The odds are almost always stacked against a white Christmas around here, but it is looks like the region will experience a white Dec. 14.
The National Weather Service on Friday said Philadelphia was all but certain to get at least an inch of snow during the weekend, with a general 2 to 4 inches expected, said Joe DeSilva, a meteorologist in the Mount Holly office.
The weather service issued a winter-weather advisory for the entire region from 7 p.m. Saturday through 1 p.m. Sunday.
A storm forming along an Arctic front combined with a strung idsturbance in the upper atmosphere were forecast to begin shaking out snowflakes very late Saturday night or early Sunday. It’s possible that the snow may be mixed with rain, at least at the outset, especially south and east of the city.
And while this may be shocking, computer models continue to tweak outcomes, leaving “still a little bit of uncertainty how this low is going to track,” said DeSilva’s colleague Eric Hoeflich.
However, recent model runs overall have been a shade more bullish on snow amounts than they had been, and the U.S. model has bumped up amounts slightly, said DeSilva.
Timing and duration issues remained to be resolved, and snow could cause commuting issues in the morning. In addition to church-goers, tail-gaters will be commuting commuting to the Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field in South Philly, and supermarkets typically experience brisk traffic in the run-up to Eagles’s games.
The snow, however, is forecast to end well before kickoff at the Linc, scheduled for 1:15 p.m., DeSilva said.
Some flakes were evident Thursday in the region, with Philadelphia International Airport, where winds gusted past 30 mph, reporting its third “trace” of the season.
The renegade flakes were flying from lake-effect snows, said Bill Deger, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.
The winds have shut off, and both Friday and Saturday were expected to be tranquil with daytime temperatures mostly in the 30s.
And this time, that holiday least-favorite, the “wintry mix,” wouldn’t be in the mix.
How much snow for Philly?
AccuWeather Inc. was calling for up to 3 inches.
If the storm is a quick mover, expect the inch, but if slows down and ripens a bit, it could be as much as 3, said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Bill Deger.
The weather service was pretty much on board with that estimate.
It painted 3 nches for Philly on its Friday morning snow map.
One near-certainty: This will change.
What time would the snow start?
It is likely to begin very late Saturday night or very early Sunday and continue until mid- or late morning, forecasters say.
Temperatures throughout the day are not expected to get past 30, with wind chills in the teens.
It might feel even colder if the Eagles lose to the lowly Las Vegas Raiders.
Regardless, everyone should be able to make it home.
“We’re not talking a major snowstorm,” Hoeflich said.
But this would be something a little bit different compared with recent local snow history.
Hoeflich noted that, as happened last winter, generous snow has fallen to the north, south, and west, leaving “a giant snow hole” over the Philadelphia area.
Aaron Goldblatt, 70, of Philadelphia, award-winning museum services partner emeritus at Metcalfe Architecture & Design, former vice president for exhibits at the Please Touch Museum, exhibit designer, sculptor, adventurer, and mentor, died Sunday, Dec. 7, of lung cancer at his home.
He joined business partner Alan Metcalfe in 2002 and specialized in constructing canopy walks, glass floors, elevated walkways, net bridges, abstract playgrounds, multimedia exhibits, and other unique designs in prominent locations. Visitors encounter their creations at the Museum of the American Revolution, the Independence Seaport Museum, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, Pa., and the Whiting Forest at Dow Gardens in Michigan.
He and colleagues built the Lorax Loft on the Trail of the Lorax at the Philadelphia Zoo, the innovative garden and playground at Abington Friends School, and the lobby at Wissahickon Charter School. At Morris Arboretum, they built the celebrated Out on a Limb and Squirrel Scramble “treetop experiences” that Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron called “an irresistible allure, to young and old alike.”
He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sculpture, hitchhiked from adventure to adventure around the country and South America after high school, and said in 2019 that “learning, laughter, and creating genuine connections between people, nature, and history … really inspire my design.”
Play, he said, is one of those genuine connections. “Wherever people are, as long as they are there long enough, play will happen,” he said in 2019. “It happens in schools, museums, and even prisons. Play is fundamental to being human.”
Together, Mr. Goldblatt, Metcalfe, and their colleagues earned design awards from the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the American Association of Museums, and other groups. In 2022, they earned the Wyck-Strickland Award from the historic Wyck house, garden, and farm for outstanding contributions to the cultural life of Philadelphia.
In a tribute, colleagues at Metcalfe said Mr. Goldblatt “transformed our studio into the place we are today.” They said: “His generosity, wisdom, and passion for play emanated throughout every conversation, punctuated only by his wit and sense of humor.”
This photo and story about Mr. Goldblatt appeared in the Daily News in 2013.
From 1990 to 2002, he designed and developed exhibits at the Please Touch Museum. Earlier, he was director of exhibits for the Academy of Natural Sciences, assistant director at the Wagner Free Institute of Science, and studio assistant to sculptor Alice Aycock and other artists.
He helped design the Rail Park and was a cofounder and longtime board member of Friends of the Rail Park. He served on boards at the Print Center, the Wagner Free Institute of Science, and other groups, and taught postgraduate museum studies at the University of the Arts for 20 years.
“He developed a love of the process and philosophy of building,” said his daughter, Lillian. His wife, Susan Hagen, said: “He was always engaged, always asking questions. He was curious, funny, and extremely smart.”
Friends called him “lovely, smart, and witty” and “warm, wise, and creative” in Facebook tributes. One friend said: “He always had a spark.”
Aaron Shlomo Goldblatt was born March 22, 1955, in Cleveland. His father was in the Army, and Mr. Goldblatt grew up on military bases across the country and in Germany.
Mr. Goldblatt and his wife, Susan Hagen, married in 2023.
He graduated from high school in Maryland and earned his bachelor’s degree at Philadelphia College of Art in 1982 and master’s degree at Rutgers University in 1990. Before settling in Philadelphia, he worked on farms, painted houses, and spent time as a carpenter, a welder, and a potter.
He married Diane Pontius, and they had a daughter, Lilly. After a divorce, he married Laura Foster. She died in 2019. He married fellow artist Susan Hagen in 2023, and they lived in Spring Garden.
An engaging storyteller and talented cook, Mr. Goldblatt enjoyed all kinds of art, music, and books. He watched foreign films, wrote letters to politicians and the editor of The Inquirer, and visited the Reading Terminal Market as often as possible. He and his wife started birding during the pandemic.
“Aaron led with his heart, engaging deeply with the people and ideas around him,” his daughter said. “He could burst into song at any moment.”
Mr. Goldblatt smiles with his daughter, Lilly.
His wife said: “He was a family person, and everyone talks about his love and kindness.”
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Goldblatt is survived by a grandson, a sister, a brother, his former wife, and other relatives.
Police are seeking a suspect wanted in connection with the killing of a 93-year-old man in the city’s Logan neighborhood last week, authorities said Friday.
The victim, Lafayette Dailey, was found dead in his home on the 4500 block of North 16th Street when medics were called there around 3 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5.
Dailey had suffered a laceration to the chest and trauma in his head, police said. A medical examination found that he died from multiple stab wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators are now searching for 53-year-old Coy Thomas, who police say is considered a suspect in their homicide investigation. His last known address was on Ashmead Place in Germantown, police said.
They found Dailey’s wallet, keys, and vehicle missing from his home. They later found his car, a white Chrysler 300 sedan, several days after his death.
A department spokesperson declined to comment on the circumstances around the discovery of the car, citing an active investigation.
The department is urging anyone with information on Thomas’ whereabouts to Contact the homicide unit at 215-686-3334 verified or call its anonymous tip hotline, 215-686-TIPS (8477).
Think you know your news? There’s only one way to find out. Welcome back to our weekly News Quiz — a quick way to see if your reading habits are sinking in and to put your local news knowledge to the test.
Question 1 of 10
Bar Caviar, a new restaurant focusing on caviar and champagne, is coming to the Dwight D Hotel near Rittenhouse Square. The champagne selection is a collector’s catalogue with rare and exceptional bottles and glasses. One showstopper, Salon, is ultrarare and will cost roughly how much per pour?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Salon is only produced in exceptional years from a single village and a single grape. Bar Caviar plans to offer it by the glass, at an estimated $600 per pour. Nonvintage options will start at $15.
Question 2 of 10
In honor of America’s 250th anniversary, 20 Philadelphia neighborhoods are getting a replica of this item, each painted in a different style by local artists.
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Twenty large replica Liberty Bells will decorate Philly neighborhoods for the national milestone. Designed by 16 local artists selected through Mural Arts Philadelphia — and planned for commercial corridors and public parks everywhere from Chinatown and South Philly to West Philly and Wynnefield — the painted bells depict the histories, heroes, cultures, and traditions of Philly neighborhoods.
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This week brought some conversation regarding the fate of the Rocky statue located at the top of the Philadelphia Art Museum’s steps (for now, it’s not moving). In total, how many official Rocky statues are in Philly?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Philadelphia has three Rocky statues made by sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg. The original, at the foot of the museum’s steps, is owned by the city and has sat there since 2006. Sylvester Stallone commissioned that statue for Rocky II and later gave it to the city. The second was set at the top of the steps last December as part of the city’s inaugural RockyFest. The third is located at Philadelphia International Airport, where it was unveiled late last month in Terminal A-West.
Question 4 of 10
World Cafe Live remains open for now, but a potential eviction is looming. What institution owns the building where the venue’s currently located?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Penn owns the building at 3025 Walnut St. that houses World Cafe Live’s 650-capacity Music Hall and 220-capacity Lounge. It is also home to the university’s radio station, WXPN-FM (88.5), which is a separate business. According to public documents obtained by The Inquirer, as early as July, Penn’s real estate office sent organizers notice that they had defaulted on their lease and owed the university $1.29 million for rent and utility payments dating back to April 2022.
Question 5 of 10
Rachel Billebault, once known around the world as Harlow, is regarded as the city’s most famous transgender woman. Today out of the spotlight, she mostly keeps to herself in Northeast Philly. But every now and then, the 77-year-old will get dressed up and head to this Gayborhood favorite:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
At 77, Billebault is still stylish, refusing to step out without a fully made-up face and perfectly coiffed hair. If she’s going out, she heads to Knock, the Gayborhood piano bar, owned by her dear friend Bill Wood and run by an attentive staff who dote on her. A Francesco Scavullo portrait of her remains permanently ensconced on the piano.
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Question 6 of 10
The largest U.S. outpost of the popular Vietnamese coffee brand Trung Nguyên Legend is open in South Philly. It features this architectural detail:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The 5,000-square-foot cafe boasts two floors and a year-round roof deck, where customers can sip on citrusy espresso tonics, frothy Vietnamese egg coffees, or strong phin pour-overs, paired with a small array of European pastries (macarons, eclairs, mille-feuille) delivered daily from an off-site bakery.
Question 7 of 10
The new U.S. Mint coins commemorating America’s 250th anniversary include portrayals of three Philly landmarks, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Three separate quarter designs include images of Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed; the Liberty Bell, housed and managed by the National Park Service in Philadelphia; and a Continental Army soldier at Valley Forge commemorating the Revolutionary War.
Question 8 of 10
The original Fresh Prince, Will Smith, makes a cameo in the final scene of Bel-Air, Peacock’s reimagining of the 1990s hit The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He advises “younger Will” that sometimes he’ll mess things up, but he’ll learn from those mistakes. Then he adds this piece of sage advice:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
“Eat a cheesesteak,” the older Smith said with a laugh. “Not every day because cholesterol is real.” Smith told ET that the series’ final scene almost didn’t happen. “I almost played the father,” Smith said, of the role of Lou played by Marlon Wayans. “It just felt like it might be a little too meta, a little too weird.”
Question 9 of 10
The Phillies and Kyle Schwarber have agreed to a contract, the team announced on Tuesday night. How much was it for?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The Phillies and Schwarber agreed to a five-year contract. A source told The Inquirer that the deal totals $150 million. The contract will take Schwarber, who turns 33 in March, through his age-37 season.
Question 10 of 10
West Philly rapper Bul Bey has had his music featured on Abbott Elementary twice. The artist said it’s all because he sent an “awkward” message to the show’s music supervisor on this platform:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Back in February 2022, Richardson sent an introductory message on LinkedIn to Abbott Elementary music supervisor, Kier Lehman. Among the tens of tracks Richardson pulled from his catalog to include in that message, the 2014 single, “Where I’m From,” managed to strike a chord with Lehman.
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As boxes of holiday gifts pile up on your stoop, beware: Porch pirates continue to strike in Philadelphia.
Reports of package theft from January through November of this year are up 6% compared to last year, according to The Inquirer’s analysis of Philadelphia Police Department data.
And if the past two years are any indication, porch pirates will be particularly active this month.
In neighborhoods across the city, residents have shared their frustration over repeated thefts. Katie Byrne said she’s had more a dozen packages swiped from out front of her Fishtown home. Often, she said, “before I even get the notification it got delivered.” This year, she said she and a neighbor have teamed up to grab each other’s packages when the other isn’t home.
Porch pirates strike in the suburbs, too. Exasperated consumers have vented about package thefts to their neighborhood Facebook groups in Brookhaven, Cheltenham, Conshohocken, Croydon, Lower Merion, Levittown, Media, West Chester, Quakertown, and even down the Shore.
Last holiday season in Newtown Square, Katy Retzbach said $150 in Christmas gifts were stolen from under her family’s mailbox in broad daylight.
Nationwide, at least 58 million packages were stolen last year, amounting to $16 billion in financial losses, according to a recent report from the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General. Most stolen packages are between $50 and $200 in value.
What Philly’s package theft data shows
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It’s difficult to determine how many package thefts will occur in Philadelphia before the year’s end, as reports of the crime spike each December. And some of these incidents go unreported to the police.
In 2023 and 2024, package-theft reports in December accounted for nearly 14% of the annual total on average, according to the analysis of police data.
If 2025 were to follow that pattern, Philadelphia would log around 450 reported package thefts this month — slightly more than last year but less than 2023 — and would end the year with a total of 3,300 reports, more than the city recorded each of the past two years.
The total number of reported package thefts declined by 1.2% between 2023 and 2024, according to the analysis. However, the number of thefts reported in December increased over the same period.
How to protect against porch piracy
Some people find or erect secure places to have their packages delivered. A metal cage for packages is shown here in this 2019 file photo.
There’s no surefire way to prevent porch piracy.
But police departments and carriers like USPS, FedEx, and UPS provide the following tips to reduce your chances of falling victim — or to get your money back if your package is stolen:
Leave drop-off instructions: Log into your online account with the package carrier and ask that they leave deliveries in a less visible location, such as behind a planter, in a shed, or at a side door. Or ask that they require a signature for drop-off. This requires that delivery people read the instructions, which some Philadelphians have found is not always the case.
Redirect the delivery: You can also go online and redirect deliveries to locations such as your office, the home of a friend who doesn’t experience package theft, or a secure physical mailbox, such as a FedEx, UPS, or Amazon Locker pickup location. If you aren’t going to be home for a day, you can also request a hold on packages until you return, or have a neighbor or friend pick them up.
Use security cameras: Cameras can alert you that someone is outside and allow you to grab a package immediately if you’re at home. If a delivery is stolen, the footage can help police find the porch pirate. (If they’re charged and convicted in New Jersey, they could even go to prison.)
Report theft: After confirming that the package was in fact delivered, file a police report. Then, contact the seller, shipping company, and, if all else fails, your credit card company to see if they cover package theft.
A 14-year-old boy was wounded in a possible accidental shooting involving another teen Thursday evening in North Philadelphia, police said.
Around 5:45 p.m., police were called to a residence on the 1500 block of North Street and found the victim shot in the lower abdomen, said Chief Inspector Scott Small.
The teen, who was “walking and talking,” was transported to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where he was listed in stable condition, Small said.
The shooting happened in the third-floor front bedroom, where police found one spent shell casing and blood, Small said.
Witnesses said several teens were hanging out and another teen boy around the same age as the victim was handling the gun when it was fired, Small said.
The boy handling the gun fled the location, Small said.
The teen who was shot does not live at the residence but frequently visits the location, Small said.
The gun was not immediately found, and it was unclear if it was taken or left somewhere on the property, Small said. Detectives were getting a search warrant for the house.
The vote does not bind the district to hand anything over, but it certainly opens the door to transferring properties in accordance with the wishes of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who has promised her administration will build or restore 30,000 units of housing during her first term.
Exactly how many vacant buildings the district is contemplating giving to the city is not clear; the board did not vote on a list of schools, though officials have said in prior months the number of surplus schools is about 20. A school board spokesperson has said the list is still subject to internal discussion.
The resolution only covers the district’s current closed buildings, not any that might be closed in the upcoming facilities master planning process expected to wrap up before the end of the school year.
Board president Reginald Streater has said the city partnership makes sense, and would allow the district to focus on education, while relying on the city’s real estate expertise. The buildings all have carrying costs too, which the city would assume.
Six board members voted for the resolution authorizing Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. and the district’s legal department to begin talks with the city. Two board members — Crystal Cubbage and ChauWing Lam — voted no.
Lam’s hesitation came, she said at Thursday’s special action meeting, because of the district’s budget issues.
The vacant-building portfolio was recently valued at $80 million, Lam said.
The mayor’s housing goals are laudable, Lam said, but “given the district’s structural budget deficit, which includes spending nearly half of our fund balance this year to balance our budget, I encourage consideration of additional opportunities before rushing into an agreement as set forth in this resolution.”
Cubbage, too, said she worried that the resolution “limits us to exploring the conveyance of our school buildings to the city without financial compensation when we are facing a $300 million structural deficit and are constantly underresourced.”
Instead, Cubbage said, she wished the board would delve into actions that could give short- and long-term revenue and still accomplish Parker’s housing goals by selling the properties “with deep restrictions and affordability requirements.”
Board member Wanda Novalés supported the resolution, but noted that the district needs to get the whole picture — including enrollment projections and long-term capital priorities — before it moves forward.
“I support the resolution as long as it calls for a thorough business plan that clearly outlines the benefit to the School District of Philadelphia,” said Novalés.
Watlington, in a statement issued after the vote, supported the move.
“By responsibly evaluating how to put these unused properties back into productive use, the district can stay focused on educating children while supporting broader city efforts that ultimately aim to strengthen neighborhoods,” Watlington said. “This exploration aligns with our commitment to both fiscal stewardship and community partnership.”
Parker, in a statement issued earlier this week, said the transfer would mean the buildings would improve residents’ quality of life.
Officials “cannot let blighted buildings in the middle of residential neighborhoods lie vacant — many of which have been vacant for many years — from two years to over 30,” Parker said in the statement. “It’s unconscionable to me that we are in the middle of a housing crisis and we have government buildings sitting vacant for years or even decades. That cannot continue.”
Chief Deputy Mayor Vanessa Garrett Harley said in a statement that the city looks forward to working with the board on this issue.
“This action will help the city to more effectively move blighted properties to productive use, addressing a longstanding concern of neighborhood leaders and residents across the city, and contribute to the mayor’s goal of creating or preserving 30,000 units of housing,” Garrett Harley said.
A potential buyer for at least one vacant school
Several speakers suggested it was a bad move to simply give buildings to the city.
Cecilia Thompson, a former school board member, said she’s OK with selling schools to the city. But “can we sell it to the city for market value, and not a dollar or something nominal, just to say it was a sale? Just to be respectful … for the worth of the properties?”
Several members of the community made it clear that there are potential buyers.
Angela Case, a staffer at West Oak Lane Charter, indicated that the school wants to buy Ada Lewis Middle School in East Germantown.
(Lewis is a prominent part of the potential portfolio — a large building on a sprawling campus and, this fall, the site where Kada Scott’s body was discovered.)
“Our school is growing, but our current space is limited,” Case said. “Ada Lewis would give our students safe classrooms, outdoor areas and room for strong academic enrichment programs. It would also return a vacant property to a productive use, and benefit the surrounding community.”
On Thursday, when low temps hit 35 degrees and a wild wind whipped down Market Street, a young man climbed on a box in front of the Liberty Bell and stripped to his underwear.
Turns out the nearly naked man on the box is an artist from Baltimore. His name is Ham. “Like the sandwich,” he said. Standing on a platform in his underwear is, evidently, performance art — a commentary on social media. “Rather than using digital platforms to share art and gain exposure,” Ham told me, “I’ve made a physical platform to stand on in public and talk to strangers.”
In other words, he doesn’t want to be a content creator; he wants to be the content and let others do the creating. And they do.
People snap photos of him, take videos of him, and scan the QR code on the corner of his platform, which links to, what else but his Instagram. It’s part performance art, part guerrilla marketing.
“I do recognize that as an artist I need to have some form of digital presence,” Ham said, “I just don’t want to be responsible for creating it.”
He’d rather shiver.
Ham has been standing on platforms in his underwear on and off for two years in several frigid cities, including New York, Berlin, and a small village in Norway. “I use it as my excuse to travel,” he said.
Ham is saving the money people give him for an engagement ring for his girlfriend.
He also uses it as a way to raise money for an engagement ring for his girlfriend — although that wasn’t the original goal. He only decided to write “engagement ring savings fund” on the side of the platform after he grew tired of explaining to people that he wasn’t freezing in his underwear for money.
“I was like, ‘if people have to have a financial explanation for this, I’ll say it’s an engagement ring fund for my girlfriend,’” he said. Ham wouldn’t disclose how much money he has made, just that it’s “more than you might think,” and enough to afford a custom-designed ring in New York. (I’m guessing at least $2,000.)
Ham is enjoying his time in Philadelphia more than other cities.
“This is actually the most fun I’ve had in terms of the quality of interaction and number of people,” he said, visibly shivering.
Several people have approached him to ask him what he is doing. Two National Parks officers checked in after receiving calls of concern. They offered him clothes; he declined. A police officer stopped by to ask if he was OK. One woman wanted to know whether he was promoting a cause.
If you’re interested in seeing a nearly naked man shiver on a box, Ham will be at the Liberty Bell all day Friday and Saturday. He leaves around 4:30 p.m., partly because he’s noticed people don’t like to talk to him as much once it’s dark.
City Council passed legislation Thursday to restore the abandoned Greyhound terminal on Filbert Street as Philadelphia’s new intercity bus station in time for an expected flood of tourists in 2026.
Under the measure, the Philadelphia Parking Authority will operate the station on behalf of the city, collecting fees from bus companies to pay costs.
A refurbished facility is scheduled to open in May 2026, which would resolve more than twoyears of chaos after Greyhound ended its lease, forcing the city to allow the bus companies to operate at the curbs of public streets with few amenities and no shelter for riders.
The saga was embarrassing, and it became more untenable for city leaders with Philadelphia set to host celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and a round of international FIFA World Cup soccer matches.
The plan came together over the last few months as at least three city departments collaborated and reached an agreement with the parking authority. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration sent a bill to Council.
Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. said in a Finance Committee hearing last week that he found the speed of “galvanized” departments working together impressive.
“You can’t put that genie back in the bottle. I know you can cooperate now, and that’s going to be the expectation from now on,” Jones said.
Greyhound ran the terminal at 10th and Filbert Streets for 35 years but ended its lease in June 2023 as the bus line (and its corporate parent) began shedding real estate and leases in the U.S. to cut costs.
First, the buses operated along the 600 block of Market Street. Since November 2023 they have loaded and unloaded passengers in the open along Spring Garden Street.
“This is an opportunity that kind of came from the heavens,” said Mike Carroll, the city’s assistant managing director for transportation.
Bus companies would pay a $40 fee for each stop in the city until the terminal is open, when it would be increased to $65. A smaller number of buses subsidized by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation under a program to provide rural service would pay $16 a stop.
Operating the renovated terminal will cost $4.7 million to $4.8 million annually, Carroll said.
City officials say they plan to keep researching other possible locations for an intercity bus station but note the lease provides stability.
PPA will provide 24-7 security, 16-hour daily custodial coverage, maintenance staff, and an on-site program manager under terms of an intergovernmental agreement with the city that is part of the legislation.
It also will be responsible for enforcing rules, such as one that will require buses to bypass the heart of Chinatown.
Since the parking authority regulates rideshare and taxi services, its enforcement officers will help keep traffic flowing around the station, officials said.
Councilmember Nina Ahmad pressed city officials to plan for retail tenants and other ways to generate municipal revenue.
“There’s an element of rush,” Ahmad said during the Dec. 3 hearing. “I understand the urgency, but I hope we don’t overlook things that we should be doing to make it really a transit-oriented development.”
A veteran lawyer in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has been disbarred in the region’s federal courts after a panel of judges concluded he “lied repeatedly” while seeking to overturn the death sentence of a man who killed an East Mount Airy couple in their home and left their infant daughter inside to die.
Paul George, an assistant district attorney who handles appellate cases, was a key player in his office’s attempts to have Robert Wharton’s death penalty reversed so he could serve a life sentence instead.
U.S. District Judge Mitchell Goldberg denied that request, but not before finding that District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office had provided incomplete and misleading information in its efforts to free Wharton from death row.
After Goldberg made his decision, George and a colleague who handled the case faced federal disciplinary proceedings to examine whether their conduct — which was also criticized by an appeals court — was intentionally deceptive.
As part of that process, three federal judges concluded earlier this year that George’s actions were “misleading and dishonest,” saying he had lied to Goldberg about key facts, “flouted the interests of the public and the victims’ families,” and acted as the “quarterback” of efforts by the district attorney’s office to undo or undermine all death penalty cases.
“George’s conduct was the result of a ‘selfish or dishonest motive’ — placing the DAO’s policy priorities above its professional and prosecutorial responsibilities,” wrote U.S. District Judges Paul S. Diamond, Gerald J. Pappert, and John M. Gallagher. They recommended that George be barred from practicing in the region’s federal courts, and Chief Judge Wendy Beetlestone affirmed that in an October order.
George has denied the accusations and last month filed an appeal. His attorneys acknowledged in court documents that he had made mistakes in his handling of Wharton’s case, but said the opinion recommending his disbarment was based on a broader set of “extraordinary allegations” that lacked evidence and targeted the office he worked for.
George has displayed “exceptional legal skills and the highest level of professional ethics and honesty” during his 48-year legal career, his attorneys wrote. He is scheduled to retire at the end of this year.
Krasner said in an interview that he was largely unable to comment because most of the disciplinary matter had unfolded under seal. But he said that George’s career “has been conducted vigorously and ethically,” and that he believed the appeals court would find that the opinion criticizing George was filled with “factually and legally incorrect” statements.
“We will continue to try to be fair each and every day, and, as change makers often do, we will face the consequences of making change from people who could’ve made it, but didn’t, in their day,” Krasner said.
The disciplinary saga is the latest chapter in the unusually protracted fallout from Wharton’s death penalty appeal, and it might not be the last.
George’s colleague Nancy Winkelman — another supervisor in the district attorney’s law division — has also been the subject of a disciplinary inquiry in federal court for her role in the Wharton matter. Records in her case remain under seal.
The documents connected to George’s case were also supposed to remain secret, but they became public this week when aspects of his appeal were publicly filed in court. On Thursday, his attorney, David Rudovsky, filed court documents to have the entire record of the underlying disciplinary proceeding made public.
George became involved in the Wharton matter in 2019, while Wharton was appealing his death sentence in federal court.
Wharton had been convicted along with a codefendant in the January 1984 strangulation and drowning deaths of Bradley and Ferne Hart. A jury concluded that Wharton killed the couple over a disputed debt, then turned off the heat in their home and left the couple’s 7-month-old baby, Lisa, to freeze to death. She survived.
Bradley and Ferne Hart in a 1983 photo with their baby daughter, Lisa, on her christening day. The husband and wife were murdered in their East Mount Airy home in January 1984 by Robert Wharton and Eric Mason. The baby was unharmed, but left to die in the house. She survived.
In the decades before Krasner took office, the district attorney’s office had consistently opposed Wharton’s attempts to overturn his conviction and sentence.
But Krasner said on the campaign trail that he would “never pursue a death sentence in any case.” And after he was sworn in, his office changed its stance on the Wharton case, saying it had “carefully reviewed the facts and the law” and agreed that Wharton should be spared from death row.
Goldberg did not immediately agree, and wrote in court documents at the time that the district attorney’s office had not sufficiently explained its reasoning for its “complete reversal of course.”
He then asked the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office to provide materials he said the district attorney’s office was not sharing. And after investigating, the attorney general’s office said it found evidence including documents detailing Wharton’s past attempts to escape from a courtroom — information that Goldberg said would have been crucial to his decision, but that George and Winkelman later said they were not aware of.
The attorney general’s office also said Krasner’s office had misled Goldberg about its communications with the victims’ relatives. Although the district attorney’s office gave the impression that the Hart family supported its change in stance on the death penalty, the truth was that prosecutors had spoken only to one relative, and never contacted the couple’s only surviving child, Lisa Hart-Newman, who vehemently opposed the idea of lessening Wharton’s sentence.
George later acknowledged that was a mistake, and Goldberg ordered Krasner to write apology letters to the Harts’ relatives.
In the disciplinary opinion filed earlier this year, the three-judge panel criticized George’s conduct throughout the case, saying that he “repeatedly lied” to Goldberg and that his efforts nearly undercut the integrity of a duly imposed jury verdict.
And, in an unusually pointed fashion, they ascribed a motive to his actions — accusing George of flouting legal guardrails to advance the policy interests of Krasner’s office.
“Upon the current District Attorney’s first election … the DAO established a policy, with Paul George at quarterback, to undermine duly imposed death sentences challenged in post-conviction proceedings,” the judges wrote. “George filed the concession in Wharton pursuant to that policy, not as the result of any review, careful or otherwise, of the facts and the law.”
George said in court documents that was not true, and his attorneys denied there has ever been an office policy opposing all capital sentences.
Krasner also said it was “flatly untrue” that his office has ever had a policy against the death penalty, and he denied that the committee he formed to review capital cases — which George once served on — was designed to undo such sentences.
“We follow essentially the same process as our predecessors, who routinely supported the death penalty and who were usually wrong,” Krasner said. “We actually try to be fair all the time. And that committee has concluded on many occasions that the death penalty should be reversed; it has also concluded with the law division in individual cases that the death penalty had to be affirmed. Those are the facts.”
George’s disbarment in federal court has not affected his ability to practice in state court, though George, 75, has already begun to wind down his office duties ahead of his retirement, his attorneys wrote in court documents.
They said that the penalty imposed against him was unwarranted and should be reversed.
“To label Mr. George as a liar, and by disbarment, place him among the worst of the worst lawyers in our community, is highly disproportionate and offends basic tenets of justice,” his lawyers wrote.
The federal judges who recommended his discipline disagreed.
“In the final years of his career,” they wrote, George “used [his] experience to circumvent and subvert, in misleading and dishonest ways, verdicts rendered by judges and juries who heard the evidence and applied the law.”
