Why so many Center City parking lots? | Morning Newsletter

Welcome to a sunny new week, Philly.

Philadelphia needs more housing. So why does Center City still have so many parking lots? Architecture critic Inga Saffron digs in.

And the late South Philly legend Lou Capozzoli, who stewarded Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar, was memorialized in style at the iconic dive bar.

Plus, big questions loom as Philadelphia’s competitive U.S. House race narrows, and more news of the day.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

P.S. This is my last edition of the morning newsletter as I take on a new role with The Inquirer. Thank you for letting me visit your inbox, and for all your thoughtful emails and enthusiastic anagram answers over these past two years. My talented colleagues have you covered from here.

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Amid some of the city’s most expensive properties, more than two dozen Center City sites continue to be used for public parking — vast asphalt spaces for use by few residents at a time, and only those with the means to own a private vehicle.

Architecture critic Inga Saffron calls these surface parking lots a valuable, untapped resource.

While Philadelphia is not unique in its plethora of downtown lots, it does stand out for their longevity. (The infamous Disney Hole at Eighth and Market Streets is 45 years old.) That’s even as the parking business declines, and as parking lots were never meant to be permanent, according to the city’s zoning code.

What gives? See Saffron’s exploration of these “eyesores.”

🎤 Now I’m passing the mic to reporter Maggie Prosser.

The crowd spilled out from Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar — and with it, the smell of spring air, sticky beer, and stale cigarettes, and the hum of conversation, laughter, and the horns and drums of the Rage Band.

“What’s happening over here?” an onlooker asked Luann Capozzoli, who was taking a reprieve from barbacking. It was a memorial for her father, she explained.

“It seems like Ray was a great guy,” the stranger said.

This is a common misassumption: that a man named “Ray” would own Ray’s, but anyone who knows the South Philadelphia dive at East Passyunk Avenue and Federal Street knows Lou Capozzoli was at the helm.

Capozzoli, who stewarded Ray’s for decades until his death in February, was celebrated by a couple hundred of his closest friends on Saturday, April 4 — what would have been his 87th birthday. — Maggie Prosser

Read on for tributes to the South Philly icon who made Ray’s into an institution.

At Camp Chloe, a Delaware River encampment, residents fear they’ll lose everything — again.

A statue of a 19th-century actor housed at which Philadelphia institution strongly resembles Parks and Recreation actor Nick Offerman?

A) The Met

B) The Franklin Institute

C) Philadelphia Museum of Art

D) Walnut Street Theatre

Think you know? Check your answer.

⛱️ Scrutinizing: Our guide to 2026 beach badge prices at the Jersey Shore.

🌇 Hoping for: Phillyhenge sunsets, though local clouds don’t always cooperate.

🏀 Learning: What the members of Villanova’s 2016 title team are up to now.

❌ Noting: Wawa has recalled iced tea, lemonade, and fruit punch at some area stores.

🖊️ Considering: Pennsylvania high schoolers’ assessment of the state of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Hint: Philly _ _ (🎭 event)

TEETH WEAKER

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

Cheers to Bonnie Coccagna, who solved Sunday’s anagram: El Toro. Justin Nagtalon, the beloved sticker artist and muralist, has died at 43. His iconic cartoon water buffalo inspired a generation of street artists to make and place sticker art all over Philly.

This year’s Easter Promenade was scaled down due to rain, but they still held their best-dressed contest and handed out free bunny ears to attendees.

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 Barry Beck, who describes a strong first impression for out-of-town guests:

Back in the late 1990s, I took three coworkers visiting from Maryland out to lunch. I was excited to bring them to Norm and Lou’s Restaurant in the Philadelphia produce market, back when it was off Packer Avenue.

Getting in was an experience in itself. You had to pay a toll or take a ticket just to enter the parking lot, which was packed with tractor-trailers and box trucks hauling produce. My visitors already thought this was strange. You really had to keep your head on a swivel — there were carts, trucks, forklifts, and random vegetables scattered everywhere.

We ended up having a terrific lunch, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of a working produce market. Inside, I pointed out Ed Snyder’s regular booth, complete with memorabilia — a true stamp of Philadelphia approval.

Afterward, with full bellies, we headed out. At the exit, we paid the toll, but then had to stop for a pedestrian slowly crossing in front of the car. As he passed, he turned and gave us a dirty look. His white T-shirt had big, bold black letters: “DON’T ASK ME FOR S—.”

I turned to my coworkers and said, “Welcome to Philly, guys!”

It’s been an honor helming this newsletter for you. ‘Til we meet again in your inbox, be well.

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