Out of frustration, J.B. and Kathleen Reilly have stopped reading the political blogs that snidely refer to downtown Allentown as Reillyville or Reillytown, so writes Scott Kraus and Matt Assad in today's feature story. Although a large portion of the article defends against criticism from this blog, including the phrases Reillyville and Reillytown, reporters and editors have once again chosen to not give attribution to molovinsky on allentown. Although perhaps J.B. has stopped reading this blog, I know that Kraus and Assad are reading these words: So boys, here's the biggie you missed today. You forgot to mention that the City gave Reilly $20 million (loaned from National Penn) in seed money, with no specifications, which he used to buy those 32 properties for $15.1 million. I say the City, because the loan was made even before the NIZ Authority was formed. You forgot to mention that some of the owners displaced by Reilly's buying spree felt intimidated, supposedly even including the possibility of eminent domain. Although you keep parroting Pawlowski's premise of risk on Reilly's part, the only real risk was ours. Although you have presented a defense against all the apparent connections, the fact remains that we now have Reillyville.
UPDATE: Kraus and Assad write; records show he(Reilly) didn't buy his first new property until March 2011 —
three months after the new downtown NIZ map was adopted, and a week
after the city publicly announced it was shifting the arena downtown. Public records refer to deed transfers, but when were the Agreements of Sale signed? Reilly wonders why other developers are not taking advantage of the NIZ. Perhaps because Reilly has already purchased all the adjoining blocks? Perhaps because they are not assured that their project will be granted the same NIZ Authority approval, necessary for the tax debt funding, being enjoyed by Reilly?
redd, you may resubmit your comment without bastardizing the mayor's name, or you can resubmit as is, using your real name.
ReplyDeleteYou no my real name mm, george p. schaller, redd, the rabbit¿ the pos that i as u say bastardize its name took a $500.00 campaign donation and no permit pulled mancave remodel, to allow the total blighting of the block were i reside upon his appointment in 2006¿
DeletePull a drive by as he and his police force allow the peddling to continue and disruptive landlords as well as there tenants to make it almost intolerable¿
your just jealous of jb reilly, molovinskli
ReplyDelete@10:12, no, i'm not jealous. there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people much more accomplished than me in the valley. j.b. reilly is very accomplished. considering the facts on the ground, (all the demolition) I hope that this wholesale change of center city allentown succeeds. that said, it doesn't mean that a project of this consequence should proceed with no scrutiny; there has been none, from main stream media or local government. those few of us who question the program are called naysayers, as if our point of view will poison the effort. i'm glad to have fostered the discussion.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteMike,
I saw the article and it was informative and interesting as far as it went but without the inclusion of direct quotes from those who have expressed concern or criticism of the arena project it is just another puff piece. I have to think that was an editorial decision. In other words, more of the same.
Scott Armstrong
Are you watching the Olympic qualifying tournament from Bietigheim-Bissingen, Mr. Molovinsky?
ReplyDeleteThe new EGETRANS ARENA, which was bought and paid for by the local public utilities company, cost exactly 18.0 million Euros (or about $ 24.0 million U.S. dollars).
"PAWLOWSKI PALACE OF SPORT IN PERSPECTIVE"
http://www.goironpigs.com
Does The Morning Call even remember printing articles stating that the transformational Allentown Arena would only cost the taxpayers a mere $ 80.0 million dollars?
It's always interesting to see how things are done in socialized Europe ...
ROLF OELER
MM, I am more concerned for all of the businesses OUTSIDE of the NIZ zone who invested in Allentown before it was fashionable, as well as the residents, because, in reality, no one knows what is going on. Everyone is talking about opportunity and benefits but we must make sure it is available, in some type of way, to everyone. We don't want "hand-outs or welfare", we want to know what type of businesses will be needed or jobs will be available so we can be prepared for the future....
ReplyDeleteAlfonso Todd
We CAN Do better
www.votealfonsotodd.com
The article stopped just short of nominating Reilly for sainthood. There's just no dark side at all? Nice puff piece by the MC who have been cheerleaders for Pawlowski and Reilly from the start. I agree there is so little oversight. It's all so easy when it's taxpayers who are on the hook for anything that goes wrong. Pardon my skepticism but all this cronyism make me suspicious. At the very least maybe someone will finally ask some questions. If there's nothing wrong then there's nothing to hide, right?
ReplyDeleteI have a long time friend who was made an offer he couldn't refuse to sell a property on Hamilton St. to make way for Reillyville. All sorts of high flyers and politicians suddenly started visiting and made it loud and clear that this was in the best interest of progress.
Keep up the good fight, Michael. I enjoy reading your blog.
BTW, where do you get all those great pictures?
Dislocation of the disenfranchised is coming to Allentown. Does anyone have any idea what this will be like and what the consequences of this action will be? All under the name of gentrification. Questions is where the hell are they going to find enough gentry to pull it off. This article is another puff piece by the MC pumping up the NIZ and the arena. Do not understand how they are ever going to pull this one off. I hope i am wrong and I would love to see that occur. I just think all these developers including JP and his friends at LVH will all walk away with the cash and the next cadre of investors will have nothing to deal with except tumble weed. At least that what seems to be collecting outside of out more illustrious restaurants downtown.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is clearly a puff piece, it is a poorly written puff piece. As interested as I have been in the NIZ, I am having a hard time reading the story. It certainly is not journalism. If it were, the reporters involved would have made more of an effort to find both sides to the J.B. Reilly story.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteWhat is missing in all these stories is the raiding of funds from cigarette taxes that can be applied to the debt. Who will make up the short fall in these budget lines, CHIP and farmland preservation? I know it rhetorical question but it is never mentioned.
Cigarette tax revenue is currently dedicated to the following funds and General Fund:
$30.73 million annually to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides health insurance to uninsured children and teens; and
$20.49 million annually to the Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Fund, which helps preserve Pennsylvania farmland.
Source:http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/cigarette_tax/14496
GS
A self serving and nausiating puff piece. Got as far as the basketball story and got ill. No one poses for photos who is not interested in having his side of the story published. Will take more than this love story to polish an image.
ReplyDeleteOf course it's a puff piece. After all, why would the Morning Call damage the Phantoms building which, undoubtedly the MC will be a 'sponsor' of. (Sorry for ending that sentence with a preposition)
ReplyDeleteHow can we expect tough reporting from a paper that helps underwrite these teams like I-Pigs, and soon the Phantoms?
Who is now buying all the properties on South 9th street between Hamilton and Walnut, along with the row homes on maple street between 8th and 9th?
ReplyDeleteAlso, did anyone notice all the red lines on the streets within a 2 block radius?