West Philly Local readers report that a truck crashed through the front of Baltimore Crab and Seafood restaurant at 48th and Spruce Streets Monday evening, around 7:30 p.m. (see photo below). Police weren’t immediately available for more information, but witnesses said that a drunk driver may have been involved.

A reader, Stacey, was in the area immediately after the accident and said that it was a large box truck that crashed into the building, not a car, as it was previously reported. We’re reprinting a part of Stacey’s comment:

“I was walking my dog down Spruce about halfway down the block to 48th (other side of the road) when this happened, and it was a large box truck, not a car. I talked to some of the witnesses who were standing at the corner when it happened and they said the driver was headed north on 48th and was turning left onto Spruce and somehow this was the result. Dude took out the mailbox before he plowed through the front of the store, and then also actually tried to back the truck up out of the store.”

We were not able to confirm drunk driving, but reportedly some witnesses who were close to the scene said that the driver smelled like alcohol.

Twitter photo by @Yagathai.

As of 4:30 p.m. 46th Street between Pine and Spruce streets was closed to traffic due to a fallen tree. It is still unclear what caused the tree to fall. One fireman said: “We don’t know what the hell happened.”

Thanks to neighbor Nadia Adawi for the first photo.

UPDATE (9 p.m.): The tree was removed around 7 p.m., according to some neighbors who live on that block.

Tomorrow, in conjunction with the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll, the Baltimore Avenue Business Association (BABA) will launch its new website, babawestphilly.org—a first for the member organization that has promoted and supported local business along the Baltimore Avenue corridor for the last few decades.

Baltimore Avenue/West Philly Local archive photo.

BABA’s new website will feature a list of known businesses within its boundaries (Baltimore Avenue between 40^th and 52^nd streets, plus one block north and south), a calendar of events, special promotions, a member-maintained blog, and local business and community news. The website, made possible through grants from The Enterprise Center and Local Initiative Support Corporation, was created by BABA members and will feature BABA’s new member-designed brand and logo.

According to BABA member and neighborhood organizer Algernong Allen, the website was launched in an effort to “enhance our digital presence, better marketing of the Baltimore Avenue corridor, and connect customers with the diverse range of local businesses we have to offer.” “The Baltimore Avenue Business Association will be able to highlight the wonderful energy taking place in West Philly from a commercial perspective,” Allen told West Philly Local.

The Baltimore Avenue Business Association underwent a revival six years ago thanks to the effort of a small group within the organization that focused on cementing BABA as a presence in the community, Vincent Whittacre, owner of the Gold Standard Café on 48^th Street and Baltimore Avenue, told West Philly Local. In those intervening years, he said, the association held group meetings as well as business and community meetings to address local concerns, like parking and outdoor table licenses.  Continue Reading

After six years of providing affordable acupuncture treatments to West Philly residents, Philadelphia Community Acupuncture (PCA) announced that it’s closing its doors in mid-October.

According to owner Ellen Vincent, the decision to close PCA came after facing a lease renewal and learning that its current practitioners—Billy Scott, Bob Conrique, and Sarah Lefkowich—have or are relocating out state and leaving the clinic. Vincent, who herself now lives in Tuscon, Arizona, also stated that plans to bring in another lead acupuncturist to replace Lefkowich and to transfer ownership fell through, informing her “heartbreaking” choice to shut down PCA. She is currently working on establishing a firm closing date for the clinic.

Photo from Philadelphia Community Acupuncture’s Facebook page.

“I am heartbroken that the clinic needs to close. [Philadelphia Community Acupuncture] has been such a second home to so many people … more like a third place for them to go to rest, recharge, and heal,” Vincent, who moved to Tucson last year, wrote to West Philly Local in an email. “So many relationships have been formed and nurtured there and I hope they can somehow continue.  I have many incredible memories of being there, but the best are always those of a full room of people napping with needles—that’s what we’ve been trying to accomplish every day.”

Philadelphia Community Acupuncture, located above Satellite Café at 701 S. 50th Street, was one of the first businesses to move into the reincarnated firehouse on 50th Street in 2007. The mission of PCA was to always provide affordable acupuncture (at a sliding scale of $15 – $35) in a community setting—breaking away from the tradition of individualized, private sessions of typical U.S. acupuncturists to Asia-inspired settings where patients are gathered in groups in a large, relaxing space. PCA has serviced nearly 10,000 acupuncture treatments yearly “for the majority of our open years,” Vincent said.

PCA’s location in Mt. Airy, at 538 Carpenter Lane, is still open to the public, though. According to Vincent, her partner at that locale, Erin Schmitt, is “committed to the area and to the clinic long-term,” and she hopes West Philly patients will make the trip to Mt. Airy for treatments. Patients that are unable to use gift certificates and/or credits with PCA before it closes in West Philly can redeem them at the Mt. Airy center.

Still, Vincent hopes an acupuncture clinic similar to PCA opens in its place in West Philly, and is open to discussion with anyone interested in taking over ownership.

“All of this is way too difficult to manage long-distance without a partner at that location,” she said. “If I weren’t in Tucson, the clinic wouldn’t be closing.   I wanted that clinic to be there forever.”

Until it closes, Philadelphia Community Acupuncture will operate on limited hours: Mondays through Thursdays, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Saturdays & Sundays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

–Annamarya Scaccia

Attention neighborhood joggers, dog walkers and anyone who was planning to visit The Woodlands Cemetery and Mansion (40th & Woodland) this Wednesday: The gates to the cemetery will be closed for tree maintenance. The grounds will reopen as usual at dawn on Thursday.

If you’d like to support the work The Woodlands does to make this space open to the public, please consider donating here: http://woodlandsphila.org/support/.

UPDATE 3 (8/15/13): NBC10 reports that the cause of the fire at the New Horizons building at 48th and Trinity was arson. Fire brigades previously responded to the building for other suspicious fires, about five in the past year and two in the past month, according to neighbors.

UPDATE 2 (11:00 p.m.) We have received the following update from the Red Cross:

“Residents living on the affected 2nd floor will be provided lodging by the management company. Residents on other floors are allowed back into their homes, but anyone who decides not to stay, because of the lack of doors, will be assisted by the Red Cross with a place to stay. Responders on the scene are now determining how many people are choosing not to stay in their units.”

The Red Cross was assisting 28 people displaced by tonight’s fire with snacks, water, and blankets. The primary issue is that many apartments don’t have doors on them. Red Paw Relief members assisted with 11 cats and one rat.

UPDATE (9:30 p.m.): Red Paw Relief was on the scene to assist residents with their pets. Residents are waiting outside to learn whether they will be allowed back in the building tonight or put in a hotel by the building management.

A fire that broke out this evening at the New Horizons apartment building located on the 1000 block of 48th Street forced residents to jump out windows in an effort to escape the blaze. The fire reportedly started on the second floor of the building around 6:15 p.m. and some apartments sustained smoke damage.

Witnesses saw some residents jumping out windows in the back of the building. One of the people who jumped, a woman, was taken to the hospital with back pain, according to CBS Philly. Another person was taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation. The fire is currently under investigation.

On-scene at the 1000 blk S.48th St apt fire assisting a resident w/her cat. pic.twitter.com/86I6o4hFG7

— Red Paw Relief Team (@RedPawRelief) August 14, 2013

1 cat pulled from bldg on its way to @pennvet w/possible smoke inhalation. Thanks for the blanket @RedCrossPhilly pic.twitter.com/FuJdaBGB64

— Red Paw Relief Team (@RedPawRelief) August 14, 2013

On-scene w/ @RedCrossPhilly pic.twitter.com/aP6bhCNfoZ

— Red Paw Relief Team (@RedPawRelief) August 15, 2013

Breakdown of cats at @pennvet 1 w/smoke inhalation, 1 w/burns, 1 jumped from 2nd floor.

— Red Paw Relief Team (@RedPawRelief) August 15, 2013

Twitter photo by Annamarya Scaccia.