Letters to the Editor | Jan. 14, 2025

Perhaps it took the trauma of losing Macy’s to drill some sense into the 76ers. One of the oldest principles of Philly politics is that developers always get what they want — regardless of the community, city planners, or common sense. For once, this rule was broken. Getting back to basics, Market Street will be for marketing, the sports complex will be for sports. This gives us greater freedom to design East Market Street for its best purposes, not as a depressed area that needs to have a stadium shoved down our throats. It also gives us the opportunity to protect the integrity of Chinatown and to reopen the intercity bus station so visitors can come to our city without the indignity of being literally thrown out onto the street.

Ronald B. Levine, The City Conservancy, Philadelphia, cityconservancy@aol.com

After all the heartache, wrangling, and compromise that went into last month’s City Council approval for the Sixers arena deal, it’s impossible to see the abrupt Comcast Spectator/76ers decision to build a new arena at the South Philadelphia sports complex as anything but a callous affront to the residents of this city. The central rationale behind building 76 Place in the long-ailing Market East section was to spur something of a renaissance in a district that sorely needs it. Instead, we just learned how Macy’s is closing, and that thieves invaded the historic St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church right across the street to steal a golden crown from a statue of the Madonna. So much for urban renewal.

Like Nero, Comcast and the 76ers have decided to let Rome burn. I guess their financial portfolios didn’t mesh well with community investment. Forgotten are the 1970s when Comcast essentially built its empire from Prism cable services in Philly. Or how local fans stood by the 76ers in 1972-1973 even after 73 losses. But true Philadelphians have very long memories. A championship season or two might help blunt their resentment, but they never truly forgive.

Anthony Nannetti, Philadelphia

It is reprehensible that the Sixers seem to have used the city, the mayor, the citizens of Chinatown, and all of us as leverage to get a deal from Comcast. Once upon a time, there was this thing called integrity. It seems games aren’t the only thing the 76ers have lost.

Maria Pappalardo, Bridgeton

I’m a Democrat and an anti-Trumper, but I disagree entirely with your Sunday editorial denouncing U.S. Sen. John Fetterman for playing nice with Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress. Wake up to political reality. It seems the editorial is weighed down by a bitter adversarial ideology against the president-elect and the Republican establishment. Yes, I can relate to this. But our senator has a better idea.

The Republicans will be in power for the next four years. That’s a fact. We’ve seen that hatred and opposition between the parties have stifled needed legislation for many years in a divided government. Let’s remember a basic tenet of politics, called logrolling. It creates goodwill between adversaries: You play nice with me, I’ll play nice with you. Or, as children are admonished, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Fetterman is not an enabler. The Republicans have enough power not to need a Democratic fellow traveler. He’s a smart politician. And he’s working for us. Is that so hard to see?

Paul Selbst, Philadelphia

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