💰 Parker’s strike strategy | Morning Newsletter

It’s the start of what’s expected to be a rainy week, Philly, which could help with the hot garbage smell wafting through your neighborhood.

Speaking of the municipal strike: Mayor Cherelle L. Parker wants city workers to see the big picture of what she’s done for them. So far, it isn’t working. As District Council 33’s members begin their seventh day on the picket line, we examine the rhetoric around raises and other proposed benefits.

And the “Salvador Dalí” of Woodland Avenue is folding up Smiles Linens after 50 years. Read on to meet the mustachioed owner of one of the longest-running businesses on the ave’s retail corridor.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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As the DC 33 strike approaches the one-week mark and public rhetoric remains charged, Mayor Parker would like some credit.

She wants, for instance, the union’s members to recognize that her signature housing policy, the Housing Opportunities Made Easy initiative recently advanced by City Council, was “developed with [them] in mind” — that is, working-class Philadelphia families like theirs.

She also argues the 5% raise DC 33 workers gained during last year’s contract negotiations should be considered in conjunction with the 2.75%, 3%, and 3% pay increases she’s proposing for the next three years.

But it hasn’t been enough for an organization whose primary focus has been securing 5% wage increases annually. Instead, the striking workers appear ready to hunker down for an extended fight.

City Hall reporter Sean Collins Walsh has the story on Parker’s strategy, and why so far, it’s not landing with the union.

Plus: This is Philly’s first municipal strike in the social media age. Does that affect how events are unfolding? And residents are taking to social media to gripe about the strike — and the resulting “Parker piles.”

Bruce Zeiger is known as the Mayor of Woodland Avenue, Captain Hook, and Salvador Dalí. Soon, after half a century running Smiles Linens in Southwest Philadelphia, he’ll take on a new title: retiree.

Blast from the past: His is one of the longest-operating businesses on Woodland. To visit is to travel back decades, before big box stores and online shopping gobbled his industry. At Smiles, you can still buy tablecloths, sheets, and countless doilies — or send a fax. Even Zeiger’s signature handlebar mustache is a nod to bygone days.

A fixture on the ave: The 73-year-old has earned a reputation for supporting other business owners along the retail corridor, including many immigrants in what’s now called Africatown.

Notable quote: “I’ve shared some of my culture with them and they’ve shared some of theirs with me,” said Zeiger, a descendant of German immigrants, of his fellow entrepreneurs. “It’s been a pleasure. It’s been a great thing.”

Columnist Stephanie Farr asked Zeiger and his customers to reflect on Smiles’ legacy in a changing neighborhood.

In other news about remarkable Philadelphians: Isabella Perez-Murillo earned a prestigious Gates Scholarship, which entirely covers undergraduate and graduate studies. The Cristo Rey High School grad and oldest of 12 plans to attend Villanova University in the fall.

The podcaster and former Eagles first lady also had some thoughts about the name of Philadelphia’s franchise, which is set to begin play in 2030.

In the latest season of his travel-meets-politics show, which comedian (and Mets fan) eats a Mexican cheesesteak and enters the Phillies batting cage while visiting Philadelphia?

A) Eddie Murphy

B) John Leguizamo

C) Bill Burr

D) John Mulaney

Think you know? Check your answer.

🇺🇸 Remembering: When the U.S. flag at Betsy Ross’ grave was stolen on the country’s 185th birthday, and then bizarrely returned.

🏀 Sharing: 25 things to know about the WNBA now that a Philly team is on the horizon.

🍝 Hanging with: Honorary Philadelphian Lisa Ann Walter, who described her perfect Philly day.

⚽ Glad to see: That the city impressed the soccer world during the Club World Cup.

🛟 Considering: How to ensure every child learns to swim.

Hint: Part of the Main Line

WORMIER LONE

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to Bobby Loftus, who solved Sunday’s anagram: Mac’s Tavern. The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia-tied bar in Old City has closed after 15 years.

Middle schoolers spent a recent week touring Underground Railroad sites in Camden and Lawnside and taking photographs to learn about the history through a summer camp program.

Think back to the night that changed your life that could only happen in Philly, a true example of the Philly spirit, the time you finally felt like you belonged in Philly if you’re not a lifer, something that made you fall in love with Philly all over again — or proud to be from here if you are. Then email it to us for a chance to be featured in the Monday edition of this newsletter.

This “only in Philly” story comes from reader Jay Chaskes, who describes the “diner family” who made the city home:

New Yorkers can be known for the arrogance in their tone when they proclaim New York City is their hometown. Any mention of Philly will stir the same New Yorker to assert, “Philly’s OK, but it’s not New York!”

Truth be told, I was one of those New Yorkers. In September 1965, I moved from an apartment at Broadway and 193rd Street in Manhattan to a rented room in a private residence in West Oak Lane just off Ogontz Avenue. I was beginning graduate school at Temple University, and I planned to marry a Philly girl from Mount Airy the following December. Because my living arrangement lacked kitchen privileges, I needed to find a place to eat breakfast and dinner.

As luck would have it, I was very near the Ogontz Diner. Every weekday morning I would arrive for breakfast and return most evenings for dinner. The waitresses all came to know me. It was my version of the TV show Cheers; everybody knew my name. They also knew my food preferences. When I walked in for breakfast, I didn’t need to order, my breakfast appeared as if by magic.

More important, they were always concerned about my adjustment to Philly, to graduate school, and the arrangements for my wedding. They were most interested in my fiancée, now my wife of almost 60 years. It became clear that I needed to bring her for dinner to meet my “diner family.” She was a little nervous but happily got their seal of approval.

As a married couple, we rented a one-bedroom apartment and later a larger apartment in the Greater Northeast. Our two children were born at Jefferson Hospital in Center City. By this time, when I referred to “the city,” I was referencing Center City Philadelphia rather than Manhattan.

Due to my job as a professor at Rowan University, then known as Glassboro State College, the long commute made it necessary to eventually move to South Jersey. The city’s historical footprint is matchless in scope and depth. We were privileged to enjoy the unfolding “restaurant renaissance,” awed by the reshaping of the city’s skyline, and found time for the burgeoning theater and arts scene. My wife liked to say, although we ate, slept, and worked in South Jersey, “the city” will always be Philadelphia.

I’m not crying, you are! Wishing you a day full of memorable Philly moments. See you back here tomorrow.

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