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June 19, 2008City Hall Is A Paris Cafe
Transformers 2 has been shooting in town recently, and currently City Hall has been transformed (ho!) into a Parisian cafe near the École Militaire stop on the Paris Metro. Why the Transformers go to Paris, I do not know. (For culture?) My favorite little bit of movie-filming-in-town gossip comes from my friend John on Twitter, who passed a box labeled "hero plates" sometime last week. Posted by D-Mac at 09:37 AM | Comments (2) March 11, 2008You're Reading This At City Hall, We Know
She added that the city now has software to monitor everyone's Internet account; the city will probably start cracking down on idiots downloading porn at work and hilarious stories of employees fired for porn will grace our TV news channels during sweeps week. That's all fine and dandy, especially since there's probably also a large chance the city's new Internet-monitoring technology Phillis said City Hall "had to go out and buy" won't work. Phillis also says she now wants to balance the employees' right to privacy against the right for the city to not have its employees goofing off all day. I'm no fan of Internet filters (duh) but it seems like the city should have had at least a plan in place to filter Internet traffic if that's what they wanted to do. Shouldn't that actually have been done in like 1998? Maybe, pretty soon the city will be offering free Earthlink Dial-Up Networking. Oh, and thanks for stopping by, phila.gov employees. Please continue to fight the man by visiting my blog as often as possible. It's your duty as a municipal employee. 65 Percent of City Hall Internet Traffic Goes To "Improper" Web Pages [Clout] Posted by D-Mac at 04:52 PM | Comments (367) February 15, 2008Nutter Calls For Truce Between City Workers, Residents
"Quite honestly, sometimes the public is not as nice as they could be when they encounter a public employee. All of this is about how we treat each other. It doesn't cost anything to be nice to someone. It doesn't cost anything to demonstrate mutual respect. Treat people the way you want to be treated." Oh, man. Who knew Michael Nutter was Jesus, telling us to turn the other cheek, to love one another as ourselves. Call me a Doubting Thomas, though. I'll need to see some water-into-wine action before I believe. Nutter Wants to Apply the 'Golden Rule' to City Hall [KYW 1060] Posted by D-Mac at 11:43 AM | Comments (26) | TrackBack (0) January 23, 2008Ron Paul Would Not Stand For ThisHillary is an hour and fifteen minutes late to her 1:15 appearance at City Hall. Thanks, Mike. Posted by D-Mac at 02:28 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0) Hillary Clinton At City Hall Today
Okay, no, there will probably be some campaigning involved; she's stopping in the mayor's reception room for a ceremony and then heading off to New Jersey, which has a primary Feb. 5 and so actually matters. Sadly, Bill Clinton will not be appearing in Cherry Hill as planned; he'll be stumping for Ron Paul in Florida instead. Update 2: Oh, Rendell is going to endorse her today. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania's primary is after the 2008 general election. Hillary Clinton will visit Phila. City Hall today [Inquirer] Posted by D-Mac at 09:33 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0) January 10, 2008Someone Moved In To A New Office!A reader sends a screenshot from his blog.
Hmm... looking to buy an antique desk for City Hall, or looking to sell one leftover in the office in order to cut the wage tax? Posted by D-Mac at 01:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) January 09, 2008Celebrity-Deprived Locals Flock To Nutter
The event was supposed to go until around 8:00 p.m., but Nutter stayed in line for two more hours (six in all) to accomodate all the number of people involved. (Thousands, actually.) And Erin O'Hearn -- she's good, this is the only reason I link Action News anymore due to the annoying talking guy -- talked to some dude who waited for two hours with his 12-year-old daughter. Social services investigated after that, probably. But, hey, he's a master of PR and everybody likes him so far and now people are already cautioning us that he hasn't done anything yet except that crime emergency thing and shake hands. But, for now, ah, hooray; without any celebrities or good sports teams, look what we Philadelphians are reduced to! Thousands visit Philadelphia City Hall [6 ABC] Posted by D-Mac at 11:42 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0) January 08, 2008Mayor Nutter To Shake Your Hand
Well, why else would he be holding an open house? Okay, so there's no for sale sign, apparently. But as you may have heard, today from 4 to 8 Michael Nutter will be in Room 201 of City Hall, willing to meet all the crackpots in the city and probably pose for photos. With his crime emergency yesterday and today's open house, Nutter already has the public relations side of the job down. Now who's up for dressing in mascot suits and getting photos with Nutter in City Hall? Posted by D-Mac at 02:29 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0) June 08, 2007Some Kid Jerry Is Really Stupid
Shortly after Nutter's victory, a postcard addressed to "Olivia Nutter, City Hall, Philadelphia" arrived. Yeah, she's gonna live in Billy Penn's hat, Jerry. If you want to make out with Olivia Nutter, there are better ways to do it than this. Winning Formula [Daily News] Posted by D-Mac at 12:36 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) April 17, 2007Nutter: Turn City Hall Into World's Largest Automat
Of course, this is a great idea, since if anyone should be ripping off tourists at insanely high prices for crap gear, it should be the city, not independent vendors. Nutter says his "Philly Gear" plan could earn the city $1 million in revenue a year. It's modeled after NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan for New York-themed gear; he thinks the original five boroughs could get $20 mil a year in revenue. Nutter isn't done there, though. It's not just t-shirts and hats, please. "Street signs, fire hydrants, there's all kinds of novelty things you can do," Nutter said. "We should have a restaurant on the first floor of City Hall. This is the sort of innovation we need." Correct. Every time I walk by City Hall, I think, "Damn, what this permanently under construction building needs is a restaurant in it. Ooh, maybe another Applebee's!" Update: And here's New York City's store. Nutter envisions a Philly line of goods [Inquirer via Philebrity] Posted by D-Mac at 01:32 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) January 16, 2007Two Weird Stories Get Weirder
No, really, I didn't. I mean, who would think they'd cross paths? That'd be a pretty wild guess. Well, anyway, they are connected. The Inquirer's Patrick Kerkstra reports that 26-year-old Charles Kelly -- shot by police Sunday morning at 9th and Market streets after lunging at them with a steak knife and shouting "Kill me!" -- is the same man who broke into City Hall and took Anna Verna's Bible and trashed the Pennsylvania Supreme Court offices. The knife he wielded at police was the same one he took from Verna's office. Officials say Verna is well-known for ordering 16-pound steaks to her office, hence the steak knife. Okay, I made that last part up. But somehow everything else is actually true. I guess if you're going to go out, might as well break into City Hall beforehand. Man killed by police had broken into City Hall [Inquirer] Posted by D-Mac at 03:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) December 11, 2006Reason #17 To Love Philadelphia: Alexander Milne Calder's Sculptures
Yes, after around three years, and a little over a month since it was announced that the scaffolding was coming down, the scaffolding is actually coming down. (This has to be some sort of record for shortest gap between the announcement and the actual work.) Hey, I shit on City Hall a lot around here, so when there's a chance to praise something about it, I have to jump at the chance. With the Comcast Center getting closer and closer and the restoration on Alexander Milne Calder's sculpture's being finished, our skyline just got a lot more complete. Philly Skyline - November [Phillyskyline] Posted by D-Mac at 08:45 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) November 30, 2006Reason #10 To Love Philadelphia: O Tannenbaum
Peace on Earth, and good will toward all men. Posted by D-Mac at 11:09 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) November 16, 2006Reason #3 To Love Philadelphia: City Hall Restoration
Here's how Philly Skyline describes the restorations: Well, as one might imagine for sculptures with over a century's worth of Philadelphia weathering (half of which was infused with the soot and exhaust of Broad Street Station directly across the street), the bronze sculptures were suffering from severe corrosion. CSOS treated each sculpture and used lasers to remove the corrosion, so as to leave no residue (and to protect pedestrians below). Then, a clear lacquer coating was applied to drive out moisture and protect the sculptures from the elements. (Billy Penn himself has a similar coating from his 1987 cleaning.) It's nice to see that the city -- okay, and Pew Charitable Trusts and the Getty Grant Program, which funded it -- does indeed care about keeping this city somewhat attractive. Look for a scaffolding-free top of City Hall within a few weeks. Hooray! When the scaffolding goes down [Phillyskyline] Posted by D-Mac at 10:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) November 13, 2006Now You Can Finally Shit On City Hall
The city's first public toilet is here. All citizens, rejoice! In a brief ceremony -- yes, a ceremony -- the Oz-like curtains were removed from around the pay toilet, which is now operational for just a quarter on the north side of City Hall. One connected man -- even with pay toilets, it's how everything gets done in this city -- was chosen to be the first to take the celebratory flush. “If you compare this toilet to a typical Port-O-John, the difference is night and day,” says James Lewis, the director of facilities and public property for the city, and the pay toilet’s first user. “It was a really wonderful experience,” he said of being the first one to flush the city’s newest addition. Amen, I say. This toilet opening clearly is the beginning of a new golden age for our fair city. Take that, Julia Vitullo-Martin! New era is public toilets is here [Metro] Posted by D-Mac at 01:29 PM | Comments (622) | TrackBack (0) November 02, 2006Flushing Philly's Troubles Away
Yes, folks, there it is. The eagerly awaited pay toilet on the north side of City Hall is here! Although the 25-cent flusher isn't open yet -- and is indeed guarded by a gate -- we are all only a few days away from the toilet's official launch. The Daily News updates the pay toilet story today, making note of John Street's amazing tenacity in making sure Philly has a pay toilet, and making sure it's just outside of City Hall. So, y'know, if any Council members need to use it. The toilet, though, isn't even Philadelphia's to keep. It's a toilet on loan from Boston. Yes, Boston has six public pay toilets, but one of them was shipped down to Philly for a three-month trial run. (And it's from a German company!) There is, however, an emergency phone, in case you strain yourself while taking a shit. The toilet is from Wall Corp., which says it's "the Mercedes-Benz of the street-furniture industry." There's a 25 minute time limit, after which the doors will just spring open. It's only available during the day and also self-cleans in 50 seconds! Is there anything this toilet can't do? This being Philadelphia, the city's Boston-loaned toilet won't quite have the same luster as as the ones in Beantown: Although Boston has a program to give tokens to homeless people to operate the toilets, the city will keep the 25-cent charge in place during the pilot period. Hooray! Thanks, Mayor Street! At your disposal, a new-age toilet [Daily News] Posted by D-Mac at 01:34 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0) October 20, 2006Freedom To Flush (For A Quarter)
And now Philadelphia has one more high-tech pay toilet at City Hall than it had before. Oh, yes. Within a week, the city's first pay toilet -- costing a cool 25 cents -- will open at City Hall, possibly in William Penn's hat. It apparently sanitizes itself after every use within 50 seconds, although waiting for a minute outside a stupid pay toilet for almost a minute after the previous person is done seems pretty annoying. Still, a sanitized bathroom for a quarter at City Hall. What does KYW 1060's Mike Dunn think about it? Public property commissioner Joan Schlotterbeck says that first pay toilet will be ready to flush in about a week, and it will cost just a quarter to use: A bargain. Indeed. City Hall to Get High-Tech Pay Toilet [KYW 1060] Posted by D-Mac at 10:03 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) July 26, 2006Leftovers: Goodbye, Olympic Bid• Breaking: Philly dropped from Olympic contention. Shocker, we know. Houston also dropped. Details TK. Update: Here are the aforementioned details from KYW 1060 and the Inky. • Philly Future says that if they're sold, they'll be sharing the profits with you, the user! They also say "Driving an Hyundai like myself bub?" Ahh, yes, I can see the venture capitalists lining up to buy Philly Future any day now, and with Karl sharing the dough, Her Alter Ego will have enough bolding and capital letters to last a lifetime. [Philly Future] • The New York Times loves City Hall! Add it to the list of things that the NYT hearts about Philly -- that's hipsters, the Liberty Bell, the Art Museum, Pat's Steaks (probably), etc. -- STAT! (Related: A very angry comment on Phillyist.) [NYT] • The head of the prison guards' union agrees with the lawsuit filed that claims poor conditions in Philly's jails. So you know it's bad. [Metro] • Oh, and that stripper with the human hand in a jar? She skipped her court date today. Why are we (and the Daily News, and 50 other local blogs) writing about this even though it's not really anywhere near Philly? Oh, right: She's a stripper with a human hand in a jar. [AP/Philly.com] Posted by D-Mac at 04:46 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) May 22, 2006Quickies: Tag, You're It
• A poll of local Philadelphians showed that we care most about the environment when choosing a mayor. Wait, really? Are you sure? I care most about getting out of the voting booth so I don't have to go back for another year, and I feel most of my friends are like that, too. In response to this poll, though, Chaka Fattah has started planting flowers at Broad and Oregon, and he's moving North until he's cleaned up this damned city! [Inquirer] • Four Philadelphia bars are on Beer Advocate's list of 50 best places to have a beer in the United States, including Tria, oddly enough. Monk's is the highest-ranked bar at number 16. (Ludwig's Garden and Grey Lodge are also on the list.) [Beer Advocate via Blinq] • City Hall has been named a "Civil Engineering Landmark" by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It has also, coincidentally, been named "The Best Building Ever In The History of the World" by the American Society for Refurbishing Delays. [KYW 1060] Posted by D-Mac at 02:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) March 07, 2006Why you should run when you pass through City Hall
Well, despite the restoration that's been going on seemingly since the building's construction -- or for at least the last few years -- chunks of the building are falling off.ne KYW 1060 reports that Rick Tustin of the Capital Program Office testified yesterday in front of City Council that pieces of the cast iron facade are falling off the building. And the chunks are so large they're "heavy enough to do some real bodily harm to anybody if they were to get hit by them." What does this mean? Tustin says the problem could be fixed with more money (of course), and Council has been delaying (of course). The upshot, though, is that right now the loose chunks are being held by simple netting -- and that without Council's OK on new borrowing, the restoration will halt in August. They might as well just make the scaffolding permanent at this point. We're all used to it by now, anyway. Council Gets a 'Chicken Little' Warning [KYW 1060] Posted by D-Mac at 10:35 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) February 16, 2006Photo 101Today's Metro man on the street interview takes on City Hall:
First off, Yes. They should clean the damn building. Second off, could you guys maybe take the photos a little bit closer next time? I can't really see the people too well. Posted by D-Mac at 11:29 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) January 10, 2006Your moment of daily 'Metro' zenThe "Today's Debate" in Metro today:
This is the downside of City Hall's security increase: it's going to make city employees who work there that much harder to deal with. As usual, these bike messengers are way ahead of the curve. Posted by D-Mac at 01:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) |
I'm not sure on the numbers here, but the refurbishing of City Hall has been going on approximately since it was completed in 1901. I think the city figured that, since it wasn't the tallest building in the world by the time it was completed, they might as well ugly it up a little bit with some scaffolding.
