Billy Penn 'gentlemen's agreement' and sports curse

An informal "gentlemen's agreement" in Philadelphia once discouraged building heights taller than the William Penn statue atop City Hall, a practice that ended in the 1980s when newer skyscrapers surpassed it. After taller buildings appeared, an urban legend called the "Curse of Billy Penn" emerged linking the height break to a championship drought for Philadelphia's major sports teams. In 2007 a small William Penn figurine was placed atop the under-construction Comcast Center (1701 John F. Kennedy Blvd), an act widely reported in connection with the superstition; the curse is an informal sports legend rather than a documented historical phenomenon.