Food for Thought: Three Monkeys Cafe

By Donna Ward

This quaint café is located at 9645 James Street right off Grant Avenue across from the Torresdale train station. Founded in 2005, Three Monkeys has polished hardwood floors and tabletops. With Internet access available, many college students in the area seek out Three Monkeys as a great place to have wonderful food, light conversation and accomplish their network needs. Parking can be a little interesting for dinnertime diners, but at lunch there is usually plenty of space outside the café on the street.

The café is small and offers a casual, homey atmosphere. The service is very friendly and prompt, as well as helpful in making your selections. The tables are kept clean and wiped down after each patron departs. Glasses and silverware are provided with each table, wrapped in napkins.

Keep reading below for a photo of Three Monkeys Cafe and details from the savory menu.

Inga Saffron: Could I-95 be destroyed to improve waterfront?

By Christopher Wink

What if we just got rid of I-95?

In a high profile feature written from Boston for Sunday’s Inquirer by the paper’s celebrated architecture critic, growing attention paid to dismantling a one-mile stretch of the interstate that separates much of the city from the Delaware River is compared to bean town’s notorious “Big Dig,” and other urban projects that jettisoned highway systems.

“The question we should be asking right now is: Do we rebuild I-95 as is, or do we rethink the whole thing?” Harris Steinberg, who runs the nonprofit consulting firm PennPraxis, which developed a waterfront policy for the city in 2007, told Saffron. The Obama administration’s interest in urban areas, he said, “has given the city a license to do something bold.”

The Northeast is surely as a part of 95 as any part of Philadelphia, so a big part of the discussion is what the people think.

Tree down in Torresdale

Courtesy of Action News

By Shannon McDonald

Hit traffic in Torresdale this morning? Here’s why: a tree fell down on the 9500-block of Torresdale Avenue around 6 this morning, and was still there at 8:30. No injuries have been reported, but the tree blocked traffic in both directions between Aubrey and Convent avenues.

Real NEastate: condo or rowhome?

Q: My wife and I are planning on moving to the Far Northeast this year and are not sure whether to buy a condo or a house. We don’t have kids so we really don’t need much space, and we like the idea of a pool and clubhouse, but we don’t know if it’s better to just get a house. Do you think it would be better to go with a rowhome in Pennypack or Torresdale or just buy a condo in the Bakers Bay or Delair Landing area?

A:  Condominiums can be an affordable alternative to a house in the Far Northeast. They are priced lower than rowhomes, but considering you will have to pay a monthly condo fee, a condo can come close in terms of a monthly payment. Do your research and consult a mortgage professional and ask them to give you an “Good Faith Estimate” for both a rowhome and a condo and compare.

Bank robbery in Torresdale

By Shannon McDonald

The Citizens Bank on the 9200-block of Frankford Avenue was robbed yesterday afternoon.

Around 1:15 p.m., a man entered the bank and presented a note demanding an undisclosed amount of money. A teller gave the man a dye bag along with the money, which exploded after he fled south on Frankford Avenue in a blue vehicle.

An officer in Southwest Philadelphia apprehended the man later. The suspect is in custody, and the officer was treated at Hahnemann Hospital for a strained shoulder.

Real NEastate: Tax rebates for seniors

By Stacey McCarthy

Q: My mother’s homeowners taxes are very high in her East Torresdale home. She is collecting Social Security and is on a fixed income. Doesn’t she qualify for a tax break because she is over 65?

A: The Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program is available to senior citizens in Pennsylvania. It’s not a tax break; she will still have to pay her property taxes, but she will get money back in the form of a rebate check if she qualifies. Additionally, because your mother lives in Philadelphia, she may qualify for the expanded property tax relief for seniors in Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania residents 65 or older, and widows or widowers over 50, making less than $35,000 a year may qualify for the Property Tax/Rent Rebate. Half of Social Security is excluded from their income calculation. Their income level determines how much of a rebate they can receive.

In Pennsylvania, the maximum rebate is $650. Seniors who live in Philadelphia, and whose income is under $30,000, are eligible to see their rebates increase by an additional 50 percent, up to a maximum of $975, depending on income.

Call to have a Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program application mailed to you at 1-888-222-9190.

Stacey McCarthy is a real estate agent with the McCarty Group of Keller Williams Real Esate. Her Real NEastate column will appear on NEastPhilly.com every Wednesday.

Arrest made in Holy Family theft

Courtesy of CBS3

By Shannon McDonald

CBS3.com has the latest on an arrest made in the theft from nuns at Holy Family University earlier this month.

Cosmo Marinelli has had more than 40 arrests in 30 years, six of which occurred in the NEast. He is accused of stealing money from nuns at Holy Family while they slept.

Support the NEast’s music scene

By Shannon McDonald

It’s a NEastmas Extravaganza!

This Saturday, Dec. 27, four NEast bands will come together at the Oxley Post at Torresdale and Decatur.

Good For Nothing, Ceasefire, Bear Number 141 and Thru It All will play sets from 7 p.m. – 11p.m. in an effort to establish a legitimate NEast music scene. The cover is $8 for all ages, but also includes an open bar.

The Oxley has hosted this event twice before with great turnout, and there will be an after party at Tom’s Sportsman Pub on Frankford and Brighton.

For more information, contact Tom Reamer at TomGFN [at] yahoo [dot] com, or check out the MySpace pages of Good For Nothing, Ceasefire, Bear Number 141 and Thru It All.