These photos were like yesterday or last night in front of Jaco Taco and Juice Bar in West Chester Borough. 8 West Gay Street, right ? So does this business have a security cameras? If so, they need to turn the footage over to police.
At first given all the online chatter people were rather frustrated with West Chester Borough Police.
Whoever this person is needs to have his ass thrown in jail for putting puppies in a cage in freaking August and trying to sell them on the streets of West Chester Borough.
This is horrible, it is actually illegal, and it’s animal cruelty. I’m going show you all the screenshots I have collected and a little video. if you see this person selling dogs on the street do not approach. Just call the police and record them. Clear photos would be helpful here.
I will note, based upon what I have seen online, it seems like West Chester Borough was a little slow to act here.
Police need to catch this guy because otherwise we all know what will probably happen, right? Dead puppies somewhere right?
Whoever this is, they’re just as bad as a puppy mill, and who knows maybe they’re from a puppy mill?
And just out of curiosity when this fighting was going on in the middle of the street, where were West Chester Police?
This is ridiculous that this is even happening.
File under law and disorder and illegal puppy sales in West Chester Borough.
No it’s not Sullivan Hall on Villanova’s campus. It’s Mt. Pleasant in Tredyffrin. The neighbors as in the full time year round residents are in hell. Party season for off campus housing is back.
And the song remains the same as in the same year after year. Tonight there was a call regarding Mount Pleasant. The residents don’t call unless it’s really bad and what happened? As always not much.
Mount Pleasant deserves better. Tredyffrin Township needs to get it together. There are plenty of student rentals in the region where it’s not like animal house every single year.
But in Tredyffrin its animal house every single year. One would think with all the overpriced infill development going in around Mount Pleasant that Tredyfrrin would be a little more on top of the student houses.
Come on Tredyffrin, how many years? Why isn’t this township embarrassed?
OK this all started with someone contacting my blog’s Facebook page. This woman’s friend’s daughter, whom I assume is of adult age has a cat and was fostering a cat. Long story short apparently, ACCT Philly was told to pick up the daughter’s foster cat when she was out of town on a family emergency and ACCT picked up the WRONG cat. They were supposed to take a cat that the woman was fostering named Garfield, but instead they took the woman’s few year-old cat Simba, who she has had for a few years.
It seems like there was a cat sitter involved as well ?
However, not to be judgmental but WHY would you leave responsibility for the right cat getting picked up with someone else? That is something that this young woman probably should’ve handled herself or waited until she got back home.
Nevertheless, the unthinkable seems to have happened, and we’ve heard of it happening before because cases like this have made the local news. ACCT Philly which I personally feel is a train wreck of an organization, took the woman’s cat by mistake and adopted it out and isn’t that horrible? And I have to ask they are a rescue and they know how to scan for microchips so why didn’t they, because this woman’s cat is chipped and the foster cat as well?
Now what is making this worse is I have found reference to this cat on social media posts and where the mother seems to be posting on Reddit, and there are no names so it seems like a scam/spam post.
I said to the woman who contacted me if we don’t know who the person is who lost their cat it’s not particularly helpful. And then the mother is posting from out of state and apparently lives in New England or something, and one of the posts I found is from a friend of hers on Facebook? I don’t get what they don’t get that they need to humanize this and put a face to the young woman suffering because of this, and why can’t this young woman step forward and say hey this rescue took my cat by accident instead of picking up the foster cat?
I am sharing all the screenshots I have found. I think ACCT Philly if they have to, needs to go to the house of the people who have the wrong cat with an animal control officer and get it back. And if these people who adopted the wrong cat purely because of the shelter, making a huge mistake, supposedly now know they were given someone’s pet in error, why haven’t they returned the cat yet?
Anyway, this is what I found and I think it really honestly is something that deserves a little media attention because if rescues tell people to get pets microchipped so they can easily be returned if lost, etc., etc. , why didn’t this work? Why didn’t they scan the cat they picked up when they got to the shelter to at least make sure they had checked back into the system, and the right cat prior to adoption?
ACCT Philly needs to get its act together or get out of the rescue business.
That young woman deserves her cat back. And if the people who adopted her cat won’t return it, should they really be allowed to adopt the foster cat when all is said and done?
Anyway, I’m throwing this out there. These are the screenshots I found I have maintained the message I received. I’m not making this up, I don’t think these people are making it up but again as I said at the opening of this post, the cat owner who was wronged needs to step forward. And I’m saying that because I think it will help.
And my last thought is the past few months there has been horror story after horror story of dumped animals, abandoned animals, problems with shelters, and so on. It’s heartbreaking.
My friend and I had been trying to get into Matine’s Café in Devon for months. There were either lines out the door to get in, or you simply could not get a space in the parking lot.
The parking lot is an odd configuration, which is not the fault of the café, but I imagine the owner is making a tidy rent off of these people, and they could do better with the parking lot.
This place was so worth the wait to get in . We both couldn’t remember the last time we had so enjoyed lunch out. We were there for quite a while and just took our time and because it was the last week in August it was a steady but not impossible flow of people in and out.
We ate inside, which was less crowded than outside. They have a lovely outside dining area and that was completely full.
Among other things, we had an actual French woman wait on us. And that made the experience even more fun.
When you walk in the building is deceptively small compared to when you go inside. I think it would be a marvelous place to reserve seating for a luncheon if they did that. This café is spotlessly clean, including the ladies room.
When you are inside, it reminds you of an actual French or European Café. It is light and airy and old style marble top café tables. The tables are so authentic, that I have to wonder if they were purchased in France and shipped over.
They have a wonderful café menu that I imagine might have seasonal adjustments. One of the things I love best is the coffee and tea and the tea, when you are ordering an iced tea, is a pour over so the tea is super fresh and that makes all the difference in iced tea in my opinion. They use loose tea, which is also my preference at home. My friend had I think it was a mango peach iced tea, and I had the Ceylon gold. Ceylon gold is a loose tea I enjoy at home. It is flavorful, but not too acidic nor does it get too dark.
My friend had an artichoke quiche that was beautiful looking. I had the smoked salmon tartine. she loved her quiche and one thing I loved about my cartoon other than how fresh it was and how good quality of smoked salmon it was that they used, was the Tzaziki sauce they used on it. And it also had baby fresh arugula on top. I adore arugula.
Tzaziki is something you think of in Greek cuisine which is Greek yogurt, cucumber, dill, mint, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. On the Tartine that I had, it was perfect.
Both of us opted for gazpacho on the side. I am picky about gazpacho, and quite frankly, I rarely order it out because I make my late mother-in-law’s Andalusian version of gazpacho and it’s just pretty much my favorite. Their gazpacho is the best I’ve had outside of my own kitchen, ever. To me there’s also is reminiscent of an Andalusian gazpacho, and interestingly like me, they serve it with crumpled feta on top. I never knew this was a thing. I literally tried it one time with my own gazpacho because I just happened to have some in the refrigerator and I thought the tastes would go well together. Also, a lot of restaurants think they can get away with gazpacho made from canned tomatoes, and the taste is just not the same. Matine’s is fresh and there is a slight citrus accent as well.
We also sampled their cheese plate, which they described as being enough for two people, it could have fed more. It was a great selection of cheeses, including a magnificent brie, and we took leftovers home. What I liked about the cheese plate as it was simple and pretty to look at. It wasn’t fussy.
The plates they use for our lunch were a pretty matte blue ceramic disc.
Because it was a belated birthday lunch, we split a dessert crêpe made with Nutella. And although Nutella is an Italian product, ironically the first time I ever had it was in France when I was a teenager.
While we were there, I ran into a friend who was also enjoying a belated birthday lunch with one of her friends!
After we finished eating, we shopped in their little market inside the store. I brought home croissants and a little bread boule, along with some French pantry items like Marie-Antoinette Tea and a fabulous Dijon mustard, as well as Roger & Gallet Fleur de Figuer Eau Parfumée.
Oh, and they have a Little Free French library outside!
We are very excited to have been able to get in and have the time to appreciate this place properly. We look forward to going back again, and I have a feeling it will become a new spot for us. They list the address is Wayne, but it’s really Devon to me because it is just before the Whole Foods if you are headed west and just after the Whole Foods if you are headed east on Lancaster Avenue.
Matine’s is located at 757 Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, PA and they are open seven days a week 8 AM to 5 PM.
You can now book a table via a reservation at resy (Click here.)
I will note because it’s important, I was not compensated for this post in any way, shape, or form. I did not seek compensation for this post in any way shape or form. I was simply a normal customer, and I loved the experience and the food and will be back again.
Overview of August 27 Incident: Earlier today, U.S. Marshals arrested an unaffiliated individual in the I-1 parking garage on Ithan Avenue. The person, a suspect in an off-campus incident in New Jersey, was taken into custody by federal agents without incident. Law enforcement has since left the scene, and an all-clear was issued. There is no threat to the Villanova University community. This matter is unrelated to last week’s incidents on campus.
Aug 27, 2025 at 1:44 ALL CLEAR: I1 Garage Open. Police have left the area.
Aug 27, 2025 at 1:34 p.m. Police are still on scene. Continue to avoid area. No threat to campus safety. This is unrelated to last week’s incidents
Aug 27, 2025 at 1:30 p.m. Unaffiliated person – suspect in off-campus incident in New Jersey, taken into custody safely at I-1 Garage by federal agents.
Aug 27, 2025 at 1:18 p.m. Police activity in I-1 garage Ithan Ave 1st level. NO IMMEDIATE THREAT.
So recently, I expressed my thoughts on the Honey Brook Community Library suddenly deciding no candidate meet and greets would take place at their facility. To my understanding this is not a political party gathering, it’s a community meet and greet of all candidates of various offices and political parties for an upcoming election. What I was also told is the library lady told people on the phone that the library was uncomfortable given the political climate in Honey Brook Township. Yes I am paraphrasing, but anyway, here is what I said:
I think something has to be said about the situation involving the Honey Brook Library of it all and Valerie Shultz for Honey Brook Township Supervisor. The latest thing to fly around this bucolic municipality with the rotten underbelly, is that Val is a hater of libraries and they go further to intimate that she’s somehow “threatening” or “bullying” the library.
The library in Honey Brook historically has done political meet and greets until THIS election.
All of a sudden they were uncomfortable, and people were being told that some were fearful of doing a meet and greet? Val didn’t argue with them, she respected their position, but she like many of us have questioned the timing of it.
Sorry, not sorry the timing is totally suspect and that’s just common sense and if you go back to the most recent meeting for the supervisors, they had to go (and they meeting the library) proverbial hat in hand to ask for money from the municipality.
The way things work with bully or thug politics is often somewhat subversive and behind the scenes whisper down the lane where nobody overtly says an organization won’t get money that they need but they might intimate along the lines of maybe they won’t get as much because the political cabal is uncomfortable with Val running.
It is my belief and my opinion that any organization that needed money from Honey Brook Township would be discouraged this election season to do meet and greets.
This shouldn’t be the way it happens, but am I wrong? It’s bullying pure and simple, of Val AND the library? OK so the talking hoodie doesn’t want to debate, but are they so afraid of both candidates being at a meet and greet with other candidates?
These meet and greets feature all sorts of candidates running, including judicial. Just a little food for thought.
Of course the talking hoodie had to post a screenshot. Not that I care. That is an OPINION and they haven’t revoked the first Amendment yet that I know of.
This is shared because the library director was tagged personally, which is rather inappropriate – NOT her fault, just pointing it out.
Sooo before I get to the meat of the matter, let us address his accusation that Valerie Shultz is being terrible to the library. Honeys, I have it in writing and this is what Valerie said which was calm and measured (much like speaking to Valerie is):
Here is the text of the email in case you have a hard time reading the screenshot:
Jennifer,
First, I would like to thank you for working so well with Aurora, a member of my campaign team, for weeks to make the meet-n-greet candidate night a success. I’m just saddened that your team felt unsafe by hosting the event and had to withdraw your offer to host. Aurora indicated that you had been tagged in a FB post that led to your discomfort with hosting. I want to assure you that at no time did I or a member of my campaign team tag the library in a post. Unfortunately, there has been a pervasive effort by my opponent to intimidate anyone who provides me with a forum to speak to residents. I am sincerely sorry if that indeed was what happened to your team.
Secondly, I wanted to make you aware that I was campaigning in the Township yesterday and when I unknowingly visited a member of the library board, I was accused of spreading lies about the library then had a door slammed in my face. I do not know what lies I am alleged with having spread because she would not explain. I want to make it clear that at the last Supervisors meeting I asked about the latest donation to the library because I was concerned about the impact on the budget. It’s my job to ask those questions and the library is not the only instance where I have asked about expenditures. I want residents to understand how their tax money is being spent. I was in no way implying that I do not support the library. I believe the library is a critical part of our community. I am an elected auditor for the Township and have been carefully watching expenses for the last 2 years to ensure we are not headed for a tax increase. I would ask if you are aware of what was so upsetting to one of your board members that you please inform me so that I can clear up any misconception or misinformation. As a candidate for Supervisor, I want to have a excellent working relationship with you and your board should I be elected. Please feel free to call me if you’d prefer to speak instead of email. My cell is [REDACTED]
Regards,
Valerie Shultz
Here was library lady’s reply:
So all can read:
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Aurora, a regular library patron, who has never identified herself as affiliated with any particular organization or team, approached us about hosting a meet-and-greet event. Due to our limited staffing following our recent reopening, and after much insistence, we agreed to provide venue space only, with no involvement in event planning or logistics.
We subsequently removed this event from our schedule based on our standard evaluation process for all programming. We are deeply concerned about false statements suggesting external pressure influenced our decision-making. These claims are categorically untrue. This decision was made independently by library leadership to ensure alignment with our educational mission and community service goals.
As a community institution, we will not tolerate the spread of false information that damages our reputation and undermines public trust. Such misinformation has created legitimate daily security concerns for our staff and patrons due to the inflammatory rhetoric being shared online. The safety of everyone who enters our library is our highest priority. We take these security concerns seriously.
We remain committed to transparent communication with our community. We welcome respectful feedback and constructive dialogue about our programming. Our doors remain open, and we encourage community members to communicate with us directly about any concerns rather than engaging with unverified information online.
The library exists to serve all residents through educational programming, resources, and services. We will continue making decisions that support this mission while maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for everyone in our community. We remain committed to our mission of educating and serving the Honey Brook community with integrity and professionalism.
Jennifer Spade
Library Director
Youth Services Coordinator
Honey Brook Community Library
687 Compass Road, Honey Brook, PA 19344
610-273-3303
I call BS on the library lady and here is why:
So all can read easily:
On Monday, August 18, 2025, 1:37 PM, wrote:
I would like to inform everyone that the Honey Brook Library sent an email they are no longer comfortable hosting our meet and greet. Please see below.
Hi Aurora,
Due to the way this upcoming political election is playing out online on social media, the Honey Brook Community Library will no longer be hosting a meet and greet event at the library on Oct 8. We are concerned about the safety of our staff and building. I hope that you have enough time to find an alternate place for your event.
Thank you,
Jennifer Spade
Library Director
Youth Services Coordinator
Honey Brook Community Library
687 Compass Road, Honey Brook, PA 19344
610-273-3303
And then there is this:
Once again a false narrative…and you’re lying when you say “ I can’t make this stuff up” because that’s all you do!!
I had a phone conversation with Jennifer, the director of the library, and asked her flat out! During our conversation she said that her staff was concerned about their safety and the intimidation tactics that you and Sal employ!
You talk about Honey Brook Twp being a bucolic community. I know it’s a big word. Perhaps you should look up the definition because your contentious behavior doesn’t align. Plain and simple. You’re just an overgrown, adult bully.
So then the trustees of the Honey Brook Community Library released a statement a couple of hours ago:
Here is the verbiage in case the screen capture is blurry:
A Statement from our Board of Trustees:
Honey Brook Community Library exists to serve our entire community through educational programming, resources, and services that enrich the lives of all residents. As a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we are deeply committed to this mission and take seriously our responsibility to create an environment where every community member feels welcome, safe, and able to pursue learning and personal growth.
This commitment requires us to exercise careful judgment in our programming decisions. As a private organization, we maintain full discretion over the events we host, grounded in constitutional protections for freedom of association and our rights as private property owners.
Our Executive Director, supported by the board, makes these decisions independently, guided solely by our institutional mission to educate and serve the community. We are not bound by external pressures or influences that might compromise our primary obligation to maintain the library as a neutral educational resource for all residents.
Libraries have always been sanctuaries of learning, reflection, and peaceful discourse. Our community expects and deserves a space where they can engage with ideas, conduct research, participate in educational programs, and find respite. Libraries, while champions of intellectual freedom, must also maintain environments conducive to their core educational purposes. This means we must sometimes decline to host events that might compromise the peaceful, welcoming atmosphere that defines library spaces or that could create barriers to access for any members of our community.
We value feedback from our community and encourage open discussion. While not everyone will agree, we ask that all comments remain respectful. Our goal is to educate and serve the community, and we’ll continue working toward that with integrity.
Our commitment to community betterment remains unwavering while preserving the neutral, inclusive environment that makes libraries essential community resources.
Respectfully,
I love libraries. Have friends who are and were librarians different places. But to this library I simply ask are you playing politics or bowing to politics? Either way, you are a 501(c)(3) and you best think about that carefully. That is not a threat or anything other than they are a registered non-profit.
Isn’t it true the League of Women Voters meets there? So why can’t they, like their branches in many other areas, host a meet and greet at a library? It’s not one candidate, it’s as many as wish to show up. It’s a community thing and benign. A library should be neutral and neutral ground. But this is Honey Brook and it’s like a corn field Tammany Hall.
That is all I have got but the library lady does in fact need to get her story straight, don’t you think? If they are concerned because of a highly charged political atmosphere, can’t blame them. But the problem is they have done these gatherings before.
If Honey Brook Community Library is not doing this kind of gathering this year, then perhaps they need to issue a policy going forward that they aren’t hosting meet and greets of a political nature period. That way there is no confusion on the topic or suspicions of motivations.
Call me crazy but, meh, an endorsement from the not so pleasant lame duck Mayor of Malvern Borough is akin to il bacio della morte….. AKA the kiss of death.
A segue to Zeyn Uzman…I have said before I am not a fan of Zeyn Uzman who found himself out in the cold and UN-endorsed by the Great Valley Democrats and he was subsequently primaryed. All I know is his wee political machine went all gangbusters to discredit his opponent in the primary, Pete Papadopoulos, who owns Malvern Pizza and is the candidate the Great Valley Democrats chose to endorse. Now we all know I think endorsements should happen AFTER primaries to let water seek it’s own level, but whatever. I also think PA should become an open primary state.
Pete Papadopoulos beat the pants off of him on the Democrat side. Not sure if Zeyn Uzman prevailed as a Republican write in or not, honestly. it has been said he was once a Republican, but hey, lots of people myself included were once Republicans so that is that. So anyway, Joe Lorusso thinks it’s aces to be endorsed by Zeyn Uzman, I think does it matter and why him he’s not so hot? Oh and yes it is like a political il bacio della morte.
Oh and a tip here for Joe, whom I initially liked and like as a person? He pushed and pushed for me to endorse him, and I don’t endorse. He was told by all sorts NOT to do that to me or anyone else, that at its most basic, it makes people uncomfortable.
Sadly the largest impediment to Joe’s campaign is himself. He totally has the acumen and experience for the job, but he can’t stay in his own lane.
I actually find parts of his inner New Yorker and Brooklynite refreshing, but this is NOT New York. You can’t treat Chester County like New York City, they are two different beasts.
Joe also ran for Malvern Borough Council around 2023, and honestly he could have and should have won that race. But he has not learned he can’t just talk, he has to listen. He has to crawl before he can walk.
I never minded his messages until over this past weekend because he behaved like a man child when he didn’t like my thoughts. Honestly, it’s totally OK that didn’t like my answer and I tried to be polite because I don’t think he’s a bad guy. He can be quite charming. But he did the man child response thing and blocked me from replying to his last word and funny I thought we were having a conversation.
But it IS disappointing. He’s just not to me seeming like the guy I first heard interviewed. I think that guy is still in him, I hope he remembers that guy soon.
But then I caught wind of this whole thing where he is targeting the District Attorney’s office.
The Republican candidate for Chester County controller is taking aim at the county commissioners’ administrative team — including its new chief experience officer — as an “unelected” and “unaccountable” executive branch of county government.
In social media posts available from the Republican Committee of Chester County, candidate Joe LoRusso sharply criticizes the three positions that comprise the top tier of county administration as being expensive and not accountable to ordinary residents and voters….In his social media posts, LoRusso has said, provocatively, that the county is becoming “Philadelphia West,” with “crippling taxes, rising crime and broken government.” While it is true that the county’s median property tax bill is among the highest in the region, at $6,191, according to the World Population Review website, it is also true that the county’s median household income of $104,161 is the highest in the state. (LoRusso did not cite sources for his suggestion that the count’s crime rate is rising.)
Now I will be honest, I do not have a problem with questioning the chief executive officer (CEO), the chief operating officer (COO), and the chief experience officer (CXO) of it all. It just seems excessive, especially since I was told county departments were supposed to trim the fat and for what? To pay more executive salaries?
Ok put that aside. What concerns me is he picked a fight with the District Attorney’s office. THAT is not staying in his lane and frankly puzzling and a bit concerning.
So the District Attorney put out a social media post:
So then of course, Joe Lorusso had to reply…well not him directly but that Chester County Moving Forward group:
Overly verbose and did I miss a memo somewhere that the Chester County District Attorney is having a special election this year and Joe Lorusso is also running for District Attorney? Funny I thought the next DA race was 2027?
Joe Lorusso does have the qualifications to be controller, but more and more he doesn’t seem to have the temperament. Joe is from Brooklyn originally, it’s something I liked in him EXCEPT he doesn’t get that he’s not in New York. New York politics is different from here.
I find it offensive that he attacks the DA and then cries foul. The DA isn’t taking anything out of context, Joe needs to stay in his lane. The DA is not deflecting, he’s actually not playing politics, but Joe Lorusso is….and Joe is doing the smearing.
Again, Joe, you aren’t in New York anymore. Please stop throwing all of the spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. And yes I can say that as half of my DNA is Italian.
Joe Lorusso has the ability to be controller, but he can’t always be a flea on a hot brick. Attacking the District Attorney is just a bad look.
Grow up Joe, and be that person I thought you were when I first heard you interviewed. Stay in your lane. And learn when to push and when NOT to push. And the art of subtlety in politics? That’s better then getting the reputation of attack rat.
I know Joe isn’t going to be happy with me for writing this, and honestly I am sorry. But he can be better than this. It’s not New York. It’s just not.
” WEST CHESTER — Chester County’s fraternal law enforcement organization has announced the list of candidates that it will endorse in the coming November election, including judicial, county row office and local positions….For county row offices, the group endorsed the Republican slate, save for one. It chose Alissa McGrory for clerk of courts, Deana Wang for treasurer, Chris Thomson for prothonotary, and Thomas Hatzidais for coroner. It opted, however, to endorse Democrat Nick Cherubino over Republican Joseph Lorusso….Lorusso has made headlines recently for his criticism of the structure of county government, and has suggested that crime in the county is increasing. That assertion drew pushback from county District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe, who said that figures show that crime is decreasing in the county.“
I took this photo in 2022 when I had jury duty the last time
Surprise! I am a chosen one…again….and within the last 3 years. Yup I a jury duty encore
When I was called last time, I actually wrote about it. I don’t mind jury duty, but if the rule of thumb is every 3 years, and when I was called in the year last time….I should be called in 2026. And given all the things I cover as a blogger, I am always amazed they want me because they seem to jettison regular reporters. I also do suffer from lymphedema which literally makes sitting for hours difficult at times. But it is something we all should do, it’s just for such a large county, I am amazed they don’t have other people to choose from.
The jurors room in the Chester County Courthouse is really pretty nice. I don’t like the arm desks we have to write on because I am left handed. The courthouse people are all very nice. Last time I was excused after voir dire. The Judge knew who I was. He is retired now, and was a great judge I thought.
I have to tell you that overall this was kind of an interesting experience. I enjoyed the process for the most part. It’s a good way to learn how things happen inside a courthouse. I do recommend bringing a book.
I am curious if other Chester County residents feel as if they are called more so than others? People always want to tell you all of the excuses to get out of jury duty, but it really isn’t that I want to get out of it, I just feel as if I was called too soon again.
If I am indeed to serve, I wonder what kind of a case it will be this time? Last time it was a civil case.
I will let you know how my West Chester Court House experience is if I end up being called for sure the night before.
I mean seriously WTF? Is this someone with a beef against Villanova University or Radnor Police Department? Or do they just want to terrify parents of students and the community at large?
It came in at 11:30 AM for Austin Hall and people were at mass in the chapel according to NBC10!
Yeah….soooo…as a blogger I am usually the one who is told I am a Fibber McGee (being polite) if I write about something that others don’t care to believe, even if true.
And then you have those who don’t like it if certain information has been obtained. They will do anything to deflect or CYA. I think this is exactly what happened at Victor Fiorillo’s expense and I don’t think that is right.
Victor wrote that the dive bar McGlinchey’s was closing last Sunday.
Now when I read his article, I kind of smiled and said to myself “I didn’t even know they were still open.”
I’m not a city dweller, I’m not even a particularly adjacent dweller at this point living in Chester County. And if I’m honest, I probably put it and several bars like it out of my head because I am someone who appreciated a good joint, but was not necessarily a lover of dive bars.
And they were also the places of my single girl days before I started commuting to NYC for work (yes I was one of those people along with the garmentos and big deal financial types who commuted. I was just more ordinary.)
A “joint” in my mind can be used colloquially for a bar but to me isn’t necessarily a dive bar. Take for example, The Rusty Nail in Havertown. To me that’s a joint. To some might be mostly dive bar, but to me it’s always been more than that because way back when I had friends who used to play music there so that’s what I associate it with. And my feet never quite stuck to the sticky floor the same way they did at McGlinchey’s back in the day.
I didn’t hate or particularly dislike McGlinchey’s, I was more ambivalent. And yes, what I didn’t like about most of these bars was sticking to the floor, and sometimes to the bar itself. But then again, maybe that was the trade-off for the quirky ambience of these places? The thing I liked best of all about these places was the people watching.
As far as dive bars go, the one a friend liked the best was Dirty Frank’s. We also checked out the Cherry Street Tavern once in a while. And if we wanted to go further down around Old City, it was always Kyber Pass. And then there was always The Shove, AKA The Irish Pub. There were two locations on Walnut Street back then, but I only liked the one at 20th St.
And then there were the pulsing annoying Delaware Avenue clubs a couple of my friends liked. I will admit I did not like those places at all. You couldn’t hear yourself think, most of the time. I didn’t like the music or the people. I will never be a disco biscuit.
I had a couple of friends back then who loved McGlinchey’s. So when I saw the name of that dive bar after so many years, I read the article with interest, remembering all the gritty places that existed late 80s and through the 90s.
But I didn’t really think about the article or McGlinchey’s closing after that. After all, the world changes, tastes change, and it seems that perhaps more people than not want more shall we say social media friendly places? Maybe McGlinchey’s doesn’t give the right optics? Can you imagine the Dîner en Blanc crowd taking over McGlinchey’s? Now the thing about that is funny to me, is the grittiness of these places is to me what makes them photo worthy… and why the people watching was always amusing.
Honestly I can’t imagine myself planting it on a barstool of one of those places now. Just not my jam.
Following Victor’s article, other articles came out. At first, one in the Inquirer and one in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
A source inside McGlinchey’s, who asked to remain anonymous, gave us the bad news late Sunday afternoon. And the bartender on duty on Sunday confirmed the closure, saying, “Our last day is this Friday, so tell everybody to come in when they still can.” The reason for the closing of McGlinchey’s is reportedly simple enough: There’s just not enough business to sustain it.
In 2013, Philly Mag named McGlinchey’s “the best dive bar of them all.” Back then, drinks were cheap, service sometimes leaned into the surly, the bathrooms were covered in graffiti and more than a little scary to newcomers both for their perceived filth and their claustrophobic nature….
The owner just sounded sketch in the articles where he was interviewed on this whole tempest in a beer mug and I can have that opinion. That opinion is no reflection on the writers, it was the feeling I got reading what the bar owner is quoted as saying. If that makes sense.
And while I found something on Loop Net, I didn’t actually find a listing for the property for sale. But maybe I’m just looking in the wrong place?
So anyway the other two articles were a bit different as if the owner was playing Captain Semantic with those publications. I read both of those articles, and I kind of thought that maybe the owner got caught with his proverbial pants down and was playing CYA?
Victor Fiorello has written about McGlinchey’s before. Always fondly. So I don’t quite understand why in those other two articles the owner couldn’t just own what was happening? I don’t see any shame in that so was it a matter of pride for this owner who is getting older? I mean who’s going to begrudge a bar owner closing a bar as they reach senior citizen category anyway? It’s hard work. Talk to anybody that’s ever owned a bar or a restaurant or a club and they will tell you.
My biggest thing with both of those articles was like the owner was saying that Victor wasn’t really telling the truth. So OK, maybe Victor got the news before the owner wanted the news out, but once the horse is out of the barn, why not just own it straight up?
I guess it’s simply more fun to be a dancing douche than to admit Victor got the scoop first just not from the owner directly?
Victor got it right this past Sunday and took a social media flogging for days over being right, and how is that right?
It’s not right and it’s that gaslighting mob mentality effect of social media that is just so endearing. What? Am I being sarcastic now? Yup.
Back to those two other articles, where we learned the bar owner wanted to sell the building. But he didn’t really allude to an immediate closing as in shuttering of the business, it was more like a dot dot dot…
So one other thing Victor did was he pointed out a Hidden City Philadelphia article from years ago about McGlinchey’s. I like that website and was a fun to read. I had never read it before.
In the first Inquirer article on McGlinchey’s, the owner of McGlinchey’s tried a soft shoe dance around what Victor said. (There were two articles and the second article is honestly fascinating and about people who spent time within the walls intertwined with the history.) In the first article the owner said he was interested in finding a buyer or hoping some unnamed broker would and was taking a vacation at the end of August, but he would reopen. It seemed like he then wanted to sell this reporter and writer a cash register and some glassware?
So then we go to the Philadelphia Business Journal article. Once again, the owner did the whole “nothing to see here” soft shoe routine and the Philadelphia Business Journal described it as him refuting what Victor Fiorillo had written in the Philadelphia Magazine article. The owner said he was “finalizing a broker.”
Oh, and the owner also said again that he was going away on vacation at the end of August and would be back in September.
Then Victor wrote a follow-up article about who is interested in buying the place. All these people say they wouldn’t change a thing…ummm okay but I would hazard a guess Philadelphia codes department might have thoughts, but then again L & I in Philadelphia is shall we say, different ?
Meanwhile, the comments are flying around all over social media basically likening Victor to a Breitbart Barbie. So not fair. And he digs in to his pieces. He’s not fluffy and superficial and his writing is so good (and fun to read.) Maybe that’s the problem?
Then there were comments that interested me about other people talking about the bar.
Philly Voice also put out an article. They spoke with regulars and a former bartender.
Then things like Victor’s post with the text showing he was right and the posts of others started to pop up.
Oh and then I found a last night of the bar thing on TikTok.
Mmmm so I guess last night was the last night? How about folks apologizing to Victor Fiorello? He did get it right. This whole tempest in a beer mug in my opinion was all generated by the owner of McGlinchey’s. That’s just pure jerky boy.
