Michael Tanenbaum

Michael Tanenbaum is a senior staff writer for PhillyVoice.com, with interests ranging from technology and behavioral health to local community initiatives and cultural life. Michael has written for the Argentina Independent and Bespoke Magazine and previously served as a news editor for Xfinity.com before joining PhillyVoice. He received his B.A. in The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University.

tanenbaum@phillyvoice.com

January 16, 2025

Social Media

Eagles fan apologizes for sexist outburst at Packers fans, but claims he was provoked

by Michael Tanenbaum

Ryan Caldwell, the Eagles fan who was banned from Lincoln Financial Field and fired from his job after a viral video showed him crudely heckling two Packers fans during a playoff game Sunday, issued an apology for his behavior. Caldwell also claimed he was provoked by Packers fan Alexander Basara and his fiancé Ally Keller.

January 15, 2025

Transportation

USS John F. Kennedy to leave Navy Yard on Thursday to embark on final voyage before being scrapped in Texas

by Michael Tanenbaum

The USS John F. Kennedy will leave the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia on Thursday on the way to be scrapped on the Gulf Coast in Texas. The aircraft carrier, commissioned in 1968, spent nearly 40 years in service before it was decommissioned in 2007 and moved to Philadelphia the following year.

January 15, 2025

Arts & Culture

Calder Gardens, Philly's newest art museum, to open on Ben Franklin Parkway in September

by Michael Tanenbaum

Calder Gardens, a sculpture museum dedicated to Pennsylvania-born artist Alexander 'Sandy' Calder, will open in September on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway between 21st and 22nd streets. The new museum will feature an array of Calder's mobiles, stabiles and paintings in indoor and outdoor galleries.

January 15, 2025

Business

AMC closes movie theater at Franklin Mall in Northeast Philly

by Michael Tanenbaum

AMC's 14-screen movie theater at the Franklin Mall in Northeast Philadelphia shut down at the beginning of the year after the cinema chain did not renew its lease. The theater opened in 1997, anchoring the mall through multiple ownership groups when it was the Franklin Mills and Philadelphia Mills malls. The property was sold last year to private investment group Jones Lang LaSalle.

January 14, 2025

Social Media

Eagles fan banned from Lincoln Financial Field for sexist tirade aimed at Green Bay Packers fan

by Michael Tanenbaum

An Eagles fan who shouted sexist profanities at a Packers fan in a viral video from Sunday's Wild Card playoff game has been banned from attending future events at Lincoln Financial Field. The fan's employer in New Jersey is investigating the video and called the employee's conduct 'completely unacceptable.'

January 14, 2025

Development

Camden proposes 25-story office tower, which would be the city's tallest building

by Michael Tanenbaum

Camden County's $250 million plan to overhaul the Walter Rand Transportation Center could including the construction of a 25-story office tower that would become the city's tallest building, county officials said Tuesday. The project, called the Beacon Building, would serve a mix of public and private tenants. It also would include a landscaped public square.

January 14, 2025

Business

Starbucks ditches open-door policy spurred by arrests at Philly store in 2018

by Michael Tanenbaum

Starbucks has a new code of conduct that requires people to be paying customers to use its bathrooms and spend time at its cafes. This reverses the open-door policy Starbucks put in place after two Black men were arrested at a Philadelphia store in 2018, because they refused to buy something while waiting for another person to arrive.

January 13, 2025

Development

With 76ers arena plans scrapped in Center City, Mayor Cherelle Parker says revitalization will 'start from scratch'

by Michael Tanenbaum

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said the city will pivot to new plans for redeveloping East Market Street after the 76ers scrapped their project for a new arena in Center City, opting instead to stay at the South Philly sports complex as part of a deal with Comcast Spectacor. The master planning process on East Market Street will now be accelerated with leadership from the 76ers and Comcast, the mayor said.

January 13, 2025

Development

Wanda Sykes believes Philly's chances to get a WNBA team are better than ever with Sixers latest arena plans

by Michael Tanenbaum

Wanda Sykes and her wife Alexandra Niedbalski, are excited at the possibility to the WNBA will expand to Philadelphia. The couple are leading the charge to bring a team to the city, and with the 76ers planning to build a new arena in South Philly with Comcast they believe the chances are improving.

January 10, 2025

Investigations

Camden County man put girlfriend's remains in a fridge, left it in a N.J. forest and fled to Mexico, police say

by Michael Tanenbaum

Christopher Blevins, 45, of Gloucester City, has been charged with using his pickup truck to transport the remains of his girlfriend, 50-year-old Laura Hughes, inside a refrigerator that was left in Cape May County's Belleplain Forest. The remains were found in December by a hiker. Authorities say Blevins took the body to the woods in July and then fled to Mexico. The cause of Hughes' death is still under investigation.