Jul 31, 2012

Queen City Magic Show

With the molovinsky on allentown disclosure of long standing plans to build the new fire training facility in Lehigh Parkway, we must now speculate on the sale of the former fire training tower. Since the Lehigh Valley Hospital gave The Morning Call a "no comment" on this topic, speculation is not inappropriate. How convenient that the hospital needs to buy something that we no longer want. How convenient that the sale involves breaking the restriction on selling land at Queen City, a long standing objective of this administration. How convenient that a United States Senator can respectfully use his influence, because it involves a large local employer in the public health field.

Jul 29, 2012

The FireTower Caper

A molovinsky on allentown exclusive. The residents of Allentown are being told that if we do not sell the fire training tower to the Lehigh Valley Hospital Laboratory for expansion, we're in danger of losing a large employer. It appears much more likely that it's the back end of a long standing plan, and that the hospital is accommodating us. There have been plans for at least two years for a new fire training facility, and the city has been soliciting grants for such. The multi-story, multi-million dollar training facility is to be built adjoining the police academy in Lehigh Parkway. The location is the road and hill currently used as the temporary exit road for the park,  and also used as the exit during the Lights In Parkway. In the past this area served the public as park land, used for many years by model plane enthusiasts. The new training center would bring all the heavy fire equipment from nearby counties, necessitating a wider road, moved further east of the current single lane exit road. This would be in line with the new park tradition of spreading more macadam. molovinsky on allentown has also learned that with new adjoining police and fire training facilities, there is discussion of a new position, Public Safety Director. The Director would oversee Police, Fire and EMS. The new position would require appropriate assistants and secretaries, in The City Without Limits.

Jul 27, 2012

Living Here In Allentown

In 1982, when Billy Joel wrote Allentown, they were still serving strawberry pie in the basement at Hess's. Mayor Pawlowski has hired an Australian, from Macungie, to rewrite the iconic song. I don't think that toothpaste is going back in the tube. Perhaps, it would be better if Pawlowski concentrated on improving the city, instead of the song. There's even a delusion that perhaps Billy will come back to Allentown, and perform the new version. A comment to The Morning Call said that in retrospect, 1982 were the good old days.

Jul 26, 2012

Rumors From The Gristmill

The Fegley Family Brew Works is reportedly in jeopardy of losing it's golf course concession, because they dared speak against the Trash to Energy Plant. This plant uses technology not used anywhere else in the country, and was opposed by a broad spectrum of those involved in the environmental and green movements. Fran Dougherty, Allentown's Managing Director, told the Lehigh County Commissioners that a new $multi-million dollar training center will be built in Lehigh Parkway, to replace the fire tower facility being sold to Lehigh Valley Health Network, to expand their laboratory at Lehigh and Vultee Streets. Dougherty discounts the FAA prohibition of the sale as a temporary misunderstanding. In 1928 this city reached a population of 100,000 people. Although we are only slightly larger now, we are being operated with the shenanigans of multi-million person city.

The Great White Hope

Jack Johnson was the first black man to hold the World Heavyweight Championship, in an era which did not celebrate such an accomplishment. A former champ, James Jefferies, was induced by $100,000 in 1910 to come out of retirement to challenge Johnson. Jefferies was called The Great White Hope. The story became a movie in 1970, starring James Earl Jones. By the time Joe Louis became champion three decades later, although the resentment was gone, he was still referred to as the Negro Champion and the Brown Bomber. A promo for Abe Simon's first Louis fight even refers to Simon as The White Heavyweight. Simon certainly was no bigot, his trainer for the fight was none other than the great Jack Johnson himself.

Jul 25, 2012

Buyer's Remorse

The video above was sent to me as a preview of the campaign by the Republican Jewish Coalition, which I support. It's not clear to me if the advertisement will be aired for the general public, or targeted specifically to Jewish groups. Barack Obama received 78% of the Jewish vote in 2008.

Before The Queen

The original hanger and tower at Queen City Airport were built as part of the war effort,  and dedicated as Convair Field on October 10, 1943. In 1928, the Chief of the Reading Police flew to Allentown to attend the fair, landing at Mitchel Field. Despite Mayor Pawlowski's efforts to sell Queen City, the Lehigh Valley Airport Authority has decided that the south side airfield will continue it's aviation tradition, and even expand it's hanger capacity. Pawlowski, who previously declared July Privatization Month, then suggested that the Airport Authority should at least privatize the Queen's operation.

Jul 24, 2012

The 37th Sport, Grass Parking

The theme of the SportsFest coverage on Sunday was that 36 different sports were being played at one location, CedarBeach Park. Anybody who drove up either Ott or Hamilton Street knows that records were also broken in Grass Parking. Rented security personnel continued directing vehicles to the meadow just west of the swimming pool, and up to the tree planted area toward Hamilton Street, until every square foot was jam packed. I'm conflicted about parking on the grass. Although MayFair through Sportsfest is certainly rough on the grass, it's only two months of the year, and thousands of people are served by the events. I do find it environmentally hypocritical to park on the grass, but institute a no mow zone denying access and view of the stream. Perhaps the Park Department should conduct a public input meeting on these issues. Could you imagine a meeting with citizens and the Park Department, without paid consultants, and projects which cost $millions?

Jul 23, 2012

Saving The Queen

The Old
When I grew up on Liberator Ave., I would walk up Catalina Ave. toward school, which was at the end of Coronado. The streets were named for the Vultee-Consolidated WW2 planes, and the neighborhood was next to the airport built as part of the war effort. Vultee Street was built to connect the hangers with the Mack 5C plant, which was given over to Vultee-Consolidated for plane part manufacturing. Today this small airport is known as Queen City, and is threatened by Mayor Ed Pawlowski.
1944 was the first full year of the operation for the company's Allentown, Pennsylvania factory. Consolidated Vultee handled over $100M in wartime contracts at their Allentown plant where they produced TBY-2 Sea Wolves, components parts for B-24 Liberator bombers and other essential armaments and products for the war effort.
Pawlowski covets this unique part of our history to expand the tax base. What he doesn't understand is that more housing or commercial space is not in Allentown's best long term interest. Unfortunately, long term interest is not a term understood by our current leadership. There is a whole development of started houses off S. 12th St. and Mack Blvd. which were never completed. There are filled in foundations on 8th Street, also never completed. More housing is the last thing both the real estate market and school system need. Likewise, the existing commercial sector has been struggling to maintain an acceptable occupancy rate. Queen City airport is an unique asset to Allentown. If LVIA does successfully expand, a separate airport for small planes is very desirable for safety. Considering Pawlowski's predetermined objective, I question whether he should have been appointed to the LVIA Board.
The New
I wrote the above several years ago. Last week The FAA has reiterated their requirements for selling Queen City, and such a sale remains totally unfeasible. Pawlowski says that he won't give up; He never meet an Allentown asset that he didn't want to sell. Although Airport Board Chairman Tony Iannelli conceded that it's time to move on, his quote is disturbing. "I totally understand the mayor's goal here, but unfortunately the hurdles are too high and too many." Tony, if you agree that the mayor's short sighted goals are in the best interest of the Airport Authority, and that it's unfortunate that you can't sell Queen City, then it's unfortunate that you're Chairman of the Authority. The recent FAA letter also prohibits Pawlowski's planned sale of the fire training tower to Lehigh Valley Health Network. Pawlowski claims that if the Hospital cannot expand their lab on Lehigh Street, that they will relocate to the suburbs and that Allentown will lose hundreds of jobs. He hasn't expressed the same concern about suburban offices relocating to Hamilton Street's NIZ.

Jul 22, 2012

The Sunday Drive


My family wasn't much for recreation. My father worked six days a week, from early morning till early evening. We did go for a long car ride on Sundays. Back then gasoline was cheap, and having no destination wasn't thought of as wasteful. Children were more content to sit in back seat and look out the window, now they want a video screen in the vehicle.

Even children's play then involved more imagination and interaction. Howdy Doody was just a puppet on strings,who spend most of his time talking to an adult, Buffalo Bob, can you imagine?

 Sitting in that back seat in the mid fifties, I might well had

my "coonskin" hat with me. Fess Parker was a genuine American hero. It mattered little if he played both Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, both were king of the wild frontier. The ride probably lasted for two hours and then we would go to a restaurant to eat dinner. Compared to now, there were very few restaurants.

My mother would cook all the other meals that week, and we probably ate out more than most. Supermarkets were the new rage in food shopping, but the butcher, baker and candle stick maker were still going strong. If my father headed west or south, chances are we ended up at Shankweiler's Hotel, famous for chicken and waffles. They were at the intersection of Old 22 and Route 100. The building still exists and currently is a bank. The family also owned another hotel on Route 309. Both locations also operated adjoining Drive-In movies.

If my father headed north or east, we would end up at Walp's, which was on the corner of Union Blvd. and Airport Road. Walp's was a much more urban place. While Shankweiler's was an old country inn, Walp's was built as a modern restaurant. I enjoyed those rides, they were a learning experience.
reprinted from March 2010

Jul 20, 2012

Double Down(Towns)


People often speculate as to why Bethlehem now is a destination, while, too often, Allentown is considered a place to avoid. The long answer will not fit within this short post, but here may be a few reasons. Bethlehem had two downtown's, on both sides of the river. While downtown Allentown certainly was the premier shopping area for the Lehigh Valley prior to the malls, it may have become a victim to over-planning. In the late 60's, early 70's, Allentown attempted to compete with the suburban malls by building a canopy on Hamilton Street. The viability of Hamilton Street was extended for a few years, but the magnetism of Hess's could well have been the reason. Bethlehem also built a pedestrian mall on Broad Street, but the historical quaintness of Main Street remained. Although the commerce in it's southside business district languished, the architecture remained. By the time Allentown removed the canopies in the late 90's, the architecture of it's buildings had long been bisected and altered. As historical became chic, Bethlehem profited from having done less in the past.

It's southside business district is a time capsule, architecturally unchanged since the turn of the last century. It now is becoming a mix of boutiques and bistros in a fashionable historic setting. Last, but not least, Bethlehem benefited from consistency of developmental leadership. While Allentown has had a succession of Economic Directors, Tony Hanna, with benefit of his institutional memory, has led Bethlehem for many years.

Shown at the top is pop up photo matches from the 1930's, promoting Julian Goldman's Fine Clothes For The Family on the South Side, East Third Street. Also shown is Tony Hanna, along side of the former Goodman Furniture Store.

reprinted from April 2010

Jul 19, 2012

The Electronic Tabloid


The frightening truth beyond Allentown
                           click if you dare

Time Capsule


Long time readers of this blog realize I occasionally revisit the streets of my youth, which seem idyllic in retrospect, although probably not at the time (certainly my shenanigans were not idyllic for my parents). My neighborhood was called Little Lehigh Parkway, and it was wedged between the southern top of the Parkway and Jefferson Street. Realtors now refer to this area as Little Lehigh Manor, but I have no recollection of that designation. The self-contained neighborhood even had it's own elementary school, where nursery rhymes of the time adorned the brick (they're still there)

As a little boy growing up, Spanky and Our Gang was a TV program, not an urban problem. When boys divided up to play cowboys and indians, being Hopalong was a coveted role. Our fathers experienced working in one of the most prosperous times in American history, post WW2. Children of Mack and Steel workers could well afford college if they so chose. Mothers could afford to stay home and watch their children grow and play.

Time has been most kind to my old neighborhood. A local leader told me that she is well satisfied with the current city government. The post war subdivisions, such as Midway Manor, remain oasis from the difficulties in central Allentown.

reprinted from March 2009

Jul 18, 2012

Union Men To The End

No one could ever accuse Pawlowski or Schlossberg of abandoning the unions. According to The Morning Call, at Pawlowski's news conference today, which I did not attend, the mayor said that the sale/lease of the water department is the only hope for the city to avoid bankruptcy, which he wouldn't consider. Bankruptcy is the only vehicle which allows the city to escape the pension obligations, in which former mayor Afflerbach allowed early retirement at salaries above those actually earned. Schlossberg, on his way to Harrisburg come November unopposed, said he has several non-negotiable concerns: "that water and sewer employees keep their current benefits..." I cannot mentally juxtaposition the construction of a hockey arena with our municipal finances in such dire straits. I don't know where the news conference was held, but the middle of The Hole would not have been an inappropriate location.

Jul 17, 2012

Allentown Goes Private

Tomorrow morning at 11:00am, Mayor Pawlowski will announce the sale of Allentown's water and sewage departments to a private operator. The sale is being conducted to satisfy the pension obligations incurred by the police and fire contracts. Two well placed sources have provided this blogger with two versions of the announcement. In the first version, the systems have been sold for $150 million. In the second version, the systems will be put out to bid. In this city, it's very possible that both versions are true; It will be formally put out to bid, but he has a predetermined buyer at the 150 price. The buyer would assume control of both the plants and distribution systems, and be responsible for every aspect of operation. A former city worker insures me that the quality of service from the water department will certainly suffer. Blogger Bernie O'Hare contributed to this post.
UPDATE: The Morning Call apparently felt compelled to issue a statement, and posted their announcement of the pending sale two hours after this post.  They quote an unnamed source saying "If this done right, this will solve the pension problems overnight, but we must install proper oversight and control."  Allentown has no experience with doing things right, or with oversight and controls.  We are in trouble.
UPDATING THE UPDATE:  Our local LCA might well be a bidder (or the bidder) for the Allentown systems.  The current project through Cedar Park interconnects the systems, and will expand their capacity to deliver treated water to western Lehigh County. If the Lehigh County Authority is in fact the buyer, the consequence of selling this prime Allentown asset would be tolerable. Allentonians could expect responsible stewardship and reasonable fees.

building the water works in 1928, The Morning Call archives

Whose Parks Are They?

photocredit: Denise Sanchez/The Morning Call
Shown above, Luciana Martucci, with her Barbie fishing pole, teaches her daddy how to fish in an Allentown park. Luciana is concerned that the Trail Network Plan will encourage many additional bicyclists, going much faster, which will make watching her daddy more difficult; He tends to wander when they walk on the paths. She doesn't understand why the paths are going to be dug up and paved to accommodate one particular set of users, at the expense of all others.

The parks are a nationally recognized heritage of all Allentonians, from one generation to the next. No one Administration, or set of Trustee's, is entitled to impose irreversible changes in its design or use.


reprinted from April 10, 2010

Jul 16, 2012

The Money Pit, The Sequel

For we of little faith, the hole on Hamilton Street is a huge money pit. The NIZ legislation makes cost no object, and the real projected cost of the arena project has never been disclosed. If the arena is not enough to suck Allentown dry for the next few decades, let us contemplate the Neuweiler Brewery, located in the riverside portion of the NIZ district. The City of Allentown has hired Cornerstone Consulting Engineers, fee unknown, to evaluate the building for conversion into "a mix of office, apartments and retail space." molovinsky on allentown has commissioned the former caretaker of the property, John P. Chapkovich, to share his actual experience, after spending years on site.

  The Neuweiler property has many many secrets hidden within it that the City does not know about environmentally... I remember a few years ago, as well as in the ‘80s, that they City made the comment about just tearing it down. I made myself a little phone call to them and needed to inform them that if they would demolish the building that they would have to completely rebuild the roads around the building and regrade the property seeing as the building is holding them up. Since they took over have they done anything to alleviate the code violations that exist? Lead by example. The City actually took the property via eminent domain as the original site of the arena project. for some reason, their sights were then changed (no pun intended) to the Center Square one. The developer of the Arena fronted the near $1M to purchase the 16 W Liberty St property, the rear parcel, in the form of a loan to the Redevelopment Authority.... I personally showed at least 20-30 real estate developers through this property(front brewery portion) in the almost 5 years that I was involved in it, most of them sent through City Hall or the county... There is no way with the amount it would cost to just renovate the building and convert it into anything,... the rental that would be required to fund the project would be too high.. This is without the environmental issues. My question is, how is the City going to make this happen?.... I also just took a look at the “study” that was done by cornerstone for the property and just right off the top of my head I find it very shady. There are parts of the building that were obvious issues that were omitted or made to be less than what they are...I also reviewed the environmental cleanup plan for the property that is posted on the City's webite and just to clean the debris out the preliminary estimate is $900K-950K. They said the actual cost could (key word here) be lower. The plan also goes on to say that this is not including any remediation because of building materials on the building such as lead paint, the asbestos that is the ceilings in the front of the building (that isn't plaster my friends)... Once again, this is an issue of City hall telling people what they want to hear to get what they want....

Our mayor is going Hollywood with this project. There's a movie company interested in the property, because of it's NIZ status. They specialize in science fiction and horror flicks. Any title suggestions?

Jul 13, 2012

Allentown Library's Exclusionary Policy

The Allentown Public Library discontinued renting it's meeting rooms last spring, to formulate a new policy, and ended up failing it's own stated mission. The purpose of the Library's meeting rooms is.... to champion the principle of intellectual freedom by providing a forum for the free exchange of ideas, and to fulfill the Library's role as a community center...This morning, when I attempted to rent a room for the Allentown WPA Association, I was given a 7 page packet. Among the new requirements, I would have to produce a certificate of insurance, showing that my group has $1 million dollars in coverage. It seems the free exchange of ideas is no longer free. I'm not too worried about my park group not being able to use the library. I suspect that the Director would rather pay our fees herself, than be submitted to more of me. I am concerned about other groups, with less of a voice, looking to raise the community's awareness on one issue or another.

What Will Arena Complex Really Cost

We read in the paper that the arena complex will cost $220 million dollars, but that figure was actually created by yours truly, back in April. I simply rounded off the arena from 158 to 160, added 20 for the office addition, and another 40 for the hotel. Although The Morning Call was quick to adopt my math, City Hall has remained silent in regard to any correction; That may well mean that the project will actually cost more. It is my belief that the real cost will not be known until they float the bonds.

Jul 12, 2012

Allentown's Prime Time

During Allentown's prime time, it prospered as an enlightened oligarchy. Allentown's leaders would meet for lunch at the Livingston Club on S. 7th Street, and decide what this town needed to do to remain The All-American City. John Leh, Donald Miller and Harvey Farr owned the Park&Shop, and made sure that there was adequate parking for all the merchants. Although an eccentric outsider, Max Hess Jr. did more than his share for Hamilton Street. Not only did Hamilton Street prosper, but so did everyone else, living and working on the side streets leading to Hamilton. Although the oligarchy died off, and the Livingston was torn down, democracy doesn't seem to have served Allentown very well. We now have a strong arm-mayor and a subservient City Council. If the current project, with no cost limits, transforms Allentown remains to be seen. I remain doubtful that any benefits will spread down the side streets.

Jul 11, 2012

The Real Neuweiler Story


A feature story in today's Morning Call omits the fact that several years ago the City of Allentown stole the brewery from the rightful owner. Just as merchants of Hamilton Street were never allotted the opportunity to benefit from city arranged grants or the NIZ, the former taxpaying owner of the brewery was never given any assistance. Mayor Pawlowski can't stand private investors, if he didn't give you a grant, you're not worth much. In the early 70's, the City and Redevelopment Authority gave control of the Neuweiler Brewery to a friend. Under the City's watch, windows were removed and exterior walls broken through to remove the brewing tanks and piping for scrap. All metal, wires and any object of value were crudely ripped out in an orgy of demolition. With a large opening in the back wall smashed out, the basement was used as a free landfill by a roofer.
What should be mentioned about the XXXX roofing property is the fact that when I was involved with the brewery property in front that the owner at one point had compiled evidence of the roofers illegal disposal of environmental hazards and that when the evidence was to be presented to the City that he was not only arrested, for issues regarding the building, but the evidence was just disregarded. That property would stockpile environmental hazards in the back and then when the pile got large enough a large dump truck with a front end loader would show up. A bunch of work would go on out back and "poof" no pile of garbage. Also, when he would do slate roofing (which is covered in petroleum) he would just dump it on the rear of the property and when the piles would get high, he would level the property off, even into the railbed in the rear. (anyone that doesn't believe me on this one, go take a walk on the rails behind the property you will see it). former caretaker of brewery property

 Still the building remained iconic, because of it's rich industrial architecture. In 2003 a New Jersey investor bought the building for over $200,000 in the condition shown in the photograph. The building has been in that condition since the late 70's. His hope was at some point the City would appreciate the landmark. and cooperate in its revival. He must have found the building citations from the Pawlowski administration mind-numbing; Can you image being held responsible for carnage committed by a previous owner under the City's watch? Mayor Pawlowski, afraid someone might want to invest private money in Allentown and pay real estate taxes, had the Neuweiler owner jailed when he came to Allentown to discuss the property. The city, through the Redevelopment Authority, then seized the brewery. The former Neuweiler garages, behind the brewery, were sold years ago to a roofer. A couple years ago the City purchased the roofer's property for close to a $million dollars, reuniting the parcel. The Morning Call story today is about the hope and potential of the site, but I thought you might want to know about the City's complicity in it's sordid past.

portions of this post are reprinted from May 2008
UPDATE: The following was received as a comment on June 14,2012, by the former caretaker of the Neuweiler property:The Neuweiler property has many many secrets hidden within it that the City does not know about environmentally. The bottling house along Front St at one point was cleaned up the DEP (state) and was an absolute disaster then. I remember a few years ago, as well as in the ‘80s, that they City made the comment about just tearing it down. I made myself a little phone call to them and needed to inform them that if they would demolish the building that they would have to completely rebuild the roads around the building and regrade the property seeing as the building is holding them up. Regarding the former owner of the larger buildings, the building was not actually purchased, the mortgage was. Mr. Kellner bought the mortgage in foreclosure. The owner, Hanna Industrial Properties, fell on hard times with the loss of his primary funding source. Once Mr. Kellner took over the property the City was giving him fines of thousands of dollars a month because of appearance issues with the property. I have a copy of the inspection report that the fines were based on, it is ridiculous. Since they took over have they done anything to alleviate the code violations that exist? Lead by example. The City actually took the property via eminent domain as the original site of the arena project. for some reason, their sights were then changed (no pun intended) to the Center Square one. The developer of the Arena fronted the near $1M to purchase the 16 W Liberty St property, the rear parcel, in the form of a loan to the Redevelopment Authority. They last year, defaulted on that loan. The last year that Mr. Kellner owned the property, the City even went as far as to demolish the iconic Neuweiler smokestack. How did they do this you may ask, they went back into the archives and decided to act on a raze or repair order from 1979, mind you the demolition occurred around 2007 or 8. We had an engineer come out and certify the structural integrity of the property as well and they demolished it anyway. I personally showed at least 20-30 real estate developers through this property in the almost 5 years that I was involved in it, most of them sent through City Hall or the county. Each one of them had the same thing to say, there is no money to be made there. There is no way with the amount it would cost to just renovate the building and convert it into anything that the rental that would be required to fund the project would be too high for the area. This is without the environmental issues. My question is, how is the City going to make this happen? My thought is that this is Phase 2 of the City's NIZ project, the arena being Phase 1. I also just took a look at the “study” that was done by cornerstone for the property and just right off the top of my head I find it very shady. There are parts of the building that were obvious issues that were omitted or made to be less than what they are. John P. Chapkovich

A Woman of Letters


Barba-Del Campbell was in the hallway at the overflow Council meeting this past July on Cedar Creek Park. She handed me a handwritten letter which I put into my pocket. I met Barba-Del a few years earlier at the first meeting for the Lanta merchants. There were at least two passions in her life, activism and art; Apparently, she had a long relationship with both. This past summer, The Morning Call had a feature story about her role in commemorating Paul Robeson with a postage stamp.

I typed and printed Barba-Del's letter and faxed it along with my own to the Morning Call. Both our editorials appeared side by side in the paper. My effort resulted in a handwritten thank you note. Barba-Del didn't have a computer. I would print out pieces I wrote on the merchants or on the parks, and leave them at her "office", that would be the first table to the left at The House of Chen.

There will be a gathering this Saturday in her memory at the restaurant. Barba-Del is on the far right in photo above, which was taken after that Lanta meeting by participant Bernie O'Hare. Ann Elizabeth Schlegel and Heather Sincavage also remember this remarkable woman.

ADDENDUM:  I STOPPED INTO THE HOUSE OF CHEN TRIBUTE TO BARBA-DEL TO PAY MY RESPECTS,  THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE.
Heather Sincavage reflects on the memorial service


reprinted from March 2010

Jul 9, 2012

At The Trough


Uncle Sam has given the Lehigh Valley $3.4million dollars to study development. Our tax dollars will be spread out among the bureaucrats, and those in training, to insure that nothing tangible results from the money. Those in charge are experienced in the art of nebulous double talk. Holly Edinger, from the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. said "This spending from HUD will enable the Lehigh Valley to have an unprecedented community conversation about our future." Allentown will use our share to study the now closed factory, where both Obama and Romney had press conferences. Community Development Director Sara Hailstone said "What this will allow us to do is bring jobs back to the core where people can walk to work and walk home from work and we believe that is one of the most sustainable projects we can be involved with." Actually, Sarah, in a time long before you, workers did just that, using the WPA Fountain Park Steps. Using our share to repair those steps would actually produce a return on both the money and your words. Phil Mitman said "This is really about our taxpayer money coming back to the Lehigh Valley." I suppose Phil's right, at least the money is being wasted in the valley.
Alan Jennings and Renew LV are dancing in their underpants about the HUD grant. Most of grant will fund the salaries in various such organizations to conduct public input meetings and other abstractions.
This post is a commentary on a Morning Call article by Scott Kraus.
 reprinted from November 2011
UPDATE July 9, 2012  I've known of Holly Edinger since 05, when I ran as an independent candidate in Allentown,  she  worked for the Chamber at that time. She has also since served on the Allentown School Board.   Today, she pretty much had The Morning Call to herself. Now working for the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, an article featured the planned dog and pony show, as part of that organization receiving a $3.4 million dollar grant on regional planning. When the article mentioned affordable housing, I said, here comes Alan. Jennings showed up in the next paragraph. She also had the editorial space, to lip synch the regional patter. If any of this sounds familiar, it's because it is. Back in November, I first wrote about the grant. titling the above post, The Three Cities, hence the photo chosen. Here we are, eight months later, and you can go over to Steel Stacks Wednesday evening and give your opinion about the Valley's future. Will they entertain opinions about using our tax dollars for such grants? Now, there's an expensive question.
UPDATE: Although the original post from last November mentions Ms. Edinger,  as does  yesterday's update,  she is not the issue of this post; I have changed copy in the above update accordingly.  The issue is taxpayer value from such organizations, meetings and planning.  I'm sure that she is a conscientious employee of the LVEDC, performing the assigned task in a competent manner.

Jul 8, 2012

Only The Best for Public Housing

For an Allentown historian with an interest in photography, the photo above is as good as it gets; Eleanor Roosevelt visiting Allentown's new public housing project in 1942, Hanover Acres. I snatched the photo off The Morning Call this morning; Paul Carpenter has a column where he brooded about public housing recipients complaining that they can't smoke, while living on our dime. I'll do him one better. They're now griping about it in new housing, Overlook Park. Hanover Acres and the newer project, Riverview Terrace, were both torn down several years ago to construct new townhouses. It's supposedly a mixed income project, with homes both for sale, and Section 8 rentals.
Over the years Hanover Acres became a "terrible" place to live, a crime-ridden eyesore. Overlook Park, the $88 million development that's sprung up in its place, however, is "beautiful." Daniel R. Farrell, executive director of the Allentown Housing Authority, described turning Hanover Acres into Overlook Park as "an amazing transformation."The development features 269 rental apartments and room for 53 single-family homes.
It was built by Pennrose Properties, which specializes in politically correct and politically connected housing for profit. They have done well in Allentown with Mayor Ed. Not long before Hanover and Riverview were demolished, they were completely remodeled, with high end kitchen cabinets and counters. Shown below is yours truly, in Little Lehigh Manor, built in 1944. Those brick houses of the same vintage are still new enough for home buyers today. Most of Allentown's existing row houses were built between 1895 and 1930. If Carpenter is upset about smoking, he should drive over to Overlook Park and see what they're smoking in.

Jul 6, 2012

The Sign of The Beast

The following was written by Dennis Pearson, and is a reaction to the Department of Parks wanting various Neighborhood groups to organize their sports programs under the city's umbrella. This was recommended by a consultant hired by the City. Just like Allentown to pay a consultant on how to fix something which is not broken. Yesterday I checked out the $77,000 expense at Franklin Park. Apparently, we purchased a few pieces of playground equipment from the same vendor that Weitzel always used. More Shenanigans, although he departed already. Glad to see Dennis Pearson fighting this latest nonsense from the Allentown Park Department. Pearson's been fighting the good fight for decades. Thank you Dennis.
  Allentown is buying into municipalization of as much of the activities in this city as possible. In otherwards you can't buy or sell without the mark of the beast. That means that someone in City Hall or some national group would have the say. There would be no place for independents or enterprising groups not approved by City Hall. If this system was present in 1957 my dad would not have formed the East Side Rams. The City would have stopped him. Especially if he was not one of their favorite clientele. The East Side of Allentown was once able to support 4 youth organization programs. East Side Rams, East Side Youth Center, East Side Memorial Little League and Midway Manor. Could this ever happen again, not under this structure and in this economy. And I hate to see the East Side Youth Center facilities seized like Castro did to American Companies in the 1960's because the City which is not known for sound decision making wants to municipalize all activities and control who plays where. Personally as a former coach for the now-defunct independent group known as the East Side Rams I dedicated myself to teach sound baseball and basketball practices to those who played for me. I would never allow parents to influence who would start or play where. I would never put a child in a position he could not handle. I practiced my teams a lot far more then they do today to work on the deficiencies of players that needed help. But I never held back the better players because of the poorer players. Perhaps under this new municpalization plan I wouldn't have ever been given the opportunity to coach because of City politics in the selections. You know I have never been appointed to an important agency in this city ... My success has been with independent agencies which these grabbers of power and decision-making would love to control completely as well. Forming these groups according to their rules and they putting their own people in charge. I hope that those who currently serve on Council don't buy into this nonsense. If they do then they again are showing how little they know. Let's stop this socialistic move. And people should know this ,,, My behavior in the community forums I participate in is neither Republican or Democratic... I am a citizen who does his citizenship duty and takes his responsibilities seriously. I remain vigilant of my liberties which other of lesser knowledge and mind want to take away. Dennis Pearson

The People's Candidate


In the late 1970's, neighbors would gather in the market on 9th Street to complain and receive consolation from the woman behind the cash register. Emma was a neighborhood institution. A native Allentonian, she had gone through school with mayor for life Joe Dadonna, and knew everybody at City Hall. More important, she wasn't shy about speaking out. What concerned the long time neighbors back then was a plan to create a Historical District, by a few newcomers.

What concerned Emma wasn't so much the concept, but the proposed size of the district, sixteen square blocks. The planners unfortunately all wanted their homes included, and they lived in an area spread out from Hall Street to 12th, Linden to Liberty.* Shoving property restrictions down the throats of thousands of people who lived in the neighborhood for generations didn't seem right to Emma. As the battle to establish the district became more pitched, Emma began referring to it as the Hysterical District.
Emma eventually lost the battle, but won the hearts of thousands of Allentonians. Emma Tropiano would be elected to City Council beginning in 1986, and would serve four terms. In 1993 she lost the Democratic Primary for Mayor by ONE (1) vote.

Her common sense votes and positions became easy fodder for ridicule. Bashed for opposing fluoridation, our clean water advocates now question the wisdom of that additive. Although every founding member of the Historical District moved away over the years, Emma continued to live on 9th Street, one block up from the store. In the mid 1990's, disgusted by the deterioration of the streetscape, she proposed banning household furniture from front porches. Her proposal was labeled as racist against those who could not afford proper lawn furniture. Today, SWEEP officers issue tickets for sofas on the porch.

Being blunt in the era of political correctness cost Emma. Although a tireless advocate for thousands of Allentown residents of all color, many people who never knew her, now read that she was a bigot. They don't know who called on her for help. They don't know who knocked on her door everyday for assistance. They don't know who approached her at diners and luncheonettes all over Allentown for decades. We who knew her remember, and we remember the truth about a caring woman.

* Because the designated Historical District was too large, it has failed, to this day, to create the atmosphere envisioned by the long gone founders. Perhaps had they listened to, instead of ridiculing, the plain spoken shopkeeper, they would have created a smaller critical mass of like thinking homeowners, who then could have expanded the area.

reprinted from March 2010

Jul 5, 2012

Another King To Visit Easton

This coming Tuesday, Easton's Sal Panto will be hosting the Burger King. When it was pointed out to Panto that the King is actually just an actor wearing a paper mache head, he issued the following statement. "I know this article will give the naysayers something to talk about and write here but personally I am looking forward to his visit. Lastly, I don’t know how many insignificant individuals travel with an entourage that includes a cultural performing troupe."

Jul 4, 2012

Allentown School District Retrospective


One of the most amazing things about Allentown is that the population, despite the problems, has remained about the same since 1928. That was the year Allentown celebrated reaching 100,000. Today, we are about 106.000. Although the numbers stayed the same, the demographics have changed drastically. We are now officially a minority city. When I grew up, there was a saying, If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much. How's that for political correctness? Today, if you want to see a Pennsylvania Dutchman, you have to look at the picture on a bag of pretzels.

During my school years, a delinquent was a kid smoking a cigarette in the alley. Today, we have machete attacks, and parents beating someone else's kid in a classroom. In this environment, should we be concerned about math scores in Singapore? There is a disconnect between the discipline problems and the preoccupation for better scores on the standardized tests; Increasing civility is much more important. If we could get that math score up, will the public overlook the machete attack? We'll build a new school next to Jackson Elementary, move the students, and put the machete attackers in the old Jackson. Then, we'll take the real achievers and put them in an academy of excellence. Let's hope not too many parents insist that their child belongs in the academy. Let's hope that the prison school works out. We all agree that all the students are a precious commodity. What we really need is safe classrooms, conducive to learning. We need supervised streets, conducive for getting to and from school safely. Isn't it interesting that a child can leave Central Catholic at 4th and Chew, and be safer than a child leaving William Allen at 17th and Chew?

The photograph, from the late 1940's, shows a kindergarden class before Lehigh Parkway Elementary School was completed. One of the twin houses served both as the neighborhood school and church.

reprinted from December 2010

Jul 3, 2012

School District Damage Control

(Allentown, PA, July 3, 2012) – Having committed to starting his employment yesterday as director of communications with the Allentown School District, Keith Pierce APR has informed Superintendent C. Russell Mayo, Ed.D., that he has decided to withdraw from the position in light of the ethics violations that surfaced after the interview process and acceptance of the job offer took place. “There was no evidence of these civil violations during the interview process and Keith did not mention them,” says Dr. Mayo, Ed.D. “The district was not informed of them through calls made to past employers or during standard protocol checks. I am sorry to learn of this situation after the selection of Mr. Pierce. Additional measures for screening have been put in place as a result of this experience. I accept and appreciate his withdrawal, and I wish Keith well in his further career pursuits."

The above release was distributed this morning by Susan Williams and Associates, on behalf of Allentown School District. Pierce was hired to provide communications and public relations in house. Those services had been provided by Williams for a number of years, and apparently will continue to be, at least for the immediate future.

Coming To Easton

This blog has beat up Sal Panto on more than one occasion. The problem started for me years ago, when Sal insisted on supporting a parking deck behind Wolfe School. This deck would have been inconvenient for everybody, and practically useless, but that didn't deter Sal. The current proposed deck, now moved and merged with Lanta and the Al Bundy Museum of High School Sports, is still looking good to Sal. The other month Sal announced that a king was coming to Easton. Although it has been documented that the kingdom is limited to this guy's head, he still remains a king to Sal.
Ghana's ambassador to the U.S. said Quartey's claim is phony. Quartey, said Ambassador Daniel Ohene Agyekum, doesn't know what he's talking about. Prominent Ghana expatriate Dr. Samuel Quartey, a podiatrist in Philadelphia and a member of the Ga tribe, agreed with the ambassador.
When The Morning Call discovered that a new school district hire in Allentown had shenanigans in his past, the Superintendent quickly distanced himself from the impostor; Sal Panto doesn't seem to have that capacity.

photo of Sal with his king by Michael Kubel / The Morning Call

The Corner Market


Although I doubt that there will ever be a show at the Historical Society, or brochures at the Visitors Bureau, perhaps nothing encapsulates the history of Allentown more than the corner grocery stores. Allentown proper, is mostly comprised of rowhouses built between 1870 and 1920, long before the era of automobiles and suburban supermarkets. Most of the corner markets were built as stores, and over the years many were converted into apartments. Up until the late 1940's, there may have been well over a hundred operating in Allentown. Some specialized in ethnic food. The bodega at 9th and Liberty was formally an Italian market. Live and fresh killed chickens were sold at 8th and Linden, currently H & R Block Tax Service. A kosher meat market is now a hair salon on 19th Street. The original era for these markets died with the advent of the supermarket. In the early 50's some corner stores attempted to "brand" themselves as a "chain", as shown in the Economy Store sign above. That market is at 4th and Turner, and has been continually operating since the turn of the last century. Ironically, as the social-economic level of center city has decreased, the corner stores have seen a revival. Most of these new merchants, many Hispanic and some Asian, know little of the former history of their stores, but like their predecessors, work long, hard hours.
above reprinted from March 2009
photo of Yost Market by Carl Rubrecht, 1970

Jul 2, 2012

A Blogger's Saturday Photography

Alfonso Todd, Fuzion 2012
photocredit:molovinsky

Hat Tip to Steve Esack

I tip my hat to Steve Esack, education reporter for The Morning Call. This morning he reveals that the recently hired public relations officer for the Allentown School System has a history of being loose and free with public school money. He apparently was cited in the past for ethic violations, concerning the use of a school district credit card for his personal purposes; But, there's a much more disturbing question about the article. Why does Allentown need a PR man? Our main problem has been poor hiring, by both the school administration, and the school board. Zahorchak was hired because he had been a Director of Education under Rendell. In reality, it was a political appointment of favor, not a surprise in Pennsylvania. This PR man apparently rode the coat tails of a previous such appointment. Although I recently praised the school board, here's hoping that they dump their new PR man, and the position itself. I'm on the mailing list of a private contractor who currently handles the communications for the district. She does an excellent job, for a fraction of the cost. UPDATE: This story made the headline of Monday's hard copy edition. How pathetic that the School District hired a person for public relations at $87,000, and got this result. How pathetic would it be for taxpayers to now pay this guy to defend himself? Time for both the gentleman and the position to quickly depart. Time for Russ Mayo and the School Board to realize that taxpayers are disappointed that they would still hire glorified bubble blowers in these hard economic times. I now deeply resent my 2.6% tax increase.

Natural Born Promoter

Hamilton Street was hot and barren on Saturday afternoon. When the elevator opened onto the fifth floor of the BreW Works, I entered the world of cool and hip; It was Alfonso Todd's Fuzion 2012. Hundreds of people mingled, listened to music, and saw what was new in the Lehigh Valley. Unfortunately, when I left, the cool and hip didn't stick with me.
photocredit:molovinsky

Jul 1, 2012

A Warrior for Israel

After Yizhak Yzernitizky's father was murdered in the woods of Poland for being a Jew, the 20 year old immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1935. His sisters would remain behind and die in the Holocaust. He took a new name, Shamir, and came to command the underground Stern Gang, which targeted the British prior to Israel's independence. Twice captured by the British, he escaped both times. After Independence, he served Mossad for ten years. In 1983 he began his first term as Prime Minister. In his second term as Minister, he oversaw the mass migration of Soviet Jews, and the airlift of Ethiopian Jews. Yizhak Shamir died yesterday, at the age of 96.