But on Sunday, one man lifted spirits and brought people in the city together.
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His name is Alexander Tominsky, a 31-year-old server at Barclay Prime in Center City.
But now he is better known as the "Philadelphia Chicken Man."
For 39 days straight, Tominksy documented himself eating a rotisserie chicken.
He set a goal to eat 40 chickens (after passing his original goal of 30) and wanted the city to be part of the grand finale.
The public invitation to his event in South Philly captured a lot of attention on social media.
It said:
"Come watch me eat an entire rotisserie chicken. November 6th will be the 40th consecutive day that I have eaten an entire rotisserie chicken. 12 o'clock noon. The chicken will be consumed on the abandoned pier near Walmart. This is not a party."
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A photo of the flyer strapped to a pole saw nearly 10,000 retweets.
Hundreds of people who saw the flyer came out to support him.
Even the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation tweeted that it hopes "the chicken is delicious."
The "Philadelphia Chicken Man" had a makeshift red carpet and caution tape to keep people back from his table.
By the time he was finished eating, a group of cheering fans had surrounded him.
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Tominsky explained to Action News what made him want to do this:
"I just felt like it seemed right."
He went a little deeper when speaking to the New York Times.
"Much of the world is in pain, Mr. Tominsky said, so he must do something that brings him pain to make others smile," the Times wrote.
"Sounds weird," he told the newspaper. "But I just felt like I was doing this for a very important reason."
But don't get your hopes up for Philadelphia's Chicken Man to start another rotisserie run.
"I would never consider doing that again," Tominsky told Action News.
He did however divulge to the New York Times that his next meal would be sushi.