Allentown's news yesterday was dominated by cheesesteaks and murder. The cheesesteak story was a contrived Morning Call promotion for their beloved NIZ. While one of J.B. Reilly's props, Tony Lukes, was folding, the paper was promoting the failure as success. They even immediately sponsored a cheesesteak contest, to promote Vinces, the replacement for Tony Lukes. If all that promotion wasn't enough, cheerleader and columnist Bill White did a blog on the cheesesteaks.
Meanwhile, back in the real Allentown, a woman's body was found discarded in a trash bin. If that wasn't urban crime enough, a detective got shot pursuing a suspect in the case. What's our suburban NIZ patron to think about all this?
Is that cheesesteak worth getting shot over? I write this with some hesitation. I know that the Morning Call won't stop promoting the NIZ, but they might stop reporting the news.
"Take the gun, leave the cheesesteak."
ReplyDelete@3:01, putting on my fortune teller turban, i expect the morning call to follow my blog post up with a map, illustrating how far away the shooting was (east side) to the cheesesteaks. (800 block hamilton st.)
ReplyDeleteThe distance from 801 E Tilghman (where the body was found) to 806 W Hamilton (Tony Luke's) is 2.7 miles.
ReplyDeletebernie@3:38, yes the distance is pretty far, but this post is about perception. although some shootings were much closer, within a block or two of the NIZ, i find Hamilton street safe. however, i know that there are many westenders who don't share my sense of security.
ReplyDeleteon another note, i'm assuming that you did the google map thing, as opposed to driving to allentown and using your odometer. i did follow up on my plan to actually measure the distance from the fountain park pool house to zion church, which all the google heads reported to be one half mile. in reality, it is three quarters of a mile, with one third of it being a forty five degree hill. (lehigh street.) i think that once a year, john felch (conference of churches) should have to make the walk and climb to commemorate the ordeal the homeless went through during that blizzard. Pawlowski should also be given a prison leave, to join him.
Anyone who calls what they serve in the Lehigh Valley a 'cheesesteak' has never had an actual cheesesteak.
ReplyDelete@5:44, this post is about a local paper promoting the essentially privately owned NIZ, and the juxtaposition of crime, both real and perceived. it is not about "actual" cheesesteaks, and any future comments about them will not appear.
ReplyDeleteIn fairness to Bill White, this is the kind of thing that he typically covers. And he writes about Vince's every year at the fair. It would have been odd for him not to write something about this news.
ReplyDeleteI also don't buy the correlation between the murder and the NIZ. It happened just barely in the city limits of Allentown and about as far from the NIZ as you could get. Yes, some people have a fear of going downtown, but I'm not really seeing this isolated incident add to their hesitation. The parking situation seems to be much more on people's minds from the comments I've seen on WFMZ and MCall.
I'd love to see Pawlowski and Felch walk the hill shackled together. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Morning Call has degenerated from a real newspaper under the Millers to a quaint little flyer that carries fluff about pets and cooking recipies as well as being a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party. Anything that actually approaches a news article is usually printed a few days after the event. Although, if it does bleed, it leads.
ReplyDeleteIt also does local promotions (possibly paid) for the NIZ
If you want to inform yourself about the happenings of the world, look elsewhere.
"bernie@3:38, yes the distance is pretty far,"
ReplyDeleteActually, 2.7 miles is pretty close in my book.
How low can you go? Reporting on the sale of a hot dog joint / cheese steak joint. This serves nothing to elevate the readship - instead it pulls the citizens down. To expect less and less. If you can't make a hot dog at home (prep time 10 minutes?), keep reading the MC.
ReplyDeleteThe Morning Call isn't the only journalistic outlet to fall for the "revitalization" line while ignoring some bigger questions:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fieldofschemes.com/2016/02/19/10630/sacramento-tv-station-stunned-to-find-new-kings-arena-hasnt-cured-homelessness/
Michael, why don't you make an app that can tell you how far you are from the nearest hot dog / cheese steak joint. I'm sure you will make $millions.
ReplyDeleteStay positive, Michael.
ReplyDeleteThis is the third time I am trying to communicate with you about my Romani comment and would like to have a reply...Did I say something wrong?
ReplyDelete11:59, Love your link.
ReplyDeleteThis is what the Morning Call does. Every time a person moves into the Strata apartments, they run a front page news story with their biography
ReplyDeleteComrade Molovinsky,
ReplyDeleteThe grand plan to dumb down the general population is working to perfection. Why do you want to go around wrecking the hard work of others all the time? Take it easy, go to the Palace of Sport and watch an exciting minor league ice hockey game or something.
Respectfully,
Col. Viktor Tikhonov
Soviet Red Army (ret)