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The Spirit of Philadelphia – 40 years of entertaining down the Delaware – The Philadelphia Sunday Sun

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The Spirit of Philadelphia – 40 years of entertaining down the Delaware – The Philadelphia Sunday Sun


By Kharisma McIlwaine

For years the Spirit of Philadelphia has been a major landmark in Philadelphia.

Year-round, Philadelphians and visitors are greeted by the massive vessel at Penn’s Landing. Originally built in 1988 and located at 401 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd, the Spirit of Philadelphia provides a unique dining experience, combining delicious food and live music as guests cruise the Delaware River.

Now, the Spirit of Philadelphia celebrates 40 years on the Delaware Waterfront. Ryan O’Connor, general manager of City Cruises Philadelphia, spoke with the SUN about the history of Spirit of Philadelphia and the upcoming 40th anniversary celebration.

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O’Connor first joined the City Cruises team as an intern in Virginia.

“My journey actually started when Spirit Cruises had their corporate office in Norfolk, Virginia,” O’Connor said. “I started as a sales and marketing intern with the company my spring semester of senior year of college. I had a full-time internship in their corporate office.”

Originally from the Philadelphia area, as a native of Delaware County, O’Connor was able to make the transition with the company to work in his hometown.

“It was a natural fit to come back,” he said. “They hired me full time after I graduated from Virginia Wesleyan University. I started my career down there and then they moved me back to Philadelphia, which is my hometown. So, it was nice to come back. Around 2004, I came back and I’ve been back as the general manager of City Cruises Philadelphia for eight years now. It’s been about 12 years with the company, and I know it well. It’s a wonderful place to work and a great company.”

Philadelphia was one of the first cities that City Cruises chose to start a dinner boat operation. Since then, Spirit of Philadelphia continues to provide unique experiences for guests while cruising on The Delaware River. Those experiences include two-hour brunches, two and a half hour dinner cruises and live entertainment with a DJ and dance floor on board.

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In 2019, Spirit of Philadelphia underwent a $1M renovation to further amplify the experiences of everyone on board.

“You’ll see a beautiful refreshed, modern vessel — it’s very clean,” O’Connor said. “We completely painted the exterior of the vessel and really just invested our money in the aesthetics and the looks of the inside. There’s new carpet, new tile and beautiful refacing of the bars with marble bar tops.”

“We know that the Spirit of Philadelphia operating in Philadelphia is a staple and we knew that we wanted to invest money into her to make her look really beautiful and make her be that wonderful venue for any occasion,” O’Connor said. “Whether you’re getting married or celebrating your anniversary, we really strive to create that amazing experience.”

Countless Philadelphians have had wonderful experiences aboard the Spirit of Philadelphia. Those fond memories are sure to continue with the milestone celebration of 40 years on the Waterfront.

“40 years on The Philadelphia waterfront has been spectacular,” O’Connor said. “It truly is a staple in Philadelphia. The amount of people that come up to me when they find out what I do, that have told me that they have been to a wedding on board, a corporate function or that their 8th grade graduation luncheon was on Spirit of Philadelphia — I love hearing all those stories. We have thousands of [crews] out there that have also stepped on board Spirit of Philadelphia and worked with us that we keep in the family. It’s a wonderful experience.”

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“Getting ready for the 40th, we have our kick-off event on Thursday, May 12,” O’Connor said. “We’re excited to kick off the season, and we’ll be celebrating the 40th anniversary throughout the entire year. So [there’s] plenty of opportunities for our guests to come on board for brunch cruises. We have bottomless mimosa brunches on Saturdays and Sundays and dinner cruises throughout the week and weekend.

There will be plenty of opportunities to come out and celebrate this milestone with us.”

In addition to the ongoing 40th year celebration, City Cruises Philadelphia is offering an early brunch, a midday brunch and a dinner cruise for Mother’s Day. For more information on City Cruises Philadelphia, visit: www.cityexperiences.com/Philadelphia where you can research the variety of signature cruises offered and book the cruise of your choice. Also be sure to follow @citycruises across social media platforms.





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Delaware

Today in Delaware County history, May 24

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Today in Delaware County history, May 24


100 Years Ago, 1924: Complaints about a crowd of boys who have been destroying property at Smedley Field, Seventh and Lloyd streets, has led Chief Vance to instruct officers to make an investigation and arrest any and all youths found damaging the fence surrounding the ball park or equipment within the enclosure. As a result of the destructive practices of boys during the winter months, the officials of the Chester baseball club were compelled to expend several hundred dollars for repairs to the fence, stands and dressing rooms preceding the opening of the baseball season.

75 Years Ago, 1949: City Council today flashed the go-ahead signal on a proposal to construct a new headquarters for Chester Police Department by empowering Vincent F. Sanbe, director of parks and public property, to employ two well-known realtors to appraise a prospective site. Sanbe declined to identify the location, but he disclosed that it was vacant ground on which a new structure would be raised. He said James P. Hopkins and William P. Lear will study the site to determine its value before negotiations are started.

50 Years Ago, 1974: Guard dogs managed by trained handlers could be patrolling the perimeter of Delaware County Prison on an around-the-clock basis by the end of summer. So could two-man teams of correctional officers armed with high-powered rifles on motor patrol. The proposals are two of several recommendations made by new Prison Superintendent Edward C. Leiby and tentatively approved by the prison board.

25 Years Ago, 1999: Media borough operations are about to become that much simpler with authorization of the agreement to sell the sewer company. Little Washington Waste Water Company, a subsidiary of Philadelphia Suburban Water, has offered a total package worth in excess of $4 million in cash, bond payments and lease of borough land at the treatment plant. Rather than being an asset, the operations were becoming a concern due increasing federal regulations, capital needs and environmental issues.

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10 Years Ago, 2014: Receiving the support of state Rep. Margo Davidson, D-164, of Upper Darby, Matt Silva announced his candidacy Saturday for Upper Darby Democratic chair against incumbent Ed Bradley. His announcement comes four days after Davidson won a close primary against Lansdowne attorney Billy Smith by 11 percentage points. The day after the election, the state representative said the county Democratic chair David Landau has not done anything to unify the party. She had contrasting words about Silva on Saturday. “I believe very strongly that Matt is going to be a transformative leader here in Upper Darby,” she said.

— COLIN AINSWORTH



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Delaware could join other states in requiring health insurance carriers to cover abortion

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Delaware could join other states in requiring health insurance carriers to cover abortion


Delaware could become the 18th state to direct Medicaid to pay for abortion services and the 5th state to require state-regulated private health plans to do the same.

In April, House Majority Leader Melissa Minor Brown’s (D-New Castle) legislation requiring Medicaid to cover termination of pregnancies cleared the House Appropriations Committee.

She has since substituted that bill with a new version requiring all health benefit plans delivered or issued for Medicaid, private health insurance plans and state employee insurance plans to cover abortion in Delaware.

The bill requires that patients seeking pregnancy termination are not subject to any deductible, copayment or coinsurance up to the $750 coverage maximum.

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The bill outlines an exception for religious employers if the coverage requirement “conflicts with the religious organization’s bona fide religious beliefs and practices,” but exclusions are not applicable for termination of pregnancies that are necessary to preserve the life or health of a covered individual.

House Minority Whip Lyndon Yearick (R-Magnolia) joined several of his colleagues in arguing the state does not mandate insurance providers to cover or provide the same cost-share exemptions to other elected health services.

“The requirement to mandate that every entity must provide this elective service and no questions asked unless they’re a faith based institution — I’m disappointed in that. I’m sure there’s very few elective services that we require other companies through their healthcare to provide,” Yearick said.

“I think that it is unfair to force taxpayers who are opposed to this procedure to have to pay for that procedure,” State Rep. Charles Postles (R-Milford) added.

Republicans went on to argue this requirement would only add to the state’s ballooning healthcare spending, noting the bill carries roughly a $500,000 annual fiscal note.

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But Minor Brown said there will be back-end cost saving measures, saying women denied abortion services often lacked the means to cover basic living expenses years following the denial and saw lowered credit scores, increased debt and negative public financial records.

“When you deny a person access to essential healthcare — look at the impact after that. So the woman who’s utilizing Medicaid, and now you’re not allowing her that right to choose because you don’t want to pay for it. But you’d rather her stay on Medicaid, continue utilizing state resources and maybe even with the extra person or two, which — to me — costs more. So just make it make sense,” Minor Brown said.

State Rep. Valerie Jones Giltner (R-Georgetown) argued the state doesn’t have the resources to provide this type of coverage, especially by eliminating any cost-share mechanisms.

“We make tough decisions as legislators as far as making sure that Medicaid is available to many throughout the state. And we’re not blocking access to an abortion — that’s already widely available. We’re not even blocking partial payment of it,” Jones Giltner said. “What we’re saying is that to say that there should be no deductible, no copayment, no anything for anybody that gets an abortion, even if they have private insurance — a private payer — is not sound judgement.”

Minor Brown stuck firm in saying providing for preventative measures would ultimately save the state more money.

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“We don’t have the money to pay for the after effects when we don’t provide care to people and access to healthcare to people. It’s more expensive on the other end,” Minor Brown responded.

The bill passed with only two Republican representatives defecting and now heads to the Senate for consideration.





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DA charges Wilbert Rosado-Ruiz in deadly Delaware County Linen shooting

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DA charges Wilbert Rosado-Ruiz in deadly Delaware County Linen shooting


Two of the victims were listed as stable and one was in critical but stable condition, Gretzky said.

Officials said Rosado-Ruiz had a dispute with one of his female co-workers and she became his first victim. After arguing with her, he stepped outside, made a phone call and returned to shoot her. He then walked around the building firing his weapon at other coworkers, fatally shooting brothers Leovanny Peña and Giguenson Peña.

Rosado-Ruiz then tried to exit the building and noticed the female co-worker, his first victim, and shot at her again, but either missed or ran out of ammunition. He then escaped in his vehicle, a black Scion. Police officers from nearby Trainor spotted his car and arrested him within minutes. Rosado-Ruiz didn’t try to pull out his gun, officials said.

Gretzky said his officers arrived to a “very chaotic scene.” One of the deceased victims had collapsed near the entrance of the building.

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“First responders encountered another victim who was shot multiple times — and I have to commend my officers, because they put a tourniquet on the male and then in the laundry area, they put him in a laundry bin and they wheeled him outside to get him to better medical assistance,” Gretzky said.

Stollsteimer said Rosado-Ruiz didn’t have a criminal history. He has been an employee at the business since 2016.

“My understanding is that he has been complained about by other employees of the business,” Stollsteimer said. “I believe there was a meeting of employees with the owner of the business the day before. This was not unusual that he was having a verbal altercation or verbal problem with one of the employees.”

Stollsteimer couldn’t comment on reports Rosado-Ruiz openly carried a weapon at work.

“This is a continuing investigation. As more information comes to light, it will flush out that story for us,” Stollsteimer said.

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The mass shooting at the 2600 block of West Fourth Street brought Chester to a halt. The regularly scheduled City Council meeting ended early in the aftermath of the crisis.

Delaware County Linen reopened for business Thursday.



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