UPDATED (March 3, 3:51 p.m.) — Police have arrested 25-year-old Mujahid Muhammad in connection with the shooting, and are still seeking four others. Muhammad, of Bala Cynwyd, is charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault, among other offenses.

Two men in their 20s were taken to Aria Health-Torresdale earlier night after a shooting at World Gym in Bustleton.

According to reports, a fight broke out during a game of pick-up basketball around 7:30 p.m. One of the participants left the gym, and returned with a gun. He opened fire, striking a 26-year-old male in the chest and a 24-year-old male in the back and ear. continue reading »

Bill Ruben of Philadelphia's Board of Pensions and Retirement explains the costs of DROP to Bustleton residents.

In what quickly devolved into arguments and accusations, the Greater Bustleton Civic League tackled several issues at last night’s meeting, including recent crime spikes, DROP and zoning.

Though more neighborhood-centric topics dominated the three-hour meeting, Bill Ruben, vice chairman of the city’s pension fund, was slated as the highlighted speaker, with the intent of talking with Bustleton residents about DROP.

“Nobody had any idea who I was three years ago,” Ruben commented about the recent public scrutiny of the Deferred Retirement Option Program. continue reading »

Joe Glackin (far right) with his family (from left): Brendan, PJ, Daniel, Kathleen and wife Maryellen. Photo courtesy of Padraic Glackin.

As he had for the last 36 years, Joe Glackin finished dinner on Wednesday, Dec. 23 and headed out the door to work the evening shift at the local Acme.

The difference is, that night he walked out of Acme Markets as an employee for the last time.  While many were lounging on their sofas or propped in bed reading, Joe had been stocking shelves, greeting late night shoppers, working a register, stopping a thief and on occasion, calling 911 for a customer in medical distress. continue reading »

Election day is tomorrow, and being an off year (no mayoral or presidential candidates), voter turnout in Philadelphia is typically low. But voting is always important – especially for the offices in this election.

Tomorrow at the polls, you’ll have the chance to elect candidates for two citywide offices – District Attorney and City Controller – in addition to six judicial positions.

Some of these candidate have ties to the Northeast, while others have made the rounds at many civic association meetings.

continue reading »

Democratic District Attorney candidate Seth Williams was one of three candidate to address GBCL members last night.

“It’s going to be a brief meeting for tonight’s important game,” Greater Bustleton Civic League President Bernice Hill told antsy residents at last night’s monthly meeting. Though the room was full, the sense of urgency to wrap up the meeting in time for game one of the World Series was palpable.

Not wasting time, GBCL  board members got right down to business following some announcements, and introduced their three guests for the evening: incumbent Democratic candidate for City Controller Alan Butkovitz, Republican candidate for City Controller Al Schmidt and Democratic candidate for District Attorney Seth Williams.

Next Tuesday, Nov. 3 is election day. See where you vote here. continue reading »

Padraic Glackin and his Yankees-loving girlfriend

A Bustleton native is coming back home to watch from his hometown the Phillies play in their second straight World Series, but he’s not bringing his long-time girlfriend. Because, well, she’s a Yankees fan.

Padraic Glackin lives New York City now, attending graduate school at Fordham University in the Bronx borough, and has a serious five-year relationship with Manhattan native Bridget Sweeney.

“This is the first time where it’s been an issue,” Glackin, 24, says of their competing passions in baseball’s best-of-seven championship series, which kicks off tonight in New York. “We were out walking before game six [that sent the Yankees to the World Series] was even played, and a Yankees fan said something, and I told him to make it to the World Series first, and [Bridget] gave me a dirty look.”

continue reading »

A Bustleton carjacking early yesterday evening resulted in a police chase and the carjacker’s suicide.

Just after 6 p.m. yesterday, a man tried to rob a woman at gunpoint in the parking lot of BJ’s Wholesale. The suspect fired his gun once, according to reports, then forced the woman out of her car. continue reading »

Residents from all over the Northeast attended the Burholme community meeting to learn about the Northeast's history. Photo by Christopher Wink.

The promise of Northeast Philadelphia historian Dr. Harry Silcox drew even larger crowd than usual to last night’s meeting of the Burholme Civic Association and Burholme Town Watch.

About 100 people showed up – more than the group of 65 for a similar presentation in Tacony, and more than a past Burholme meeting the mayor attended. President Al Taubenberger called the meeting to order as folks set up more chairs and pressed themselves against walls to hear Silcox discuss the history of Burholme and other parts of the Northeast.

Keep reading for Northeast trivia and a video. continue reading »

Lynn Abraham discusses her decision not to seek re-election after 19 years as district attorney.

District Attorney Lynn Abraham addressed many issues at last night’s Greater Bustleton Civic League meeting, including her decision not to run for re-election this term.

“It was not that I really wanted to go,” Abraham said, as she corrected those who said she is retiring. The 19-year DA said her decision was based on the health of her husband of 33 years, who became ill around the time Abraham would have been starting a fresh campaign. The decision was an easy one, she said. Her husband has since passed away.

But the longtime public official made it clear she isn’t finished with her career

Continue reading for notes from the rest of the GBCL meeting, and a hot zoning issue. continue reading »

As NEast Philly reported in a breaking news story Saturday, two people were found stabbed in their Pine Valley home on the 100-block of Greycourt Road.

However, Action News reported the crime took place in Bustleton. Granted, Pine Valley isn’t one of the high-profile neighborhoods in the Northeast, as it is almost entirely residential, but Bustleton? Greycourt sits in the small pocket between Bloomfield, Pine, Welsh and Verree. They’d have been closer if they’d said Huntington Valley.

The story appeared in the Inquirer Sunday, and also lists the neighborhood as Bustleton. CBS played it safe by not mentioning a neighborhood at all. FOX and NBC did the same.

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.