Not enough booze-free spaces | Morning Newsletter
And looking back on Pat Toomey’s Senate career
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
We’ll have another sunny day with a high of 41 degrees.
It’s after work, you want to hang out, but that happy hour your colleague mentioned just isn’t that appealing. Sometimes, you’re not in the mood for a bar (or you just don’t drink).
But there aren’t many other options. Coffee shops have reduced hours and 24-hour diners aren’t that common anymore. Following the pandemic, there’s been a shortage of third spaces — a term for social environments other than home or work.
Our lead story explores how we got here.
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— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
The Penn Bookstore at 36th and Walnut Streets is one of the rare non-bar businesses in the city that stays open relatively late (8:30 p.m). It’s part of the reason it attracts both students and residents.
Since the pandemic, there aren’t a lot of places in West Philly and elsewhere in the city where customers can idle away the evening hours.
The Green Line at 43rd and Baltimore used to stay open until 10 but now closes at 6.
The Gold Standard used to serve dinner before the pandemic but now closes in the early afternoon.
Some coffee or diner-oriented business stay open until 8, but the majority are restaurants trying to move customers quickly or bars.
The Free Library of Philadelphia theoretically could serve as a truly noncommercial public venue, but the hours at some branches aren’t consistent and are nonexistent on the weekends. Staffing shortages and budget cuts haven’t helped.
The main exception: University City is home to many third spaces because Penn and Drexel see them as a strategy to improve relations with the surrounding neighborhoods.
Many of the businesses that allow community members to hang out lease space from the universities.
Penn and Drexel negotiate with their tenants over the hours of operation and push for later closings, in part to keep the streets surrounding campus active, inhabited, and safe.
Keep reading to discover the origin of the policy (and few night choices you do have).
Pat Toomey is on his way out.
He didn’t seek re-election and will be replaced by Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in January.
Important note: It’ll be the first time Pennsylvania will have two Democratic senators since 2010.
Some background: Toomey joined the Senate in 2011 and spent more than a decade building a conservative voting record as one of the country’s leading advocates for lower taxes and unrestrained capitalism.
During his 12 years as a Senator, Toomey went from being a star of a new cohort of fiscally conservative Republicans to an occasional outcast after he broke away from former President Donald Trump, who reshaped the GOP.
Keep reading for a deep dive into Toomey’s complex legacy.
What you should know today
Eagles’ Jalen Hurts surprised a Philly high school football team and honored Nicolas Elizalde, the 14-year-old who was fatally shot after his football scrimmage earlier this year.
Amid the Philly Pops’ closure, its musicians voted to strike.
A community leader and antiviolence advocate says widespread trauma therapy can prevent gun violence.
Someone stole a section of an antique railing outside City Hall that’s worth up to $20,000.
Temple University President Jason Wingard is moving to North Philly. He’s the first president to do it in decades.
Philadelphia’s mother church for Black Catholics, St. Peter Claver, will close for good in January.
Local coronavirus numbers: Here’s your daily look at the latest COVID-19 data.
🧠 Philly Trivia Time 🧠
Who is the first Philadelphia mayoral candidate to spend a chunk of campaign money on tv ads?
A) Jeff Brown
B) Helen Gym
C) Maria Quiñones-Sánchez
D) Cherelle Parker
Find out if you know the answer.
What we’re...
🚦Avoiding: The worst of the holiday traffic to combat delays.
👀 Watching: Former FTX Sam Bankman-Fried is charged with a host of financial crimes.
🎧 Listening: To Sudan Archives’ “Home Maker,” which made our best songs of the year list.
🧩 Unscramble the Anagram 🧩
Hint: Public park
EARN FLANQUIRKS
Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shout-out to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shout-out goes to Hazel Moiles, who correctly guessed Maxine’s as Tuesday’s answer.
Photo of the Day
That’s it from me. Make the day count. I’ll be back tomorrow 📧.