In 2022, the Philadelphia Department of Commerce created a new position to help make Philly’s nightlife even better: the Night Mayor. City Cast Philly host Trenae Nuri spoke with Night Mayor Raheem Manning about the role and the needs of the businesses and people who keep our city going from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
How would you grade our nightlife in Philly?
“We are on track to be an amazing destination city for nightlife. And I think we have a lot of great infrastructure and a lot of great bones. We need to turn it up a notch so that we are a globally competitive hub for nightlife and arts culture and tourism. [...] If we want to continue to grow and be this true 24-hour city, and we want to compete with our neighbors to the north and to the south and across seas, we have a couple other things that we need to change and we need to kind of get together to get there.”
What have you learned from other cities and their Night Mayors that you would like to incorporate in Philly?
“You hear a lot of the New York stuff, because there are longer operating hours, and that's something we're exploring here in the city. If you’ve been over to Europe, they party til the sun rises. And that’s, like, a standard in a lot of parts of the world. So if we want to attract people from those places, where they come to Philly and have a great time, we have to [...] have that option.”
What are some of the needs of Philadelphians who work at night?
“A lot of third shift workers, especially those in healthcare, if they don’t pack their lunch and they forget, their options for eating are very limited. So where do they go to get a quality meal before going home? So, access to city services, but also additional support services that those of us that work during the day take for granted.”
