Robert DiGiacomo

If you haven't been to Atlantic City lately, you might assume that the storied resort's luck might have finally run out.
Five casinos –– including the once fabled Trump Taj Mahal and a multi-billion-dollar flop called Revel that lasted just over two years –– shut down, leaving seven remaining. The city flirted with bankruptcy amid the lingering recession and unprecedented competition from casinos in neighboring states.
But like a player whose cards are suddenly hot, Atlantic City could be on ...

By Robert DiGiacomo

Three years ago, while working at a New York City art gallery, self-taught furniture-maker Brian Christopher (bicyclettefurniture.com) decided to rent a space in Hoboken to try his hand at woodworking. Acquiring his first tool from Craigslist and using the power of Instagram, he began building a client base for his signature white oak pieces. Last year, Christopher returned to his native Philly and set up a s...

Multimedia artist Mary Mattingly has been thinking beyond the canvas. The climate crisis, food justice, and sustainable resource management have inspired her to create large-scale works to enlighten, engage, and—ultimately—galvanize audiences to take action.
The Brooklyn-based artist has shown her highly interactive works around the world, including at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the Seoul Arts Center in South Korea, but often focuses closer to home in New York City and the surrounding r...

Whether you’re looking for arts and culture, festivals and special events, dazzling fall foliage or some combination thereof, Philadelphia offers something for seemingly every interest in the fall. Here are five themed fall weekends that you can mix and match.
Experience Fall Thrills
Anyone who loves Halloween — or a good scare — will want to visit the annual “Terror Behind the Walls,” presented from late September through early November, at the historic Eastern State Penitentiary.
The intera...

At Philadelphia’s newly opened Rooster Soup Company, the signature choices might include mouth-watering versions of mushroom barley or matzo ball. You can pair the soups with chef Erin O’Shea’s interpretations of classic diner sandwiches and entrees like a tuna melt or chicken pot pie and finish up with a slice of the pie of the day.

Even more satisfying than the menu offerings from the team behind nationally known Zahav, Federal Donuts and Dizengoff, is the restaurant’s mission. Rooster Soup...

After Two Decades, a Philadelphia Urban Farm Grappl...

Credit: St. Martin's Press
In 2013, the United States took a major step forward in the fight for marriage equality, thanks in large part to the determination — and courage — of the late Edie Windsor.
The New York City-based octogenarian was the lead plaintiff in a landmark Supreme Court case that overturned a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The high court found that in 13 states and Washington, D.C., the definition of “spouse” couldn’t be restricted to marriages between...

Class of ’94 | Back in 1998, Erica Armstrong Dunbar C’94 was sifting through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s electronic archives when she spotted an advertisement in the May 26, 1796 issue of Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser. It began:
Absconded from the household of the President of the United States, on Saturday afternoon, ONEY JUDGE, a light Mulatto girl, much freckled, with very black eyes, and bushy black hair … Ten dollars will be paid to any person, (white or black) who w...

Keep puppies and new rescue dogs on a sleep schedule to establish good habits.
Add flexibility to the schedule, until your dog develops problem behaviors.
Consult your veterinarian if your dog develops sleep issues that affect their awake time or disrupt the household.
Given the option of getting up early or sleeping until late, my Chihuahua would rather stay under the covers. Mabel, who’s eight, can snooze for 12-plus hours overnight, without needing to take care of her business or wanting t...

(Editor’s note: Covering LGBTQ issues is an ongoing Next Avenue priority, and this June, during Pride Month, we are publishing a special LGBTQ-focused series. The first article in it: How to Be an LGBTQ Ally.)
Drag in all its sequined, feathered and bewigged glory has long captivated author-comedian Frank DeCaro.
He was just 4 when he discovered drag while watching the classic TV sitcom, The Munsters. In the episode, Frankenstein-like Herman Munster gets struck by lightning and wakes up as a ...

Since the early days of rock ‘n roll, Philadelphia has made its mark on music history. Starting in the late ’50s and early ’60s, Philly helped launch the careers of Chubby Checker (originator of “The Twist”) and early teen idols like Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Bobby Rydell, while also hosting Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand” TV show.
Over the next few decades, the city became famous for the R&B-based Sound of Philadelphia and served as the launching pad for the blue-eyed soul of Hall and Oat...

In fact, Benjamin Dreyer would really prefer that I open this article quite differently.
The longtime copy chief at Random House has made a career of helping authors like E.L. Doctorow, Frank Rich and Elizabeth Strout replace such “wan intensifiers” as “in fact,” “really” and “quite” with more powerful prose.
In his first book, Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style, Dreyer suggests ways to break free of such “throat clearers,” and enthusiastically shares a long list ...