Andy Toy

For the last decade, Phambassador Andy Toy has tended a small garden near his home in Logan Square. It’s within earshot of the neighborhood bustle but also hidden from it. 

It sounds lovely – but don’t ask where it’s located.

“It’s a secret,” says Andy of this urban sanctuary. “Only a few of us know about it.”

He smiles mischievously. He knows it’s not like him  – especially as a Phambassador! – to withhold info about a Philly gem. 

After all, for nearly forty years, Andy has been respected as one of the city’s most committed civic leaders and boosters, generous to a fault with his time, knowledge, and contacts. 

His CV reads like a how-to of public service: 

Multiple stints in city government (he’s currently director of the home- appraisal bias program in the city’s planning and development department), plus two runs for City Council. Various positions on dozens of community nonprofits and state commissions. Seats on too many boards to count – devoted to stuff like uplifting neighborhoods, helping kids, protecting rights, and welcoming immigrants with the city. 

So if the man wants to keep a tiny patch of green to his own dang self, what Phambassador would deny him?

Andy, 67, was born in Boston, moved to Cheltenham as a kid (“just like Ben Franklin,” he says proudly) and slowly shifted his sports allegiance from Boston to Philly. 

With one caveat:

“I’m still a Red Sox fan,” he chuckles, “but if they’re playing the Phillies, I’m with the Phillies.”

That’s what makes Andy such a great Phambassador. He always has Philly’s back.

The seeds of Andy’s Phamhood were planted when he was a teenager. He took part for years in a program called Woodrock that brought urban and suburban kids together for activities aimed at building friendships across racial, ethnic, and economic differences. 

“The city kids I met had so much talent and ambition but didn’t have neighborhood access to the opportunities the suburban kids did,” he says. “Once they got linked to the right systems and resources, they thrived.”

The lessons of that program became the bedrock of a personal and professional belief that has informed Andy’s entire adult life: This world is jam-packed with smart, interesting, and wonderful people. The better we get to know and serve each other, the better off we’ll all be. 

And, says Andy, there’s no greater place to do it than in Philly.  He settled here permanently, after living, post-graduation, in Boston, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.

Spending time elsewhere made him appreciate the power of our city’s “big-city-that-feels-small” magic. 

“If you’re a newcomer, you can actually get to know people here. If you put in the effort, you’ll start to feel connected,” he says. And he likes how, in Philly, “accountability and compassion often go hand in hand. If you mess up, someone will tell you. But if you get hurt, they’ll help you. It’s like family that way. That’s just how it works here.”

When he’s not on the job, Andy unwinds with long runs along the trails of Schuylkill River Park (he was one of its founding organizers) and shops the flavorful food stalls of the South East Asian Market in FDR Park (he was an early champion of the market, when he was on staff at the South East Asian Mutual Assistance Association Coalition).  

And you’ll find him playing a mean jazz guitar (he’s self taught) at the monthly open-mic concert he started running ten years ago, just off South Street. It doesn’t have a name, just a commitment to giving ten minutes onstage to any singer or spoken-word artist who wants to perform for a supportive audience that cheers every act.

Andy himself often emcees. 

“We have some regular performers, but you never know who’s gonna come through the door. Some people are unbelievably talented,” says Andy. “It’s unpredictable, authentic, and really fun.”

Kind of like Philly itself.