May 31, 2016

An Extra Inning For The Establishment


When you're fighting the establishment in Lehigh Valley, you better get your P's and Q's in line before the deadline,  because there are no extensions. However, for the establishment, deadlines are just the beginning.

When Chris Kocher of the Wildlands Conservancy said two years ago that if the South Whitehall Commissioners voted to keep Wehr's Dam, that would be the end of the issue, he must have given himself a good chuckle.

When Lehigh County reached the deadline for farmland preservation, they simply reset the clock. Their goal is to preserve 25% of all the land in the county, so far, they have only 10%. Now, of course that doesn't mean that the remainder is being developed, most of it will remain farmland. Those figures pertain to land officially preserved. It doesn't count in their eyes unless the development rights are paid for with our tax dollars. What these advocates really know about farming or land, you could stuff in one organic tomato.

Last week, when Allentown's Shark Tank business subsidy plan failed to attract enough applicants, they extended the deadline. On the other hand, when a local judge ruled against taxing the arena, the Allentown School District decided not to file an appeal. While there is a limit on trying to save the taxpayer some money,  there's no limit on how much of our money can be spent.  We learned that the NIZ board will be able to keep their full annual $million dollar budget, which they need to scrutinize project applications. As if they really scrutinize Reilly, Butz and Jaindl, or would ever deny them.

May 30, 2016

The King Has Abdicated


In 1958 my father had a food stand at the fair. It took him about an hour to realize you cannot sell hot dogs in the King's back yard; Yocco, the Hot Dog King. When Yocco's claimed last year they were not at the fair because their canvas ripped, I was skeptical. This year it's official, they have abdicated their spot. Tonight the fair was jammed. In Ag Hall the granges still compete in vegetable canning. A wiseguy still incites you to dunk him. The world's smallest horse hasn't grown. Maybe Yocco's is gone, but the fair is still much more like 1958 than any other aspect of Allentown.

REPRINTED FROM AUG.28, 2007

UPDATE 2016: Yocco's has announced that they have closed their original location in the 600 block of Liberty Street.

May 28, 2016

The Crucifixion of Ce-Ce Gerlach

While Jesus of Nazareth was killed in Jerusalem,  Ce-Ce was crucified in Nazareth.  One anonymous commenter after another cast stones. The mob found Ce-Ce guilty,  because she accepted a scholarship from DeSales for NIZ residents,  which was underwritten by the Trexler Trust and City Center Real Estate.  Although, she took no direct assistance from J.B. Reilly,  over 80 comments condemned her. The recipients were chosen by the college.  I must confess I may be somewhat responsible for the lynching.  I found some irony in Ce-Ce mentioning the scholarship on her facebook page,  considering she has been portrayed as the advocate for community benefit by the NIZ.  I mentioned this thought to an acquaintance,  who in turned mentioned it to blogger Bernie O'Hare.

After imagining her hanging on the cross,  and feeling somewhat responsible,  I come to her defense.  Comments on Ramblings suggest that the scholarships are not intended for people of means who already have a college degree.  I personally have no knowledge of Ce-Ce's finances, or the criterion used in selecting applicants,  but neither do those condemning her.   Ce-Ce remains one of the more sincere people offering her time and energy to serve the city.  If she is willing to drive to Center Valley one night a week to further her education,  perhaps we should be grateful.

May 27, 2016

Open Letter To Ed Pawlowski


Mayor Pawlowski, the last thing Allentown needs is another park. In all due respect, I forgot more about the park system than you ever knew. There are endless items throughout the system that are in need of repair. The most used pavilions in the city, in Cedar Park on Honochick Drive, are in dire need of roof shingles and paint. Yes, I know that they are scheduled for replacement, but that is the story of the park department and the city, since your arrival in Allentown. Defer maintenance, and build some new feature. I know that maintenance looks boring on a resumé.  The repaired wall in Lehigh Parkway does look good, but you're only fixing it because it's a retaining wall, and it must be repaired to reopen the road. It was deferred maintenance that caused the problem in the first place.

Anyway, back to the incinerator parcel. I know it adjoins the Basin Street parcel that you should have never bought from Abe Atiyeh. Making a new park out of the incinerator and Basin Street is just cover for one of your political maneuvers. How sad that you're sucking in the new park director on this transparent scheme. But, she's a big girl, and should speak up about priorities.

p.s.  You should speak to Scott Unger, he may need that bridge to bring the choo-choo back to S. 10th Street.

May 26, 2016

Butz Offers Opportunity


Butz's are offering more than rental space, you have an opportunity to join in the revitalization of Allentown. Now, your opportunity will not be as lucrative as Butz's opportunity. Because of the NIZ, he can use your state income tax, and that of your employees, for his debt service on the building. Butz doesn't mention that in the promotional video, rather he talks about the time being right for their third phase. Actually, it's only right because the absurd NIZ legislation is an offer the family can't refuse, but the renting will be slow. To fill the previous two phases he had to call on his connections, placing both the County Visitor Center and the Chamber of Commerce as tenants. The new building even compromises the view and light for his existing building. I wish him well with the new space, but with Butz, Reilly and Jaindl having the same valley connections, the pickings are getting slimmer.

I would like to clarify for my readers that I have no ill will toward the Butz's,  Jaindl's or J. B. Reilly.  Although, my sure none of them have any use for me and this blog,  my issue with the NIZ is the law itself, not the people involved.  All the people I criticize as beneficiaries of the NIZ are otherwise contributing members of the community.  I don't even fault them for taking advantage of this subsidy on steroids.  I fault the excuse of a state government in Harrisburg,  where we could teach even New Jersey the tricks of the trade in corruption.

May 25, 2016

The Singer and the Steakhouse


Yesterday, the infamous Shula's Steakhouse singer was in district court on charges unrelated to the Arts Walk incident.  He claims that the Allentown Police have a vendetta against him.  Maybe they do,  their boss's boss is known for his vendettas.  The Hunsicker family, long associated with baseball on the south side,  made the same accusation about Pawlowski last week at city council.  But, this post is about the real crime last August by the steakhouse.

In the molovinsky on allentown hall of justice,  J.B. Reilly, Pat Brown, Jennifer Mann, Sy Traub, etc. would have been in court yesterday, not the singer.  They, and the others that are responsible for using public money to bring Shula's to the Strata Building (which is filled up no matter what Molovinsky says).  They are responsible for the vendors who got stuck holding the bag for pennies on the dollar, when Shula's went bankrupt.

Elsewhere, in the upside down NIZ world, the parolee center is closing after 35 years, so that Reilly can build his City Center Tower Number 6.  Some of the parolees will be transfered to Scranton and Wernersville, now, that shouldn't disrupt their lives.  Hey,  if you're a singer or a parolee, move along, it's Reilly Time.

May 24, 2016

Blackboard Rumble In Allentown


School fights usually take place about a block from Allen, but this one is taking place behind the scenes  on Penn Street, with the Allentown School Board.  A molovinsky on allentown exclusive;  A simple majority of the school board wants to buy superintendent Russ Mayo's contract out, although he has only one year left to go on it.  Buying the contract out would complicate a replacement search, because better candidates are weary of superintendents being replaced for political reasons, and that would be the only conclusion one could reach about Mayo's departure.   Currently, five board members favor a buyout, while the other four feel that Mayo is being made a scapegoat for the discipline issues associated with the school district.

Apparently, Mayo has the confidence of the business community, as he was able to solicit substantial donations to fund the new district run charter school, Building 21.  Besides saving the buyout money, the board could probably attract better candidates for 2017-2018 year, without the stigma of having bought out two superintendents in a row.

May 23, 2016

SPECIAL EDITION: Arena Ruled Tax Exempt


Ultimately, in his 23-page decision, Reichley deemed that the arena, parking and even the Hamilton street restaurants were in keeping with ANIZDA's tax exempt mission to revitalize Allentown.  The Morning Call
Judge Reichley has ruled against the Allentown School District in its suit against the ANIZDA to tax the arena.  Was Reichley correct, and should he have recused himself from the case,  having voted for the district as a state representative?

As I have recently posted, I don't believe that the NIZ really ever intended to revitalize Allentown, but was a ruse to subsidize J.B. Reilly.   Lets be blunt, the intentions and credibility of whole Allentown affair is tainted.  J.B. Reilly, according to reports published in The Morning Call,  was preparing to contribute $50,000 to Pawlowski's campaign,  just prior to the FBI raid last July.  I would doubt that Reilly was making this donation because he thought that Pawlowski would better serve us in the senate than Pat Toomey.  The Allentown NIZ was a scheme spawned in deception,  from sending out straw buyers to intimidate the former merchants,  to including the Morning Call property,  to squash scrutiny from the press.  The arena complex was broken down into condominium units,  with certain area's deemed public, and other area's privately owned by J.B. Reilly.  In addition to the taxing issues raised by the school district,  which fox in the henhouse did the assessment prorations,  assigning value to the different portions for this hybrid project?

ADDENDUM: The Morning Call article has a definite spin that the lawsuit threatened the continued revitalization of Allentown. This spin has been indicative of all Morning Call articles on the NIZ, especially by this reporter, Matt Assad.   In reality,  real revitalization of Allentown will only occur with improvement to the school district, which the ruling hampers.

photo by Harry Fisher / The Morning Call

Wildlands Conservancy Tick Festival


There is a full blown tick festival growing along the creeks in the Allentown Park system.  Under Pawlowski,  the park director is in charge of recreation, while the Wildlands Conservancy dictates park policy. The riparian buffer zones have been  expanded this season, and should be at least two feet tall within a week.  With the Cedar Beach Swimming Pool out of commission,  the children instead will be  introduced to Lyme's Disease, if they attempt to cool off in the creek.

In South Whitehall, the parks are run by the Wildlands groupie Randy Cope. He plans on replacing the scenic Wehr's Dam with a riparian buffer, blocking both access and view of the creek.  His claim to frame is showing outdoor movies, by the soon to be demolished dam.  While the South Whitehall Commissioners grossly overstated the dam's repair costs to justify a referendum this coming November,  the dam is no longer even mentioned on any of the township's printed or digital park pages;  It is as if they already allowed the Wildlands Conservancy to destroy it.  It's a good thing that the township residents are not concerned about local politics,  because they are so poorly represented.

Shown above is the miniature stone bridge over the spring channel in Lehigh Parkway.  I have cleared this WPA treasure from the overgrowth several times in recent years. 

May 20, 2016

What Was The NIZ Meant To Do?

Molovinsky writing blog in early morning
If the NIZ was meant to revitalize center city Allentown, it has failed miserably. A simple walk down Hamilton Street shows less activity than before the $Billion dollar influx. I believe that its intention was only to enrich a few individuals. Although apologists for the subsidy say that anybody could have done what J.B. Reilly did, with courage, they are in fact only enablers for this scheme. In truth, Reilly was fronted the money before the ANIZ board formally existed,  and had agreements of sale for much of the NIZ property before the general public even had knowledge of the program's specifics.

One of the rules for retail success is the illusion of easy parking. Never mind that you're parked half a mile away in the mall parking lot, the stores are in your line of sight. In Allentown, the administration controlled Parking Authority offered and sold the line of sight surface parking lots. Furthermore, they are now charging $2 an hour to park, although the arena has very few events. There is nothing to indicate that revitalizing was really the goal, and there's less to indicate that the revitalization will succeed.

The mayor, waiting to be indicted, is going around cutting ribbons for the little people, and serving lunch to the poor people, of which there is no shortage. Prior to the air being left out of his ballon, he thought he was going to ride the revitalization to Harrisburg or Washington. His campaign fund is now his legal fund. The Morning Call has begun to begrudgingly tone down its cheerleading, realizing that their credibility was being jeopardized. Meanwhile, to keep up with all the shenanigans, I had to increase the blog staff.

May 19, 2016

Pawlowski As Hitler In The Bunker

After reading Tuesday's waste to energy article by Emily Opilo in the Morning Call, one could only think of Hitler in the bunker at the war's end, moving around Panzer Divisions, which no longer existed. The best of course was City Council's reactions.  Julio Guridy would only consider another waste to energy proposal after vetting the public on their feelings. People who need people are the nicest people in the world.  I was almost at the Delta Thermo council meeting. First, I had to get pass the union bikers outside city hall, meant to discourage the public. Then, I had to stand out in the hallway,  because of all the union workers from out of town, imported to pack the council chamber.  Julio voted yes, yes, yes.

One of the companies involved in the new round of proposals is from New Jersey. Harrisburg went $300 million in debt, ending in receivership, working with this company. They sound perfect for Allentown.  Apparently, Pawlowski and city council, although wounded, are more dangerous than ever.*

* The concept of Pawlowski as Hitler in the bunker, came from someone associated with the city, who wishes to remain anonymous.

May 18, 2016

NIZ Stock Depreciating

With National Penn having been acquired by BB&T,  Reilly and Allentown is losing more than just bank headquarters status.  Scott Fainor had been a long time center city booster.  Before Keystone merged with National Penn,  he placed a Keystone branch in the PPL Plaza.  He has been Reilly's primary banker, lending him $16 million start up for acquiring and tying up the lion's share of property in the NIZ zone.  Since then, National Penn has continued being Reilly's banker.  News accounts now say that BB&T will reduce staff at 7th and Hamilton by 87 positions.  Fainor was very good to Reilly.  Although, knowing the bank was reaching the asset point of sale,  he signed a 20 year lease with Reilly.  The location will now function as a regional center for BB&T.

In 2018, the Talen workers are scheduled to relocate to Jaindl's riverfront NIZ, but wait!!!! Rumor has it that Talen might be acquired, who then would be Jaindl's anchor tenant?  Meanwhile, back uptown, Reilly has put his mega project on hold, and is proceeding with his office condos.  The Morning Call will have its hands full spinning the decline as progress.  The cigarette tax loophole might become more and more important for the NIZ's future.

May 17, 2016

Jennie Molovinsky Was A Quiet Neighbor


For nearly a hundred years the Wenz Memorial Company had a tombstone factory at 20th and Hamilton.  Their parcel extended from Hamilton Street back to Walnut Street, across from the home of former mayor Joe Daddona.   Years ago, large granite slabs would be delivered by railroad, using the the Barber Quarry spur route.  During the Phil Berman era,  the facilities were also used to produce large stone sculptures.  Behind the office and production building, most of the property was used for storage of tombstones.  Some of the stones were samples of their handiwork, and others were old stones that had been replaced with new ones, by family members.  Such was the case with my great grandmother's first stone, which has laid at wenz's for several decades.  The row houses and their front porches on S. Lafayette Street faced this portion of Wenz's, and it was very quiet, indeed.

Some readers may have noticed that Wenz's has been demolished, and the parcel will now contain a bank,  Dunkin Donut, and Woody's Sport Bar.  The residents of Lafayette Street,  experiencing complete quietness for all these years, attended the zoning hearing as objectors.  Their previous view, a dark, quiet lot, would now be replaced with a lit parking lot, with bar patrons coming and going.  Although I will not comment on the zoning issues,  residents were supposedly told by the zoners that the development would improve their quality of life.  It's one thing to have the quality of your life degraded,  it's another to have your intelligence insulted, to boot.  Perhaps the zoners need some training in sensitivity.

May 16, 2016

Allentown Park System's Misguided Priorities

The park department purchased and installed fifteen pieces of outside exercise equipment in Jordan Park.  Beyond being a novelty in a park with a swimming pool, basketball courts and baseball fields,  it symbolizes what's wrong with the park department.  Three things are for sure about this equipment; It is a fad from a catalog, it was expensive, and it won't last very long. Meanwhile, throughout the park system, things unique to Allentown  that could last indefinitely, are being allowed to crumble.


Friends of the Allentown Parks is planning events to celebrate Bogert Bridge's 175th birthday. They will also conduct fund raising to paint and repair  that neglected symbol of Allentown.  The Pawlowski administration and it's park department haven't spend $1.75 on the bridge since his first term, in 2006. The broken WPA wall shown here is in Cedar Park, and has been broken for years. Although the administration is bragging about repairing the wall in Lehigh Parkway, it's only because it is a retaining wall, and must be repaired before the road can be reopened.

I understand that the decline of our traditional park system bothers me more than most.  Furthermore, there may well be many residents, especially newer ones,  who have no special affinity toward the traditional park features.  However, although I may be the lone voice on this topic, I will continue advocating for these discarded structures; They are irreplaceable.

May 13, 2016

The Magic Of Wehr's Dam


There is a magic place in the northwest corner of South Whitehall Township, called Wehr's Dam and Covered Bridge.  Because you can see watering flowing over a dam and under a covered bridge, people have been coming here for over 100 years.  Because it was a destination for so long, about 25 years ago the township created Covered Bridge Park, extending from that magic spot downstream, to Guth's Covered Bridge.   It now has become unfortunate that the dam lies in South Whitehall, because that township has become  politically disingenuous.  A series of uncontested elections has resulted in both arrogance of leadership, and outright cronyism.

Wednesday evening I approached the County Commissioners,  requesting that they adopt the dam, they already control it's partner in magic, the covered bridge.  Farmland Preservation has become the fashionable favor of the decade.  Lehigh County already designation $750,000 for that purpose, and has an additional $2million proposed for that end.  Farmland Preservation has its own page on the county website. At the bottom of the page it states;  Preserved farmland protects local scenery and promotes local tourism.  I suggest that the county acquire another acre,  encompassing the dam.  Although the parcel would be somewhat wetter than they normally seek, it easily surpasses their scenery and tourism criterion.

photocredit: K Mary Hess

May 12, 2016

Will Lehigh County Save Wehr's Dam?


On Wednesday evening I asked Lehigh County to value our history, and save Wehr's Dam.  The South Whitehall commissioners, in a disingenuous maneuver, decided to put the issue to referendum.  The dam is in overall good condition.  That's exactly how it was described in the inspection report by the state in 2012.  In 2014, the Wildlands Conservancy set their sights on it's destruction.  They used $259,000 of state tax money on a study designed to find the dam deficient.  Their engineer for hire, reported that it would cost $1.5 million to repair the dam.  Previously, before the Wildlands desired it's destruction,  township workers themselves would repair any issues noted on state inspections.   Myself, and several other people including descendants of the Wehr family,  managed enough public outcry in 2014 to halt it's destruction at that time.

Although, the South Whitehall Commissioners were supposed to hire a masonry contractor to estimate the true work, they instead bowed to the Wildlands connections,  and instituted another engineering study,  this time coming up with a $600,000 cost.  This figure was high enough that they could justify a referendum,  asking the taxpayers if they mind paying more taxes to repair the dam.  Referendums which cost the taxpayer money are almost always rejected. In the last referendum,  township taxpayers declined a new library for that very reason.  In 2014,  6,700 signatures of support were gathered at the dam itself.  The dam has been a destination for over 100 years.

One South Whitehall commissioner, David Bond, incredibly stated that he now favors a referendum, because he doesn't know how many of those signatures were from residents of South Whitehall.  I don't know either, but do know that most were residents of Lehigh County.  I have asked the County to intervene, because  of conflicts at the township level.  The Wildlands is the major park consultant for the township, and the township's park director is the son of a Wildlands director.  Beyond being a county destination for over a century, the former mill and remaining dam were part of our agricultural history. We seek to preserve thousands of acres of farmland, for which there are no farmers or agricultural demand. Let us resolve to save one more third of an acre.  Nowhere else can county residents see water flow over a dam and under a covered bridge.  I'm sick of history being destroyed by greed and cronyism,  and call upon County Executive Muller and the commissioners to save this beautiful part of our history called Wehr's Dam.

photocredit:Michael Kubel / The Morning Call

May 11, 2016

Adventure Allentown Omission

The Adventure Allentown magazine for Spring/Summer 2016 is being circulated throughout Allentown. In the front pages, Mayor Pawlowski takes credit for many things that he wasn't involved in. Pardon my ego, but one of the things the city takes credit for is the fruit of my labor.  Improvement to the steps at Fountain Park began with a post on this blog in 2008, entitled Stairway To Shame. Subsequently, I created public interest by writing numerous pieces about the WPA, and holding several meetings at the Allentown Library. Paul Carpenter joined me on an inspection of the steps, and wrote a column about the needed repairs. During this period I invited Karen El-Chaar, Director of Allentown Friends Of The Parks, for a private tour of Allentown's WPA structures. El-Chaar secured a grant from Trexler Trust, which was used to replace missing steps and repoint at Fountain. During those repairs last year, I prevailed upon Linday Taylor, Allentown Park Director, to allow the stone masons to also seal the the open top of the Union Terrace stairwell wall. While I wouldn't expect that Pawlowski would mention my name, that photograph in the city magazine represents over seven years of my work.

 Although, I'm not mentioned, The Wildlands Conservancy is featured on a full page. That organization, with no regard to the uniqueness of our parks, has been dictating the park policy throughout Lehigh Valley. Our iconic structures are allowed to crumble, and in some cases are intentionally demolished, to accommodate their agenda, for which they harvest state grants. Tonight, I will make a presentation on behalf of our history.

May 10, 2016

Allentown, Revitalized or Devastated?


Driving down the arena block of Allentown, one would hardly know that behind all the buildings on the other side of the street,  there is nothing.  An entire square block of buildings has been leveled in preparation for the NIZ baron's mega-project.  The baron, J.B. Reilly, has put those plans on mothballs, and now is going to build an office condo at 6th and Hamilton.  Although the Morning Call has been promoting that smaller, alternative project, they haven't shown one photograph of the devastation two blocks away.

Before anything was built in the NIZ, it was reported that National Penn loaned J.B.Reilly $16 million for site acquisitions.  In the last two years over $30 million a year of state tax money has gone for Reilly's debt service. Did the taxpayers of Pennsylvania pay to create this devastation?  Rather than cutting ribbons for Mr. Reilly,  our state representatives, Michael Schlossberg and Peter Schweyer, would better serve their constituents by getting answers to the questions asked on this blog.

What sort of town allows one person to displace hundreds of residents, and level dozens of buildings with no public input?   Between an ambitious mayor and an agenda driven newspaper,  we now have a wasteland in the heart of Allentown.

May 9, 2016

Allentown's Future


Contemplating Allentown's future seems somewhat bleak, certainly compared to its past. The All American City of the Mack and Western Electric era resulted in a large middle class,  which  supported three large urban department stores.  Now, we deem some office workers, poached from the suburbs, as a measure of success. The second NIZ, at the waterfront, will now poach their anchor tenant, Talen Energy, from the Hamilton Street PPL Plaza.  Our current leadership is under a cloud of alleged corruption.  Even our newspaper has been for sale for the last decade.

Before Mayor Pawlowski started working for his predecessor, Roy Afflerbach, he headed the Alliance For Building Communities. When he covered the front of their historic brick building in dryvit, I knew that he had no sense of history or aesthetics. He then gave City Line Construction a grant to smear the stuff on their building. Even our historical society, rather than featuring our history,  has shows on Abraham Lincoln. This week I will attempt to garner some interest in preserving the iconic Wehr's Dam, which has been a destination for over 100 years. The dam is again under threat by the South Whitehall Commissioners, who are likewise clueless about history.

We who care about such things as ethics, beauty and history,  face a difficult challenge.  We must stand fast,  despite the indifference of the elected officials,  and the preoccupation of a public which is struggling just to get by.  

May 6, 2016

Morning Call Reporter Greatly Offended


Let's start an office pool on when Morning Call reporters become paid PR flacks for JB or the NIZ. Not one mention in this story that the building was rushed ahead because of the failure of the Walnut Street project to materialize. And exactly who are these Philadelphia companies forming the line to move to Allentown? Are there no questions asked?  Comment on Morning Call story about Reilly's New Office Condos

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 I take great offense to the PR crack. No one has followed the NIZ -- from its warts and damage to the state tax payer to its benefits to Allentown -- more than us. We did print an entire story saying exactly that yesterday. Here's the link.   Reply by Matt Assad on Morning Call comment section

Mr. Assad, actually you had written three stories within two days on Reilly's new project.   Understand that every project, or even tenant, of  Reilly's is treated like news, which is then repeated, again and  again.  Understand that everyone else has to pay to promote or advertise their real estate, and pay dearly.  I snickered yesterday about the dining review of Vince's Cheesesteaks.  After numerous articles about their opening,  the paper now does a dining review on them,  on a cheesesteak?  You may take offense,  but we're also offended, at the wholesale promotion of Reilly's NIZ.  To my knowledge, except in your comment above,  you or the paper had never previously linked the words NIZ and damage.

I understand that you're offended.  I can also believe that the Morning Call genuinely believes that the NIZ's  benefits to Allentown deserve special treatment.  I suggest that it has gotten enough special treatment. By the way, someone has chronicled the NIZ's warts and damage more than the Morning Call.

May 5, 2016

NIZ Injuries To Allentown


The NIZ has fostered various injuries on the city and it's citizens.  Reilly's dashed hopes for a mega project, encompassing an entire block, 7th to 8th and Hamilton to Walnut, resulted in the displacement of numerous  businesses and residents.  Furthermore, we lost rich history, such as the Elks Club.  Yesterday afternoon the paper ran it's second story of the day promoting Reilly's much smaller, substituted office condo project. The article is called  Five Things To Know about the new project.  There's actually six, and the sixth is that the paper never stops promoting Reilly's interests. This morning the paper continues with it's third piece on the new building, within two days.  Putting aside this endless cheerleading by The Morning Call,  the NIZ has surely peaked. Although a number of tenants were poached from different locations,  there was no net gain for the region.  A responsible Harrisburg would be analyzing  the consequences inflicted on the area.  However,  responsibility and Harrisburg have never been acquainted.

As I commented yesterday, Talen workers will be isolated down at the river, almost punished, if you  will.  The surrounding 6th Ward certainly doesn't provide much ambience.  Expect our local and state taxes to be expended there, to embellish Jaindl's position. The tearing out of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Old Main tracks through that parcel is another history victim of the NIZ.

photo of former Elks Club on S. 8th St., prepared for demolition, to make way for now cancelled mega-project by J.B. Reilly

May 4, 2016

Subsidizing Pawlowski's Water Deal


Readers of this blog may take the municipal news reports at face value, but I don't.  One of the reasons I write this blog is because I discovered, over my years of gadflying, is that the public is on a need to know basis.  Reports yesterday indicated that the Lehigh County Water Authority has to raise it's suburban rates because of aging infrastructure.  Some of their pipes are now 50 years old.  Actually, for a water system, they're a youngin.  Furthermore, most of their system is much newer.  What you will be actually doing is subsidizing the ill advised water lease from Allentown.

The water lease was a bad deal for both sides.  Bad for most of the Authority's customers for the reason stated above.  Bad for Allentown because that payoff by the Authority will be squandered, as opposed to being applied to Afflerbach's bad police pension deal.

So, we now have new bad deals to cope with old bad deals. What a surprise!

Reilly's NIZ Party Ending


J.B. Reilly is starting to turn off the lights, the party is ending. The plans for the mega-project with towers at 7th and Walnut and 8th and Hamilton, with an internal park connecting them, is on hold. Instead, he's developing a condo office project at 6th and Hamilton. Although his reporter at the Morning Call spun it as positively as he could, there's no way to hide the downsizing of the plans. Selling condo offices means that in spite of beating the bushes, the supply of commercial rental tenants is drying up.

It must be discouraging for Jaindl's waterfront plans, and I can't see Harrisburg sweetening the pot.

I do give his apartment tenants in the Strata Lofts credit for energy conservation. I never see any lights when I drive by.

May 3, 2016

Weighing In On 1948


1948 was a good year for Allentown and the Lehigh Valley. Mack Trucks, Lehigh Structural Steel, General Electric and almost all factories were going full steam. President Truman stopped by to give a speech. The Allentown Cardinals played the first game in their new ballpark, Breadon Field. The baby boom was going full tilt:



The school district unveiled Lehigh Parkway and Midway Manor Elementary Schools and the new professional style football stadium. Donald Hock was Mayor, and although the last beer was being brewed on Lawrence Street at Daeufer Brewery, the Paddock joined many new restaurants opening that year. Photo's from Dorney Park in 1948.

reprinted from 2009


ADDENDUM: Assuming a photograph on the Morning Call website is color balanced correctly, the wooden coaster at Dorney is no longer Dorney Coaster Yellow. Painting the coaster the same shade of yellow was an important tradition at the park, even when ownership changed hands. They don't make Lehigh Valley traditions like they used to.

May 2, 2016

Pawlowski's Taste Of The Arena


People ask me all the time about the corruption in Allentown. On Sunday, the Morning Call had an excellent exposé by Emily Opilo on contributions to Pawlowski, being investigated by the FBI. A consultant on parking matters from Philadelphia contributed $26 thousand dollars to Pawlowski, while making proposals for private management, regarding the arena garage.While details can be found in the Morning Call's article, allow me to present a Readers Digest version of Pawlowski's legal problems. 

While Mayor Ed sat in his office at 5th and Hamilton, he saw a $Billion dollars worth of development two blocks north. While Ed wasn't directly in the Arena/NIZ loop, opportunity may have presented itself, especially in the currency of campaign contributions. Although Ed isn't shy in his own right, mix in his aggressive campaign manager, and you can imagine a Soprano style collection agency.

Ed's Philadelphia criminal lawyer insists that he did nothing illegal. That burden of proof will apparently fall to the FBI. What concerns me, as a small town political blogger, is our government by default. People want to limit their involvement to a vote once a year. Then, they're willing to base that vote on mailers and robo calls.