Part of the Tacony Town Watch patrols has become reporting suspected prostitution to police. Photo/Jessica Lopez

Fourteen years ago, Joe Nicoletti made the decision to come back to his roots in Tacony where family settled in the 1890s from Italy. Nicoletti wanted to start a family with his wife and grow old together.

“Someone told me the neighborhood isn’t what it used to be so I decided to get involved,” Nicoletti said. “You’d be surprised what you don’t know is happening in your neighborhood after one in the morning.”

On a recent Friday evening, Nicoletti and five other citizens met in a designated parking lot along Frankford Avenue. The Tacony Town Watch members discussed their concern over the recent racially driven graffiti on the Tacony Train Station before dividing themselves into three teams of two and setting off in their cars to their respective patrol areas.

“The Northeast is being plagued with a hodgepodge of issues, and that includes narcotics and prostitution,” Nicoletti said. continue reading »

The Pennypack Creek Bridge that’s part of what is now Frankford Avenue received a state historical marker Saturday. Photo/Jessica Lopez

More than 200 years ago, soldiers of the Continental Army marched across the Pennypack Creek Bridge toward a monumental victory in Yorktown during the Revolutionary War. Saturday, neighbors marched across that very bridge to celebrate its historical marker, an honor that Fred Moore and the community of Holmesburg have worked so hard to achieve.

A celebration was held to commemorate the bridge, built in 1697. A section of Frankford Avenue between Ashburner Street and Solly Avenue was closed for the residents to walk across the bridge led by Scottish bagpiper Don Phillips and the Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard.

Moore, the chairman of the Bridge Celebration Committee and the former president of the Holmesburg Civic Association, unveiled the marker. continue reading »

NewsWorks Photo/Emma Lee

Philadelphia spends more on prisons — $231 million last budget year — than it does on libraries, parks, City Council, the district attorney’s office, the board of ethics, and licenses and inspections. Combined.

From 2009 to 2011, the prison population finally dropped after quadrupling for over nearly three decades. But now the prison population is soaring again, says Philadelphia Prisons Commissioner Louis Giorla.

“We’ve seen increased overtime. We’ve had to staff areas that, formerly, we didn’t have to occupy,” Giorla said. continue reading »

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 »

Photo/Major Artery Revitalization Committee

Pennypack Park has many beautiful features, but the gazebo on the Delaware River in Upper Holmesburg really stands out.

It’s no wonder Bridesburg resident Donna Ludwig wants to help her daughter and future son-in-law hold their wedding there. But actually going about that proved a little difficult. continue reading »

Updated:  A reader has called to our attention the Mayfair neighborhood banner hanging in front of Stein’s in the photo used for the Naked Philly story. We can’t fault them for this one.

People love Stein Florist.

The Frankford Avenue flower shop and its eye-catching sign have been written up by written up by architecture columnist Inga Saffron and made a cameo in the movie Mancation.

Stein got some more love over the weekend from Naked Philly. Too bad Mayfair got the credit. 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 »

Ground was broken yesterday at a new tactical training facility at the Philadelphia Police Academy at 8501 State Rd. in Upper Holmesburg.

The new building will combine the department’s SWAT, bomb squad and K-9 units and will be used by other nearby law enforcement departments. continue reading »

Upper Holmesburg Civic Association President Stan Cywinski breaks the news to members that the Philadelphia Housing Authority has not settled on development plans for Liddonfield. Photo/Shannon McDonald

Upper Holmesburg residents holding their breath to find out what will occupy the site of the former Liddonfield Homes are in danger of turning blue.

When members left last month’s Upper Holmesburg Civic Association meeting, they expected to learn at the April meeting what proposal the Philadelphia Housing Authority would approve for redevelopment of the property on the 8800-block of Torresdale Avenue. No such luck. continue reading »

Photo courtesy of Mark Fiorino

A gun-toting Lansdale man has received a $25,000 judgment in his lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia. The information technology worker says he was tired of being stopped for carrying a holstered gun on his hip. Because he has a permit, it’s perfectly legal.

Mark Fiorino said he decided to sue the city after a heated run-in with police last year as he walked along Frankford Avenue in Upper Holmesburg, wearing his holstered weapon, he was stopped by a police officer. Fiorino used a recorder to document the confrontation:

Fiorino: Sir, you’re threatening me with lethal force.

Police: I’m not threatening you.

Fiorino: You’re pointing a weapon at me.

Police: I don’t know who you are, you’ve got a gun on you.

Fiorino: Would you like to see my license to carry firearms and my driver’s license?

Police: I need backup I’ve got a guy with a gun on him, he’s giving me a little trouble.”

(Tensions escalated further after the officer instructed Fiorino to get down on his knees.)

Read the rest of this story from our partners at NewsWorks.org.