The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority (PRA) Board selected local developer Onion Flats to develop the Rivage site at Kelly Drive, Calumet Street and Ridge Avenue. The Onion Flats proposal will bring 126 residential units and 8,700 square feet of retail to the currently vacant parcel. For years, East Falls has worked to make sure that a good use would come to this City-owned, purchased to make certain it would be developed to benefit the area. This particular project was strongly preferred by the East Falls community.

Just when many on the East Falls Community Council’s Traffic Committee were beginning to believe that the month of December would be atypical for the community and free of traffic accidents, word arrived of two accidents occurring on December 19th.

Details are sketchy as this article to goes to print, however, the following is known.

The first mishap occurred at the intersection of Vaux Street and Warden Drive around 9am. It is known that two vehicles were involved, one of which careened into the mailbox. This underscores a pattern with many of the traffic accidents here in East Falls. They start in the street and many times end up on sidewalks or on a resident’s property, putting many more folks beyond the drivers of the vehicles at risk for injury, or worse!

The second mishap occurred on School House Lane near the R-6 Commuter Rail crossing. Again, details are sketchy. It happened after sunset and involved at least two cars. A number of emergency vehicles were on hand, including an ambulance.

The EFCC Traffic Committee advocates on behalf of the entire East Falls community for safer streets and enforcement of traffic laws.

If you are witness to an accident anywhere and at any time in East Falls, please send us the information: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Streetscape Progress

Thanks to all who attended the groundbreaking celebration for East Falls’ long awaited “Welcome to East Falls” island at Ridge, Midvale and Kelly Drive. It was a wonderful thing to kick off this long-awaited project. This streetscape project is estimated to take about four months. Before the end of 2011, work will begin on installing an electrical conduit and creating the new curbs. Already, you can see that the Sunoco Station has a single entrance on Midvale Avenue (unfortunately, the tree closest to Ridge and Midvale had to be taken down because it was hollow inside and unsafe).

Soon, at the Mason’s building, the curb edge will be transformed, with a new entrance to the small parking lot there. In the spring, the pedestrian island will be installed.

Come one, come all, to the grand opening of the Inn Yard Park playground on December 3rd at 11am, rain or shine. Children and adults will be entertained by Ben FM, holiday music, give-aways, a juggler, face painting, children's music, a participatory African dance, balloons, and, of course, our beautiful brand-new playground. 

You will not go hungry or thirsty for, in the spirit of the holiday season, pizza will be provided by Slices, and hot chocolate courtesy of East Falls Presbyterian Church. We are also grateful for the financial support of East River Bank and the food donations from Brother's Deli.

East Falls’ 26th Annual Holiday Carol Sing will be held in McMichael Park at 7pm on Wednesday, December 14th. 

This long-stranding tradition brings out hundreds of Fallsers each year for a candlelit community Christmas carol sing.  The pathway to the Memorial in McMichael Park will be trimmed with luminaries, and the air buzzing with music played by a brass ensemble beginning at 6:45pm. 

After we have sung the last carol, everyone is invited to East Falls Presbyterian Church at the corner of Midvale Avenue and Vaux Street for hot apple cider and homemade cookies—made by bakers from around East Falls. 

The East Falls Community Council’s Traffic Committee announces its 2nd selection for its new feature, “Accident of the Month.”

This dandy of an accident occurred around 2:30am on Saturday, October the 15th in very close proximity to the writer’s home. It was witnessed by a neighbor out for a walk.

The vehicle, a 2001 Mazda Millennia traveling eastbound on Queen Lane at McMichael St., went out of control and struck a utility pole. The car flipped onto its roof and skidded in the direction of the 3rd house from the corner. It slammed into a telephone pole, shearing it off at its base.

‘Tis the season for sharing, for shopping, for caroling, for hoping, and with Charles Dickens’ Tiny Tim, our wish for all our neighbors is “God Bless Us, Everyone!”

Still, we caution vigilance.

In the rush and revelry of the season, along with the 39th P.D., East Falls Town Watch reminds neighbors that a few folks of ill-will lurk about determined to take advantage of the unsuspecting. We cite the late great American poet Carl Sandburg in urging you to “Be careful. Be careless. Be Careful,” as you go about business and pleasure this holiday season.

Specifically, be aware of your surroundings at all times. If something doesn’t feel right, trust your instincts. Do not hesitate to call 9-1-1 to report unusual vehicles, persons, activities. Remove all valuables from vehicles. Keep all windows and doors securely locked.

In his 40th year as station agent at the Reading Railroad’s East Falls Station in 1926, the congenial William Green was interviewed by the East Falls Herald:

“In the drama of life it is often the noisy fellow upon whom the community has its eyes focused, but occasionally one finds a mortal who continually performs his duty and does it so unobtrusively that when he does obtain notice, by his very example, he stands head and shoulders above the mass.

One such is William S. Green. This smiling man arrived in 1886 to take charge of the Falls Station, which was then at the foot of Bowman Street. It was a little house on the west side of the tracks with a 100 yard long wooden platform. Part of the station was fixed as a dwelling and it was here that Mr. Green first made his home, later moving to Midvale Avenue.

The stationmaster has seen many changes in his long years of service, especially the growth of Queen Lane Manor, which he remembers as open fields and woods.

In 1886, the railroad’s only competition was a horse-drawn line on Ridge Road. Today (i.e. 1926) the locality is served by three competing street car lines – those on Ridge, Midvale, and Allegheny.

While stationmaster there, Mr. Green served as telegrapher, ticket-clerk, baggage master, freight agent and was, in fact, the general factotum, working from 6am to midnight.

Since the erection of the current station on Midvale, Mr. Green has a porter and three assistants, who work 8 hours a day.

The old station, where Mr. Green served for 27 years, was the scene of many accidents, few safety devices then being in evidence. There is now a dividing fence between the tracks which extend from Queen Lane almost to Calumet Street. Only one fatal accident has occurred near the new station since it was erected.

The mail, which was formerly received by a messenger from the postal headquarters on Ridge, is now under the care of the station agent, since the new station is within the requisite distance of the present post office on Midvale Avenue.

Mr. Green recalled that one of the messengers hauled the mail back and forth in a little jaunting cart drawn by a diminutive donkey.

Schuetzen Park, in the old days, was situated on the present site of the Queen Lane filter plant, and great crowds used the trains to go to the park.

The station agent says the designation of the station, East Falls, came about through the confusion which arose whenever anyone addressed trunks and parcels to Falls of Schuylkill, when no such name appeared upon the tariff schedules of either the railroad or express companies. Inasmuch as there were two other towns in Pennsylvania called Falls, the goods shipped to this point often traveled around to all three towns before reaching the proper destination. To obviate this, the railroad company decided to call the station East Falls to differentiate from a station on the west side of the river called West Falls.

The recent miners’ strike, says Mr. Green, was the first time in his memory that a condition arose which compelled them to use soft coal to heat the station.”

Footnote: Mr. Green retired in 1932 after 51 years of service to Reading Company.

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Interested in the EFHS? Visit www.eastfallshistoricalsociety.com or contact Ellen Sheehan (215-848-8396; This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Wendy Moody (215-848-5131; This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Old Academy Revue plus Coffee & Conversation at Epicure Café
Sunday, December 4 – All That Jazz, Holiday Musical Revue. Make your own reservations for the Old Academy’s annual holiday extravaganza (215--843-1109), scheduled for 2pm. The Old Academy is located at 3540 Indian Queen Lane (free parking in lot); Epicure Café is at 3401 Conrad Street. Epicure offers delicious desserts as well as soup, sandwiches, salads and, take-out. Epicure will remain open just for us, so please call 215-848-3533 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to reserve a spot.

It is that time of year again when we eat good food and celebrate good times with good friends.  As we look ahead to 2012, Please remember, every February 14th, Valentines Day, the Friends of McMichael Park light a tree in the Park to celebrate the many loves and special friends in our lives.
All acknowledgments if received by January 15th will appear in the February issue of The Fallser.   Please make your checks payable to "Friends of McMichael Park" and mail to 3904 Henry Avenue, Phila. Pa.  19129.

At a presentation attended by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and other prominent leaders, Philadelphia University landscape architecture and sustainable design professors unveiled a plan to improve park access, promote green infrastructure development and increase the overall quality of life in West Philadelphia.

Claudia Phillips, Ph.D., director of the landscape architecture program, Rob Fleming, LEED AP, director of the M.S. in sustainable design program and Kim Douglas, assistant professor of landscape architecture, collaborated with PhilaU students and several partner organizations on the Park West Green Trails Initiative. The resulting master plan is a comprehensive transportation, recreation, park and open space, and economic development initiative that would better connect five West Philadelphia neighborhoods to Fairmount and Cobbs Creek parks.

East Falls Eco-Art
The Eco-Art installations that have been appearing throughout the East Falls’ Riverfront Business District over the past year now have commemorative plaques. The plaques were added to let people know about the works creation, funding, permissions and that the works are part of a group installation that is meant to bring attention to the river and art to the business district.

You can still contribute to Waffles, another installation that is to find a home at the Trolley Car when completed. Take a photograph that represents East Falls or has special meaning in regard to our neighborhood. Send your photos to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and be sure to write “Waffles” in the subject line. The EFDC will print and add your image.

While some folks were penning their Thanksgiving Dinner shopping list November 19, 2011, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) tree tenders and other volunteers were planting 1,200 TreeVitalize trees throughout the city. In East Falls Roy Cortez, Doug Cowley, Ernie Giese, George Grigonis, Sue Harrison, Sue Hauck, Herb Henze, Ray Lucci, Tim O’Hare, Sue Park, Ed Ruback, and myself along with Dr. Rosa Guedes of Phila U and her husband Bob led crews composed of 40 Phila U student.  Of the 34 trees, five were planted were planted by the playground at Wissahickon Charter School and four found a home at Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Josh Butz, a sustainable design graduate student at Philadelphia University, won third-place in the prestigious Collab Student Design Competition in November for his innovative bag inspired by the stick-and-pouch versions carried by hobos.

Butz’s bag was made primarily of highly sustainable materials hemp and burlap; its teardrop shape was contoured to fit one’s back.  The bag is supported with a long stick Butz whittled from a pine tree branch.

“I wanted to think outside the box,” Butz said.  “Most bags have straps, so I thought of a hobo bag, where you’re going somewhere, you’re not sure where, maybe to find something new.  I wanted to bring back passion to traveling.”

Thirteen Penn Charter sixth graders have won awards in the 2011 Philadelphia Young Playwrights contest. The students, who were in fifth grade when they wrote their plays, created them as part of the Lower School language arts curriculum. Each fifth grader wrote and submitted a play to Philadelphia Young Playwrights and later received feedback on it. Professional playwrights from the organization periodically visited the classroom to help guide students, who spent months crafting their plays.

The three first-place winning plays will be performed by undergraduate actors, in collaboration with Temple University Theaters, at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 South 18th Street, Philadelphia. Performance time is 11:00 a.m. on the dates listed.

After eight years of wishing and working, starting and re-starting, the community playground for children ages 2-12 has become a reality through the efforts of the EFCC Playground Committee. The most recent movers and shakers, Sarah Taylor and Jen Arnoldi, are thanked for finally getting the ball over the goal line.

Families have been involved in the planning process. Sarah and Jen collected over 100 children's drawings about what the playground should look like. A Design Day for parents and children  helped sort out the many possibilities of slides and climbing equipment.

Councilman Curtis Jones provided City funds to make the playground at Inn Yard Park possible. Thanks to Stephanie Craighead and Tee Jay Boudreau of the Dept. of Parks & Recreation. Thanks, too, to Slices, Falls Presbyterian Church, Brothers’ Deli, and East River Bank for donating refreshments on the ribbon-cutting day, December 3.

The Redevelopment Authority (RDA) has short-listed two development teams for consideration as developers of the Rivage site at 4300 Ridge Avenue opposite the Falls Bridge.  Onion Flats LLC, a Northern Liberties developer, and FCP-East Village PA, LLC have emerged as front-runners.  These two teams will make presentations to the East Falls community at a special meeting of the East Falls Community Council (EFCC) on November 9 at 7 pm. Interested residents are encouraged to attend. The meeting will be held in Room 2 of Downs Hall at Philadelphia University. Plenty of free parking; enter campus from School House Lane.

Late September—School House Lane, the previous month—Henry Avenue.  One serious accident after another in almost the same location each time—School House Lane, again, just east of Gypsy Lane.  A car and a truck had too close an encounter.  Apparently no injuries. 

How can we stop the carnage if the Streets Department won't help?  Commuters fly through East Falls as if it were a deserted speedway.  There is little to slow them down.   The police cannot be there 24/7.  Councilman Jones has pledged to get more action from the Streets Department.  We need action now before there are more deaths and injuries.

Vigilance is ever the watchword in keeping ourselves and our neighborhood safe. “Be aware of your surroundings - as you travel or shop” is the exhortation from our police. We concur, and with our officers, urge you to remove all valuables, even not-so-valuable (coins, laundry, etc), even vestiges of valuables (tell-tale ring of GPS suction cup) or else - you may become a victim of a car break-in.

Of course, step one is to “lock your car” at all times. However, if you do suffer a vehicle break-in—one that takes place within the boundaries of East Falls or Southwest Germantown - don’t touch anything. Call 9-1-1. An officer, specially trained to take prints, will record the data for lab investigators. “Reading” the scene of car break-ins is currently a pilot project for Service Area #1. If successful in providing leads, patterns, arrests—the expectation is the project will expand to the rest of the 39th Police District.