From left: Mike Bobby, who takes it upon himself to remove graffiti from Fox Chase and Steve Phillips, Fox Chase Town Watch president, display their patrol gear. Photo by Morgan Zalot.

When Stephen Phillips saw a group of teens brutally beating Eddie Polec to death from his Fox Chase doorstep in 1994 and no police responded to his 911 calls for help, he and a group of community members decided something needed to be done.

“You’d rather be proactive than reactive,” Phillips, who raised three children in the neighborhood, said. “Our community was reactive to the tragedy.”

Polec, then 16, a Cardinal Dougherty High School student who lived in the neighborhood and the son of a well-known crossing guard in the area, was beaten with bats by a mob of teens from a local suburb on the steps of St. Cecilia’s Church. Phillips said more than 30 calls were made from the area to 911 during Polec’s in a span of 20 minutes, but no police were dispatched to the scene until it was too late to save the teen.

“It was a major failure of the Philadelphia 911 system,” he recalled. “[Polec] was literally an innocent bystander.” continue reading »

Medical Mission Sisters presented plans for a zoning variance with the Fox Chase community groups.

Zoning was the main focus of last night’s joint meeting of the Fox Chase Homeowners Association and Town Watch groups, with two presenters making appeals for variances.

The biggest and most controversial presentation — the second of the night — came from the owners of 8504 Bergen Terrace. Craig Turner, zoning officer for the Fox Chase groups, asked the Zoning Board of Adjustments to postpone a hearing on the property, as the homeowners were unable to make their case at the Association’s November meeting.

With photographs, blueprints and petitions in hand, the owners made the case to the 30-plus residents and political figures at the meeting — the first for 2010. continue reading »

Gary Weyhmuller, center, chief operating officer of Fox Chase Cancer Center, accepts the 2009 Crystal Vision Award on behalf of the hospital from the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber Commerce at their 87th Annual Accolades Ball Dinner Dance Gala Nov. 13, 2009 at Knowlton Mansion in Northeast Philadelphia. Ball chairperson Sally B. Danciu (l) and GNPCC President Al Taubenberger (r) present the award.

More than 175 Northeast residents gathered Friday to honor two regional staples.

The Accolades Ball, hosted by the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and held at the historic Knowlton Mansion at Rhawn Street and Verree Road, is an annual event, which marks the GNPCC’s anniversary while celebrating community members for “outstanding success and continuing commitment to the advancement of the organization and region.”

For its 87th anniversary, the Chamber honored Fox Chase Cancer Center and William St. Clair of St. Clair CPA Solutions. continue reading »

Gary Weyhmuller, senior VP and COO of Fox Chase Cancer Center discusses building a stronger Fox Chase.

Much-anticipated updates from the Fox Chase Cancer Center were the focus of last night’s joint meeting of the Fox Chase Homeowners Association and Fox Chase Town Watch groups.

Gary Weyhmuller, senior vice president and chief operating officer of the Cancer Center gave a presentation following to neighborhood residents, providing updates on construction, services and finances. Matt Braden, president of the Homeowners Association, told the more than 30 people in attendance: “We’re very thankful and appreciative of Fox Chase Cancer Center for updating us and including us.” continue reading »

A nicely decorated home in Burholme

Earlier this week, we asked you to send us your Halloween photos – old, new, scary, silly – and we got way more photos than expected.

We have more than three dozen photos from all over the Northeast, featuring your funniest costumes, most creative jack-o-lanterns and over-the-top decorations. continue reading »

Jack and Betty Vogler are amused by the graffiti on their lawn. Photo courtesy of KYW.

Fox Chase residents Jack and Betty Vogler awoke yesterday to find graffiti on their lawn -and they have no intentions of cleaning it up. continue reading »

South Philly native Rob McElhenney drops Northeast references in a recent episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

The writer, producer and star of the wildly popular FX “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” absurdist sitcom is a South Philly guy by birth, but he represents the Northeast, too.

A familiar neighborhood and popular shopping destination found their way into an episode earlier this season of the show, which also stars Danny DeVito.

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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 »

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The Fox Chase Homeowners Association and Town Watch groups held the first meeting of the season last night, and two main subjects were on everyone’s minds – the new train station and the growing graffiti problem.

Councilman Brian O’Neill addressed the attendees first, to acknowledge that the new train station will be completed two years ahead of schedule, and mentioned that he believes the station will be “a real good thing” for Fox Chase. continue reading »

Here’s a summary of the week’s Northeast news we didn’t cover. See others here.

An unnamed 17-year-old female was shot inTacony at about 10:15 Wednesday evening. The shooting took place at the 4200 block of Stirling Street.

Keep reading for an update on a lifeguard rescue, red dye in the Tacony-Frankford Creek, a potential art foundation and more. continue reading »