Capt. Deborah Kelly and Rep. Brendan Boyle honor the 8th District's Officers of the Month. Photo submitted by Elsie Stevens.

On Wednesday, March 3, the 8th Police District  Advisory Council met for its monthly meeting at Academy and Red Lion roads.

The evening’s guest speakers were State Rep. Brendan Boyle and James Donaghy from the city’s Department of Commerce. continue reading »

Burholme residents take a peek at SEPTA's plans for Ryers Train Station.

If all goes according to plan, Ryers Train Station will have a whole new look come Spring 2012. Representatives from SEPTA attended last night’s meeting of the Burholme Civic Association and Town Watch seeking a zoning variance for signs that will accompany the renovated station.

Described as a project “worked on by SEPTA and the community,” the proposed plans include new platforms, and expanded parking lot and smaller amenities like a canopy, benches and heated wind screens. Problems with the bridge over Cottman Avenue will also be addressed, as many residents at last night’s meeting pointed out the concrete has started to fall apart. continue reading »

Councilwoman Krajewski (l) reviews the wall of her fellow inductees for the inaugural Northeast Philadelphia Hall of Fame. Photo by Christopher Wink for NEast Philly.

The Northeast gets called a lot of things: suburban, Republican, behind-the-times — and those are just the subtle insults.

But what people in other parts of the city — and even people from the Northeast — don’t realize, is that our region is as important, historic and evolved as the rest of Philadelphia. And if you need proof, look no further than the Northeast Philadelphia Hall of Fame.

In the video below, City Councilwoman Joan Krawjewski, one of last year’s inductees, talks about the Northeast.

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Photo courtesy of SEPTA Watch.

There is a 10-year age difference between the Costa brothers. They live in two different neighborhoods of the Northeast — William in Mayfair, Joseph in Parkwood. And they were victims of two separate attacks on the Market-Frankford El last week.

William, 47, told SEPTA police (and the Daily News) he was pushed to the ground by two teenage girls last Thursday as he was about to board the train at Frankford Transportation Center just after 8 a.m.

He told authorities two additional girls video taped the incident, while a boy kicked him as he lay on the ground. The group hopped on the train and fled. continue reading »

15th District Capt. Frank Bachmayer talks to an unusually small crowd at the March Holmesburg Civic Association meeting.

Captain Frank Bachmayer has 28 years with the Philadelphia Police Department, including his eight as captain.

And his message to residents who attended last night’s Holmesburg Civic Association is something he made sure to hammer home: the 15th District is “not the old district of 10 years ago.”

Meaning, he explained, that the busy district has its share of crime — more than just the quality of life issues some residents focus on.

Bachmayer told the 15 meeting attendees (an unusually small crowd for the HCA) that the 15th is the busiest and most populated district in Philadelphia, leading the city in robberies.  “And it’s not just in Frankford,” he emphasized. continue reading »

The driver responsible for a fatal New Year’s Day crash on I-95 admitted yesterday to using crack before causing the wreck that left two people dead and a third person injured.

Jesse Maiden, 36, crashed into the back of a vehicle that had stopped for a blown tire in the northbound lanes near the Harbison Avenue ramp. Maria Cox, 47, and Norman Wilkerson, 45, were killed.

Maiden’s bail was set at $650,000, and he’s facing two counts of vehicular homicide in addition to DUI charges.

An officer in the 15th Police District suffered a broken arm and leg after being struck by a van in Mayfair last night.

The officer was struck while on bike duty around St. Vincent Street and Brous Avenue around 7:30 p.m. The driver was arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence.

We don’t see too many of these, but when they come up, our editors can practically feel Northeast residents collectively slapping their foreheads in frustration.

In a story about a car accident that resulted in the death of a teenager Sunday, FOX29 made the simplest — and biggest — of our Right NEast/Wrong NEast mistakes: the reporter confused a neighborhood with a street. In other words, the writer assumed that because the car accident took place on Torresdale Avenue, that it also happened in the Torresdale neighborhood.

Except the accident occurred in Frankford. Not only is that an entirely different neighborhood, but it’s on pretty much the opposite side of the region as Torresdale. Frankford is the southern-most neighborhood in the Northeast, while Torresdale runs straight into the Bucks County border.

Thanks for taking the time to cover this, FOX, even if the most basic aspect of the story is inaccurate.

Outside media don’t care about the Northeast. We have all seen them misuse, misspell and mistake our neighborhoods and our streets, so we at NEast Philly wanted to do something about it. When they get it wrong, we set it right in a segment we like to call Right NEast/Wrong NEast.

Danza showed his Viking pride at a Northeast football game. Photo by Bill Achuff.

It started about a month ago. Or seven months ago, depending on where you think the story really begins.

It was hyped for months: Tony Danza would be teaching at a high school in Philadelphia for his new reality show. And then we come to find out, he’d be spending the semester at Northeast High. Even those who aren’t Danza fans, who didn’t spend their childhoods watching him on the small screen, were excited that something big, something of national interest, would be happening in the Northeast. continue reading »

Photo by Maria Konidaris

More than a month ago, we ran a story about Mayfair residents’ thoughts on the flashing blue light and accompanying police camera at Cottman and Frankford.

Fox 29 ran the same a similar story yesterday.

The original NEast Philly story was written by Temple student Maria Konidaris for her Philadelphia Neighborhoods class. She interviewed several residents, got the history of the light and talked to the presidents of the Mayfair town watch and civic associations. FOX29 reporters talked to a couple of the same people. continue reading »