Philadelphia Mayor Story: Nutter On Street

In a televised interview, former Mayor Michael Nutter was asked about the transition from Philadelphia mayor to private citizen. In his usual rambling way of speaking, Nutter talked about being constantly chauffeured by a police driver during his eight years as mayor and for several months after he left office.

Nutter said he gave a lecture at Columbia University in Manhattan and was anxious to catch a 5 p.m. train to Philadelphia, and summoned a ridesharing vehicle.

“I jumped into the wrong vehicle,” Nutter recalled. “We’re a few blocks away when the driver gets a call asking where he is at. He realizes he has the wrong passenger. He tells me to get out. I get out. Call my driver. He asks where I was. I had no idea, and there were no street signs. You know how long those New York avenues are?” 

It was then Nutter was struck by the harsh fact that he was no longer a mayor with a police driver.
“I was just another guy standing in the street,”