Tacony business owner Mark Whited is part of the community effort to revitalize the Torresdale Avenue business corridor. Photo/Raymond Boyd

This is the first in a two-part series about quality of life issues in Tacony and Holmesburg, and the neighborhoods’ approach to growing stronger together.

With similar missions but different approaches, Tacony and Holmesburg are seeking a better future for their residents. Tacony is taking a business-first approach, while Holmesburg is looking to take advantage of its history.

Both neighborhoods understand that they must work in collaboration to make their goals a reality as they try to stand as pillars of Northeast Philadelphia. continue reading »

Smith’s Hardware owner Sheila Glassman serves a customer during Tacony’s Spring Shopping Day. Photo/Tiffany Goforth

Tacony residents and business owners are trying to revitalize the Torresdale Avenue business corridor by implementing new projects in the community. The Historic Tacony Revitalization Project is a big community project headed by the Tacony Community Development Corporation.

Alex Balloon, corridor manager of the Tacony CDC, coordinates all the activities and helps implement the projects that happen in the neighborhood.

Saturday’s Spring Shopping Day was one such initiative. Eleven businesses participated in the Spring Shopping day on April 13 which corresponded with Love Your Avenue Clean-up Day on Torresdale Avenue and the city’s annual Philly Spring Cleanup event. continue reading »

Jurors have convicted a Tacony man for fatally shooting his neighbor. Both lived on the 6500-block of Torresdale Avenue. Image/Google Maps

Jurors on Friday convicted a Northeast Philaphia man of third-degree murder charges in the shooting death of a neighbor in a dispute over dog droppings.

Tyrirk Harris, 28, also was convicted of the charge of possession of an instrument of a crime, according to court records. continue reading »

Six people have been charged with filing false injury reports related to a 2010 SEPTA accident in Frankford. Image/Google Maps

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office has charged six people with filing false accident claims in connection with a SEPTA crash in Frankford in November 2010.

The office has charged 62-year-old Clarence Wright, Jr., 59-year-old Joseph Anderson, 56-year-old Jeanette Sommerville, 47-year-old Donnell Green, 62-year-old Bernard Robinson of the 3100 block of N. 24^th Street  - all from North Philadelphia – and 52-year-old Rubin Lindsay of Southwest Philadelphia with insurance fraud, criminal conspiracy and attempted theft by deception. Wright faces five additional accounts of insurance fraud. continue reading »

Ernie DeNofa (right) and Rep. Bob Brady present a hoagie to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from DeNofa’s Deli in Tacony. Photo/ Leo A. Holt of Holt Logistics Corp.

You can usually find Ernie DeNofa in Tacony. He’s the owner of  DeNofa’s Deli at 6946 Torresdale Ave., one of three shops in Tacony’s Hoagie Trail.

But DeNofa was in Washington, D.C., Thursday with Rep. Bob Brady, D-Phila. continue reading »

Police in the Special Victims Unit have identified an attempted luring pattern in Frankford and Wissinoming over a 10-day period this month.

All the complainants are children between the ages of 11 and 13, and were walking home from Harding Middle School at the time of the alleged lurings. continue reading »

Architects and designers have collaborated to see what a facelift could do for DeNofa’s Deli in Tacony. Photo/Eyes on the Street

Could a redesigned facade change the perception of a business and the look of Torresdale Avenue?

That’s part of the plan in Tacony, where a facade improvement project is underway for the 6300- through 7200-blocks of the avenue. Eyes on the Street has a story from the Tacony Library  for a recent Design Day, where business owners interested in participating in the program got a peek at what architects envision for their storefronts.

Twenty-one businesses are participating and EOTS has mock-ups of the plans for DeNofa’s,  New Station Pizza, Rubino’s Pharmacy, Athenian Restaurant and Kavanagh’s Tobacco could look like with a facelift and a little funding for improvements.

Rich Frizell, new president of the Holmesburg Civic Association, leads the first meeting of the 2012-13 season. Photo/Shannon McDonald

Cars lined two full blocks of Ditman Street on either side Tuesday night. Children and their parents made use of the playground out the rec center as the Holmesburg Boys Club’s pee-wee football team practiced beneath the setting sun. Inside the rec center, Holmesburg Civic Association board members grabbed additional red folding chairs as the meeting room filled up.

And so began the group’s first meeting of the 2012-13 season. Members will meet once a month through June, and President Rich Frizell reviewed on Tuesday some of what members can expect in the coming months. continue reading »

Oh hey, Port Richmond, nice to see you again!

The Riverwards neighborhood pops up in the Northeast pretty frequently when the mainstream media get their hands on news stories outside Center City. Frankford and Tacony have both been mistaken for Port Richmond.

Thursday, Wissinoming found itself with a new name. continue reading »

Holy Family University has the green light to develop the now-leveled Liddonfield property in Upper Holmesburg. Image/Google Maps

State Sen. Mike Stack, state Rep. Mike McGeehan and City Councilman Bobby Henon applauded PHA’s decision today to select Holy Family University’s development plan Upper Holmesburg‘s Liddonfield property, according to an announcement today from the trio.

Holy Family’s application was one of several proposals for the Philadelphia Housing Authority property, and had the backing of the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association and local lawmakers. continue reading »