Danny’s Guitar Shop, an independent guitar store and lesson center run by musician Dan Gold, closed its doors after 17 years in downtown Narberth.
Over nearly two decades, Gold forged connections along the Main Line, sold guitars to celebrities, brought outdoor music to Narberth’s streets, and, briefly, starred in a TV show that drew on his talents as a self-proclaimed “kibitzer.”
Gold, 72, said retirement was already on his mind when his landlord raised the rent beyond what Gold could pay. Danny’s officially closed at the end of May. As Gold prepares for the next chapter, which will be filled with swimming, traveling, and playing bassin Broken Arrow, his Neil Young cover band, he said his time in Narberth was “just perfect.”
The former storefront of Danny’s Guitar Shop in Narberth.
Gold opened Danny’s Guitar Shop in June 2009, right as the country had begun to dig itself out of the Great Recession. Guitar store Medley Music of Bryn Mawr had closed the year prior, and Center City’s 8th Street Music had moved across the bridge to New Jersey, leaving a vacuum for guitar lovers in Philly’s western suburbs.
Gold, a Newtown Square resident, grew up in Havertown and graduated from Haverford High School and Temple University. He started his career as a schoolteacher before taking a gig as a district sales manager for Fender Guitars, traveling across the region, from rural Pennsylvania to North Jersey, selling instruments and accoutrements.
Though it was risky to open a brick-and-mortar store at the heels of the financial crisis, Gold was bullish on the prospect. His mentors told him that as long as he ran guitar lessons, he’d be able to pay the rent. Gold had always loved Narberth’s “very distinct, charming personality” and was smitten with the Forrest Avenue storefront right away, with its ample natural light and welcoming front porch.
When Danny’s opened in 2009, the Main Line Times described it as having promptly “established itself as that rare kind of clubhouse — the kind where everybody’s allowed in.”
Over the years, the storefront’s shaded porch became the site of dozens of guitar recitals and summer evening jam sessions. Narberth residents gathered outside of Danny’s to talk about the news and the neighborhood gossip, and Gold always had treats for local dogs. Gold helped bring live music to Narberth during First Fridays and the annual July Fourth celebration. Ahead of a recital last fall, Gold posted on Facebook: “Students playin’ on the porch this Sunday 3:00! Bring a chair and come hang out!”
“Danny is loved around here and for good reason,” said Ed Ridgway, president of the Narberth Business Association, who took guitar lessons at Danny’s.
Ridgway described Danny’s as resembling an“old-timey barbershop.” If you asked Ridgway to make a list of 10 things that define Narberth’s downtown, he said Danny‘swould be on the list.
“He was just such a good presence in Narberth,” said Tracy Tumolo, owner of Narberth art and gift shop Sweet Mabel Store.
“This place,” Gold said. “It just fit me like a glove.”
Danny Gold (center) pictured at Danny’s Guitar Shop in Narberth in 2018 with partners Larry Freedman (left) and Ron Stanford.
Every once in a while, a star or two would stop into Danny’s Guitar Shop while visiting the area or prepping for a show at Ardmore Music Hall. The Eagles’ Timothy B. Schmit bought a few guitars and gave Gold backstage passes when the band played Atlantic City. Wilco’s John Stirratt stopped by, as did Dweezil Zappa, Frank Zappa’s son. Tumolo said Gold always encouraged them to shop at Narberth’s other businesses.
In 2014, Gold starred in a 13-episode series on WHYY-TV’s YArts cable channel, which aimed “to do for guitars what Anthony Bourdain has done” for international cuisine or ”Mike Rowe for the art of cleaning septic tanks,” according to an Inquirer story from the time. In the series, Gold explored the origins of Klezmer music, interviewed the scholar who wrote the definitive book on the history of the accordion, and spent quality time with electric guitar giant Paul Reed Smith.
Lessons were the biggest part of Gold’s business model at Danny’s, as his mentors predicted. He did a large consignment and secondhand business, as well, as he was mostly selling to first-time and beginner players.
“The lessons made me a destination store. It’s never like I carried away wheelbarrows full of money, but we were able to make a modest living and enjoy doing what we were doing,” Gold said.
Like many brick-and-mortar merchants, Gold said it became more difficult over time to keep up with the ubiquitous online marketplace. Consumers can now buy any model of guitar, in any color, at any time. Music stores across the countryhave shuttered in recent years, pointing to online shopping as a factor in their decline.
On one hand, Gold feels somewhat liberated from the day-to-day responsibilities of running his namesake storefront. On the other hand, there’s a lot he’ll miss — the people, the borough, watching the neighborhood kids grow up.
At the end of the day, Gold said, “It’s been a great run.”
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
This Fourth of July will be unlike any in recent memory. As the nation marks its 250th anniversary, Philadelphia and the surrounding region are packed with celebrations — and fireworks displays. From the city and suburbs to South Jersey and the Shore, there are dozens of opportunities to catch a show.
Whether you’re staying in Philadelphia, heading to the suburbs, or spending the holiday down the Shore, here’s where to find Fourth of July fireworks across the region.
Wawa Welcome America: 🕙 July 4, 5 p.m. 📍Christina Aguilera and Philadelphia native Jill Scott headline a concert followed by fireworks, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pa., 19130, 🌐 july4thphilly.com
Conshohocken Fireworks Display: 🕙 July 3, 9:15 p.m., 📍The fireworks will take place at Sutcliffe Park, but the borough is closing the park and surrounding areas to the public due to the size of the display. (They advise you to watch the show from another vantage point in town.), 🌐 conshohockenpa.gov
Brenna Carswell has lived on the same street in Narberth for a decade.
Carswell moved to Narberth,a small Montgomery County borough encircled by Lower Merion, in 2011 from Upper Darby with her younger daughter after a divorce. She knew early on that her daughter would need more support than the Upper Darby schools could provide, so she scraped together the cash for a rental in the Lower Merion School District.
“It’s been a great place for my girls to grow up,” Carswell said of her Main Line community. “It’s given them a town that I didn’t have.”
After four years and threerentals, Carswell, 44, a small-business owner, bought a home in the borough.In early 2020,she sold her house with the intention of buying another place in Narberth, but the pandemic hit and Carswell was furloughed. She ended up in a rental across the street, where she still lives. By the time Carswell was ready to buy again, houses around her had exploded in price.
She and her family have outgrown their space, but in the current market, “there’s literally nowhere to go.”
Narberth’s borough council last August directed its planning commission to studyhow it could use zoning to increase affordable housing and support the local economy. Officials say living in the borough has become increasingly expensive, as experiences like Carswell’s become more and more common.
In February, the commission came back with a handful of recommendations in two zoning districts: the higher-density residential area that surrounds the Haverford Avenue downtown, and the commercial mixed-use corridor along Montgomery Avenue.
Recommendations included allowing apartments, cottages, and rowhouses by-right, in the ring around the downtown core, and permittingextra floors for apartment buildings that include affordable units in both zoning districts. The commission suggested reducing minimum parking requirements, allowing ground-floor apartments on Montgomery Avenue, and lettingdevelopers build off-site parking lots for apartment complexes.
Adam Krom, the planning commission’s chair, has said the changes would “provide flexibility” and incentivize developers to build both market-rate andaffordable housing units in areas where similardevelopments already exist.
But what began as a municipal land-use discussion has morphed into a monthslong debate in the borough over what, if anything, Narberth should do to fight America’s housing crisis. Proponents say changes would bring inmuch-needed tax revenue, create foot traffic for downtown businesses, and help preserve socioeconomic diversity. Others, however,feel that a small contingent on the borough council has charged ahead with proposals to increase density while ignoring growing concerns over traffic, neighborhood character, and the reality of supportingtransit-oriented development with a transit system marred by uncertainty.
Shops line North Narberth Avenue.
Rising costs, shrinking options
In Narberth, and across the Philadelphia suburbs, the cost of housing is outpacing the ability of large segments of the population to afford it, said Scott France, executive director of the Montgomery County Planning Commission, which consults the borough on land-use issues.
Narberth had the highest median housing sales price of any municipality in Montgomery County in 2024, at $751,000, a 70% increase from 2014.
The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Narberth is $2,050 per month, according to Zillow rental data. As housing prices have risen, incomes have stayed largelystagnant. In2024, 46% of renters and 19% of homeowners in Montgomery County were spending more than 30% of their income on housing, according to a Housing Blueprint recently published by the county.
In Montgomery County, boroughs like Narberth were often the first point of entry for people looking to settle in the suburbs, France said, given their more urban-suburban feel and smaller lot sizes.
Yet the factors that once made places like Narberth starter-home magnets have now made them increasingly inaccessible. As millennialshave sought outpremiums like walkability and transit access, the cost of both renting and homeownership in places like Narberth, Conshohocken, and Ambler has risen, France said.
Montgomery County’s and Narberth’s housing woes are part of a well-documented housing shortage that has swept the United States, as a widening gulf between supply and demand has put homeownership further out of reach for many, especially for younger people.
Some communities facing housing shortages have loosened zoning restrictions in order to court developers who are willing to build housing and, in certain cases, set aside affordable units in exchange for height and other bonuses. On the Main Line, luxury apartmentshave cropped up in large numbers, especially in areas where officials have used zoning to increase density.
Fred Bush, president of Narberth’s borough council, said the county’s Housing Blueprint crystallizes why Narberth needs to ease its zoning regulations and incentivize development.
“It’s very difficult for people who come in here — who are renting or who are looking to move in, young families — to find a place to stay,” Bush said.
Narberth Borough Council President Fred Bush. Bush is part of a contingent of borough council members who see zoning changes as a key to increasing the availability of affordable housing in the borough.
‘Is that what’s best for this area?’
Narberth residents like Margot and Jason Deitz describe the push to rezone as confusing and misguided. The couple, both 40, have lived together in Narberth since 2020. Their house is near the Montgomery Avenue corridor, where changes are being considered.
The Deitzes are among a large contingent who feel the proposals would complicate an already hairy parking situation, allow for buildings outside of Narberth’s quaint character, and tip the balance of the borough in favor of renter-occupied units. They feel the borough is putting the cart before the horse, trying to address national problems rather than the sidewalk repairs and parking shortages on their front steps.
For Margot Deitz, the idea of building fewer parking spaces and askingresidents to rely on SEPTA, a sometimes unreliable transit system, was confounding. Her questions to the borough council about parking went unanswered, she said. Both Margot and Jason Deitz wondered how, in a town with shuttered storefronts and parking problems, building new apartments became the council’s priority.
Homeowner Michelle Karten, 52, went to a public meeting to ask questions about the proposals but felt the changes were a “foregone conclusion.”
Karten said she hopes the borough can find a more “holistic” approach, rather than just allowing for the proliferation of luxury apartments. She believes the borough has already made a number of concessions to developers and does not need to offer density bonuses to get affordable housing.
“Do we really need to go up that extra level? Is that what’s best for this area? And what other solutions could there be?” Karten said.
Matt Patrick, 37, a homeowner in the borough since 2018, is “not against affordable units” but thinks the council is using the affordability crisis to push through incongruous density in spite of resident opposition.
“It seems like more of a developer bonus than something aimed at conquering affordability,” Patrick said.
Narberth’s SEPTA train station on the Paoli/Thorndale Line.
Luxury apartments’ “two truths problem”
For others, the debates over parking requirements and maximum heights are a distraction from a looming reality: The national housing crisis has hit Narberth, and prices will only continue to rise without new inventory.
Blessing Osazuwa, 28, thinks the changes are a “great idea.” Osazuwagrew up in Lower Merion and moved to Narberth three years ago. Her roommate’s family owns the house they live in, giving her a break on the rentthat allows her to affordNarberth.
“I love Narberth,” Osazuwa said. “I would love to stay, but there’s no way that I’ll be able to afford that on my own, and it’s a shame, because I feel like I contribute to the community.”
Numerous residents said the conversation around zoning in Narberth has devolved into misconceptions and ad hominem attacks hurled from all sides, across public meeting forums and Facebook groups.
Carswell said there is amisconception that Narberth and surrounding communities alreadyhave plenty of affordable apartments.
Little existsin Carswell’s price range in or around Narberth. She has chased multiple “ghost” listings, reaching out to property managers only to find out listed units are occupied. She wants to stay in Narberth to provide consistency for her kids. When she explains her reality, she said, she is often told to just move somewhere else.
Osazuwa said the refrain that those who cannot afford Narberth should simply move ignores a souring economic reality.
“I tend to encounter that ‘pulling yourself up from the bootstraps’ mentality without regard to the times that we’re living in, without regard to inflation, without regard to the fact that jobs don’t pay as much,” shesaid.
Advocatesacknowledge thatfuture development will likely rely on luxury rentals, many ofwhich have popped up in neighboring communities like Ardmore andBala Cynwyd andwould be unaffordable to all but a wealthy set of renters. They believe, however,that any new housing units can help moderate the market, and even a few affordable units attached to the developments could provide housing for lower-income residents.
“I agree that struggling families are not going to be moving into luxury apartments, but it just puts an overall downward pressure on rental prices for the rest of the market,” Bush said.
Vincent Reina, a University of Pennsylvania professor and founder of the Housing Initiative at Penn, said there is “a two truths problem” when it comes to luxury apartments. High-end buildings do not fill the need for affordable housing. But, without new construction, existing prices can be pushed up even further as demand continues to outpace supply.
“What you aren’t going to see is the natural market production of [low-cost] units because the price is too high,” he said. Without government incentives for affordable units, “the numbers just don’t pencil out.”
Narberth Reel Cinemas. The borough is considering zoning changes that would increase density around its downtown core.
Balancing ‘what should be complementary interests’
The borough council has drafted comments to send back to the planning commission for consideration. The draft splits the difference on some issues, dropping the parking reduction and someheight bonuses, but keeping other changes. It could be months before any changes are actually adopted.
Council member Mike Salmanson said Narberth is trying to balance “complementary interests” in keeping the borough’s character while ensuring fiscal stability. Salmanson said the borough has maxed out how much it can charge in earned income tax. Because Pennsylvania does not require regular property reassessments, it is difficult for municipalities to collect the revenue they need without just raising taxrates.
“Increased housing creates a broader tax base,” Salmanson said. “I see the advantages of that.”
But he also called zoning changes that cater to current market conditions, and not the long-term success of the borough, “short-sighted.”
Council member Cyndi Rickards believes the council has yet to meaningfully engage withincentivizing housing options beyond luxury apartments, such as reasonably priced ownership opportunities that would allow residentsto build equity.
“I really struggle to understand how those of us who own homes … [see] luxury apartments as a tool for justice,” Rickards said.
Carswell said she understands the concerns about zoning changes and was once opposed herself.
“There is a deep fear, that I understand, that the good old days are slipping away,” Carswell said. “The good old days are gone. … The changes that happened to our economy on a national scale absolutely impacted Narberth.”
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Philip C. Ricci, 90, formerly of Conshohocken, retired Catholic monsignor, founding pastor emeritus at Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Parish in North Wales, talented pianist, singer, artist, and mentor, died Saturday, Feb. 14, of complications after a fall at Villa St. Joseph senior living community in Darby.
Ordained in 1965 by Cardinal John Krol, Msgr. Ricci was named founding pastor of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Parish in 1987. Over the next 23 years, until his retirement in 2010, Msgr. Ricci worked many 16-hour days, made spiritual house calls on bicycle, spurred significant fundraising, and helped grow the Montgomery County parish from 600 founding families to 3,500.
The Inquirer wrote about his house calls in 1987 and opened the story with: “His charge is to spread the word of God, and the Rev. Philip C. Ricci does so in a most unconventional fashion — on a 20-year-old bicycle from Sears.”
His niece, Christine, said: “He could talk to anybody about anything.”
Msgr. Ricci lived and held services in a 200-year-old farmhouse from 1987 until the new church building was completed. Pope John Paul II elevated him to monsignor in 2003.
He was active with school activities, and his homilies were often about mercy and compassion. In 2010, he told members of his congregation at a retirement celebration: “We must always accept people where they are and then allow God’s grace to work in patient understanding.”
In an online tribute, colleagues at St. Matthew Parish in Conshohocken said his “kindness, wisdom, and steady presence touched countless lives.” Others called him “the perfect priest” and “the epitome of what a Catholic priest should be.” One friend said: “He was without a doubt the nicest person I have ever met.”
In a tribute, his family said: “His priesthood was not simply a role. It was the core of who he was.”
Msgr. Ricci first served in the 1960s as a chaplain at the old Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia and pastor at the Riverview Home for the Aged and St. Margaret’s Home for Girls. He went on to be assistant pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Ambler, St. Stanislaus Parish in Lansdale, St. Anastasia Parish in Newtown Square, and St. Margaret Parish in Narberth.
In 1974, he became spiritual director of the college division at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He also earned a master’s degree in spirituality from Creighton University in Nebraska.
Ministering to people, no matter where he was, he told the Main Line Times in 2010, was personal. “You don’t go out forming community,” he said. “You go out and form one-on-one. I can’t separate who I am as a man, as a Christian, and as a priest.”
The Inquirer published a story about Monsignor Ricci making spiritual house calls on his bicycle in 1987.
Msgr. Ricci played piano and sang before church services and after Communion. He directed choirs, and friends presented him with his own piano at his retirement.
He returned to his family home in Conshohocken after leaving Mary, Mother of the Redeemer but continued to assist others at nearby parishes and visit those in hospitals and nursing homes. “Father was a Renaissance man, an artist, musician, writer, deep thinker,” a former colleague said on Facebook. “He could speak about the liturgy or the Eagles, the football team or the band. He related well to everyone regardless of age, religion, or background.”
Philip Cosmo Ricci was born Sept. 26, 1935, in Conshohocken. He graduated from the old Conshohocken High School, took night classes at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and, inspired by his parents, entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary to study the priesthood.
“When the Lord wants you, he gets you,” he told the Main Line Times. “I couldn’t fight it. It was always there.”
Monsignor Ricci’s house calls were featured in this 1987 Inquirer article.
He played piano in a dance band when he was young and enjoyed gardening. He was good at drawing and cooking. He followed the Eagles, Phillies, and 76ers, and invented a beanbag toss game the family played at gatherings.
It was fitting, his niece said, that he died on Valentine’s Day because he embraced love and service to others. “Faith for Uncle Phil was never theoretical,” she said. “It was lived. It was action. It was presence.”
In addition to his niece, Msgr. Ricci is survived by his brothers, John and Francis, and other relatives. A sister died earlier.
Hair stylist Artur Kirsh, who has long served clients out of his Saks Fifth Avenue salon in Bala Cynwyd, will be relocating to Narberth in April as Saks prepares to close. Kirsh will open a second salon at Boyds in Center City this fall.
Kirsh’s relocation comes after Saks Global, the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, announced the closure of numerous department stores, including the Bala Cynwyd Saks, in February. Saks Global filed for bankruptcy in January.
Kirsh said he was surprised to hear about the closure, but decided to take the opportunity to “do something huge” and open two new studios, expanding his presence in the region.
Kirsh will open Artur Kirsh Hair Studio, his new Narberth location, in April at 948 Montgomery Ave. He described the studio as “very artsy” and “very hip.” The Narberth outpost will have ample parking, a “fun and intimate” vibe, and will allow clients to move beyond traditional salon hours and schedule based on their availability, according to a news release. Kirsh called the Narberth studio a “boutique concierge salon concept.”
The hair stylist will continue to see clients at Saks through March to ensure a “seamless transition” ahead of the department store’s closure in April.
Kirsh said he chose Narberth because it’s minutes from his old Saks studio and would allow him to maintain some continuity for Main Line clients.
Kirsh will also expand his footprint in Center City in September, where he plans to open Artur Kirsh Salon on the fourth floor of Boyds department store at 1818 Chestnut St.
“I’ll have best of both worlds,” he said. “I’ll have the suburbs and the city.”
Though the changes happened quickly, Kirsh said he’s ultimately looking forward to the next chapter.
“When you’re in an old place, you kind of get stale,” he said. “Things happen for a reason.”
Kirsh was born and raised in Russia and moved to New York in the mid-1990s. After training at a Manhattan salon, Kirsh relocated to the Philadelphia area. He has worked out of the Bala Cynwyd Saks for six years. Kirsh specializes in coloring and “dry cutting” and describes himself as the ”go-to stylist for models and local celebrities.”
In addition to his Bala Cynwyd salon, Kirsh sees clients at the Rittenhouse Spa & Club in Center City, John Barrett Salon in New York City, and Oasis Salon & Med Spa in Boca Raton, Fla. Over the years, Kirsh has styled a number of celebrity clients, including Dorinda Medley, Betsey Johnson, Carolina Herrera, Celine Dion, Kathy Griffin, and Ken Downing.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
After the biggest snowstorm in a decade dumped more than nine inches of snow on the Philadelphia region, Narberth artist Emily Stewart woke up to a blank canvas.
With her front yard dusted in snow, Stewart zipped up her coat, laced up her boots, and braved the cold to build three Swedish lanterns out of snow and ice. Set against the darkness of winter, the lanterns have offered a glimmer of warmth during the coldest days of a historically frigid period in and around Philly.
Ice sculptures made by artist Emily Stewart outside her Narberth home on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Stewart said she was inspired to make the structures after reading about Swedish lanterns. “I love working with snow in my yard or other public places because it is inherently social,” Stewart said. “As I work, people walk by, cars pull over, I get to have conversations with neighbors and meet new friends.”
Stewart is a Main Line-based artist and community organizer who works with ink, graphite, wood, and, yes, snow. She is a lover of art and community building, passions that arose from her time in art school and serving in the Peace Corps. She is also the coordinator of Narberth Public Art, a community group that brings public art displays to downtown Narberth.
An Ohioan by birth, Stewart isn’t bothered by the snow. In fact, she prefers a long, snowy winter to the Philly area’s increasingly hot summers.
“I love, love winter,” Stewart said, adding that she has the “opposite of seasonal depression disorder.”
Stewart grew up making snow sculptures in her hometown of Cleveland. In 2021, as pandemic measures kept Stewart and her family cooped up in their home, she picked up her kitchen spatula and began sculpting snow once again. She built life-size bears, an owl, a giant horse, and an eagle (go Birds). Neighbors began stopping by to ask about the sculptures, and people from outside Narberth even started paying visits to Stewart’s yard after hearing about her art through the grapevine.
A creature built out of snow by artist Emily Stewart at her home in Narberth in February 2021.
Though her snow sculptures began as a low-stakes artistic outlet, Stewart says they have become something deeper — a point of connection among neighbors in increasingly polarized and technologically dominated times. Public art provides a “cool little communal social interaction” that “detracts from all the negativity in the world,” she said.
There’s much that Stewart loves about working with snow. It’s free, abundant, and surprising.
When asked about the fleeting nature of her snow works, Stewart said it’s part of the beauty. Snow is temporary, as is everything.
“It’s ephemeral,” she said. “Like, enjoy it, and it’s not yours to keep.”
An eagle built out of snow by artist Emily Stewart in her Narberth backyard in February 2025.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Lower Merion and Narberth are seeking residents’ input as they embark on an effort to make Montgomery Avenue safer for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.
At a meeting Feb. 3, officials from the township and the borough laid out long-standing safety issues on Montgomery Avenue and took feedback from attendees, many of whom said they no longer feel safe walking and driving along one of the Main Line’s busiest arteries.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded Lower Merion and Narberth $340,540 to study a seven-mile stretch of Montgomery Avenue, from Spring Mill Road to City Avenue, through the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program. The program awards funds to municipalities working to limit roadway deaths and serious injuries. The study will inform safety improvements at 35 intersections on that stretch of Montgomery Avenue.
Map showing the section of Montgomery
Avenue in Lower Merion and Narberth undergoing a comprehensive traffic safety study.
Officials cited a long list of safety issues on Montgomery Avenue, from out-of-date pedestrian push buttons, sidewalk curb ramps, and crosswalk lighting to regular speeding and weaving by drivers. Without proper turn lanes and signals, drivers making left turns on Montgomery Avenue often slow traffic and can endanger pedestrians and other motorists, township representatives added.
The traffic-calming effort comes at the heels of Lower Merion’s Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, which was published in 2025. The plan calls for eliminating all roadway fatalities and serious injuries in Lower Merion, with a goal of achieving a 50% reduction by 2030. Last summer, township commissioners approved a plan to install automated red-light enforcement cameras at four intersections, beginning with the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and Remington Road.
Unlike previous traffic studies that focused on individual intersections, this project will take a more comprehensive approach, officials said.
Between 2020 and 2024, there were 532 reportable crashes on Montgomery Avenuebetween Spring Mill Road and City Avenue. A reportable crash is defined as a crash resulting in an injury or vehicle damage serious enough to require towing. Around 2.5% of such crashes involved a serious injury. Just over half involved a minor injury, and the rest, around 46%, involved property damage only. In the same time frame, there were 920 minor crashes, or incidents with no injury and no need for towing.
In total, 3,767 crashes were reported in Lower Merion at-large between 2019 and 2023. In that time frame, Lower Merion Township accounted for 8% of crashes with a fatality or serious injury within Montgomery County.
Pennsylvania is the only state in the country where local police officers are prohibited from using radar for speed enforcement, said Andy Block, Lower Merion’s police superintendent, making it difficult for his department to enforce speed limits.
At the meeting, residents told stories of their own crashes and near-misses on Montgomery Avenue.
Kim Beam, a social worker at Bryn Mawr Hospital, used to walk to work along Montgomery Avenue every day before she was nearly hit by a car a few weeks ago.
“I had an event which would have made me one of your fatalities,” Beam said, describing her walk to work as poorly lit, contributing to dangerous, and almost deadly, conditions for pedestrians like herself.
Residents of Lower Merion and Narberth were encouraged to complete a survey that will inform officials as they develop a preliminary set of safety recommendations. A public meeting will be held once the recommendations are developed to gather additional feedback.
Residents can fill out the survey online via www.lowermerion.org/Home/Components/News/News/5605/50 or print it out and drop it off at Narberth or Lower Merion’s municipal buildings. Completed forms can also be mailed to Brandon Ford, Assistant Township Manager, Lower Merion Township, 75 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, Pa. 19003.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Narberth’s borough council hasvoted unanimously to bar the municipality’s police officers from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the agency’s 287(g) program.
The resolution approved Thursdaymade clear that “our police department operates to protect our residents and protect the public safety here and does not have a role in immigration enforcement,” said Council President Fred Bush.
ICE’s 287(g) program deputizes local law enforcement officers to carry out immigration actions, including identifying, arresting, and deporting immigrants. ICE has signed around 1,400 such agreements with law enforcement agencies in 40 states, including dozens in Pennsylvania.
In Philadelphia’s collar counties, only the Lansdowne Borough Constable’s Office in Delaware County and the Pennsylvania State Constable Office Honey Brook Precinct 1 in Chester County are 287(g) participants. Bucks County Sheriff Danny Ceisler, a newly elected Democrat, terminated his office’s controversial partnership last month, citing negative impacts on public safety and law enforcement trust.
Neither Lower Merion nor Narberth participates in the program.
Narberth’s resolution establishes that the borough will not enter into any agreement with the federal government, including 287(g), that would commit borough time, funds, efforts, or resources toward ICE noncriminal enforcement activities.
Officials clarified that Narberth’s police department would cooperate with ICE officials if they had a judicial warrant to arrest someone. An internal memo first reported by The Associated Press last month has authorized ICE to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judicial warrant.
Narberth officials acknowledged that the resolution could be seen as “virtue signaling,” given that the borough already does not participate in an ICE partnership. Yet council members said they believe it’s important to publicly signal the municipality’s values regarding immigration enforcement.
The resolution“lets the public clearly know where we stand on the issues, helps reinforce trust, and provides that clarity of what we will do and what we won’t do,” said Dana Edwards, Narberth’s mayor. “From my standpoint, it’s a practical resolution.”
“When our community members trust their law enforcement, they feel comfortable reaching out to them for assistance,” said Councilmember Jean Burock. “We can’t afford to erode that trust.”
Bush cautioned residents against interfering with ICE operations, describing the agency as “poorly trained” and “dangerous,” citing “the actions and the images that came out of Minneapolis” in recent weeks.
Narberth’s resolution came on the heels of a Jan. 30 incident in which two people were taken into custody by ICE during a traffic stop in Penn Wynne.
Following the arrests, Lower Merion affirmed in a public statement that the township does not participate in 287(g) and encouraged residents to call 911 if they observe law enforcement activity with no Lower Merion police officers present.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
February’s crop of restaurant openings includes two restaurants’ expansions to Narberth, a reopened brewery in South Jersey, a chic restaurant/lounge in Center City, an intriguing wine bar/bottle shop in Chestnut Hill, and two French newcomers.
Restaurants can take awhile and owners are often hesitant to pinpoint an opening date. I’ve listed the targeted day where possible; for the rest, check social media.
Duo Restaurant & Bar (90 Haddon Ave., Westmont): Brothers Artan and Arber Murtaj and Andi and Tony Lelaj, who own the Old World-style Italian Il Villaggio in Cherry Hill, are taking over Haddon Avenue’s former Keg & Kitchen with a pub serving a bar menu supplemented with seafood.
Eclipse Brewing (25 E. Park Ave., Merchantville): Last August, food trucker Megan Hilbert of Red’s Rolling Restaurant became one of the youngest brewery owners in New Jersey when she bought this 9-year-old Camden County brewery, open as of Friday.
Lassan Indian Traditional (232 Woodbine Ave., Narberth): The second location of the well-regarded Lafayette Hill Indian BYOB takes over the long-ago Margot space in Narberth.
LeoFigs, 2201 Frankford Ave., as seen in January 2026.
LeoFigs (2201 Frankford Ave.): Justice and Shannon Figueras promise the delivery of their long-awaited bar/restaurant, with an urban winery in the basement, at Frankford and Susquehanna in Fishtown. The food menu will be built around comfort-leaning small plates.
The bubbly selection at Lovat Square in Chestnut Hill.
Lovat Square (184 E. Evergreen Ave.): Damien Graef and Robyn Semien (also owners of Brooklyn wine shop Bibber & Bell) are taking over Chestnut Hill’s former Top of the Hill Market/Mimi’s Café property for a multiphased project: first a wine shop with indoor seating, then a courtyard with a full dinner menu, followed later by a cocktail bar/restaurant component. Opens Feb. 12
Malooga (203 Haverford Ave., Narberth): The Old City Yemeni restaurant is expanding to Narberth with lunch and dinner service plus a bakery, with expanded indoor/outdoor seating and space for groups.
Mi Vida (34 S. 11th St.): Washington, D.C.-based restaurant group Knead Hospitality + Design is bringing its upscale Mexican concept to East Market, next to MOM’s Organic Market. Target opening is Feb. 18.
Napa Kitchen & Wine (3747 Equus Blvd., Newtown Square): A California-inspired restaurant rooted in Midlothian, Va., opens in Ellis Preserve with an extensive domestic and international wine list in a polished setting. Opens Feb. 9.
Ocho Supper Club (210 W. Rittenhouse Square): Chef RJ Smith’s Afro-Caribbean fine-dining supper club starts a six-month residency at the Rittenhouse Hotel, tied to the Scarpetta-to-Ruxton transition, serving tasting menus through July. Now open.
Piccolina (301 Chestnut St.):A low-lit Italian restaurant and cocktail bar at the Society Hill Hotel from Michael Pasquarello (Cafe Lift, La Chinesca, Prohibition Taproom). Targeting next week
Pretzel Day Pretzels (1501 S. Fifth St.): James and Annie Mueller’s pretzel-delivery operation is becoming a takeout shop in the former Milk + Sugar space in Southwark. Expect classic soft pretzels plus German-style variations (including Swabian-style) and stuffed options.
Merriment at the bar at Savu, 208 S. 13th St.
Savú(208 S. 13th St.): Kevin Dolce’s Hi-Def Hospitality has converted the former Cockatoo into a modern, bi-level dining and late-night lounge with a New American menu from chef Maulana Muhammad; it just soft-opened for dinner Thursday through Sunday and weekend brunch.
Bar-adjacent seating at Side Eye.
Side Eye (623 S. Sixth St.): Hank Allingham’s all-day neighborhood bar takes over for Bistrot La Minette with “French-ish” food from chef Finn Connors, plus cocktails, European-leaning wines, beer, and a late-night menu. Opens 5 p.m. Feb. 7 with 50% of the night’s proceeds going to the People’s Kitchen.
Soufiane at the Morris(225 S. Eighth St): Soufiane Boutiliss and Christophe Mathon (Sofi Corner Café) say there’s a 90% chance of a February opening for their new spot at the Morris House Hotel off Washington Square. It’s billed as an elegant-but-approachable restaurant inspired by classic French bouillons/brasseries, with a menu spanning small plates and full entrées alongside Moroccan-influenced tagines. Expect evening service indoors, daytime service outdoors.
South Sichuan II(1537 Spring Garden St.): A second location for the popular Point Breeze Sichuan takeout/delivery specialist, near Community College of Philadelphia; this one will offer more seating.
March openings are in the offing for the much-hyped PopUp Bagels in Ardmore, as well as the long-delayed Terra Grill (a stylish room in Northern Liberties’ Piazza Alta) and ILU (the low-lit Spanish tapas bar) in Kensington.
Trash and recycling will not be picked up Monday in Lower Merion, and a holiday schedule will go into effect. To figure out when your garbage will be picked up, use the township’s address lookup tool to determine what zone you live in. Then, use this chart to determine your holiday garbage pickup day. If you live in Zone 3, your garbage will be picked up on Thursday following today’s Monday snow “holiday.”
The township has asked residents to bring their trash curbside because garbage trucks may not be able to get into alleys with the high volume of snow. Any missed collections from this week will be made up next week.
Narberth residents can expect their normally scheduled trash pickup on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Sidewalks must be cleared (36 inches in width) within 24 hours of the last flakes falling in both Lower Merion and Narberth (here are The Inquirer’s tips for shoveling snow safely). It’s illegal to throw or plow snow into the street.
The Lower Merion School District has declared today a remote instruction day (rest in peace to the snow day), and all libraries and township offices are closed.
Narberth Borough’s administrative offices are also closed, and any documents that need to be dropped off can be left in the secure lockboxes outside the building entrance on Haverford Avenue. Narberth Borough Hall’s multipurpose room will be open until 8 p.m. for residents who need access to heat, water, and power.
Waldron Mercy Academy, Friends’ Central School, the Baldwin School, Agnes Irwin School, Holy Child School at Rosemont, and Gladwyne Montessori, and the Shipley School are closed. Merion Mercy Academy is having a remote learning day.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
