Northeast

Blue Philly working-class voters start leaning toward Trump ahead of election: 'People actually love him'

Published

2 years ago

October 7, 2024

Blue Philly working-class voters start leaning toward Trump ahead of election: 'People actually love him'

Working-class Philadelphia Democrats may be planning to vote for former President Trump in November.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday about growing trends among poorer wards and districts in the Pennsylvania city to shift towards the Republican Party despite years of being solidly blue.

One example the report cited included 27-year-old Gabriel Lopez who registered as a Democrat and voted for Hillary Clinton for his first election in 2016. Since then, he changed his registration to Republican and voiced his support for Trump.

“Democrats keep saying [Trump] is going to bring down the economy, but he was already president for four years, and taxes were lower,” Lopez said. “We’re tired of the same politics. We got a different type of guy, and the people actually love him.”

Some Democrats are considering voting for former President Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in deep-blue Philadelphia. (Getty Images)

PHILLY VOTERS SOUND OFF ON ECONOMY: ‘EVERYBODY IS STRUGGLING RIGHT NOW’

The article added, “Lopez embodies one of Democrats’ biggest problems in Pennsylvania: working-class voters in Philadelphia, a once reliable voting bloc for the party, have drifted right in recent years. And they’ve been disproportionately affected by rising prices over the last several years, an issue many blame Democrats for.”

Although Philadelphia, which holds 20% of the state’s Democratic voters, may be crucial for Vice President Kamala Harris to win the state, the Inquirer reported the city lost the most Democratic voters out of any city in the 2020 election.

The trend was most pronounced in poorer, less-educated areas with majority-Latino neighborhoods showing the most movement, likely concerned about the economy.

Retired truck driver and registered Democrat Jim Kohn listed that as his top issue.

“When Trump was president, everything was cheaper,” Kohn said. “Now, everything is so sky-high.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump are tied in their support among likely Pennsylvania voters. (Getty Images)

Other Democrats in the area remained optimistic about Harris’ chances, though some understood the growing support for Trump.

“Many of us have people in our families who have gone to jail, or gone to schools that have failed us. We’re not trustful of the government,” Álvarez Febo, a Democrat who plans to vote for Harris, said. “Then you have someone like Trump, who is a liar, and for some people, it’s like, ‘you know something? He’s an honest representation of what we feel.’”

“They’re saying Kamala is going to save our democracy,” Febo added. “That means very little for people who can’t keep the lights on.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

Some Republicans, by contrast, were very optimistic about a potential political shift in the city.

“When I first started in politics in 1978, the managerial class was Republican — no one votes the way their bosses vote,” 45th Ward GOP Leader Charlie O’Connor said. “Now, most people in the managerial class vote Democratic and no one is voting the way their boss is. So it’s been a flip. Most of the bosses are Democrats and the Democratic Party has become the party of the upper middle class.”

One resident told Fox News that “I personally feel like the economy is sucking right now.” (Fox News)

Pennsylvania is considered one of the most competitive states for this presidential election. A Fox News survey found Harris and Trump tied at 49% among likely voters in the state. Trump won Pennsylvania in the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, but lost the state in 2020 to President Biden.

Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.

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New York

How a Book Editor and Jazz Musician Lives on $55,000 in West Harlem

Published

4 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Press Room

How a Book Editor and Jazz Musician Lives on ,000 in West Harlem

How can people possibly afford to live in one of the most expensive cities on the planet? It’s a question New Yorkers hear a lot, often delivered with a mix of awe, pity and confusion.

We surveyed hundreds of New Yorkers about how they spend, splurge and save. We found that many people — rich, poor or somewhere in between — live life as a series of small calculations that add up to one big question: What makes living in New York worth it?

Perhaps Ruby Pucillo’s number one bragging right is that she’s a tenth-generation New Yorker, one whose ancestors have lived thriftily in the boroughs since they first immigrated to New York City more than 300 years ago.

Ms. Pucillo, 25, has tried to carve out a life for herself that would mirror her family’s ideals of spending little and living a lot. But because the city her relatives arrived in generations ago now ranks among the most expensive in the world, that can present a challenge.

Ms. Pucillo’s 9 to 5 is working as an assistant editor at Abrams, an art book publishing house. After a recent promotion, her salary was bumped up to about $48,500 before taxes. Her work day begins on the subway, where she gets a head start on reading proposals and manuscripts as she travels to her office in the Financial District from uptown.

On many a weeknight, and sometimes on Saturdays, Ms. Pucillo performs as an improv jazz musician. She studied music and loves to play, but the amount she makes fluctuates — sometimes netting her upward of $1,000 in a month, other times $25, often something in the middle.

On Sundays, Ms. Pucillo travels back to where she grew-up, Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., to teach French and give voice lessons for $350 a month.

All told, she makes about $55,000 a year, with wiggle room for her jazz gigs.

Rent is High, but Community is Free

Ms. Pucillo lives in a rent-stabilized prewar apartment with two roommates in West Harlem. Rent runs her about $1,460 a month, including utilities and internet.

“I spend more than half my income on my rent,” Ms. Pucillo said. “But I really like my apartment, and I live on the most beautiful block in Manhattan. Community is completely free.”

After rent is paid, Ms. Pucillo diligently tracks the leftovers of her paychecks on a spreadsheet on her computer; she can account for almost every cent. Each month, she spends $300 or less on groceries and $140 of her gross monthly income goes toward public transit, using a pretax subsidy her job offers.

Then Ms. Pucillo has a “cushion” tier of expenses, for unforeseen circumstances like a co-pay at the doctor’s office, a late-night taxi ride or a case of beer for a friend who might have done her a favor, like helping her move. “I know I’m not going to pay for these things every month,” she said, “but it’s nice to have a monthly increment that either goes into my savings or comes back out of my savings later.”

Ms. Pucillo’s monthly splurge is on entertainment — dining out, live music and shows, admission fees. “I budget $500 a month for that,” she said, which she conceded felt like a lot. “But it can disappear quickly in this city.”

And twice a year, she treats herself to a curly cut done by a friend on Long Island, for the budget total of $73 — not including, of course, a tip and the cost of a Long Island Rail Road ticket.

Ms. Pucillo doesn’t pay for many streaming services, but every few weeks she pays $3 to watch a movie on YouTube. She also pays $12.99 a month for Apple News and $10.99 for Apple Music. The remaining money goes into her savings.

An Eye for Deals

Many in Ms. Pucillo’s orbit “are in a difficult financial spot, too,” she said. “Many of them are creative and have a similar idea of what it means to achieve financial stability and what it means to make your dollar stretch.”

Ms. Pucillo’s ideal equation involves doubling or tripling up on activities to get the most bang for her buck, especially when it involves something free or a promotion that makes it very cheap.

When the fitness app ClassPass offered a discounted rate of $5 per month, she signed up so she could attend cheap workout and dance classes with friends. When she found a $1-a-month deal for a cooking app, she took it so she could share meals with friends without restaurant prices.

“I’m very opportunistic,” she said. “When things come up, I take them, but otherwise I figure out how to do just about everything for free.”

Recently, Ms. Pucillo had the shopping bug, but lacked the funds to act on it, so she and a group of friends arranged a clothing swap. Everyone emerged with new pieces for their wardrobe, she said, without spending a dime.

Ms. Pucillo credits her upbringing for making resourcefulness feel second nature.

“I come from a base line that says, ‘Don’t buy anything,’” she said. Her parents moved the family to Westchester when she was young and started renting in Hastings-on-Hudson because, she said, “they wanted to put us through really good public schools. They said, ‘If you can’t be rich, live where rich people live.’”

Ms. Pucillo is grateful for that. “I had to find ways to make money,” she said, which propelled her toward “what probably will be a different and better financial situation than my parents had, and than their parents had.” Her parents have since moved from Westchester to the Bronx.

She noted that because of an array of part-time jobs she worked during her undergraduate years, a hefty scholarship and a family tradition of supporting one’s children through college, she graduated debt-free, unlike many people she knows.

Saving Up for a Piece of the City

Even with a tendency toward frugality, she said, it’s still hard to navigate New York City as a 20-something, where the incomes of friends vary, and there are so many things that entice, especially when your friends want to drop money and you don’t.

“This is a very expensive place to socialize,” Ms. Pucillo said. But she’d never consider moving.

“The people in New York — I understand them, and they understand me,” she said. “There’s a directness that you really don’t find anywhere else.”

Ms. Pucillo’s dream is to own an apartment in the city — “a pretty lofty goal in this place,” she said. Despite the nine generations of New Yorkers that came before her, Ms. Pucillo’s family doesn’t own any property.

This is why Ms. Pucillo is dedicated to building up her savings however she can, and she is preparing to open her first line of credit after years of holding out.

Ms. Pucillo’s father, a guitar teacher and a Staten Island native, has always been fond of asking this question: If you had the choice between staying in New York for the rest of your life and never being allowed to leave, or being able to go anywhere else in the world, but never returning to New York — which would you choose?

She doesn’t have to deliberate for a second. “Absolutely, I would stay in New York for the rest of my life, and I would never leave.”

We are talking to New Yorkers about how they spend, splurge and save.

Boston, MA

Gaskin: When people stop believing City Hall is listening

Published

5 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Press Room

Gaskin: When people stop believing City Hall is listening

Politics makes strange bedfellows.

Former State Senator Dianne Wilkerson and President Donald Trump are not natural political allies. But they both have issues with Mayor Michelle Wu and could find themselves connected by a common issue:

Opposing the Blue Hill Ave center lane bus project.

A coalition of residents, merchants, and community leaders has now taken the extraordinary step of asking U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to withdraw approximately $80 million in federal funding for the project. According to the coalition, more than 2,200 residents signed a petition to stop the project. Their letter argues that after years of meetings, public hearings, and attempts to engage City Hall, they have run out of options to stop or redesign the project.

The project goes back to what was called 28X in Gov. Deval Patrick’s day. When there was community opposition, state officials withdrew an application for federal funding for the project.

The plan has been discussed for years.

Mayor Wu has proposed the project again. I told Stephen Gray of Grayscale Collaborative that they needed to understand the history of the project. He said, “They wanted to start with a clean slate.” Starting with a “clean slate” sounded good but translated into an attitude and an action that resulted in years of prior feedback being discarded.

What would happen to the cars that double parked along Blue Hill Ave, for church on Sunday, the loss of parking, and the resulting business impact?

Instead of incorporating prior feedback i.e. we have heard your prior concerns, and this is how we are going to address them, they simply ignored them to the peril of the project. Grayscale was taken by surprise, but shouldn’t have been, when the first community meeting became contentious, because so many people opposed the project from the beginning. City officials were asking what residents wanted, but many residents felt they had already answered that question; “Not this project.”

I noticed that the report the consultants put together for the city explained the process and recorded many comments from the residents but none of the comments were negative or critical of the project. That was not a true reflection of the community.

When candidates were running for State Legislature seats and were asked their position on the project ,they all said no with the exception of Rep. Nika Elugardo, and when they said no, large crowds cheered. People were writing editorials against it and when you went to the city’s website on the project, you could only infer from all of the positive comments that the community was 100% behind this. They weren’t.

I knew opposition was getting serious when campaign signs opposing the project started appearing in the windows of businesses. When a petition to oppose the project gathered thousands of signatures, that should have been a warning. But none of this feedback seemed to make it to the mayor’s office, or perhaps it did. Which is why we are where we are.

That feels very similar to the White Stadium project, where a number of people felt their concerns weren’t being addressed, and wanted stop the project in its current form.

Former State Senator Dianne Wilkerson has framed the issue in even broader terms. White Stadium is the largest public investment to take place in Boston’s Black community in decades, yet many Black community leaders (residents and businesses owners) argue they were never granted a meeting with the mayor to discuss their concerns (around the loss of business, parking, economic and environmental harm.) The same issues that prompted the mayor to attend multiple meetings with the residents of Charlestown, who had concerns about the proposed Everett soccer stadium.

They argue that the same pattern occurred with the Blue Hill Avenue center lane bus project. Regardless of whether one supports or opposes either project, both would have significant impacts on predominantly Black neighborhoods. To many residents, the question is not simply the outcome but whether those most affected were given an opportunity to have their concerns heard at the highest levels of City Hall.

When thousands of residents sign petitions, community organizations mobilize, and elected representatives raise concerns without securing that direct engagement, some begin to conclude that participation is being managed rather than valued.

Whether one agrees with the opponents or not, both controversies reveal the same underlying challenge: once residents believe decisions have effectively been made before community concerns are fully considered, trust begins to erode. The recently presented parking plan for White Stadium will only further worsen the mayor’s relationship with the Black community.

The challenge for government is that trust is cumulative. Every time residents feel their concerns are dismissed, skepticism grows. Eventually people stop distinguishing between individual projects and begin judging the entire process. At that point, opposition is no longer about bus lanes, stadiums, bike lanes, housing, or development. It becomes a referendum on whether public engagement is genuine or merely procedural. Once that trust is lost, rebuilding it is far harder than winning any single policy debate.

Public engagement is not measured by the number of meetings held. It is measured by whether participants believe they were heard.

Today the debate has escalated from neighborhood meetings to the desk of the Secretary of Transportation of the United States.

That should concern everyone.

The ultimate lesson of Blue Hill Avenue is not about bus lanes.

It is about trust.

When people believe their voices are being ignored, they eventually stop talking to City Hall and start looking for someone else who will listen.

Ed Gaskin is Executive Director of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets and founder of Sunday Celebrations

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Pittsburg, PA

Pittsburgh Pre-Professional Soccer Weekend Roundup: Riveters roll on, Steel City men’s shutout streak continues

Published

5 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Press Room

Pittsburgh Pre-Professional Soccer Weekend Roundup: Riveters roll on, Steel City men’s shutout streak continues

It was a packed weekend of summer soccer for Pittsburgh’s pre-professional squads. The Riveters navigated a grueling home-and-away double-header to put themselves on the precipice of a division crown, the Steel City men put on a clinic at Founders Field to keep their historic defensive streak alive, and the Steel City women hit a roadblock upstate.

Here is how the action shook out across the region:

USL W League: Pittsburgh Riveters SC 1, Erie Sports Center 0 (Sunday)

Riveters Sweep Erie in 48-Hour Gauntlet to Close in on Division Title

Following their 3-0 home victory on Friday night, the Riveters (6-0-1) traveled up I-79 to lock down a 1-0 victory at Saxon Stadium on Sunday night, successfully completing a maximum six-point weekend.

A 75-minute lightning delay didn’t slow down the momentum. The game’s lone breakthrough came in the 21st minute when Lola Abraham delivered a high, diagonal ball to finding a central Sabrina Bryan, who calmly scored into the bottom corner with her second touch for her team-leading fourth goal of the season.

The second half turned into a physical, chippy affair, drawing unsporting behavior cautions for both benches, including Riveters Head Coach Scott Gibson. A heavily rotated Pittsburgh backline—anchored by Player of the Match Gabby Lamparty filling in at center back—held strong, refusing to allow Erie to register a single shot on target. The victory marks the Riveters’ fifth consecutive win and fifth straight shutout, pushing their scoreless streak to an unbelievable 459 minutes. Pittsburgh’s magic number to clinch the Great Forest Division title now sits at just four points.

Next Match: After a busy stretch, the Riveters get a week off before hosting the Cleveland Force on Sunday, June 21 at F.N.B. Stadium (6:00 PM kickoff).

USL League Two: Steel City FC Men 4, Erie Sports Center 0 (Saturday)

Prex Brace and Clean Sheet Streak Keeps Steel City Men Flying High

The Steel City FC Men’s First Team maintained their unblemished record, moving to 4-0-2 on the season after a commanding 4-0 routing of Erie Sports Center at Founders Field on Saturday afternoon. Forward Nathan Prex ignited the offense early, securing a brace within the first 15 minutes of play. His first came in the 10th minute, cleaning up a half-volley after a Sander Rynning shot rattled the post. Just five minutes later, Prex split four defenders off a clever turn-and-slip pass from Jake Lane to slide it into the bottom corner.

Steel City’s club academy products also shined bright. Nick Niebauer dinked one over the keeper off the post in the 22nd minute, and John Krug punctuated the 4-0 scoreline in the second half by heading home a beautiful, multi-pass team buildup engineered by Mathieu Brick and Nick Graeca. Defensively, goalkeeper Josh Lane preserved the shutout with a massive 1-on-1 save in the 31st minute on a dangerous Erie counter. Steel City remains remarkably the only team in all of USL League Two that has yet to concede a single goal this season.

USL W League: Flower City 1872 2, Steel City FC Women 0 (Saturday)

Steel City Women Stifled on the Road by Second-Place Flower City

It was a tough business trip upstate for the Steel City FC women’s squad on Saturday evening.

Traveling to face a high-flying, second-place Flower City 1872 side, Steel City fought hard but ultimately dropped a 2-0 result.

The loss stalls Steel City’s momentum in the Great Forest Division table while helping Flower City maintain their chase directly behind the first-place Riveters.

Next Match: Steel City FC women return home for a massive midweek clash this Thursday, June 18, facing Flower City 1872 in a quick-turnaround rematch.

USL League Two: Riverhounds 2 (IDLE)

Riverhounds Two (3W-2L-2D) enjoyed a scheduled entry off this weekend, sitting out of competitive play to rest up for the back half of the USL League Two summer slate, starting Wednesday when they host Lorain County (OH) then travel to Buffalo on Saturday.

____________________________________________________

Great Forest Division Standings

USL W League (Women’s Pre-Professional)

The Riveters are firmly in the driver’s seat, sitting five points clear at the top with a game in hand over second-place Flower City.

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	D	GD	PTS
1	Pittsburgh Riveters SC	6	5	0	1	+14	16
2	Flower City 1872	7	3	3	1	+1	10
3	Cleveland Force SC	6	2	4	0	-3	6
4	Steel City FC	6	2	4	0	-5	6
5	Erie Sports Center	5	1	4	0	-7	3

(Note: Standings do not include late Sunday night results from outside the region).

USL League Two (Men’s Pre-Professional)

Steel City FC holds onto a narrow one-point lead at the top of the table, closely chased by Lorain County and FC Buffalo, while Riverhounds 2 remain right in the mix.

Pos	Team	GP	PTS	W-D-L	GF	GA	GD
1	Steel City FC	6	14	4-2-0	10	0	+10
2	Lorain County Leviathan FC	6	13	4-1-1	14	8	+6
3	FC Buffalo	6	11	3-2-1	13	5	+8
4	Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2	7	11	3-2-2	13	8	+5
5	Cleveland Force SC	6	6	2-0-4	13	17	-4
6	Akron City FC	5	4	1-1-3	6	11	-5
7	Erie Sports Center	6	0	0-0-6	2	22	-20

(Standings current as of Sunday night, June 14).

John Krysinsky has covered soccer and other sports for many years for various publications and media outlets. He is also author of ‘Miracle on the Mon’ — a book about the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, which chronicles the club, particularly the early years of Highmark Stadium with the narrative leading up to and centered around a remarkable match that helped provide a spark for the franchise. John has covered sports for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DK Pittsburgh Sports, Pittsburgh Sports Report, has served as color commentator on Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC broadcasts, and worked with OPTA Stats and broadcast teams for US Open Cup and International Champions Cup matches held in the US. Krysinsky also served as the Head Men’s Soccer Coach at his alma mater, Point Park University, where he led the Pioneers to the first-ever winning seasons and playoff berths (1996-98); head coach of North Catholic boys (2007-08), associate head coach of Shady Side Academy boys (2009-2014).