It’s our Friday News Round up. We’re talking about why everyone arrived late to work and school this week, more SEPTA cuts happening September 1, Philly public school teachers have a tentative deal (but school SAFETY officers are threatening to strike), and where you can get the new $100 cheesesteak. Host Trenae Nuri and executive producer Matt Katz chat about these stories and more.    

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Philly welcomes fall in September, so we’ve curated a list of ways to enjoy early autumn in the city. In this episode you’ll hear about a new museum, a cheesy cheesesteak deep dish pizza, and car-free zones. For even more tips on how to make the most of September in Philly, check out Hey Philly’s take on what to do this month. 

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In our weekly Wednesday politics episode we’re taking a look at a business curfew bill aimed at curbing violence around businesses in Kensington, Germantown, Mt. Airy and parts of North Philly. If the bill sponsored by Council Member Quetcy Lozada is signed into law, businesses in these areas will be forced to close between 11pm and 6am. It’s a crackdown on what the city calls “nuisance” businesses. But a group of business leaders don’t want this curfew. They say it’s going to hurt the way they make money. Host Trenae Nuri talks with Isaac Avilucea, reporter at Axios Philadelphia, about the possible expanded curfew.

Read Isaac's full story here. 

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Whether it's a birthday cake or a pick-me-up brownie, Philly knows how to do sweet treats. Host Trenae Nuri navigates the classic Italian bakeries and contemporary dessert landscape with food journalists for The Infatuation Philadelphia, Candis McLean and Alison Kessler. Plus, sliced cakes are back. 

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Philly’s mass transit system has been upended. The first wave of SEPTA service cuts went into effect yesterday, but there will be more soon and fares will increase on September 1. While Harrisburg continues to be at odds over how to fund mass transit in the Commonwealth, the way hundreds of thousands of people travel in our city and region has been decimated. So how did things get so bad? Host Trenae Nuri talks with Alan Fisher, transit, urban planning, and railroad advocate and host of “The Armchair Urbanist,” about the relationship between SEPTA and the state. 
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It’s the Friday News Roundup! We’re talking about the first wave of SEPTA service cuts, how Philly is planning to move about in the city and throughout the region with these cuts, Frankford High School reopens after closures due to asbestos, and Xfinity Live! Gets a name change. Host Trenae Nuri is joined by producer Abby Fritz to talk this all out, plus what they found about the mixed messaging around McGlinchey’s future. 

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This week, news broke that McGlinchey’s would close permanently after tomorrow. But the owner, Sheldon Sokol, told Philadelphia Business Journal, he wants to stay open but close for a vacation at the end of the week, then sell the bar and retire. So what’s all the fuss about this place? McGlinchey’s is a long-standing dive bar on South 15th Street downtown. It’s also one of the few bars that still allows customers to smoke, despite a 2008 ban on smoking in most indoor spaces. We’re listening back to a 2023 conversation with host Trenae Nuri, Ali Mohsen, former food and beverage reporter for Billy Penn, and Sokol about the bar’s history, culture, and more broadly the policies of smoking bars in Philly. 

Read Ali’s full story here. 

This episode originally ran on July 6th, 2023.

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Councilmember Isaiah Thomas is brimming with ideas, mostly centered on the youth of the city, and he has 19 interns in his office this summer who are actually working on turning those ideas into policy. In this wide-ranging interview with host Trenae Nuri at City Hall, Thomas talks about continuing to coach basketball and raising kids in the city, and the various issues that animate him – including, intriguingly, allowing city councilmembers to run for other offices without giving up their seats. 

We’re doing our annual survey to learn more about our listeners. We’d be grateful if you took the survey at citycast.fm/survey—it’s only 7 minutes long. You’ll be doing us a big favor. Plus, anyone who takes the survey will be eligible to win a $250 Visa gift card–and City Cast City swag.

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In Philly, there’s a saying: “No one likes us and we don’t care!” It’s generally used by Philadelphians when an out-of-towner is throwing shade. So, while we’re still enjoying warm weather, host Trenae Nuri, executive producer Matt Katz, producer Abby Fritz, and Hey Philly newsletter editor Siani Colón read one-star reviews of our public parks. And, of course, push back on the hate. 

Parks we mentioned in the episode: 

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Philly is home to one of the largest urban parks in the country, Fairmount Park. And some neighborhoods have created even more green space by making community gardens – like Heroic Gardens out in the Northeast. Host Trenae Nuri went out to this sunflower garden and spoke with Collie Turner, founder and executive director, and Salome Hall, a Navy veteran and founder of Sisters Affirming Sisterhood Project, about how being in Philly nature helped them grow as people and give back to their communities.

For a map of community gardens to get involved with, visit the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

We’re doing our annual survey to learn more about our listeners. We’d be grateful if you took the survey at citycast.fm/survey—it’s only 7 minutes long. You’ll be doing us a big favor. Plus, anyone who takes the survey will be eligible to win a $250 Visa gift card–and City Cast City swag.

Get Philly news & events in your inbox with our newsletter: Hey Philly

Call or text us: 215-259-8170

We’re also on Instagram: @citycastphilly

You can support this show and get great perks by becoming a City Cast Philly Neighbor at membership.citycast.fm.

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