As an editor, a large part of my day is spent sifting through a massive, endless stream of emails.
Nestled between press releases for events and other stuff that doesn’t really fit our core reader demo or random things we’d never consider covering are letters from you, our readers. Some ask great questions, others offer suggestions and a few throw a little shade.
This week, I pulled some letters that encompass all of the above. Instead of answering via return emails, I figured it made sense to use this space to answer some of the better ones for all to see.
Why can’t I find any of your boxes on the street and if I do they’re rusted out, got graffiti on them or [have] trash in them. What kind of business are you guys running here?
– Joe Carleen, South Philadelphia
Well, Joe. What I can say is that those rusted-out boxes are not the norm around the city anymore. Plus, our distribution model now is one that lends itself to the in-house locations you frequent — corner delis, bars, shops, coffeehouses, etc. Our distribution team actively scours the master list of where our boxes live (or are supposed to live) and are actively working to pull them off the street, refurbish them and then source local artists to design them. We then repurpose them and put them back out. So far, our rehabbed artist boxes live inside the Bourse, Cherry Street Pier in addition to a few other private businesses and organizations. If you see a box that could use some TLC or should be removed, drop a line to Mike Chambers, our director of distribution at mchambers@philadelphiaweekly.com. If you want an artist-created box, we can arrange that too. Just hit up our Chief Marketing Officer Devon Perry at dperry@philadelphiaweekly.com.
That Dan Savage is disgusting. I can’t even read the filth he writes about anymore. Do you have any plans to remove him from your paper?
– Sarah, Queen Village
Sorry, Sarah. Dan Savage and his filthy pen are here to stay.
Why isn’t there more news about what the Black community in Philadelphia is doing in this town? I read your paper and most weeks there’s a white man on the cover. You guys have a great calendar and I like the new puzzle, but can we get some Black news up in there? I mean, your editor is Black, he should know better.
– Anonymous, Philadelphia
I’ve always found it funny when people think because you look a certain way, you should respond a certain way. Let me respond to this in the only way I know how. We don’t do “white stories” or “black stories” in this paper. We just do stories. If we’re highlighting someone’s exploits or calling someone out for their misgivings, trust me when I say the color of their skin will never matter as long as I’m manning the ship. Plus, you must have missed the entire month of March, which featured a person of color on the cover of all four issues. Additionally, we ran an entire special issue spotlighting some of the Black entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations that make our city run. So “Anonymous,” your claim just isn’t fair and is honestly extremely regressive. However, as always, thanks for reading.
I used to live in Philadelphia but moved to New York. I love PW, is there a way to get a subscription?
– Nick Viscusio, Brooklyn, NYC
Nick, there is a way to get a subscription to PW, but I’d also like to point out that you can read our e-edition each Thursday just as it looks in print on PhiladelphiaWeekly.com. This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked this question and it’s actually inspiring that we have readers who are so devout. Take a look at our e-edition. If you would rather have a physical copy sent to you, we can arrange that.
Your puzzle is fun, but where are the solutions? Are they online? Just need to check because I’m hung up on this one from the [May 31] issue and I’m pretty sure I didn’t misspell the words for 23 across which was the phrase for an unhealthy romance. Maybe I can’t spell or you guys need spell check. Either way, let’s figure this out. Love the paper, keep up the good work.
– Kit, Center City.
Hi, Kit. All of our solutions for each week’s puzzle can be found on our website. In addition, we run the previous week’s solutions in the latest edition. We love this collab with Philadelphia Secret Admirer and have received great feedback like yours so far. The most common is, “Where the hell are the answers?” In case you didn’t find it, the answer for 23 across was INTERDEPENDENT. Thanks again for the kind words and for being a loyal reader.
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