Looking at today's Morning Call, I thought of the Crocodile Dundee movie. He's in a hotel room and looks at a television for one second, seeing I Love Lucy. He says yep, saw that before. What he meant was last time he saw a television, I Love Lucy was also on. He thought the machine only shows I Love Lucy. Back to today's paper. Headline was someone charged with murder in Allentown. Alan Jennings was crying that he may have to lay off a few people from his Poverty Is A Business programs, and grants and city employees were helping Fegley's Brew Pub reduce their garbage fees. I didn't even know that Allentown has a Sustainability Coordinator. Needless to say that not everyone will read these stories the way I do, but we didn't turn into the Allentown we are today by accident.comments will appear tomorrow, best one wins a burger at the BrewWorks.
UPDATE: Bernie O'Hare reports that Northampton County taxpayers will fund Jenning's Only Suckers Make Their Own Mortgage Payment Program
"Sustainabiity Coordinator"? And the county also has one?
ReplyDeleteI guess that's just one of the many positions that couldn't be cut when the Mayor and Council were giving a tax hike to those of us who work in the city. Or when the county was handing us our 16% tax hike.
I also feel much better knowing that City hall is paying for a sustainability coordinator instead of an additional police officer.
MM -
ReplyDeleteMy submission for your "Burger Contest":
When I saw the photo in the Morning Call, I figured the people in the photo were digging for the tip that Pawlowski claims he left on his last visit to the Brew Works.
You can leave my burger in the bin behind the restaurant.
Just a thought but cant help thinking the mack headquaters would be a good location for a new Central Catholic High School.Plenty of land for sports fields etc.Present location could be sold to ASD.Win,Win situation.
ReplyDeleteMolovinsky was in Fegley's Brew Pub one night and he was so sure that its bartender was the strongest man around that he offered a standing $1000 bet.
ReplyDeleteThe bartender would squeeze a lemon until all the juice ran into a glass, and hand the lemon to a patron. Anyone who could squeeze one more drop of juice out would win MM's money.
Many people had tried over time (weight-lifters, longshoremen, etc.) even IronPigPen and Patrick McHenry but nobody could do it.
One day this scrawny little man came into the bar, wearing thick glasses and a polyester suit (a progressive liberal for sure,) and said in a tiny squeaky voice "I'd like to try the bet."
After the laughter had died down, Molovinsky said OK, grabbed a lemon, gave it to the bartender and he squeezed away. Then he handed the wrinkled remains of the rind to the little man.
But the crowd's laughter turned to total silence as the man clenched his fist around the lemon and six drops fell into the glass.
As the crowd cheered, Molovinsky paid the $1000, and asked the little man, "What do you do for a living? Are you a lumberjack, a weight-lifter, what?"
The man replied, "I'm an Allentown Parking Authority administrator.
No grants to the Fegleys for composting. Grants were given to Berks County to start the composting program.
ReplyDeletePlease do some research before you post MISINFORMATION. Don't just read an article and spout off your negative comments without researching first.
Brew Works is trying to reduce its landfill usage.
I have not responded to previous misinformation about the Fegleys and the Brew Works. This post was just too much.
Please back off. Please visit Allentown sometime and talk to us.
Stop spreading misinformation.
Rich Fegley
Micro loans prevail to many inane businesses but homeless shelters are underfunded.
ReplyDeleteUnemployment rates are pushing new highs and Cadillac comes out with a 500+ horsepower car capable of 190 miles per hour.
We have a health care cost crisis and the abuse of prescription drugs especially opiates is zooming.
We are all so busy degrading religion and yet most of society can be found every weekend praying at the altar of the local mall.
Our bibles are the mail order catalogs and sale coupons that mark the change in the seasons.
The local paper has become more salacious than the Playboy Adviser and makes the National Enquirer look like a high school publication.
We scream about the state of education when one of the most popular shows on cable is about the high school chemistry teacher turned meth manufacturing hero.
Community based convenience store owners sell "legal" marijuana in a frenzy, before it becomes officially illegal and worry about the safety of their children on the streets of their community.
Haiti is the "cause du jour" and a great excuse for a "Christian" vacation. The missionaries proudly display their pictures with the grateful smiling natives (pictures of malnourished and developmentally delayed children preferred).
Back at home they criticize all of "those" people, who have turned their hometown into a garbage pit, anonymously in the comment section of the local paper.
We have no one to blame but ourselves. You get what you pay for. You pay nothing you get nothing.
Ah the price of the delusion of feeling good about ourselves.
"comments will appear tomorrow, best one wins a burger at the BrewWorks."
ReplyDeleteDo I get to pick which BrewWorks?
"Poverty Is A Business programs", now that's pretty good - no more "Cash for Caulking" money for them!
mr. fegley, save an occasional observation on this blog, you (fegley brewworks) have been given a free ride by a declining local newspaper. i've never heard of one business receiving so much assistance on the public's dime. where does one start; grants estimated to be close to $5million by the morning call. public parking lot on 8th street given over to your private use. golf course concession taken from long term consignor, and given to you. granting of KOZ for the upper floors of your building, when the KOZ expires on the lower floors. the recent letter supporting the arena should have listed a disclosure that the brewpub is the only restaurant that will benefit from the arena. doubt if the hockey fans will patronize the cosmopolitan. sorry i assigned one small grant to your family business that you didn't receive.
ReplyDeletemr. fegley, btw, i didn't say that you received the grant, but the morning call article says that your costs will be reduced because of it. fyi, i'm on hamilton street several times a week. i've decided to award you the free brewpub burger....
ReplyDeleteMr. Molovinsky, I'm not sure what the "free ride" is that the declining local paper, Morning Call(?), has given the Fegleys.
ReplyDeleteThe Fegleys are only taking the assistance that is offered. Isn't that why the assistance is there? To help small businesses?
I challenge you to show where the Morning Call has said that we have received close to $5 million dollars in grants. We have received just over $1 million dollars in grants that went towards our $7.5 million dollar project, the Allentown Brew Works, an investment in the City of Allentown.
The former public lot on 8th Street was not given over to the Fegleys. We paid fair market value, $2,000 per parking space for 22 parking spaces or $44,000.
The golf course concession was not taken from the previous owner and it was not merely given to the Fegleys. Both the Fegleys and the previous operator were required to submit a proposal for "re-development" of the property. We are also paying three times the rent that the previous operator paid to the City of Allentown.
KOZ zones provide incentives for business to relocate or develop their business in an area that has been abandoned for cheaper, easier areas such as the business parks and shopping malls located outside of the City of Allentown. Where have all the businesses gone? To the Malls and the Business Parks. The death of cities. Urban sprawl.
I disagree with the fact that the Brew Works is the only restaurant that will benefit from the Arena. Why do you doubt that Hockey Fans will not patronize the Cosmopolitan? Are all Hockey Fans cheap and/or poor? Who's buying the Corporate Box seats at the arena? I see that all of those big Lehigh Valley corporations have boxes at Coca-Cola Park.
Downtown Allentown also has Sangria, Bay Leaf, Made in Brazil and Robata just to name the bigger restaurants. I feel all restaurants big and small, cheap and expensive will benefit.
I've been following your blog for several years now and I just can't figure out why you have to be so damn negative.
I actually live in the City of Allentown. I love the history and the buildings in this town. I love all of the old pictures that you post on your site. But I just don't understand what your issues are with the Fegley Family.
I am proud to have been able to save and restore some of the buildings on Hamilton Street and I hope to be able to contribute more to this great city.
I would have given him the FLEECE THE TAXPAYERS award.
ReplyDeleteMr. Fegley -
ReplyDeletePlease clarify what you consider to be "previous misinformation" posted on this blog. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to set the record straight.
I'm certain Allentown taxpayers would appreciate reading your side of the story.
mr. fegley, i believe that you are differentiating between outright grants and HUD loans against the city, which may be paid back or forgiven at city option.
ReplyDeleteothers, including the previous operator complained to city council about the criterion used in selecting the operator for the golf course concession
my opinions about most allentown restaurants not benefiting from the hockey arena have been elaborated upon several times on this blog
as to the negativity of this blog, i prefer to think of it as scrutiny, which the morning call no longer has the personnel and willpower to provide.
lastly, in spite of all the above, i wish your family or enterprise no ill will. generally, i hear nothing but good reports about the brew works. this blog speaks for most merchants who received no grants, but had their customer base reduced by relocated bus stops. i speak for the merchants who now have their entire livelihood disrupted for another urban planning project. I write about things which are not mentioned on Allentown Good News or Chamber of Commerce Vision Meetings. Your comments and/or corrections are always welcome. michael molovinsky
MM -
ReplyDeletePerhaps Mr. Fegley wouldn't mind listing out the types, amounts and terms of any grants or loans that the Allentown Brew Works has received.
That would certainly help to clear up any misunderstandings going forward.
Perhaps a large part of the problem is the lack of information that is provided by Allentown City Hall.
MM,
ReplyDeleteI challenge you to write your next blog entry about something positive about Allentown. Especially downtown. Your blog is nothing but negativity, or as you call it scrutiny. It is a shame because there are so many good things happening in downtown, especially the Hamilton St district. The city is trying its hardest to pull our downtown out of the rut that it has sat in since the late 70's. If you are able to do this, I will meet you at the BrewWorks and I'll pay for your burger.
patrick, the fegleys, or anybody i write about, are always welcome to comment or guest post. i know from past research that advances on HUD loans can both be forgiven and/or have the payment agreement altered. a morning call article within the past two years outlined what totals went toward the brew works. i believe it was about 4.8 million. mr. fegley writes The Fegleys are only taking the assistance that is offered. Isn't that why the assistance is there? To help small businesses? i can tell you that other small businesses had to ask for loans, and were told that none were available. some people may believe that the playing field is level, but i know better. only time may tell what is actually paid back. I say may because who imaged years ago that when the first KOZ was approved at taxpayer expense, that a second KOZ would later be applied to different floors of the same building? will repaid HUD loans then be renewed with new loans? In this town it's better to be butz or fegley, than some korean merchant. it's better to be part of the mayor's vision than just some snook who invested all their money and a lifetime of work.
ReplyDeletemr. future, believe it or not, this blog has written numerous positive and complimentary things about allentown, pawlowski, etc. for instance, i praised the cell phone ban. here's a challenge for you, sign your name, and i'll pay for the burger.
ReplyDeleteMr. Fegley is a businessman. Businessmen know much better what is good for our city than people who live on hand-outs, social security and free Medicare. End all the subsidies.
ReplyDeleteMM
ReplyDeleteThe burger - which KOZ at 812 W Hamilton St. does the burger come from?
When I win can I eat in one of the KOZ's that does not smell like a brewery? I hate that odor.
Waiting for your answer. Thanks for your consideration.
BTW can you explain that floor by floor KOZ thing?
I was thinking of opening a thrift store in that block and would like to apply for those benefits?
Who can help me?
Thank you sir.
Future:
ReplyDeleteGrow up. We all know who you are.
Didn't Ed think you earned your pay yet this month, is that why you are here or are you working overtime?
No one will ever forget your hateful and disrespectful comments to the merchants of the EDZ (eminent domain zone).
You have NO credibility bigot.
"Dare you to be positive" Are you a twit or what?
Mr Fegley:
ReplyDeleteRegardless of your "good deeds", the thing that sticks with the citizens of Allentown is you and your family have gotten so much when others have gotten so little.
Others just as worthy seem to have been passed over for your family's benefit. You all have benefited others have been deprived.
True or not, to you, perception has become the reality in the minds of many.
Does not promote warm and fuzzy feelings. Sorry!
Oh, the church service with beer, also was a winner and endeared many who are not heathens. I know, it is called reaching out to the market.
Anom 7:59
ReplyDeleteWho am I?
Mr. Fegley employees waitresses, janitors and bartenders who make good wages. My sister was a waitress at his place and took home over $50 in tips on one night. He pays taxes and is the kind of person I want my son to grow up to be. The rich people of Allentown are what made this city great and will so again. I am so tired of the complaining about a little of our tax money going to help him out. Give him more so the lazy can get good jobs like my sister.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy going to Bethlehem BrewWorks and go there often. I will never go to the Allentown store given the mayor's conintued attacks against us suburbanites.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I like the Fegley's entrepreneurial spirit, I don't care for their new-age politics. The earth will not be saved by bagging up their trash and sending it to the Rodale Farm. And I'm tired of earing about 'every little bit helps' when what we need is to let loose the full power of the free enterprise system. I'm not sure how much federal and New Jersey taxpayer money Thomas Edison got but he did pretty well, didn't he?
So it was rich people who made Allentown great?
ReplyDeleteI prefer to think that it was people with wisdom who saw an opportunity and took a risk.
If it worked, they were rewarded and perhaps became "rich". If it did not, they probably became poor or poorer.
My grandparents never discussed how they got grants for their business. There were none.
It is a different time. It amazes me how wise the wealthy are in Allentown.
How much of the wisdom attributed to our current captains of industry seems to be in direct proportion to how many grants they have been awarded?
No sh**t but with some of these guys, if you have the opportunity to meet with them, you realize how clueless they really are. Especially when it comes to issues outside of their primary business?
I have also noticed they tend to be only regarded as wise until the money is gone and then they seem to really get dumb. I mean so dumb no one wants them around. Go figure.
It also never seems individuals can be satisfied these days with staying focused on their primary business.
Is growth really necessary or of economic benefit? Often, I think the growth is more for the individual ego than for anything else.
Heh, especially if it is grant funded. Go for it.
Keep filing those applications out and maybe one day you will be awarded a sizable grant you are not personally responsible for.
Think of all the wisdom you will be imbued with as well.
Wow, who needs Oxycontin now?
Chumscrubber
i'd like to reacquaint everybody with the premise of this post. not unlike the movie groundhog day, things seem to stay the same in allentown; crime never ceases, alan jennings is always worried the public faucet will stop flowing to his organization (it never does, northampton county provided funds since i wrote the post) and grants seem to benefit the same people. however , it must be pointed out the fegleys are certainly creative, successful entrepreneurs, and a hard working family.
ReplyDelete