An uptick in thefts from autos was reported back in May in the 18th Police District, which covers West Philadelphia neighborhoods south of Market Street, and the number of such thefts and car break-ins has remained high throughout the summer, according to several crime alerts from police.

Last Thursday, a string of thefts from cars parked on the 4800 block of Hazel all the way to the 5100 block of Hazel was reported. The thefts took place between the early morning hours of 2 a.m. to 4:30 a.m.. Check out this video:  Continue Reading

Photo from Taco Taco’s Facebook page.

A new Mexican restaurant, Taco Taco, quietly opened last month in the former Honest Tom’s Plant Based Taco Shop location at 261 S. 44th Street. According to a recent report, Honest Tom’s longtime kitchen staff members – Alvaro, Maria and Eli – took over the space after former owner Tom McCusker left at the end of July to start a new business, Fruitadelphia.

The new restaurant is no longer vegan, although it still features some vegan items, like BIFF (a walnut-based “meat”) tacos and burritos. The new owners brought back the old menu, including breakfast on the weekends, which Honest Tom’s used to serve before it went all-vegan in the summer of 2018.

Taco Taco is open Monday – Friday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays 10 a.m.-9 p.m.

For more info, check out their Facebook page.

Here’s some encouraging news about Penn Book Center, the independent bookstore at 34th and Sansom whose owners Ashley Montague and Michael Row announced last spring that they were struggling to stay in business and would close their doors permanently in May 2019. According to this week’s announcement, the store will stay open thanks to new owners, Matt Duquès and Diana Bellonby.

After Penn faculty and students launched a campaign to save the store, which included a petition signed by more than 5,000 people, the University of Pennsylvania, the store’s landlords, extended the lease for the summer to give Montague and Row time to work out a new plan to stay open. Duquès and Bellonby, who were in the process of moving from Alabama to Philadelphia, heard of the campaign and soon began negotiations to buy the store which was founded in 1962.  Continue Reading

Film crews will be shooting in the Spruce Hill neighborhood for the next several days, prompting temporary “no parking” zones on several streets.

The crews are filming scenes for Dispatches From Elsewhere, a 10-episode anthology series that is set to be released on AMC in 2020. Jason Segel created and will star in the series. Other cast members include Sally Field, André Benjamin (André 3000 from Outkast) and the English actor Richard E. Grant.

Several actors were spotted filming the series in Rittenhouse Square late last month.  Continue Reading

Neighbors turned out at the First Corinthian Baptist Church on Monday to hear about plans for the property at 303 S. 51st St. (Photo by West Philly Local)

Neighborhood organizers have put together a list of requests for a developer who plans to build a 30-unit apartment complex on a lot tucked away at the end of a small alley near 51st and Spruce. They plan to present the requests during a meeting with the developer, Callahan Ward, next month.

About 70 people attended Monday’s meeting, which was hosted by Neighbors for Healthy Community Development (NHCD) at the First Corinthian Baptist Church at 51st and Pine, intended to gauge community support for requests related to safety, overbuilding on the lot and the inclusion of affordable units.  Continue Reading