Julia Lowe

Flanked by cardboard signs reading “Free 5-Minute Tuneups” and “We Come to Your Bike!” Lauren “Mittens” Mitten lifted another bike — one of about 25 that day — onto a stand under the bright sun and got to work. Mitten, owner of The Mittens Pop Up Bike Shop, spent the afternoon of May 16 outside of Eco-Fair at Cherry Street Pier checking tires, inspecting frames, adjusting derailleurs and lubricating chains.

By Julia Lowe and Gabriel Donahue Nature lovers, mark your calendars for Love Your Park Week 2026. One hundred forty park friends groups care for the city’s parks year-round and are calling for volunteers to join the cleanup and beautification days hosted from May 9-17. “I think it’s a great way to be outside with the community,” says Catherine Lowther, president of Friends of Penn Treaty Park.

On a balmy Friday afternoon in late February, the teens who work at Fab Fits, Fab Youth Philly’s new youth-run thrift store, are waiting for their first customers of the day. A chirp through a walkie-talkie alerts staff member Brianna Valente, 18, to head downstairs to the building’s ground floor. She greets a pair of teenagers and leads them up the winding staircase to the third-floor space, which resembles a homey boutique.