include martinis, punches, and classic drinks, alongside draft beer and familiar favorites. A full kitchen, led by chef Colin White, formerly of Sally and Emmett, will serve shareable “party snacks” and larger plates. They plan to offer late-night desserts, so food will be available until 1 a.m. with the bar wrapping at 2. Arterbridge, whose resume includes Cry Baby, Poison Heart, and a.bar, met Piccari while working at Boot & Saddle, where Piccari was manager. Piccari is now behind the bar at Le Virtù.
Restaurant report
Sixteen restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and bars — including Lillian’s, shown above — are opening in July. Read on for the rundown.
Penny’s Bagels, on its way (for the last two years) to 212 Kings Highway East in Haddonfield, will hand out 250 red, white, and blue bagels on July 3 at the borough’s parade. The shop is eyeing an August opening, says owner Chris Fetfatzes.
Maru, a fast-casual Korean-inspired restaurant from David Backhus and the team behind the now-closed Oori, is expected to open in August in what is now Collective Coffee & Bakery, which Backhus also owns, at 2922 Conestoga Rd. in Glenmoore. Maru’s menu will feature Korean fried chicken sandwiches, wings, tenders, house-made mochi doughnuts, and specialty coffee, while continuing to serve Collective Coffee and honor existing coffee subscriptions.
Briefly noted
Ota-Ya in Newtown has announced that Friday will be its last day after 30 years with the retirement of owners Jeff Wong and Cindy Tam.
PETA is launching its “Nice Cream Trail,” highlighting 10 shops across the state serving vegan ice cream, and there are five local spots on the list: Dreams Ice Cream Factory in Glenside, Lu & Aug’s in Ardmore, the Main Freeze in Lansdale, Milk Jawn in South Philadelphia and Northern Liberties, and Scoop DeVille in Center City and Queen Village. The first Pennsylvania resident to complete the trail by visiting all 10 participating shops through August will win a vegan ice cream party with PETA’s “iScream” truck for themselves and up to 50 guests. Details are here.
Two local BBQ chefs, Matt Groark (Medford Lakes, N.J.) and Maxwell McGibbon (Newark, Del.), are competing on Food Networks’ Pitmasters, premiering July 13 at 9 p.m.
Diner en Blanc registration is still open. This year’s version of the pop-up picnic is Aug. 20.
Miller’s Ale House, in the shopping center next to the Home Depot in Springfield, Delaware County, closed this week after 13 years, while Fishtown is abuzz with speculation that Bottle Bar East, which opened at 1308 Frankford Ave. around the same time in late 2012, has closed. The phone is down, and owners could not be reached for comment
When is Adda ever going to open in Fishtown? — Rich C.
True, Adda has been a long time coming, since I initially wrote about it in June 2025 with an end-of-2025 target. Adda — from New York City’s Unapologetic Foods, whose establishments are acclaimed for their bold, no-holds-barred approach to Indian cooking — is now looking at a late-fall opening at 1700 Frankford Ave., the new building across from the Fishtown post office.
Corrigendum: Reader Stephanie points out that Kalaya is the third Philadelphia restaurant, not the second, to win the James Beard Award for outstanding restaurant, as I wrote two weeks ago. Zahav was the first in 2019, while Friday Saturday Sunday won in 2023.
📮 Have a question about food in Philly? Email your questions to me at mklein@inquirer.com for a chance to be featured in my newsletter.
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The Olney man at the center of a sprawling investigation into the disappearance of at least two women in recent years was taken into federal custody Tuesday and will be detained until trial.
Eugene Albert Horsch, 44, was arraigned Tuesday on a federal firearms charge — a case that relates to his alleged actions on June 19, when a U.S. Park Police officer near Independence Hall reported seeing a black BMW parked in a restricted zone and next to a fire hydrant.
The officer reported hearing a woman in the vehicle express fear of being injured and then seeing pairs of scissors in the front seat area. A search of the vehicle, in part based on Horsch’s actions, led to the discovery of a switchblade and a glass pipe in Horsch’s pants and two firearms under the car’s front seat.
Horsch — who was not allowed to possess guns because of felony convictions — had been charged for that same conduct last week by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and he was being held in a city jail on $500,000 bail. City prosecutors also charged him with having cocaine, heroin, and marijuana in his car.
But the federal gun charge — and the decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela A. Carlos to detain him until trial — effectively ensures that Horsch will not be able to post bail or secure his release as his case proceeds. And that will give authorities time to continue investigating him in connection with questions potentially far more serious than illegally possessing guns.
In the days after Horsch was arrested with the firearms in Center City, investigators who searched his decrepit rowhouse in Olney found another gun and materials to grow marijuana.
But more concerning, they also discovered a variety of more unusual materials — including barrels of chemicals in the basement, urns holding the cremated remains of at least one of his relatives, documents tied to at least two women who have been missing for years, and a handwritten letter that described hurting people and mentioned the serial killer Ted Bundy.
Officials have said police have not discovered any human remains in the house. But investigators did find a significant amount of blood inside, sources told The Inquirer this week, although it was not clear whether it was human blood. And authorities have been testing a variety of materials they’ve recovered from the house, such as the chemicals in vats stored in his basement.
The probe is also seeking to learn more about potential connections between Horsch and at least two missing women with ties to his home.
One is Blair Tonzelli, who might have worked there as a home health aide and who was reported missing in Kensington in 2023. Some of Tonzelli’s friends told police after she disappeared that they worried that something bad had happened to her and that they had told police that Horsch was a “sociopath,” according to police documents obtained by The Inquirer.
In addition, when Horsch was arrested in Center City earlier this month, a woman who was with him falsely identified herself as Tonzelli and later told police that she did so because Horsch had given her a fake identification with Tonzelli’s name.
The other missing woman is Amy McHale, the ex-wife of Horsch’s father, who was last heard from at the Olney property in 2016. Horsch’s father, Raymond “R.C.” Horsch — now deceased — was an erotic photographer and drug manufacturer who had published several works of fiction, including one described as an “autobiographical memoir of a caring, empathetic serial killer.”
Eugene Horsch, during his brief appearance in federal court Tuesday, said little beyond responding to routine legal questions. He will likely be held at Philadelphia’s Federal Detention Center as his case proceeds toward trial.
His attorney, Jerome Brown, said afterward that he didn’t believe Horsch had harmed any of the women at the center of the investigation.
“As far as I know, I’d be shocked if [police] found any harm related to those missing persons at that location,” Brown said.
