Hybrid-work wars rage on | Morning Newsletter
🎶 And the Eras Tour (Philly’s Version).
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Good morning, Philly, and especially our Eagles as they take on the Steelers today.
Philly’s hybrid-work wars aren’t over yet, and battles wage beyond City Hall as more employers have brought workers back to the office with increasing frequency this year. The trend continues as the city’s office market faces a year of reckoning.
And a father-daughter duo in Spruce Hill formed a choir to keep the Eras Tour alive. Kick off your Sunday with these stories and more, below.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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It’s been a weird few years for the Philadelphia office real estate market amid a pandemic that normalized widespread remote work. 2025 is expected to bring a reckoning.
Trend toward downsizing: The average office lease in Center City is dramatically smaller as companies that allow workers to come in fewer than five days a week are seeking less space.
The office isn’t dead: Even so, many company leaders say they do still want to bring employees into a shared workspace. Philadelphia’s remote workforce is shrinking — about 16% of all local workers last year, down from about a quarter in 2021. Hybrid work accommodations have also become less widely available.
Employee blowback: Workers who prefer a hybrid schedule worry that Philadelphia city government’s controversial five-day in-office policy enacted this summer will influence their employers to do the same. But future shifts in policy could depend on the job market, and how hard employers must work to attract talent.
Commercial real estate reporter Jake Blumgart explains the trends within Philadelphia’s office market, as well as the employer push toward in-office work.
What you should know today
A 14-year-old boy arrested in connection with the shooting of three other teens outside of the Christmas Village at City Hall Friday is being charged as an adult, police said Saturday. And the day after, the shooting was the talk at the Christmas Village.
On the second-to-last shopping weekend before Christmas, burglars made off with eight Rolex watches in a smash-and-grab incident at Philadelphia Mills mall.
Authorities have released few details about the death of veterinarian Michael Anthony, who was found slain outside his Cherry Hill home last week, though they have labeled the crime a homicide.
Montgomery County law enforcement officials arrested a man Thursday in connection with a deadly Lower Merion Township home invasion, while another suspect remains on the run.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a woman who said a Philadelphia police officer took and shared a photo of her son’s body moments after he jumped to his death.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro rebuked President Joe Biden’s decision to commute the remaining sentence of a former Luzerne County judge who had been sentenced to 17 ½ years in federal prison for the “kids for cash” scandal.
AIDS Fund Philly, the decades-old nonprofit behind the city’s annual AIDS Walk, announced Sunday that it would shut its doors Dec. 31.
Villanova University is facing blowback after the director of its counseling center associated Zionism with fascism in a psychology conference presentation.
The prospect of new ownership for an affordable-apartment complex in Barrington has surprised tenants and local officials and is fueling efforts to find new homes for nearly 300 people.
PennDot and SEPTA are asking for residents to help decide how to revamp Roosevelt Boulevard as well as transit service on the corridor.
Berks County native Taylor Swift’s record-smashing, continent-hopping Eras Tour ended last week, but for Philly’s Getaway Choir, it’s just the beginning.
The singing group — whose name is a nod to Reputation track “Getaway Car” — was launched by Mark Engler and his 12-year-old daughter, Cylvia, in October. The multigenerational performers are the latest in a string of local Swift-inspired communities, from a political action group to an addiction recovery meetup, all connected by a love of her music.
“Usually with a [choir] people have to learn the material. You wonder: Will people know this song? Will it work?” Engler said. “But with Taylor’s stuff, everyone already knows the words to every song. People are already so committed to the music.”
Getaway Choir will perform 20 of Swift’s songs at Studio 34 in West Philadelphia next month. The singers will be backed by a live band — and encourage attendees to join in. Reporter Beatrice Forman has the details.
❓ Pop quiz
President Joe Biden recently signed a bill that could lead to the Smithsonian Institution taking over the ownership of which Philadelphia museum?
A) Museum of the American Revolution
B) Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
C) National Constitution Center
D) Philadelphia History Museum
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🥖 Salivating over: These Philly cheesesteaks taste-tested in Hawai’i.
🐟 Making: Reservations for Feast of the Seven Fishes and Christmas dinners in the Philly suburbs.
🍴 Anticipating: The venture-backed food hall coming to Fishtown in 2025.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Legendary boxer who lived and trained in North Philadelphia
FAZE JORRIE
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Elissa Quesada, who solved Saturday’s anagram: Grover Cleveland Bergdoll. For nearly a century, the Franklin Institute has maintained that he donated a Wright brothers plane. But his family is disputing the claim.
Photo of the day
🎶 Today’s track goes like this: “I went my own way and I made it / I’m your favorite reference, baby.” Find it on one of music critic Dan DeLuca’s top 15 pop albums of the year. (As my song pick indicates, I think Dan nailed it with #1.)
Have a great Sunday, and go Birds. See you back here tomorrow morning.
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