This past year has seen its share of sporting highs — Super Bowl LIX, WNBA, the return of Mo’ne Davis and the bike race, Super Bowl LIX — and small, strong steps toward a brighter future.
Remember Mommy, the Zoo’s endangered tortoise, who gave birth for the first time at 97? Or KJ, the CHOP patient who went home smiling after successful first-of-its-kind gene therapy? And, not to navel gaze, but our little media nonprofit, which grew by leaps and bounds? Those were the moments in 2025 we’ll remember, and smile.
January 13: Sixers get the home they deserve
The Sixers announce they’ll build their arena back where it all began, in South Philly, creating the opportunity for meaningful sports-centric development that Philly has sorely lacked for decades. (While Chinatown breathes a sigh of relief, for now, the NBA org also promises to help develop Market East in other ways.)
January 31: Heroic boy saves sister
Amid the tragic crash of a medical jet transporting a child patient to Missouri, a story of heroism emerges. Ten-year-old Andre “Trey” Howard III is with his family, buying donuts when the emergency occurs. He shields his four-year-old sister from debris — which hits his head instead, resulting in a severe injury that requires immediate brain surgery.
A true Philly kid, when Trey awakes from surgery, he immediately asks about the Super Bowl. Lucky for him, it hasn’t happened yet. And, a couple weeks later, A.J. Brown and the Lombardi trophy visit Trey’s hospital room.)
February 9: Birds win big. Real big
The Eagles dominate Super Bowl LIX in a blowout rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs. Having lost in similar fashion to the same evil empire team just three years earlier, the smackdown is all the sweeter. When our second stringers take the field in the fourth quarter, the gloating — and partying on Broad Street, the Boulevard, all over the place, begins. Just being in Philly feels great.
February 24: Bok comes to Broad
Local developer Lindsey Scannapieco, the woman behind the Bok Building, purchases and reveals plans to redevelop former UArts buildings Hamilton Hall and the attached Furness building — amidst a groundswell of local support. Scannapieco’s plan: maker studios and spaces, and potentially an affordable housing component for artists. The first phases of the project’s redevelopment debut a few months later.
February 25: Hurts wins. Again
The Philadelphia Citizen honors Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts as Citizen of the Year for his civic feats — donating 314 air conditioners to Philly schools, doing yoga with kindergarteners, mentoring students through the KB Foundation, and so much more. What’s more, #1 doesn’t just show up to the dinner; he stays on through like-minded Philadelphians’ speeches showing his fellow Citizens of the Year he’s one of them.
February 27: Mommy lives up to her name
The Philadelphia Zoo’s Western Santa Cruz Galápagos tortoise Mommy successfully becomes … a mommy, at age 97. Four hatchlings (the first in the zoo’s history), all female, emerge from their shells, sparking international amazement. Giant tortoises are endangered and difficult to breed, but through years of zookeeper efforts and a delicate dance between Mommy and her new, younger beau Abrazzo (age 96), Philadelphia is now caring for a growing family of baby tortoises, who meet their adoring public in April.
March 3: Little Scandinavia enlarges
At an appropriations committee meeting in the PA House, the Department of Corrections (DOC) announced that the experimental prison unit model currently operating inside SCI Chester known as “Little Scandinavia” would be expanded into other facilities across PA. Little Scandinavia is a rehabilitative, more humane approach to incarceration, benefitting both inmates and corrections officers alike. Widening the reach of the program is a recognition of the positive progress inmates and corrections staff within the program demonstrated and the potential to reduce recidivism and improve community outcomes.
March 22: A beautiful finale that’s not final
Crowds fill the Wanamaker to bid honor/bid a fond farewell to regular organ recitals in the now-closed Macy’s. The daylong recital, “Make a Joyful Noise,” marks a bittersweet ending to one of Philly’s coolest traditions. The good news? The organ will be preserved and still puts on occasional shows in the space.
May 15: CHOP for the win (again)
A team of doctors at CHOP use gene editing technology — CRISPR — to create a successful treatment for adorable KJ, a child with the rare genetic disorder CPS1 deficiency. The technology promises to pave the way for treating other rare genetic disorders and untreatable diseases.
June 30: We get our WNBA — at last
We find out we’re getting a WNBA team — after years of being a male-dominated basketball town. The only downside? We gotta wait until 2030. In the meantime, we’ll make due with a visit from Unrivaled, the three-on-three women’s winter basketball tour, making its first-ever out-of-town stop in South Philly. A new era of sports is officially here.
Now the question on everyone’s mind is: Will we call our WBNA team: The Belles? The Seventy-Sisters? The Rage?
July 15: Recycling help arrives
Two local nonprofits team up to create a guide that helps Philadelphians donate or recycle all of our trash. The site, resourcePhilly, launches just in time for the City’s sanitation workers strike (not a proud moment).
July 30: Who runs Philly? These girls
The Rad Awards return! The Philadelphia Citizen partners with Rad Girls founder Leah Kauffman for the second year in a row to honor women changing Philly for the better (including Rad Girl of the Year, CHOP’s Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas, of the aforementioned genetic treatment.)
August 1: Philly gets our spider man
Former Minnesota Twins pitcher Jhoan Duran takes the mound for the first time as a Phillies closer … with an epic debut. The Bank goes dark and the crowd erupts as huge tarantulas — sorry, durantulas — scuttle across the Jumbotron, backdropped by electric flames, while Farruko’s “El Incomprendido” plays at deafening volumes. Duran becomes an instant legend as he saves the game with just four pitches, and Phillies fans find their newest obsession.
September 17: The bike race pedals back
After a 10-year hiatus, the prestigious Philadelphia International Cycling Classic announces its return on August 30, 2026, hurdling our city back into the worldwide competitive biking conversation. After all, who needs the Tour de France when you have the Manayunk wall?
September 21: A new home for modern mobiles
The Ben Franklin Parkway gets a brand-new concept for a brand-new museum. What Calder Gardens lacks in size, it makes up for in landscaping, which, like Alexander Calder’s floating sculpture itself, promises to improve with age.
October 18: No Kings — except for Martin Luther King, III
Some of us worry — really worry — that something terrible was going to happen during Philly’s No Kings Protest. Those folks prep for the worst — and, when the day comes, are delighted by its opposite, a peaceful procession of clever signs, American flags and people who believe in the promise of democracy — all led by Martin Luther King III.
October 31: New media emerges
The Philadelphia Citizen announces that they’ve formed Citizen Media Group and purchased storied Philadelphia magazine. As Citizen Media Group President and CEO Larry Platt puts it:
“We seek to become the region’s virtual and actual town square. And our ethos reflects our mission. We are: Smart, joyful, hard-hitting, fair, solutions-oriented, enthusiastic and innovative. We ain’t: Ideological, objective, snide, and driven to chase clicks. We encourage point of view, provided it’s driven by in-depth, professional reporting. We’re for what works and against what doesn’t. Most importantly, we have fun — because when you have fun creating media, it’s a spirit that can magically transfer to those who consume it. It’s the damnedest thing.”
November 13: Hope rises
The Philadelphia Citizen partners with the M. Night Shyamalan Foundation to kick off our inaugural Ideas We Should Scale showcase, highlighting three Philly organizations on the cusp of great things.
November 18: Cheesesteaks get their due
Cheesesteaks officially enter the Michelin Guide. After a long wait, the highly esteemed dining guide announces its picks for Philadelphia. With 10 spots making it on the more casual Bib Gourmand list and three restaurants (Friday Saturday Sunday, Her Place Supper Club and Provenance) taking home a coveted Michelin star. The award ceremony, hosted at the Kimmel Center, marks a brand new chapter of possibilities for Philadelphia dining.
November 21: Mo’ne Davis makes a comeback
Mo’Ne Davis, fresh out of a master’s in journalism program at Columbia University, returns to her old stomping grounds — the Marian Anderson Rec Center, where, a decade earlier, as a player for the Anderson Monarchs and Taney Dragons, she became the first girl to pitch a shutout in the Little League World Series — to train. She hasn’t played baseball in a while. Still, she’s a natural, and, naturally, becomes the 10th overall pick in the first-ever Women’s Professional Baseball League Draft. Go Mo!
December 10: Mummers rule. Other parades drool
USA Today names the Philadelphia Mummers Parade the country’s best holiday parade. Heading into its 125th year, the slightly confusing, ever-evolving, very-Philly parade full of colorful characters sometimes gets a bad rap, but its deep cultural tradition is tough to rival. Take that, New Orleans!
MORE OF OUR AMAZING 2025
