50 Years of Best of Philly: Politics
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Best of Philly, we’re taking a look back. For this month's BOP50, our power players.
BOP50: Politics. Ed Rendell is simply the best. / Photograph by Jim Graham
The first time Ed Rendell — district attorney, mayor, governor, lover of thinly sliced deli meats draped atop a fresh seeded roll — graced the pages of Best of Philly, it was for something he didn’t do. In 1983, despite his popularity, he declined to run for mayor, a move we rated as the Worst Political Move of the year. (In came Wilson Goode, who, two years later, we gave Best Disappearing Act for his actions — or lack thereof — during the MOVE bombing.)
It wasn’t long, though, before Rendell reappeared. In 1987, we gave him Best Campaign Ad for 30 searing seconds of MOVE footage followed by just one line (“We can NOT re-elect him.”) (Reader, we re-elected him.) The next year, after Rendell left office, we called him the DA We Miss the Most. Then, the floodgates opened.
From 1991 to 1998, there was only one Best of Philly that failed to mention Rendell in some way. He hosted our Best-of taste tests for everything from hoagies and water ice to soft pretzels and pizza. He cleaned bathrooms in City Hall and snarfed chicken wings in Manayunk. Even at the time we realized it was a bit much, this obsession: “Eddie, we love you. And we never say nice things about a mayor in more than one issue. But we’re totally smitten with the job you’ve done so far. Even the cabbies have stopped complaining about Philly.”
In our 1998 edition of Best of Philly, we presented Rendell with the award for Best Public Servant over the past quarter century, saying he’d had the “most positive, lasting impact on the city.” Even 26 years later, that’s hard to argue. The Philadelphia Rendell took over — saddled with debt, terrible credit, plummeting population — is almost unrecognizable from where we stand now. And, if we can gush a bit more, it’s because of Ed.
Now pass the prosciutt.
BOP50: Politics Timeline
Notable wins and winners
1988
Photograph by Jim Graham
Best Place to Hear Center City Gossip: “Sunday mornings in the back room at Famous 4th Street Deli. You have to rate to be granted access to the Table in the Back. But it’s the best dish in the restaurant.”
1999-2002
The Era of Good-Feelings Coverage: These are only issues in the history of Best of Philly with no politics.
2007
Photograph by Ben Leuner
Look at that fresh face! That’s the look of a man who’s spent only two years in Harrisburg. We kid! (Somewhat.) Seventeen years after we named him Best State Legislator — “What’s this? A PA Legislator who has balls … and isn’t ethically challenged?” — Josh Shapiro is now in the top seat in the commonwealth. And maybe in four or (hopefully) eight years, he’ll be ascending to the top seat in the world.
By the Numbers
110
Counts of racketeering, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, and income tax evasion levied against South Philly State Senator Buddy Cianfrani in 1977. He served 27 months.
2
Best Ward Leader awards we gave Cianfrani in the ’70s. Hey, he got shit done!
9
Bullets lodged into Nicky Scarfo Jr. during a 1989 Halloween hit attempt at Dante and Luigi’s. Four years later we awarded him Best Career Move for his fresh gig in the computer software business, “bringing a whole new meaning to the term floppy disks.”
To see more of 50 years of Best of Philly, explore our BOP50 rewinds, here.
Published as “BOP50: Politics!” in the November 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
