Mayfair: Q&A with a Business Leader Fighting a Changing Neighborhood
Angela Vanni is a Philadelphia native and an owner of Giggles Gifts, a retail gift shop which specializes in candies, cards, seasonal decorations and other possible presents. Located at 7400 Frankford Ave., it was founded by the Veneziale family in 1983 and opened during an era when these types of businesses were a common sight in Mayfair. Now, the times have changed, […]
Mantua: Months After Flames Force Rescue, Home Still Stands Silent
Some homes have been kept in the same family for generations, some have seen great tragedies like fire or flood, others are left vacant or forgotten and the rare few have been given a proper funeral before being torn down. Every house has a story and 3952 Aspen St. is no exception. On July 12, […]
Queen Village: Jack B. Fabrics Back in Business After Store Fire
Jack B. Fabrics had been in business on the southwest corner of Fourth and Fitzwater streets for nearly 35 years until a fire raged through their brick-and-mortar shop on April 6, 2013. Now the business is running again after moving directly across the street from its original location at the end of April 2014 and the store is gradually getting […]
Germantown: Officials Determine Cause of Baynton Street Fire
Officials have discovered the cause of the fire that occurred early Tuesday morning in a three-story townhouse, located on Baynton Street, in Germantown. Executive Chief Richard Davidson has confirmed that the house fire prompted a woman to jump from the third-story window of her 45-foot home was started by a portable electric heater. The Philadelphia Department […]
Kensington: Residents Are Returning to Their Homes to Find Extensive Damage
Kensington residents are going back to their homes to find extensive damage from this week’s fire. It is too soon to determine the exact cause of the blaze, but some people will have to rebuild their houses or find other places to live. For additional coverage of the fire and its aftermath, see the following […]
Kensington: The Neighborhood Tries to Cope With the Fire’s Aftermath
The blocks that surround the abandoned warehouse, located at 1871 E. York St., which caught fire early Monday morning, continue to be off-limits as construction workers and firefighters spent countless hours trying to clear the area of leftover debris and hazardous material. Now that the flames have been put out, city workers were left to […]
Kensington: The Fire and The Aftermath
Imagine waking up at 3 a.m. to sirens, bright lights and smoke-filled air. Your block is almost completely engulfed in flames. For the next two days the place that you call home would be bombarded with city officials, reporters and bystanders alike. This became reality for the residents of Jasper and Boston streets as a […]
Hunting Park: Explosion and Fire on Ontario Street
Workers were cleaning up the mess after a sudden explosion and fire left a home on the 1100 block of Ontario Street literally a shell of its former self. Verlene Stephens has been living on the 1000-block of Ontario Street for the past six years, and she can’t recall anything like this happening before. “I’m […]
Feltonville: Motorcycle Accident Leaves Man in Flames
At around 10:45 a.m. today a motorcyclist was severely injured from a collision with a vehicle at the intersection of North Second Street and Wyoming Avenue, officials said. Rivera Walters, 24, was driving west on Wyoming Avenue when his bike collided with a vehicle being driven by a young Hispanic woman. The driver of the […]
Fairhill: Neighborhood Pulls Through Despite House Abandonment Epidemic
Everybody has walked down a block of signature Philadelphia row homes. Visitors and residents have glanced side to side intermittently and have admired the subtle intricacies of each house. One had flowers on the porch banister. Another had a Colonial-era shoe scraper beside the front steps. There were even others that had slightly different hues […]