philadelphia

Philadelphia Zoo Suspects Topical Dye Killed Five of Its Meerkats

Five meerkats died at the Philadelphia Zoo this month after staff administered a dye routinely used at the zoo for three decades.

Philly Officials Say Rich Jerk Who Owns Shuttered Hospital Is Trying to Cash in on Covid-19 Emergency

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has accused the owner of a closed-down hospital of trying to profiteer off a deal to re-open during the coronavirus pandemic, while City Councilmember Helen Gym has called for government officials to just seize the property outright, WHYY reported on Tuesday. Hospitals across Philadelphia could become overwhelmed as the virus and…

Suspect on ATV Leads Philly Police on Winding Chase After Double Shooting

A man riding an ATV and suspected by authorities of involvement in a fatal shooting led police on a chase through the streets of Philadelphia on Tuesday night, NBC Philadelphia reported. Police said that at around 7:45 p.m., two men (ages 25 and 26) on the 2000 block of North College Avenue were confronted by…

Philly Park Officials Criticized for Installing Devices That Blare High-Frequency Noise at Young People

There is growing criticism of Philadelphia officials’ decision to install sonic devices called the Mosquito that constantly emit extremely loud, high-frequency noise from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. every night designed to be audible only to persons aged 13 to 25, according to a Friday report by NPR’s Morning Edition. The working principle behind the…

Fire at Oil Refinery in South Philadelphia Causes Massive Explosions

A massive fire rocked an oil refinery in South Philadelphia early Friday morning, causing explosions that could be felt as far away as New Jersey, according to early news reports. No evacuations have been issued for the area, but those in neighborhoods near the blaze were ordered to shelter in place. The fire started at…

Security Sets Man on Fire With ‘Taser-Style Device’ in Philadelphia

A “Taser-style device” set a man’s clothing on fire on South Street in Philadelphia early Saturday morning after a security guard attempted to stun him, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported this weekend. Details on the incident are limited, but a video posted to Twitter shows that the man’s pants caught fire after an electroshock weapon was…

City Plan for Urine-Repelling Paint Is Extremely Misguided

In a misguided effort to address complaints about the smell and cleanliness of Philadelphia’s public transit system, the city will begin testing a pee-repelling paint called Ultra-Ever Dry in the coming weeks. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority spokesman Andrew Busch told the Chicago Tribune that SEPTA decided to try out Ultra-Ever Dry because “there’s been some…

You Won’t Believe the Shit They Found in Philadelphia’s 18th-Century Toilets

History has left us with many wonders, sometimes buried in elaborate vaults or ornate tombs. Other times, artifacts of times past are found in somewhat less sophisticated surroundings. Take for instance, the Museum of the American Revolution’s latest 82,000-piece haul—found in 300-year-old toilets in Philadelphia. The museum discovered these archaeological finds before constructing a new…

Philly’s Beautiful Plan to Fight Crime with Neon Murals

Just the presence of streetlights can deter criminal behavior. A South Philadelphia neighborhood is trying something a little more innovative than that—using neon-lit murals to brighten the sidewalk and turn the area into a destination. Electric Street, by David Guinn and Drew Billiau, transforms a wall into a work of public art that not only…

Man Robbed at Gunpoint For His “Hoverboard”

Police in Philadelphia are looking for a man who robbed several people at gunpoint on October 5th at a Chinese take-out restaurant. He stole the victims’ phones, their wallets, and a “hoverboard.” Yep, people are getting robbed for their hoverboards now. There’s been debate about what to call these things, but I’ve officially surrendered to…

Philly’s Preparations for Pope Francis are Like a Dry Run for the Apocalypse

This weekend, Pope Francis’s historic trip to Philadelphia is expected to draw 1.5 million visitors into the city — literally doubling our population overnight. While most Philadelphians (myself included) are excited to be part of the hullabaloo, one can’t help but notice how His Holiness’s imminent arrival is turning Philly into a deleted flashback scene…

Vlogger Claims to Have Surveillance Cam Footage of hitchBOT’s Death

Beloved hitchhiking robot hitchBOT was destroyed by vandals in Philadelphia over the weekend, and everyone wants to know who would do such a thing. We may soon have an answer. Vlogger Jesse Wellens claims to have security camera footage of hitchBOT’s demise. Wellens, whose video blog BFvsGF has over 7.3 million subscribers, was among the…

Hitchhiking Robot Lasts Just Two Weeks in US Because Humans Are Terrible

When hitchBOT the hitchhiking robot started his journey in Boston two weeks ago he wanted to see the entire country. Unfortunately, he never made it out of the Northeast. The researchers who built hitchBOT announced today that they need to stop the experiment because hitchBOT was vandalized in Philadelphia. From the researchers who built hitchBOT:…

Time lapse: An empty city in black and white feels so eerie and lonely

This short time lapse by Bruce W. Berry Jr is already a powerful piece of work. It turns the buildings of Philadelphia into towering monoliths that hide people away, it makes the sky look like ghouls seeping in and it turns the city into a haunting place. Sadly though, the story behind this time lapse…

Drunk Museum Review: The Mütter Museum Will Give Me Nightmares Forever

I had a ball getting drunk at the American Museum of Natural History. But my most recent drunken outing was much less fun than that. I cannot stress enough that having a series of existential crises while drunk and alone in the Mütter Museum is a horrible idea. Just horrible. Top Image: Gif by Jim…

Philadelphia’s Newest Park Is Built on Top of a Sewage Overflow Tank

Venice Island, which officially opened this month in Philadelphia, has all the amenities you might expect from a nice city park—gardens, basketball court, amphitheater—but also something unexpected: a 4 million gallon sewage overflow tank. And you know what? A park built on top of the sewer is a very good thing. Like many old cities,…

The Eerie Abandoned Railway That Could Become Philly’s Next Park

When the Reading Viaduct opened in 1893, Philadelphia was a booming industrial city; the elevated railway quickly became an essential artery in the beating heart of manufacturing on the East Coast. Now, advocates want to turn it into a park that will wind its way through the city. But as a short documentary from PBS…

Climb into a sinkhole of bureaucracy in Pennsylvania (no, really, it’s a cave), explore San Francisco’s most storied structure (not the Golden Gate bridge), and jet off to to Myanmar (or is it Burma?). Plus, SCARY CLOWNS! In this week’s Urban Reads. “The employees here pass thousands of case files from cavern to cavern and…

A peek at Crimea’s controversial election day, Philly widens freeways by mistake, and does Austin, Texas, have a drinking problem? Plus, the incredible story behind Rio’s most famous monument, and the truth about earthquakes in L.A. Come along with us on this week’s Urban Reads. 96.7 percent of Crimeans can’t be wrong: What a (likely…

Philly Is Suing Scientology Over Its Vacant “Cathedral of the Future”

The Church of Scientology has reportedly spent roughly half a billion dollars buying up buildings in U.S. cities over the past few years—but, in many cases, these huge buildings have remained vacant. Now, the city of Philadelphia is taking the church to court over an empty tower. Using $7.85 million in donations, the church bought…