PHILADELPHIA -
A double dose of good news from a FOX 29 "Getting Results" story we brought you back in October.
The dangerous, long-vacant rowhome next door to Milton Boscana's place on the 3900 block of North Delhi St. in Philadelphia's Hunting Park section has been demolished, and the Boscana's are taking the next step to ensure the now-empty lot stays clean and safe.
When he looks out his door now, Milton sees "A relief!"
First, the demo.
The home had been falling down for years when FOX 29's Bruce Gordon was called to the scene.
A large tree growing up through the kitchen seemed to be holding the place together!
Falling bricks landed on Milton's back patio.
And the smell from illegally dumped trash?
Unbelievable.
But after Gordon's phone calls, city council president Darrell Clarke's office quickly went to work, and demolition crews were on the scene the week before Thanksgiving.
Milton says the first man in the door came out gagging. "There was a lot of dead animals inside the house. They found a lot of corpses of animals, like cats and dogs, inside."
Now, Milton's mother and brother are acting to keep the lot looking good.
"We filled out an application where we're basically being responsible for the lot," says Nestor Boscana.
It's actually a little more complicated.
The now-empty lot is technically private property.
But it's heading to sheriff's sale because of delinquent taxes.
If the city gets control, Lydia Boscana will agree to care for the property- keep it free of trash, or illegally parked cars.
In return, she gets to use the land.
"She basically just wants to take the lot and turn it into a nice little garden," says Nestor, translating for his mother's Spanish.
And her smelly, dangerous neighbor becomes an urban oasis.
"She keeps saying the same thing," says Nestor. "Like, 'I love it! it's like hitting a jackpot!'"
Keeping the neighborhood clean is a never-ending battle in some Philly neighborhoods.
Even as we arrived on North Delhi for our follow-up report, another neighbor approached to point out a pile of more than two dozen sliced up tires, illegally dumped just up the block from Milton's home.
A vacant home that once sat in Hunting Park has been demolished and residents now want to make sure the area stays clean.
is going to collapse right on top of him.
