Quote of the day:

The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on.
—Robert Bloch

On May 14, 1994, Philadelphia residents discovered that they were living in the Most Hostile City in America according to Duke University researcher Redford Williams. New York City came in second. Yeah, right.

Clearly, Redford Williams was talking out of his ass, I mean, he must have been mistaken.

Perhaps he only spoke to folks in South Philadelphia, which was where Mafia figures like John Stanfa and Skinny Joey Merlino were killing each other off during the 1990s. Just watch Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia if you don’t believe me.

Mayor Ed Rendell wasn’t having it when he heard the news: “Maybe it’s time for George Gallup to hang it up,” said Mayor Rendell, dismissing the poll as “ludicrous” and “wacko”.

Rendell did concede that Philadelphians are “an argumentative bunch”. “We love to argue with each other. … We’re questioning. We’re argu-mentative. We stand up for our rights… But I think there’s a difference between that and hostility.” 

Two hundred people were polled in each city and here are six questions that they were asked. See how hostile you are:

Well, there you have it. The goddamned poll was biased! No wonder NYC came in second. Look at question number three. New Yorkers typically don’t travel by car, and when they do, they travel in taxis. And do you know any cab drivers who let passengers sit in the front seat? And question four. How many shopping malls are there in NYC? Very poorly designed poll. Somebody needs to put that Redford Williams in his place because he has no business doing polling if he can’t come up with any better questions than that.

Needless to say, the story gave nearly every columnist in the city fodder for their next column. Here are a couple.