It came in second in the site’s Pennsylvania rankings after the Nemacolin in Farmington, about 70 minutes outside Pittsburgh. The wooded 2,200-acre golf resort ranked No. 28 on U.S. News’ national list.
Weddings at The Reeds at Shelter Haven, ranked New Jersey’s seventh best hotel by U.S. News, can take place on the hotel’s bayside lawn.
Hotels were ranked based on their past awards and recognitions, including star ratings, as well as guest reviews, according to the U.S. News website.
“U.S. News predominantly ranks luxury lodgings, as these are the type of accommodations travelers seek when researching the best hotels and resorts in a given destination,” company analysts write, noting that luxury options typically receive 4- and 5-star ratings from multiple expert sources.
The Philly-area hotels on the 2026 lists were no exception.
The Four Seasons Philadelphia recently unveiled an ultraluxe floor that includes a 4,000-square-foot penthouse suite costing around $25,000 a night. Other rooms at the hotel start at more than $1,200 a night.
VENTNOR, N.J. — They demolished the existing boardwalk from the tennis courts to the fishing pier, north to south, and now they are building their way back up.
Financed mostly with federal funds granted to New Jersey from the COVID American Rescue Plan, Ventnor and other Shore towns like Ocean City, North Wildwood, Atlantic City, and Wildwood have set out to redo or upgrade their iconic pathways.
Ventnor is using $7 million in federal funds and bonded for about $4 million more, officials said.
Will this stretch of boardwalk reconstruction be done by Memorial Day?
Construction continues on the boardwalk on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in Ventnor City, N.J.
“It’s always a worry,” Ed Stinson, the Ventnor city engineer, said in an interview late last month. “We’ve had multiple meetings with the contractor [Schiavone Construction], one as recent as three weeks ago. In all the meetings, he’s said it’ll be complete and open before Memorial Day.”
The reconstruction has delivered a seven-block offseason interruption in a walkway that is popular year-round.
Work will stop for the summer, city officials say. In the fall, a second 13-block section, from Suffolk Avenue to the Atlantic City border at Jackson Avenue, will begin. There is currently no funding or plan for the boardwalk from Cambridge south to the Margate border, said Stinson.
The biggest change people will notice is that the original and distinctive angled herringbone decking pattern of the boardwalk is being replaced with a straight board decking. Ultimately, it came down to cost over tradition.
“There was discussion about it,” said Stinson. “There’s additional lumber that’s wasted when you do the herringbone, and the labor to cut that material. The additional material costs were significant. It’s a waste of tropical lumber. The only reason to go herringbone is tradition and appearance.”
The reconstruction has delivered a seven-block offseason interruption in a walkway that is popular year-round. Work will stop for the summer, city officials say.
Other differences are changes in lighting (lower, more frequent light poles) and some enhancements of accessible ramps. The existing benches, with their memorial plaques, will be back.
To demolish the boardwalk, the contractor cut the joist and the decking in 14-foot sections, “swung it around, carried it over to the volleyball court,” Stinson said, on Suffolk Avenue.
“That’s where they did their crushing and loading into the dumpsters. They worked their way down and followed that with the pile removing.”
The original herringbone pattern can be seen on the left, compared with the new straight decking pattern on the new construction side.
The other massive job was excavating the sand that had accumulated under the boardwalk. “They screened it, cleaned it, and put it down there,” on the beach in piles. It will be spread around above the tide line, Stinson said.
Once the excavation was down, the pile driving crew set out beginning at the south end and working their way toward Suffolk Avenue. “Then the framing crew came in and started framing,” Stinson said. On Feb. 2, the third team began its work: the decking crew.
The weather has slowed the pace, Stinson said. “They were doing about 20 to 24 piles a day,” he said, a pace that dropped to about nine piles a day after the snowstorm and ice buildup.
The framing crew installs pile caps, 8-by-14 beams that run across the boardwalk atop the pilings. The decking crew follows behind them, installing the wood, a tropical wood known as Cumaru. The use of Brazilian rainforest lumber at one time inspired protests, but that has not been an issue this time.
Construction continues on the boardwalk on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in Ventnor City, N.J.
Ventnor’s boardwalk, which links to Atlantic City’s famous walkway, dates to 1910. It was rebuilt twice before: once after the hurricane of 1944 and again after the March storm of 1962. Margate, on the southern end, never rebuilt its boardwalk after 1944.
Stinson said the tropical wood is noted for its “denseness and durability. It does not last forever.”
In all, $100 million of American Rescue funds was set aside by Gov. Phil Murphy for a Boardwalk Fund and awarded to 18 municipalities, including, as Stinson said, “anybody who has anything close to a boardwalk.”
Brigantine, with its promenade, received $1.18 million. Ocean City, in the process of rebuilding a portion of its north end boardwalk, received $4.85 million.
The two biggest recipients were Asbury Park and Atlantic City, each receiving $20 million. Atlantic City has completed a rebuilding of its Boardwalk to stretch all the way around the inlet to Gardner’s Basin. Wildwood, with $8.2 million, has undertaken a boardwalk reconstruction project, and North Wildwood, receiving $10.2 million, is rebuilding its boardwalk between 24th and 26th Streets, combining the herringbone pattern with a straight board lane for the tram car.
Although the timing of the reconstruction was no doubt prompted by the availability of the federal funds, Stinson said Ventnor’s boardwalk had shown signs of age.
“We’ve been into some significant repairs on the boardwalk,” Stinson said. “Those have increased every year. We were getting into pile failures. It was due. I don’t know if the city would have tackled it without the [federal] money.”
Ventnor’s boardwalk, which links to Atlantic City’s famous walkway, dates to 1910. It was rebuilt twice before: once after the hurricane of 1944 and again after the March storm of 1962.
The saucer in LOVE Park finally has a timeline for its revival.
After years of seeking ideas from business owners and other Philadelphians, city officials expect work on the historic building to begin in May, the city’s Parks & Recreation Department says.
But officials are still working to select a partner for the project.
In May, the city issued a “request for expressions of interest” (RFEI) from “visionary businesses, particularly those in food, beverage, retail, or hospitality,” who wanted to partner on the saucer.
City officials said the interest exceeded expectations, with more than 50 applicants submitting ideas. They included “coffee and cafe concepts, casual food offerings, beer garden hybrids, and informal meeting spaces,” according to Parks & Recreation spokesperson Ra’Chelle Rogers.
Among applicants, there was a focus on “flexible, welcoming concepts that function as a true public amenity, encouraging people to meet, linger, and connect in the park,” Rogers said.
The saucer building in LOVE Park is pictured in March 2019, amid early renovations for a bar-restaurant concept that never panned out.
In light of the demand, the city is moving into its next stage, requiring prospective partners to visit the saucer at 3 p.m. on Feb. 18 and submit a proposal online by March 18.
Prospective partners do not need to have submitted an idea in the spring, Rogers said. Any experienced food, beverage, hospitality, or community operator with the capacity to “generate sustainable revenue to support the park” is encouraged to apply, Rogers said.
“The saucer has always been envisioned as a people-first space — one that complements the park, supports programming, and welcomes both residents and visitors,” said Susan Slawson, the city’s parks & recreation commissioner. The RFEI process has given officials “confidence to move forward with a flexible, inclusive model designed for the way people actually use LOVE Park.”
The saucer, also referred to as the UFO, was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places last year. Built in 1960, the building predates LOVE Park, and first served as the city hospitality center. It later housed offices for park staff.
An undated file photo of LOVE Park’s saucer building when it served as the Philadelphia Visitors Center.
For more than a decade, however, the circular structure near 16th Street and JFK Boulevard has largely sat dormant (the building has opened to the public for the Festival of Trees, a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia fundraiser, during recent holiday seasons).
In March 2019, city officials applauded the early construction of a bar-restaurant that was set to fill LOVE Park’s saucer building. The pandemic later caused the restaurateurs to bow out of the project.
As for this latest request process, city officials said they plan to select a partner by April, and begin work a month later. The timing could coincide with Philly’s celebration of America’s 250th birthday, as well as the city’s hosting of World Cup matches and the MLB All-Star game.
The office of Councilmember Jeffery Young, whose district includes LOVE Park, is set to fund “key utility and infrastructure improvements” at the saucer, according to the city statement, and public grants are being sought to offset other upfront costs.
“Bringing an active, public-facing partner into the saucer is a milestone for LOVE Park and for Philadelphia,” Young said. “I’m proud to support improvements that make the saucer a welcoming hub for years to come.”
OCEAN CITY, N.J. — Marie Crawford was immediately charmed in 2021 when she and her soon-to-be-surfer husband Rich moved into their historic house in the literal shadow of Gillian’s Wonderland Pier.
They’d come from Blue Bell, Pa., to live year-round by the ocean, and landed with an amusement park right up the street.
“The ball drop, that was what we heard from my house,” she said, referring to the 130-foot-high Drop Tower ride. “It was, ‘Ah, ah, ahhhhhhhh,‘” she said, imitating the screams she would sometimes hear.
Jack Gutenkunst, left, Marie Crawford and her husband Richard with Shiloh, a 9-year-old soft coated wheaten terrier, walk along Plaza Place, in Ocean City, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.
“It was so beautiful and romantic. On our porches, we would hear the ocean, not the amusement park. There were families, babies in strollers, coming up the street, flowing up to Wonderland. We were kind of ambassadors.”
Now, more than a year after the closing of Gillian’s, the residents are faced with the possibility of a seven-story hotel they fear will block their sun, bring traffic to their streets, and threaten the small-town charm they found in their little pocket of Ocean City.
“It’s just another example of maximizing, pushing,” said Rich Crawford, Marie’s husband, who programs music for his family’s Christian radio station, WDAC, located in Lancaster, Pa. In his 60s, Rich fell in with Ocean City’s surfing crowd and unexpectedly grew to love his little community.
The Crawfords’ neighborhood of 100-year-old homes and 153 trees is called Plaza Place, which is one block each of Pelham Place, Plaza Place, and the north side of Seventh Street, between Wayne Avenue and Atlantic.
Across Wayne Avenue, toward the ocean, was Wonderland. On a clear day, a red ball of sun creeps up above the boardwalk and peeks into their little neighborhood.
On Pelham Place, residents each also own a two-foot- wide stretch of land across the street from their houses, a quirk of their deeds originally designed to prevent the rooming houses on Plaza Place that backed up against Pelham Place from using Pelham as an alleyway for their trash. There are dedicated gardeners on the streets who turn those strips into showpieces.
The sun sets behind the Ferris wheel on the final day for the beloved Wonderland Pier in Ocean City Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024.
Neighbor Barb Doctorman, whose family owns the Islander store on the boardwalk, said she used to take her children up on the Ferris wheel and peer down at their neighborhood. So lush, it looked like a forest, she said.
“I looked up the impact of a high-rise,” said Doctorman. “We’re going to lose some sun. The airflow is going to be totally changed from what it was. There’s a heat radiant that comes off it.”
Her husband, Doc, said: “We want something up there, but we know there could be more of a draw to that boardwalk than just the hotel.”
Marie Crawford (left) holds the leash of Shiloh, a 9-year-old soft-coated wheaten terrier, while standing with her husband Richard (center) and neighbor Jack Gutenkunst at the end of Pelham Place in Ocean City.
The land is owned by developer Eustace Mita, who has proposed Icona in Wonderland, a 252-room hotel that would preserve the Ferris wheel, carousel, and some kiddie rides.
So far, the city has not declared the site in need of rehabilitation, as Mita has requested, or otherwise moved to rezone the area to allow a hotel.
Merchants have begged the city to allow the hotel, and described how their businesses have suffered since the closure of Wonderland. Some residents have clung to the idea that an amusement park can return, though those numbers are dwindling.
Marie Crawford, her husband Richard, right, along with Shiloh, a 9-year-old soft coated wheaten terrier, and their neighbor Jack Gutenkunst, walk past a sign against the development of a hotel at the site of the old Wonderland Pier on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.
In Plaza Place, the opposition is less sentimental, more practical. They fear traffic, and the shadow from a neighboring seven-story hotel. Like residents in other towns who fought dunes, they fear the loss of the ocean breeze, or a shift in wind patterns that will affect surfing at the popular Seventh Street Beach.
“It’s got that old feel to it, and everybody’s house is different,” said Marie Crawford, who bought her Craftsman Colonial on the north side of Pelham for $905,000 in 2021. She estimates it’s worth $2.5 million now. There are about 60 homes in the Plaza Place civic association.
The association is one of several groups that are prepared to go to court if the city tries to change the zoning to allow a hotel, without going through a thorough master plan process, said Jack Gutenkunst, the Plaza Place Association president.
While Wonderland brought thousands of people on a summer night, the pier itself had no parking. So people parked elsewhere and excitedly walked through their neighborhood on their way to the rides. People on their porches called out, “Have a blessed evening,” and chatted the night away, said Crawford. The hotel proposal calls for parking underneath the structure.
A sign stands near the historic neighborhood behind the old site of the Wonderland Pier in Ocean City, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. Residents are against the development of a hotel at the boardwalk site.
Crawford stressed that it’s not a case of selfish NIMBY, Not In My Backyard. Despite Ocean City’s decades-old pattern of replacing single-family homes with duplexes, there are nearly 1,400 homes over 100 years old still left in Ocean City, said Bill Merritt, president of Friends of OCNJ History & Culture.
Being a block from the boardwalk, and living in a beach town, does not mean the neighborhood’s purpose is primarily hospitality, said Crawford. Its distinct, increasingly rare Jersey Shore character deserves to be valued, she said.
“It’s height. It’s chaos. It’s the change in culture,” she said, when asked what specifically worries her about the hotel. “It’s a transient population coming through here for three nights at a time. That’s in the hospitality district. We are not the hospitality district.”
The neighborhood behind the old Wonderland Pier site on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. Residents are against the development of a hotel at the boardwalk site.
The demolish-and-rebuild mania that took over a lot of the rest of the island has mostly left Plaza Place alone, though residents acknowledge that is also a threat to their way of life. They also fear a hotel will prompt Plaza Placeans to sell.
“It’s a Norman Rockwell painting, it just is,” Councilman Keith Hartzell says in the documentaryPlaza Place: The Enigmatic Street, a locally made short film about the neighborhood. “It’s right here in Ocean City, and you kind of don’t expect it, when there’s two streets away a bunch of duplexes.”
Hartzell, who is running for mayor against incumbent Jay Gillian, the former owner of Wonderland who sold to Mita, says he hopes to negotiate with Mita over height, parking, and other issues before considering any kind of zoning allowance or rehabilitation designation. A city council-appointed subcommittee tasked with assessing the boardwalk’s usage as a whole is holding a public meeting at 10 a.m. on Feb. 7 at the city’s library.
The residents of Plaza Place worry about the survival of the hidden little neighborhood by the beach they fell in love with. “The neighborhood is so beautiful and so old,” said Marie Crawford. “If the hotel goes in, the dramatic change that will be for all of us with the traffic, the tone of the neighborhood — you’re going to see people sell. That threatens the neighborhood. The people won’t want to stay.”
ATLANTIC CITY — A decade after teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and being taken over by the State of New Jersey, Atlantic City has been given an investment-grade rating by Moody’s Ratings.
“Today is a tremendous day to start the new year,” Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. said Monday at a livestreamed news briefing. “The city of Atlantic City is officially investment grade.”
The credit rating of Baa3 puts the city in the lowest long-term investment-grade category, several steps from the top A ratings. But it marks a dramatic rise from 10 years ago, Small noted, when he was sworn in as the City Council president.
“We had the junkiest junk bonds imaginable,” he recalled. “The city’s finances were not in a good state. Employees were getting paid once a month. People were running to the bank to cash their checks. The outlook was bleak. We even entertained that we were bankrupt. It was a long, drawn-out fight. However, that was then; this is now.”
Small and business administrator Anthony Swan said at the Dec. 31 meetings that Moody’s expressed interest in seeing a stable government and experienced department directors.
Small was sworn in to a new four-year term on New Year’s Day with his daughter in attendance and said then that the family has begun the healing process. A decision is expected soon by the Atlantic County prosecutor on whether to pursue similar charges against his wife, La’Quetta Small, the city’s schools superintendent.
The state’s takeover of Atlantic City expired Dec. 1. But another bill is moving through the legislature that will leave the state in charge of Atlantic City finances for another six years. It calls for a “master developer” to oversee major projects, even as the city is trying to regain control over planning and zoning.
There are other challenges ahead for Atlantic City: New York City approved three casino licenses that could cut a substantial hole in Atlantic City’s gambling revenue and prompt state lawmakers to approve casinos in North Jersey. Casino owners also oppose an effort to ban smoking in the city’s casinos that is now before an appellate court.
Though the state takeover began a decade ago in hostile fashion, it evolved to a cooperative partnership. Small praised the decision by incoming Gov. Mikie Sherrill to keep Jacquelyn Suárez as head of the state’s Department of Community Affairs, which would oversee the next takeover.
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. speaks to the media after being found not guilty on all counts of abusing his teenage daughter, on Dec. 18.
But Monday was a day of triumph for the city.
Small noted that the city had substantially reduced its debt to $228 million, down from a peak of $550 million, and cut taxes six years in a row. Of that, only $71 million is debt directly incurred by the city; the rest are legacy debts from money owed to casinos from tax appeals. He anticipated announcing a seventh tax cut in the coming weeks.
“This government gets criticized all the time,” he said. “People say, ‘Oh they’re spinning like drunken sailors, spinning spinning spinning like it’s out of control.’Ladies and gentlemen, that’s just not true.”
Business administrator Swan said Moody’s was interested in more than just numbers. “It’s about the stability of the city,” he said. “It’s about how the city is run.”
Finance director Toro Aboderin called the announcement “an extraordinary milestone.” She said Moody’s asked about “bulkheads, roads, infrastructure.”
“Restoring Atlantic City to sound financial footing has been our top priority every single day,” she said. “A lot of people talk about Atlantic City and how we’re terrible, how the finances are the worst, and the roads are messy. They say all kinds of things, but we have attained something quite remarkable.”
Officials hope the vote of confidence from Moody’s will signal to investors and developers to look again at their city, which has some of the most affordable beachfront real estate on the East Coast.
An investment-grade credit rating signals to financial markets that Atlantic City is a lower-risk borrower, although the mayor emphasized that the city currently has no need to borrow.
Driving west on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Mary Wright was hoping for a Chick-fil-A. But as she watched the limited options on road signs pass, fond memories of roast beef sandwiches lured her to Roy Rogers.
“My mother liked Roy Rogers,” said Wright, who is in her 60s and from Collingswood. “That’s how long it’s been around.”
That’s pretty typical of the food offerings on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, where old-school brands such as Auntie Anne’s, Baskin-Robbins, and Sbarro dot many of the 17 service plazas.
That puts the turnpike behind the times compared with similar toll roads in New Jersey and New York, where travelers can hold out for newer brands like Chick-fil-A, Pret a Manger, and Shake Shack.
“I think the older generation likes Roy Rogers and all that, but younger people are more likely to like Shake Shack, for example,” said John Zhang, professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
Once on the toll road, people are faced with dining options decided almost entirely by one company. It’s what Zhang called a “captive consumer” environment. The reasons for this involve state policy, a corporate contract, and a little business history.
Mary Wright and Rich Misdom of Collingswood consider their options at the Roy Rogers located in the Peter J. Camiel Service Plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in late November.
‘Applegreen determines the food concepts’
The commercial stakes are significant:More than 550,000 people drive on the turnpike every day, according to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, and about 7.4 million travelers are expected to have used the toll road around the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
Though the turnpike commission oversees the operation, a company called Applegreen primarily decides which restaurants fill the state’s 17 service plazas, according to turnpike commission spokesperson Marissa Orbanek.
Applegreen runs travel plazas in 12 states, including New Jersey and New York. The company, based in Ireland, was taken private for $878 million in 2020 and is majority-owned by the large private equity firm Blackstone Inc. Applegreen did not respond to requests to comment for this story.
For access to the service plazas, Applegreen pays the turnpike commission 4% of its gross food and beverage sales, amounting to about $2.4 million per year, Orbanek said.
“Applegreen determines the food concepts and seeks approval from the commission,” Orbanek said. “So the turnpike is certainly involved in this process.”
Of the 15 restaurant chains Applegreen lists on its website, nine appear on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. There are nine Auntie Anne’s, eight Burger Kings, one Cinnabon, seven Dunkin’s, two Popeyes, seven Roy Rogers restaurants, four Sbarros, 10 Starbucks outposts, and one Subway restaurant, according to the turnpike commission website. Pennsylvania also has six Baskin-Robbins locations, it shows.
In other states, Applegreen’s brands include Chick-fil-A, Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs, Panda Express, Panera, Pret a Manger, and Shake Shack.
The service plaza contract dates back to 2006, when the turnpike commission signed a 30-year lease agreement with HMS Host Family Restaurants, giving the company “exclusive rights” to food and drink sales, Orbanek said.
Seven Dunkin’ locations dot the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Until then, Applegreen decides which eatery goes where.
What’s with all the Roy Rogers restaurants?
When Applegreen bought HMS Host, it became the franchisee of the Roy Rogers restaurants on the turnpike, said Jim Plamondon, who co-owns the Frederick, Md.-based Roy Rogers brand with his brother.
Plamondon wants to keep the restaurants on the turnpike past 2036 — a decision that will depend in part on whether Applegreen sticks with the restaurants it acquired when it bought HMS Host.
“It’s all about developing relationships and hoping to grow with our operators,” Plamondon said.
As for Roy Rogers’ prominent position on the turnpike, that dates back to the 1980s, when Marriott Corp. managed the service plazas, Plamondon said. Back then, the restaurant was owned by Marriott — it had a licensing agreement with the showbiz cowboy of the same name — and Plamondon’s dad was an executive in the company.
These days, Plamondon said, nostalgia and curiosity for something a bit different have driven the restaurant chain’s modest growth: It has opened a few new locations in recent years, including one in Cherry Hill, and has a devoted fan base.
Fast-food restaurants are facing a number of challenges in the current economic climate. Wages and tariffs have pushed prices up, and low-income consumers in particular have started to reduce spending. Even McDonald’s, the largest fast-food chain in the U.S., has seen nearly double-digit decreases in traffic among low-income Americans, the company said in its third-quarter earnings report last month.
McDonald’s CEO Christopher Kempczinski told investors on a call announcing the third-quarter results that low-income consumers were having to absorb significant inflation, which was affecting spending behavior.
Roy Rogers has seen some of these challenges as well, Plamondon said. Costs have gone up, margins are thin, and people’s tastes are always changing. People are eating more chicken and want spicier options, he added. .
“It’s a really good menu, it’s great quality food, and I think our brand absolutely has a future to it, because at the end of the day, it’s about the food.”
Changing tastes
The Wharton School’s Zhang agreed that consumers’ tastes have shifted. “People increasingly want ethnic foods, and younger people want spicier food,” he said. “And people want to go upscale nowadays.”
Zhang noted a number of older brands on the Applegreen roster, such as Sbarro, the pizza restaurant that has faced two bankruptcies in the years since the turnpike commission approved the 30-year lease.
In terms of market forces, Zhang said, turnpike service plazas are “an aberration.” Unlike those in most suburban or urban areas, service plaza customers are willing to settle for what’s available, and pay more to get in and out, he said.
“If you’re a traveler on a holiday, you tend to be less price sensitive,” Zhang said. “You just want to have your food very quickly.”
A sign at the Peter J. Camiel service plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
That puts turnpike service stops at odds with the shifting consumer preferences that have bedeviled the fast-food industry over the last couple of decades, Zhang said, including the addition of food delivery services like DoorDash and GrubHub.
Zhang said that the lack of order-ahead options at turnpike eateries is puzzling. For people traveling down a strip of highway, it seems like calling ahead would make sense.
“For them, the customers just pass by once,” he said.
For Mary Wright and her traveling companion, Rich Misdom, their recent Roy Rogers visit did not exactly ignite enthusiasm.
“This is, like, old-school kind of stuff,” Misdom said, adding he was disappointed that this Roy Rogers restaurant was not serving roast beef. He settled for a cheeseburger, while Wright got a chicken sandwich.
“We don’t come here to fine dine,” Misdom said, between bites. “Let’s put it that way.”
A Santa statue “waves” to drivers along Brace Road in Cherry Hill on Dec. 14, 2025. The Philly region may see its second snowfall of the season on Friday night. Read more
Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Lower Merion residents can expect tax hikes on the township and countywide level in 2026.
Steven M. Falk / Staff Photographer
Phoenixville recently welcomed a pair of eateries, just some of the new businesses that have opened recently in Chester County.
Steven M. Falk / For The Inquirer
An exterior view of the former West Grove Smoke Shop in the borough of West Grove, Chester County.
David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
The scene at 1625 Washington Avenue Tuesday Dec. 13, 2022. The sign reads “Advanced Mining” the business that acquired the cryptocurrency company VBit Technologies which is facing several new lawsuits in federal court after its customers claim the company froze them out of millions of dollars in assets this summer. Read more
Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Law enforcement officers stand guard outside a detention center in Los Angeles on June 10, the day a curfew took hold following clashes in days prior between protesters and law enforcement. Read more
Salwan Georges
New Year’s Day is still more than a week away, but already, everything’s coming up Philly in 2026.
In the latest sign that the city is poised for a banner year, the Wall Street Journal has named Philadelphia the world’s top place to visit in ‘26 — echoing what various national and international publications have been saying for weeks.
The primary draw, of course, is the nation’s 250th birthday celebration, which is expected to bring an endless stream of tourists — not to mention contribute to as much as $2.5 billion to the city and region in additional tourism dollars, by one estimate.
The city’s sports calendar in the coming year ain’t looking too bad, either.
Most notably, the FIFA World Cup arrives next summer with a much-anticipated slate of games in June and July. (France and Brazil are among the teams that’ll take part in six matches slated for Lincoln Financial Field.)
And in July, Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game festivities will take place at Citizens Bank Park — in the same year the Phillies rank among the betting favorites to win a third World Series title, no less — while Xfinity Mobile Arena will be hosting first- and second-round games for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Oh, and the PGA Championship returns to the Philadelphia area, May 11-17 at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square.
The Wall Street Journal’s recognition marks the latest in a spate of hype for Philadelphia in the coming year. Last month, Travel + Leisure named the city one of its top places to travel in ’26, as did the BBC.
Joining Philadelphia in the Journal’s top five destinations for ‘26 were Basque Country, Spain; Okavango Delta, Botswana; Yunnan, China; and Guadalupe Valley, Mexico.
Tulsa, Okla. — which in June will celebrate the 100th birthday of the country’s favorite lonely highway with its annual Route 66 Road Fest — was the only other American city to make the Journal’s top 10.
The Shore this time of year is truly a lovely, if sometimes desolate, place. But the desolation is the point: Emptied of its chaotic summer bustle, the simple natural beauties take center stage.
But yet. There are still plenty of humans here, and they are doing things, some good, some dubious, and so we will take note. Here is our first-ever winter solstice Shore Town Report Card.
As to the grading system, let’s just say, it was tough to give any town less than a B- when that winter light turns the sunset sky over the ocean a thousand shades of pink, and snow turns a magical place even more magical. Even Atlantic City, in spite of its burgeoning mayoral and other problems, is worth an off-season visit.
Atlantic City
The paradoxical Shore town has had a doozy of a year, with its newly reelected Mayor Marty Small Sr. on trial for allegedly physically abusing his daughter, charges he denied during the trial, and for which a jury on Thursday acquitted him. Meanwhile, three casinos were green-lit in New York City, New Jersey is contemplating how to tighten its control over Atlantic City, Peanut World caught fire, and ICE was making car stops in city neighborhoods.
The city’s holiday parade featured the red-clad Mayor Marty Small on a special Mayor’s Office float, with his wife, schools Superintendent La’Quetta Small, festively clad in a fluffy red coat, beside him. She is also charged with child abuse.
When will Atlantic City, arguably the last affordable Shore destination along the entire Northeast coast, finally break out of its slump? I explain in this story.A+ for holiday traditions like the elaborately decorated and festive iconic spots, from the Irish Pub to the Knife & Fork Inn; for its new skate and dog parks; and its casino giveaways. But, behind the salt air tinsel, A.C. isjuggling some C+ drama.
Ventnor
You’re never more aware that your town tilts toward summer than when it rebuilds its boardwalk during the winter. A big chunk of the boardwalk (from Surrey to Cambridge) has been closed since November for a complete reconstruction and will remain closed until at least May. A similar chunk up to the A.C. border will be rebuilt after next summer. Hence the odd sight of lots of people on Atlantic Avenue detoured from the beloved wooden pathway. In better news, some of Ventnor’s favorite places have stayed open into the dead of winter. On a recent weekend, I trudged in the snow over to my friends at Remedee Coffee for a specialty hot cocoa (delish) and was surprised to find the place … full of people. Everyone in town had had the same idea, apparently, and with no boardwalk, it’s not even out of the way. B
Margate’s business administrator launched a personal investigation of the city’s CFO and was making public accusations against one of its commissioners. A former mayor wants him fired. What even is going on over there? C+
Ocean City
The identity crisis continues. The town did a complete turnaround earlier this month with respect to the former Wonderland Pier site, voting to ask the planning board whether the site is in need of rehabilitation as requested by developer Eustace Mita, who wants to build a luxury hotel. Meanwhile, its mayor declared bankruptcy and got sued by his stepmother. The iconic McDonald’s in town abruptly closed. Still, Playland’s Castaway Cove is offering its half-price ticket sale now through New Year’s Day. B-
Sea Isle City
The city canceled its holiday parade, which made people a wee bit annoyed. But dollars are being spent, most recently on a new community center and with the adoption of a five-year, $50-million capital budget targeting flood control, road work, beach projects, emergency vehicles, and sewer upgrades. . B+
A winter Sea Isle City with just a dusting of snow. Dec. 16, 2025.
Avalon
The sleepy offseason town, which came in for some summer criticism for its off-the-charts exclusivity,gets an A+ from me for its sensible and family-friendly 5:30 p.m. New Year’s Eve fireworks plan.
Stone Harbor
The city adopted a 3% occupancy tax on hotels, motels, and short-term rentals. Mayor Tim Carney said in an e-mailed statement: “This local tourism tax will generate revenue for the Borough while helping us avoid any increase to homeowner property taxes in 2026.”
However, on behalf of short-term visitors from Philly, though, and amid criticism over the quality of the Garden Club’s urn-based Christmas decorations, I’ll have to score the town a B-.
The Wildwoods
Wildwood and Wildwood Crest cut loose North Wildwood on their beach replenishment sharing agreement. Meanwhile, North Wildwood signed a 10-year agreement to police West Wildwood. Wildwood proper recently approved 24 new homes for its gateway area.
It’s one island divided into the have-sands and the have-not sands. This winter could exacerbate both ends of the spectrum. B-
Long Beach Island
The city was battling mail delivery issues, but otherwise, the peace and quiet and lack of crowds seemed to be settling well over locals, who boasted of martini towers at the Hotel LBI and $10 lunch specials at Joy & Salt Cafe (also available, $45 short ribs). Whoever it is that lives there this time of year must know something. A-
ATLANTIC CITY — The journey through Atlantic City is bumpy these days, and not only because Atlantic Avenue is desperately in need of paving.
Ducktown Tavern owner John “Johnny X” Exadaktilos has one wish for Atlantic City that has nothing to do with the gut-jarring avenue that runs in front of his bar.
“Just normal,” says Exadaktilos. “I just want things to be normal.”
Atlantic City, a place of historic mayoral misdeeds, multimillionaire overreach, and chronic unwanted attention, has managed in this waning year, even as its workers string up holiday decorations, to come up with a new plot twist: Its newly reelected Democratic Mayor Marty Small Sr. is on trial for alleged physical abuse of his teenage daughter.
The trial has left Small untethered from his cell phone as new casinos have been green lit in New York City, and the state moves to tighten its authority over the town. Another trial, of Small’s wife, La’Quetta Small, who is the superintendent of schools, is set for Jan. 12.
With Small reporting to an Atlantic County courthouse each day to face his daughter, who spent seven hours testifying against him on Tuesday, a bit of a hush has fallen on the city as it awaits the outcome, which could come this week.
The sentiment in City Hall, where many employees owe their jobs to Small, leaned toward the assumption that Small would beat this charge like he’s beaten two previous indictments on voter fraud charges.
But will the city emerge unscathed?
“Every day, people who live in Atlantic City want to know what those of us are elected are doing to make their lives better and respond to their issues and concerns,” said council member Kaleem Shabazz, who was going from a planning board meeting to a mayor-less City Hall last week. “Whatever will happen will happen. The city still has to function. People have to be responsible.”
On Dec. 1, as Small readied for jury selection in Mays Landing, New York City approved three casinos, two for Queens and one for the Bronx, a development long feared in Atlantic City.
On Dec. 5, with the jury picked, the iconic Peanut World on the Boardwalk erupted in flames. On Dec. 9, with the mayor listening to his daughter, legislators in Trentonwere proposing more state oversight of A.C. including a surprise provision that would give the state the power to pick developers for major projects.
The biggest threat may come from the New York casinos, which some in the industry estimate could threaten as much as 30% of A.C.’s business and lead to the shuttering of one casino, if not more.
Small could face jail time and be forced to step down as mayor under New Jersey law, if convicted. He and his wife, who has been attending her husband’s trial, taking notes in the back, have resisted calls to relinquish their powerful roles as mayor and superintendent.
“It’s not ideal obviously,” said Shabazz. “If you had to pick a multiple choice question what would you want to be happening in your public schools, that wouldn’t be something you would pick, if you’re a parent or a taxpayer.”
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small and his wife, Superintendent of Schools La’Quetta Small, chat before the start of arraignment on Oct. 10, 2024. Mayor Small stood trial last week in Mays Landing. Cameras were barred from the courtroom during the trial.
‘A wake-up call’
Early one morning last week, having just come from a planning board meeting, Shabazz said the city was going about its business. “I’m not at the trial, I’m on my way to City Hall,” he said. “The work of government has to go on.”
Shabazz, who’s been focused for years, even decades, on some of the same intractable problems of the resort, remains optimistic. It’s a city where it can be hard to read the scorecard: progress seems to be there, but not there, at the same time.
The city’s only full-size supermarket, the beleaguered Save A Lot is under new management, and the adjacent nuisance liquor store is expected to close. High-profile developers like Jared Kushner and K. Hovnanian appear to be going forward with residential projects in the city’s Inlet section. There are new restaurants, like the Byrdcage in Chelsea and Simpson’s, relocating next month to Atlantic Avenue.
Shabazz is hoping the state will return zoning authority back to the city after years of the Casino Reinvestment Control Authority overseeing planning and zoning in the city’s tourism district.
Kaleem Shabazz, president of the local chapter of the NAACP in Atlantic City, and Maryam Sarhan, a community organizer, stand in front of mural honoring civil rights leaders. “The city still has to function,” he said, while its mayor is on trial for alleged child abuse. “People have to be responsible.”
But last week, as the mayor listened to his daughter testifying that he struck her in the head with a broom, after she threw detergent at him and refused to go to a community march, the state went in the opposite direction: a bill to renew the state’s takeover of Atlantic City for another six years that would allow the state to pick a “master developer” to oversee big projects, the Press of Atlantic City reported.
“We have to be competitive,” Shabazz said. “We have to let people know that we’re open for business and we’re safe and secure. Crime is down significantly.”
Like others interviewed, he believes Atlantic City can sell itself as a safe and affordable seaside destination. “We still have a free beach,” he said. “We have to let people know what we have.”
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small arriving for his arraignment before Judge Bernard DeLury at the Atlantic County Criminal Courthouse in Mays Landing on Oct. 10, 2024. Small testified in his own defense Friday during his trial. Cameras were barred from the courtroom.
Small has defended himself by describing this latest situation as a private family problem, not related to his job performance. He has called the prosecution politically motivated and an overreaction. A jury will now weigh in.
John Boyd Jr., a principal in the Boyd Co., which advises companies on where to locate, said many developers (and homeowners) continue to balk at Atlantic City, despite the upward pressure on Jersey Shore real estate that has left the city as arguably the last affordable seashore town in the entire Northeast.
He called the three New York City casino licenses “a wake-up call” for New Jersey, and advocates a plan where the state allows casinos at the Meadowlands and/or Monmouth Park but shares the revenue with Atlantic City.
“If you ask national developers their opinion of Atlantic City, it wouldn’t be a very positive one for a myriad of reasons,” he said.
“Good governance is fundamental to economic development success. Companies want to minimize risk. It’s more than the mayor being on trial. It’s the uncertainty.”
Meanwhile at the slots
Inside Hard Rock casino during a blustery stretch last week, people were three deep at the holiday-branded Mistletoe Bar in the lobby, and nine guitars had become a menorah in the atrium.
Gamblers were locked in as names were called for a random spin-the-wheel drawing every half hour. A convention of real estate agents brought lines to the check-in desk. The trial was off in the distance, invisible to most.
“I do love coming to Atlantic City,” said Adam Druck, 33, a Realtor from York, Pa. “I hope the trial doesn’t make too much difference to what’s going on here.”
Asked about New York casinos, Joe Pendle, 71, a retired police officer from North Jersey, said he was comfortable with his routines at Hard Rock, where free rooms and meals anchored his pleasant stays. (Hard Rock itself has one of the three licenses in New York City, an $8.1 billion project near Citi Field in Queens, which it projects will result in $1 billion a year in tax revenue.)
“I have a three-room suite upstairs,” noted Pendle. “I like the beach.”
Arthur Austin, 70, of Old Bridge, said he had worked for decades on Wall Street and had no desire to travel to New York for a casino weekend.
“I worked in the city for 20 years,” he said. “I only go into the city if I have to.”
Adam Druck, 33, of York, Pa., and Eric Moeller, 36, of Reading, inside Hard Rock casino on Dec. 9, where they were staying as part of Triple Play Realtor Convention and Trade Expo in Atlantic City.
Out-of-towners like Austin hadn’t heard about Small’s trial, but the local gamblers at Hard Rock sure had.
“Atlantic City is a crooked place, and it’s always gonna be crooked because of what everybody’s into,” said a 57-year-old woman who lives locally and was playing the slots. She did not want her name used so that she could speak her mind in a small town.
“People want their guy to stay in there,” said the woman. “He gives everybody a job. You could flourish, but only if you are with the right people.”
“I don’t think that it hurts Atlantic City,” said Seng Bethia, 40, of Atlantic City, who was at the slots. “His daughter is such a sweet girl. It was bad, just the whole thing.”
‘Are you kidding me right now?’
Exadaktilos, the Ducktown Tavern owner who is Small’s loudest detractor, said he had taken things down a notch of late, putting aside his popular weekly Facebook live rants that he said had started consuming him.
Still, last week, as the prosecution wound up its case, the city sent out a contractor to do some temporary filling in of cracks on Atlantic Avenue in advance of the city’s holiday parade, and Exadaktilos found himself back on Facebook live.
“Are you kidding me right now?” he said over footage of the roadway. “What happened to Atlantic Avenue is going to be paved? Horrible.”
Boyd, the location consultant, points to bright spots. The national developers are a vote of confidence, as is the Septemberopening of the SeaHaus boutique hotel on the Boardwalk, a Marriott property. Showboat and the Sheraton near the Convention Center are converting rooms to residences.
Boyd sees potential for Atlantic City to follow the likes of Coney Island, which has seen a renaissance, to attract film business, to market itself as a live-work-play destination.
Outgoing council member George Tibbitt looks at the Kushner plan, a 180-unit apartment complex, as another missed opportunity. “No vision there,” he said. “That’s desperate development.”
“New York City definitely makes me afraid,” said Tibbitt. “There’s only so many gambling dollars to go around. Adding more casinos is going to be devastating. We have to clean the city up. We have to get the neighborhoods filled back up.”
One industry the city bet heavily on was cannabis: Its midtown quickly filled with 16 dispensaries. But after complaints from the cannabis entrepreneurs themselves, city council capped the number at 16, leaving many that have been approved but have yet to open (including one that necessitated the demolishing of a historic church) in limbo.
Atlantic City is a place where things can seem to be finally coming together, while simultaneously unraveling. Big plans vaporize, like the highly touted gym and nightclub outside Showboat, where last summer, the owner set up couches, DJ booths, and exercise machines, got stalled by permitting issues, and quietly dismantled them.
Miguel Lugo, general manager at AC Leef, which held out for a strategic spot on Albany Avenue, said his cannabis business has been good. He looks forward to the dispensary running financial literacy classes for the community, and getting its cultivation license.
“On this side of the town, everything’s been phenomenal,” Lugo said. “I’m super focused on AC Leef. I don’t know what’s going on with the mayor.”
