Let's Be The City Of Philadelphia

I'm the ubiquitous shoo fly pie at Reading Terminal Market

I'm the cream cheese that made this shithole famous.

I’m the last remaining gayborhood in the Northeast. Because rents are cheaper - and people here drink a lot - most of the bars that were here 30 years ago are still here.

I'm the crackheads that inhabit every square inch of the city. Once gentrification kicks in I'll be shipped off upstate.

I'm the mispronounced Welsh-named mainline suburb

I'm the lifelong Iggles fan

I’m the gentrifiers priced out of New York.

I'm one of the increasingly lousy M. Night Shyamalan movies set here.

[quote]since the 80's.

If you want to use an apostrophe, this is how you do it: '80s.

I’m the blocks of decaying rowhouses being bought up and gentrified by colleges like Temple and Drexel. This time next year a bunch of spoiled international students will be living here.

I made an amazing comeback in the past 30 years - largely thanks to millenials. I’m being abandoned by those millenials in droves this year as they seek out houses in the suburbs to raise their kids and escape Covid.

Leeeeeeeet the time flow, let the love grow, let the rain shower, let the rose flower!

Love it seeks, love it finds! Love it conquers, love it binds!

There are two "n"s in "millennial."

I’m the used syringe you find on every corner in the Riverwards.

I'm the mind numbing traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway every last minute of the day. I haven't changed since 1958.

There is my foot in r13's ass. Take your Spelling Bee skills to another fucking forum, cunt.

I’m the Russian Mafia, hiding in plain sight all over the Northeast.

It's very embarrassing when our misspellings are pointed out. I can understand the impulse to throw a tantrum. If they're not corrected and brought to our attention, however, we would just keeping making the same error and exposing our ignorance.

Most of the shit you guys say about these cities can be said about NYC too.

I’m the weird juxtaposition of really nice apartment buildings being on the same block as abandoned crack houses.

I like Philly 🤷🏽‍♂️

My ex would have to go there for work often and he actually liked it too. He has a place there as well as here in NY, since his time is split between the two so much. He said one thing Philly has over NYC are its gay men are a lot more macho and masculine. He likes that. And he said almost every Cock he had over there was bigger than the ones in NYC. He took pics of some he had and they were huge.

But he loved him some big cocks, hence why he was with me 😊 before I ended it.

He just got married in January and now lives in Gowanus

I'm Baltimore and I make Philly look GREAT!

Philly isn’t even that bad. God. The dramatics.

I'm the statue of William Penn. I sit atop city hall and was the skyline's tallest in sight until 1986. You can't even pick me out of a line up now.

I'm the good dick.

R26 seriously. Philadelphia has the best dick. I’ve had some of the best sex there.

R27 I left years ago but I always visit and try to get fucked as much as possible.

[quote]I'm the mispronounced Welsh-named mainline suburb

How do [italic]you[/italic] pronounce it?

I’m the bath house that is still open. And the working class men - who have disappeared from the glam cities - who fill the porn shops on the way home to their wives and kids.

Bala Kinwood R29

I'm the incestuously small gayborhood where everybody knows your business.

r31 I pronounce it Kinwid, actually.

r29

better than Balla Sine Wide

My friend Danny has Philly as one of his top cities to get your hole wrecked if you love getting fucked. He travels a lot (all over the world) and as far as USA cities go, Philly is one of his top.

Boston is his bottom.

NYC is middle. There are more options than most places and most are more “pretty” than in places like Philly but most of the options suck or just suck at sex. Philly gays are more rugged and masculine. It’s like a straight man, but gay lol.

He loves Sweden.

Philly definitely has more average men. Which is a nice change from NYC - or even worse, DC. Much less pretentious than Boston too. Looking forward to the bars coming back.

I'm Ben Franklin and I invented the first bathhouse which I conveniently put next to the first hose company.

r21, can you post a pic of your hole-wrecking monster dick?

I'm the gay Italians who, almost universally, live up to the stereotype of endless numbers of trips to mom's house to fix the door, drop off some groceries, pick up a package to go back to Amazon, see Angelo's and Maria's kids (who are always over) and eat.

I’m Mannequin the movie. I was filmed in Philly

I’m the Mummers Parade

I’m Nancy Glass

I'm Scorpio Adult Boutique and Video.

I make Danny's Midnight Confessions look like Neiman Marcus.

I’m Philly Top.

R35 is right. Send Danny to my place. I’ll wreck his hole with my big cock.

R39 those are traditional Italians and they are everywhere.

R44 I wonder if I've sucked your cock.

I think Philadelphia is great in many ways. It's walkable, mostly friendly, has a nice variety with regard to art, music, theater. There are serious racial imbalances and inequities; they exist elsewhere, too, but they feel more pronounced in Philadelphia as compared to, say, New York. Looking back at my life, I had more sex in Philadelphia than anywhere else I've lived. Maybe that's because I lived there before AIDS.

R47 The racial issues in Philly are so noticeable because Philly is pretty much the only major city that still has black people in it, with the exception of Chicago. It feels more pronounced as compared to New York because New York no longer has black people, they've all been priced out.

I'm also the statue of William Penn, but what you may not know is that from a certain angle, especially at dusk, it looks like I'm holding my penis.

R48 disgusting

It used to be an insular place that people hated--knew many who went to college, professional or grad school there in the 80s. All couldn't wait to leave. Now, people go there for an education and stay.

Philly is a great city now but the natives hate the transplants. That’s an issue everywhere now. Someone on FB told me she’s sick of “Yankees” moving to TX with their liberal bullshit. I told her I’m sick of white folk transplanting to NYC.

This Pandemic has exposed how those transplants don’t belong and can’t handle the heat.

I'm Tracy Lord and I'm yar!

I’m the eldergays drinking our cocktails and chatting with the Renault’s in our sophisticated cocktail lounge, Knock. I’m a throwback to the old Philly gay culture of understated outness.

The only thing r52 has in his pathetic little life is that he was raised in some godforsaken ghetto in one of the outer boroughs and hates the "transplants" who live lives that he can only dream of.

I'm Cindy, the lesbian who cuts hair for all the queers at The Chop Shop on South Street.

I know what whores you all are, and I'm kind enough to keep it between me and you.

Alas, I will leave you for Baltimore.

But I will take your secrets with me, telling no one.

R55 and where are you from?!! Lmao. You’ll never say.

I am the European (currently in New York) who seriously thinks about moving to Philly. I have a lower middle class background and I love it there. I have thought about this long before COVID-19. Please advise.

R58 do what YOU want and like. Be where YOU like. Don’t let a bunch of brainwashed midwestern trash playing NYer tell you where you should be

My childhood was split between East End Avenue and Weston, CT r57. My family has roots in NYC since the 18th century.

I'm the unique pronunciations for "Mary", "marry", and "merry".

R60 we are speaking about YOU. Not your family that you CLAIM link back to NYC in the 1700s (lmao)

East End Avenue is in Manhattan, r62. Of course, you've probably never been there.

God, why does anyone argue with NativeNYer? Never mind.

R63 I know that. But you’re lying.

I’m Woody’s still there after all these years.

.... but i'm full of bridal parties

Just crawl back into your little ghetto hole NativeNYer. NYC has always been a city of transplants. And they have better lives than you could ever dream of. Jealousy is a terrible thing.

R67 no. Manhattan was. And certain parts. The whole city was not always a city of transplants. Especially the other 4 boroughs.

Also, I am not from the ghetto. Learn your place.

It's all about people coming into the city. Just because you were born there doesn't mean you "own" it. I'm surprised nobody's popped your ass on the street yet because your insane rants.

I'm the guilty pleasure known here as the cheesesteak. So bad for you, yet orgasmically good.

I'm the inbred Philadelphian who believes that processed cheese and grease is good.

I'm a shithole country, laughing at America and relieved that Philadelphia isn't our problem.

wit?

I'm Cookie Fleck and I wanna know where the *FAT FREE* cream cheese is made!

I’m a cup of wooder ice.

Are youse goin food shawpin at the Ackerme, dawl?

didjas?

Did anyone else in the Philly area have cheesesteaks on the lunch menu at your school? Every Thursday was cheesesteak day and they were good!

neither of them want your $ if you're an immigrant

Here you go

I am Frank Rizzo, the cities most famous mayor, and I will bomb the fuck out of your row-house.

I am the missing sculptures in the pediments of the Greek Garage.

I am Frank Rizzo at r81. I won't bomb the fuck out of your row house.

But a future successor, Wilson Goode, will.

I'm the depiction of Philadelphia in 12 Monkeys that did little for the tourism industry.

I'm walking down eleventh street

you bitches are slipping

R9. Did not know that, thanks.

I hear it's always sunny.

I am the great opening shot with that magical Springsteen song, followed by 90 minutes of Schmalz.

I’m the A/B skip stop system on the Market-Frankford line.

I'm the greasy green pepper strip hanging out of the cheese steak slop one of the few tourists of 2019 requested.

The rest of my pepper still is sitting in a steam tray in the take-out she bought it.

I'm the friendship gate!

I'm non-social distancing joggers on a nice day like today on Kelly Drive

I'm the weirdo retro 15 trolly

I am the spectacular avant-garde 19th century architecture by Frank Furness, William Hale and others. I have been mostly torn down as being too weird, but remains is absolutely fascinating.

I am the interior of Wannamakers, replete with pipe organ, one of the great interiors in America. By D.H. Burnham, designer of the Flatiron Building.

I am the awful overwrought wedding cake architecture of the city hall which replaced what must have been a lovely square (like Rittenhouse S.).

I am the midnight fire at the bathhouse, resulting in fives of men being forced to evacuate with only their towels and poppers tucked in their socks.

I am the Philadelphia Art Museum, a magnificent Beaux Arts building designed by Julian Abele, the first African-American architect. I hold unparalleled collections of American, Symbolist and Surrealist art, including Duchamp's masterpiece "The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even". I doubled for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in De Palma's "Dressed to Kill" as they couldn't afford the fees for the New York museum.

Yet everyone only thinks of me as being the steps in "Rocky".

Philistines.

R97, I actually like City Hall, although it's certainly not what you could call tasteful. It's amazingly vigorous and provides an unforgettable terminus point for Broad Street. It has the largest masonry spire in the world and was the inspiration for the much smaller City Hall in Sydney Australia, which was actually finished first. The sculptural program is top-notch and was overseen by Alexander Calder's father, who was also a sculptor.

R100, maybe it will grow on me....but I find it a bit sinister and it seems out of place. And why is the top of the tower painted in a cold gray whereas the rest has a warm tone?

I'm the best museum in America, even if I am in a city that was loathed by the founder.

R101, the very top of the tower is cast iron painted to look like masonry. Because they couldn't do a precise match at the time, a colder "stone" color was used, and as it is a national landmark, it has remianed that way in restoration.

Give it a chance. It's a fascinating building both from afar and up close, and the level of detail inside and out is a catalog of changing taste during the post Civil War era.

It's the most "Gotham City" of any public building in the country other that the state capitols in Albany and Hartford (which are similarly bizarre).

I am the 300 fleshy, rosy Renoirs quickly glanced over and ignored for the great , Modiglianis, and Picassos in the Barnes.

And Cézannes, and El Grecos, and Van Goghs!

The Renoirs are the weakest link, but a few of them are notable.

None are on the level of "The Boating Party".

All of the other stuff is better.

I will give it a second look R103! Btw I love the Masonic Temple next door, which is also bizarre.

R107, take a tour when you can - it may change your mind. By the way, a square was never "sacrificed" for City Hall - it was always intended to hold the building. The building itself just grew and grew and grew...in part because American cities at the time were exploding in terms of scale. For many years there was an unspoken agreement that no skyscraper should exceed the tower of City Hall - this was finally put aside int he postwar period, when it became obvious that the idea had prevented developers from investing in the area. Me, I rather like the idea of a public building being the tallest of them all.

A German colleague of mine visited Philadelphia to study the works of Frank Furness and Louis Kahn and wound up thinking City Hall was an unsung masterpiece - he described it as being every German Baroque impulse there ever was stacked one on top of the other.

I am French Village. I am the most beautiful suburban development in human history.

It's a pity they never installed modern HVAC in city hall, all the window units poking out look tacky. I recently took a tour (recommended!) and one of my tourmates loudly complained about the four 19th c. allegorical statues representing the peoples of the world (Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa) sited in the northern entry portal. She and some of her friends demanded an "apology plaque," it was hilarious.

Also, did anyone ever watch "Brothers"? I was too young and it never appears to have been rerun...

Hey, Baby, this thread is really ALL about ME! and my blockbuster book "the corrections"

I'm the Philly accent

I'm Bradley cooper - in town for a short time

cooper's accent on the commercial and tina fey in the skit are exactly how philly people talk.

I'm HitchBOT, the hitchhiking robot that traveled across Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands.

On my US trip from Boston to San Francisco, I was attacked and decapitated in Philadelphia.

I'm a grease fire and Elmo

I love City Hall. However, its the post war high rise horrors surrounding it and down Market St that are the problem. Great architecture all around - the best thing about the city.

I’m the University of Pennsylvania. Don’t expect me to mention that the incumbent President of the United States is an alumnus, but buy me a drink and I may boast of William Henry Harrison.

I'm the rudeness. Youse can all fuck off.

I’m the strangely expensive neighborhood of Fishtown. Cut off from Center City and surrounded by open air heroin markets. Yet, somehow people are paying $700-800k to live here. Gentrification isn’t always logical.

I’m the helicopter shot at the end of the credits of [italic]Amen[/italic].

I am the Kensington neighborhood, home of mostly white zombie junkies. You should never, ever wander into me. A recovered addict has an IG page dedicated to capturing the zombie junkies that call me home.

I am Frank Rizzo, aka the Big Bambino, the biggest and baddest assed mayor youse people have ever seen. Deep down, I know you faggots adore me.

I'm the city that hung onto to its all night coffee shops; florist shops; news kiosks; gentlemen's clubs; art galleries where generations of your ancestors bought a nice picture or two, maybe a Peale; or Freeman's the oldest auction house in America (and old Mr. Freeman so old he looked like he founded it in 1805. I'm old money who haven't bought furniture since before Mr. Freeman started his auction career, living in houses that haven't been photographed since, well, before Mr. Daguerre. Architectural Digest, you're ficking kidding me? I'm banks, hundreds of the safest looking bank monental buildings to put your money on this continent. I'm jaw dropping good and bold Frank Furness architecture; I'm Delancey Street that will make you wonder why people who have a choice would live anywhere else. I'm the most walkable of center cities, fascinating architecture of great range and quality everywhere. I'm a city that, here and there, still feels a lot like the setting of a John Cheeper story. I'm the gay men you see at bars: it's admirable that we are casual and not at all given to preening; but maybe we could try just a little and not venture out in our advertising sweatshirts greasy with nacho and cheese steak stains.

I'm Temple University and I suck

R124, Delancey Street looks nice but what's so special? That the house are look the same and have porches? I agree with everything else you say. The architecture in Philly is spectacular.

I’m boring

Some parts of this thread are making me horny. I'm hopping on the 10:20 Greyhound to Philly tomorrow morning.

I'm Cordelia Drexel Biddle punching every boy in town who makes a pass at me, inevitably ensuring the commercial failure of the book, play, and movie about my family's life many years down the road.

I'm 'thirtysoomethiing'! I made Philly look like a fun and hip place to be a late 80s yuppie.

[quote]I'm the Philly accent

Ah'm Bawlmer, hun, an Ah think yew ayl is copycats!

R126: Delancey Street is a stretch of 25 blocks of houses, mostly unspoiled, uninterrupted, and lovely, a long stretch of tree-lined streets with handsome houses beautifully maintained. Dates extend from min18th C to the early 20th C nearly all referencing Philadelphia's architectural history, reusing and reviving and reworking old motifs again and again, the way Romance languages come from the same place but always have a foot in their origin as they develop in different ways.

There is a lot of sameness: any block may have two or three of several house patterns that were repeated by one builder with little of any variation, but I've the years each evolves in its own way, so that the variation n a theme becomes as interesting as the occasional wildcard tossed in.

Other blocks of short stretches of blocks are the equal, sometimes the better of Delancey, but Delancey is great from start to finish.

Not everybody's thing, obviously, but for a collection of 200b years of American townhouses it's impressive to me on its facades alone.

No porches though in center center Delancey Street.

We're the poseur queens hanging out in any gay Philly bar, pretending we're doyennes of Haverford, Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore, when the reality is we actually grew up in an 15 foot wide airlite in Mayfair or Bustleton.

[quote]I am Frank Rizzo at [R81]. I won't bomb the fuck out of your row house.

But if you are a black man and I even THINK that you have broken the law, I will break your kneecaps. I will even if you are innocent.

The Philly gays in Rehoboth were always more friendly and less cliquey than DC gays. They wear running shoes with their shorts but they were hotter, nicer and funnier.

DC gays are despicable.

This explain why I have 6 friends here Lol ^^

I'm Philadelphia's Magic Gardens. It's amazing what you can do with some junk and some good drugs...

I’m not glamorous, fabulous or important - but at least I’m not DC. My people may not be excessively friendly - but at least they are not nasty douchebags who only care about money and career.

[quote] I am the great opening shot with that magical Springsteen song, followed by 90 minutes of Schmalz.

I am [italic]The Lion King[/italic] getting pushed back from Christmas 1993 to Summer 1994, the only reason that song, which is as schmaltzy as the rest of the movie, got an Oscar.

I am ..... fuck off r140

I'm a homeless drug addict hiding my crack in the crack in the Liberty Bell.

Yes, fuck off R140. That song is sad not schmaltzy.

No, it schmaltzy. It's a manipulative song from a manipulative movie.

It is schmaltzy.

I'm the REAL symbol of philly, not that stupid bell

We are the real facts about what a great mayor Frank Rizzo was:

1. Taxes skyrocketed under Rizzo's regime, including property taxes and the wage tax. 2. During the 50's and 60's, Philly had escaped the exodus of the white middle class, unlike Detroit and St. Louis. Under Rizzo's regime, the floodgates opened and the white middle class began leaving in droves. 3. That flight applied to businesses as well, as more firms left Philly for the PA and NJ suburbs during Rizzo's tenure than any previous mayoral administration.

And yet the Deplorables look about Rizzo's administration as the "good old days."

ugh!

It's an old, lovely city. I love City Hall, it is gorgeous.

I'm Mike Schmidt's bulge.

I’m the gym guys who were overly picky at Woodys and now have to settle for what’s left at the Two Four Club.

I'm Voyeur as it is now called and closed for good, likely

I miss the old 247 denim/semi-leather bar, around the corner from the real leather bar, the Post.

R153: I had my share of good times thanks to the Post, but I have great fondness for the 247.

“Stir” as it is now called hasn’t reopened . .

R155 I remember that place when it was call POST or something like that. The bartenders were all crazy but fun.

And would suck you off

I'm Elton John:

I'm Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt. I reigned in the third century BC. I got my title because I married my own beautiful sister, Arsinoe! Think about that when you ponder the origins of this "brotherly love" toponym.

Oh, don't worry, gays; I didn't have any children with her.

I’m the elevated section of I-95 in Northeast Philly that was blocked for years half- finished. Now I’m connected so you can drive the entire east coast on I-95 but guaranteed, the scariest section is me with very narrow traffic lanes, no breakdown lane and cement walls to prevent your car from going over the side in the inevitable sideswipe.

I go by Alaşehir now. Thanks.

I’m the yearly nude bike ride.

Millennials did turn the city into a very trendy area, cleaning up and renovating the bad areas of the city. Unfortunately the city’s current mayor is hellbent on destroying it all. Philly has a huge gay community with protections.

I’m Brian Sims.

I’m broogan ready to fuck.

I’m Blaze Austin.

R162, not to be pedantic but don't naked bike races occur is quite a few major cities, I believe on or around the same day?

No idea. I’m sure San Fran does.

Philly only started doing the bike race a few years ago.

R166 he sure has changed since I knew him

I'm the Mutter Museum!

[quote]I’m the elevated section of I-95 in Northeast Philly that was blocked for years half- finished. Now I’m connected so you can drive the entire east coast on I-95 but guaranteed, the scariest section is me with very narrow traffic lanes, no breakdown lane and cement walls to prevent your car from going over the side in the inevitable sideswipe.

I'm the wafting odor of numerous meth labs in the white trash sections of Philly that the elevated section of I-95 goes over.

I’m a pretzel rat

Post some big Philly wang!

I'm "wiz wit"

I’m the ack-uh-mee, everyone’s favorite grocery store

I'm the wissahickon, the forgotten river in philly.

I’m the sugar diabetes in the body of my 70 year old nonna, from years of drinking her Frank’s Cream Soda and endless Tastykake French Apple Pies.

I'm the Reading Terminal Market, where the Amish make the very best Coconut Cake and Red Velvet Cake. You can get scrapple there as well, but me, I go to watch the butts on those cute Amish boys...

I'm the 30th Street Station, a Beaux Arts exterior housing one of the finest Art Deco interiors in the world. Somehow Grand Central and Union in DC get all the love and I get bupkiss.

30th Street Station struck me as rather sterile and characterless inside. Maybe that's why it doesn't get much love, plus that ugly Suburban thing next door.

it's not really next-door. and the front exterior of suburban station is glorious

I am Walker Hancock's 'Angel of the Resurrection,' 40' tall, erected only in 1950 as a sad afterthought, a monument to the Pennsylvania Railroad workers who died in WWII. I reveal myself as you ascend from the tracks below into the heart of the station.

I survey a splendid space that is brought down by the tawdry tat of AMTRAK and by the absence of some much needed color and three-dimensional art on a large scale. I should be a destination to see contemporary sculpture in stations, America's 'Fourth Plinth,' but I'm not.

I am “The Spirit of Transportation”, a tacky yet strangely enticing sculptural tableau tucked away next to the restrooms on the 30th Street Station .

Very cool shots. I worked in Suburban Station for several years in the 1970s and the interior was also glorious.

I'm the covered up columbus statue in SOUFFILELFIA where all the trumptards gathered.

r186 I pass that several mornings each week when I'm taking my walk. There is still a police presence there.

I’m Betsy Ross’s WAP.

Let's not.

^^^^ Gee thanks, I was wondering when you'd show up?

Philly guys are fun in bed. They seem more uninhibited.

Philly guys are hard up right now

(R192) My experience with them was 3 years ago when I visited. After pandemic is over, I have to pay another visit.

I’m the second floor of Woody’s where I met my partner in 1987. Woody’s is is still on 13th St. and we’re celebrating our 33rd anniversary.

Mazel Tov, gents

I am the ghosts of Nizah Morris and Anthony McCullough, LGBT people of color whose executions have never been solved. I am also their friends and families whose foreheads bear the bruises of the blue walls of silence.

I’m the gloryholes.

You are right R183, the station could be America’s answer to the Musée d’Orsay.

I am the UPenn campus. Somehow, Princeton and Yale get all the love but I am actually quite beautiful too. My faculty club sucks though.

the school sucks too

I would disagree -- I got a great education there in the 1970s.

R201 = donald trump

Penn's campus can't hold a candle to Princeton or Yale's, R199, because Penn demolished several historic buildings in the 1960s and '70s. Aside from the Furness Art Library and College Hall, what exactly is to love on that campus?

I agree, R203, Penn's is the lesser campus by far. It lost more than its share of good buildings but does have some left, besides College Hall and Furness's great library. Wilson Eyre's Penn Museum is good (and a great place for a dinner or reception), some collegiate gothic, and Cope & Stewardson's Jacobethan Quadrangle Dormitories. Good things, but you're right it doesn't have the impact for its fragmented and less cohesive campus.

Doesn’t Penn have several empty mansions on campus? Can they be rented out?

The Furness building is amazing.

I went to school elsewhere in the city, but I loved getting shitfaced at Penn's Spring Fling.

Just looking at a picture of Penn’s Van Pelt Library is giving me suicidal ideation.

R203 I never said it’s at the same level but it deserves some love. There are some pretty good modern buildings on campus too, such as the Annenberg Center, the Louis Kahn buildings, and the new MedSchool buildings. I love the (unfinished) arts museum with its brutalist inserts.

And yes they tore down Furness buildings everywhere in Philly.

R210 ahem

I'm CAPA HS, I'm big and Roman

I'm Girard college, I'm big and Greco-roman

I'm the waterworks, I'm well, what ever the fuck this is

R210 that was built as the Pennsylvania Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, and now it's an art school.

I am the GREEK GARAGE, aka Philadelphia Museum of Art. I lack a lot of sculptures on my pediments.

I'm the please touch museum. a fun premise but the second empire style architecture is jarring

Philadelphia city hall is beloved by architects.

I love Philly City Hall - amazes every time I see it. A treasure. Philly has many.

I'm the perfect Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Frank Furness, 1871-76.)

I'm the Union League, not the most prestigious or oldest or most beautiful club but I have a certain curb appeal and presence, a red brick Second Empire miniature in the shadow of the mammoth confectionary City Hall two blocks up Broad Street. Inside these rooms kindly old men taught young men how to make conversation about anything with anyone.

I am that weird slanted soldier statue in front of the Union League.

I'm the gay couple walking past from woody's

Memorial Hall is a gorgeous building, R217, and the Second Empire elements are hardly "jarring" in Philly. Its iron and glass dome is without equal. I tend to doubt that the Please Touch Museum (which moved there from Logan Square in 2005) will actually re-open next year as its director announced. I wish an architecture/design museum could move in and take advantage of the space, but its location in west fairmount park is a challenge.

I’m the old money WASPs who have all left for NY or CA. I live on in spirit in the classic architecture, top notch educational institutions and absence of garish displays of wealth.

I'm the fucking Cheesewiz

I'm Richardson Dilworth, mayor during the fifties. I survived the ANDREA DORIA sinking and I was the DILF-iest mayor ever.

I'm the plaza named after him

R48 I'm the city's vibrancy and diversity

I'm always sunny.

I’m the big Italian dick.

I’m the absence of worked out, preened and primped primadonnas who inhabit other Tier 1 cities. I’m real - and unpretentious.

R232 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I’m the New Yorker who bumped into friends on locust street, “wow, you guys really like live like this, wow!”

I’m the greased lampposts in anticipation of the Eagles winning the Super Bowl.

You have to educate us R234, live like what?

I'm Philadelphia Cream Cheese, and I'm ever so versatile.

I'm not as interesting as New York but not as soulless and boring as DC.

and cream cheese isn't really a thing there so. . .

I'm the soft pretzels

I am the cosy and affordable townhouse that would cost 8 million dollars in New York.

I'm "Brotherly Love," the long-forgotten Joey Lawrence sitcom set in Philadelphia. Woah!!!

I’m the culinary question mark known as scrapple.

r242 Care to join me? I'm going to John's on Weccacoe St. and have a scrapple, potato, egg and cheese sandwich on a hoagie roll for breakfast. I can bring along an extra Virgin Mary as your go-with?

I’m the statue of the Virgin Mary in from of saint Monica’s - there is always a drunk pissing or praying around me

Love scrapple r243.

I'm the gigantic labia!

I'm Penn's landing, for some reason people from jersey love me and philadelphians ignore me

I am a surfeit of people from New Jersey. I am why Penn's Landing is ignored by Philadelphians.

I'm the smell

I'm the lack of Urban Dancers

I’m the former Philadelphia Mayors, Joseph Clark and Richardson Dilworth. Do you like our photo?

I’m George Washington’s Rising Sun Armchair.

The riding sun chair is nice, but a bit too Tetonic, and however superior the original than in the repro, it's still a bit awkward and thick, an odd moment in an adolescent's growth spurt. It's interesting, but I am sublime.

I am the best quality Philadelphia Chippendale chair and for the 20th Century chairs of my type and quality were the most valued in the world--not a Chippendale chair by Thomas Chippendale himself, not English Chippendale, not even the extraordinarily elegant Irish Chippendale, not that Louis XIV/XV/XVI stuff, not the amusingly regional chairs from any other American city. No, it was all about me, the chase for top quality Philadelphia Chippendale.

The confidant ball and claw front feet, the elegance of the S-scroll front legs, and that bold rake of the simple tear legs stretching out in all directions, ambitious, confidant, commando g and consuming space itself and yet light, a miracle of balance, then the finesse of the front seat rail, carved away to do more with less as would become mantra 150 years later. Remember I did in while juggling a vocabulary of rich, rococo carving the deep shadows of which are a coil to the brilliance of the wood grain, from Santo Domingo, run through with stripes that appear and disappear according to the light. By night I dance in the movement of candlelight to great effect. And the back splat and the top crest, so light and interactive with space and yet, like my feet, strong as steel for some very industrious joint work.

My time in the sun has faded the appreciation for me but people who know good furniture, great furniture...a good example of my type will still take their breath for a moment of awe.

*rising sun

*confident

*I did it when

Yeah, but did the first president of the USA fart on you, r253?

R253 - that was a truly wonderful description. Evidence of an artistic appreciation that is very rare in 2020. Assume you are an interior designer or in the furniture field. You remind me of my college art history professor who taught me to see details and appreciate art in a way a working class kid from Philly would have never been able to do otherwise.

And what exactly, R253, is "Teutonic"?

german

Pennsylvania was full of assorted German speaking people at the time so a Teutonic style is appropriate.

Dutch iris

I have jut never seen Teutonic applied to furniture? As opposed to Louis XVI?

R257, Germanic but in art it can suggest additionally something that's sturdy rather than slender, weighty rather than light, clunky rather than refined, or sometimes overwrought, well made yet not as beautiful as it might be.

R256, Thanks!

R255, as I recall, he favored armchairs, at least in portraits.

R257, Germanic but in art it can suggest additionally something that's sturdy rather than slender, weighty rather than light, clunky rather than refined, or sometimes overwrought, well made yet not as beautiful as it might be.

R256, Thanks!

R255, as I recall, he favored armchairs, at least in portraits.

You mean overwrought, weighty, and clunky like the Philadelphia City Hall, R262? Oops, that is Second Empire....Time to retire those old clichés.

Good Morning, Dolls! I'm Frankie, and a kinder, warmer, wittier soul you'll never meet. It's unthinkable, still, that I'm gone, but I am still loved, and missed every. single. day.

[quote]I'm the cream cheese that made this shithole famous.

FUCK YOU.

[quote]I'm the covered up columbus statue in SOUFFILELFIA where all the trumptards gathered.

AKA The Gravy Seals, Veal Team 6, and Wooder Isis.

LOL!

I’m the old school WASP eldergay who sits at Knock and has dinner in a “civilized” environment. I’m lost without it on lockdown.

I'm the stunning view down by the river

I'm the fearsome Brutalist bunker known as Boston City Hall. Do you think I make good comparison with your 'old cliche', R264?

r267 I pass that location frequently. I wonder if security will be enhanced as Columbus Day draws near(even though you cannot see the statue presently) ?

....

Google?

R273 is spam

we prefer to eat steak wit - not spam

I am the bus ride from New York to Philly. The city looks great as I am passing through Kensington .

I'm the homeless junkies giving the riding buss the finger

R249 = Cheryl, smelling downward

I'm 8 year old me on a school field trip, completely blown away by walking inside an enormous model of a heart in the Franklin Institute.

I am the ghost of Frank Furness lamenting what they have done to my finest work.

I'm the ghost of Betsy Ross inspiring young lesbians throughout the city

I',m bad things

The entire city is laughing at Donald Trump this morning, along with the rest of the world.

I'm the ghost of the 247 and the Steps.

off to the races

Anybody know anything about Quessing Valley Park on the border of NE Philly and Bucks County? I was down there for a few days for work and looked on Google Maps for a place to do my run and I found it. I was there in the early morning but it is obviously a big cruising park. It was also like something from the 1970s or 1980s. There was a lot of trash and graffitti. The main trail was paved. There were dozens of little side trails into the bushes. The city obviously does nothing but keep the path clear. They don't do any cutting, trimming or clearing. At one point on the main path someone spray painted "WELCOME WHORS" and another place they wrote, "HEY BITCHES." I thought it was fascinating like I had stepped into a time warp. I also got a little turned on.

It’s what I love about Philly R287. Still grittty enough that it has park cruising and bathhouses. The insane wealth and expense that ruined most other gay cities hasn’t destroyed Philly. There are trade offs - more poor people - but they are worth it for a more real, less pretentious, more relaxed city.

"but they are worth it for a more real, less pretentious, more relaxed city."

There are many adjectives to describe Philly, but relaxed is most definitely not one of them.

I am Action News Chopper 6

I’m James Goldman (aka, Jim Gardner). I’ve been anchoring Action News for over 40 years and refuse to leave and retire and give Brian Taff his rightful place as primary anchor. I will die in this chair.

I am Parkway House, one of the finest and architecturally most interesting luxury apartment buildings. I offer great views of the Rodin Museum and the Homeless Tent City.

I am the former family court building that was supposed to become a boutique hotel. I make you feel like you are in Paris.

We are the awesome used bookstores in Philly. We defy the economic forces that have made so many other cities soulless.

[quote] but relaxed is most definitely not one of them.

sorry, Charlie, but I call philly, my home for over twenty years, "the City that Never Wakes" it's a sleepy town. possibly one of the reasons philly has done well under social distancing is that people would rather just stay home, if it rains, is hot, cold, or even if santa claus shows up. Philadelphians aren't intrepid like NY'ers. they'd rather just watch the action on TV

R294, Starbucks shut down more stores in philly during the economic downturn of 2008-2009 - they realized that they just weren't going to get the business.

Yeah - relaxed in the sense that they are not killing themselves to get ahead or be cooler, hipper, better than others. The competitive pressures of NY, LA, DC are largely foreign to Philly.

I have visited Philly 5 times now and each time I got into a friendly conversation with a stranger on the street. Unthinkable in New York. I don’t understand why some call Philadelphians rude.

If you steal their parking spot you might get your face bashed in, but other than that Philadelphians are generally nice

R287, I live in the NE Philly/Bucks area and never heard of this park, nor could I find it on the map. Are you sure the name is right?

R300: Poquessing Creek Park? My guess from a quick Google search; and it fits the location described by R287 (I think.)

It's from the Lenape word meaning "place of mice."

Thanks, r301, that’s it.

squeek

Sorry guys yes it's Poquessing Valley Park.

I type fat because ACERME run.

What are you talking about R303 and R305?

R298, I’m from Philly and I’ve heard others say that about us; spontaneous conversations started by complete strangers are common here but no where else. I’ve experienced this so many times, I’ve even done it myself, but never thought it was unique to Philly until other people started pointing it out. It’s just random observational musings usually, nothing heavy. 90% of the time people talk back and now you’re just chatting. If they don’t reply but look at you funny, you just shrug. I guess they’re new here.

We have a kind of understood camaraderie here that I guess just comes naturally if you’ve been here long enough.

If you start a spontaneous conversation in New York (or in Germany) they look at you as if you were an ax murderer.

they look at you like that too in philly, just not as often

I am that Mormon temple that looks a 150 years old but is from 2016.

I am the SS United States, rusting along on Pier 82, waiting to be scrapped. COVID-19 has scuttled my last hopes of survival. I still hold the Blue Ribband.

r311 I'm amazed that old rust bucket is still afloat. Every time I pass it I'm surprised I can still see its waterline.

me too

What place in Philadelphia has the biggest and best selection of gay bathing suits, jocks, g-strings, etc? I'm working on my Halloween costume. We don't have anything like that up here and I don't like to order those kind of things online.

r314 I don't know if it's still in business, but Passional Boutique around 5th and Bainbridge might fill your bill.

I’d say the porn stores in SW Philly down on Essington/Passyunk are more likely to have a supply of g-strings etc. Or Risqué on 40-something and Chestnut.

I'd say danny's but it likely is closed now

The ship’s hull is in 90% working order. Too bad that we have so many short sighted people in local government. The ship has potential to be so many things.

r318 The hull must be the only thing that's still in fairly good shape. The insides, after decades of neglect can't be salvageable? Even if there was some interest before, the pandemic surely has put an end to it. TPTB might've wanted it as some dockside attraction as opposed to an ocean-going vessel, no?

When I was just out of college, I lived at 19th and Pine, across from Town Pizza. I worked at the Suburban Station (16th and JFK Blvd). During a snowstorm, I just needed to get to the train station at 17th and Locust and could then walk the whole way underground. Now that's my kind of city.

that is still possible

The Big U still has potential for static use, but it diminishes the longer people wait. It’s probably best to have her scrapped. Everyone who has purchased her has done so with the best intentions; but when they find out that the investment is so cost prohibitive, they pawn her off.

r320 Your mention of Town Pizza brings back fond memories. The day I met the man who would become my partner, and eventually husband, we went there after we had "gotten acquainted." We were joined by his two best friends, it was a lovely introduction to Center City and the gayborhood(a word that may not have even been coined at that time)

R320, what year was that?

r324 2900 B.C.E.,

I mean 1975

Fun to read

Can you believe there's not a single camofluoge short cut boxer brief to be found in the entire country! They're all outside of the country and Trump's trade policies are holding them back. My Halloween is ruined!

shucks