A new honor for Paul Steinke, former general manager of the Reading Terminal Market, hangs in the market’s most visited location: in the back corner by the bathrooms.
Vinnie Iovine, president of the market’s merchants association, said it sounds funny, but that’s where all its accolades go.
Steinke received the Maryellen Madden Award for dedicated service to the Reading Terminal Market over his 13-year tenure.
“It’s wonderful to be recognized for the work I did, almost a year after I left,” said Steinke, who stepped down at the beginning of the year to focus on his run for a seat on Philadelphia City Council.
Steinke could have been the first openly gay man elected to Council, but ultimately did not earn a Democratic nomination in the May primary. Since then, he has been focusing on independent consulting work. He likes to work on park improvement and bolstering the impact of neighborhood commercial corridors.
“Everything I do comes from a deep and long-held love of Philadelphia,” Steinke said. “I really poured my heart and soul into making the Reading Terminal Market a better place for customers and merchants. One of my proudest accomplishments is being part of the growth of the market to serve as a showcase for our region’s cultural and culinary bounty.”
Steinke is the third winner of the Maryellen Madden Award. Becky Stoloff, who ran the market’s preservation fund and helped it survive the construction of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, was the second recipient. She died of cancer in 2012. Maryellen Madden, a lawyer with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney in Center City, originated the award after resigning from the board of directors of the Reading Terminal Market Corporation in 2009. She had served on the board for 15 years.
“Paul has the usual strengths of a good leader,” Madden said. “He had a vision and was a good communicator and listener.”
But, Madden said, that wasn’t what made him stand out the most to her.
“I could trust him,” she said. “He had a moral compass.”
Madden said she invited Steinke to join her at an event about a month before she came out as transgender. She was dressed according to her gender identity.
“He gave me a big hug,” she said, adding, “I’m so pleased he’s being honored in this way by the market.”
At a ceremony Dec. 10 in the Rick Nichols Room on the market floor, Iovine and others from the merchants association recognized Steinke. They presented him with a basket of goodies from around the market and a certificate acknowledging that his name was added to the Maryellen Madden Award plaque that hangs in the market.
Iovine said the merchants association thought of the award for volunteer service to the market, but the merchants decided Steinke’s contribution as an employee went above and beyond the call of duty.
“Paul is such a true Philadelphian and loves this market,” said Iovine, who owns Iovine Brothers Produce and Molly Malloy’s bar. “This market is in the best spot it’s ever been in and that’s because of Paul’s leadership.”
Steinke said he’s still a regular customer.
Madden said it’s important to have leaders at the Reading Terminal Market who have passion for it. One of the proudest moments of her tenure was enabling Women, Infants and Children, called WIC, benefits to be used at the market. It was one of the first times WIC extended into an urban area. The benefits had been tied to food from farms, Madden said.
“The market is the one place in Philadelphia where people of all income levels and backgrounds sit next to each other and share a meal,” she said. “That doesn’t happen anywhere else in Philadelphia.”