Flights Of Fancy

Readers of this blog can learn from my search engine, (right sidebar of web version) that I'm a long time critic of projects at the Lehigh Valley International Airport. The fact that there are few flights that hardly go anywhere, never stops them from expanding the underused facility. In my previous criticism, I took them to task for planning a separate transportation hub, when convenience of the existing one was one of their few advantages. When the airport's largest incoming flight arrived yesterday, no taxicabs were on hand. The airport will have a new transportation hub, with no transportation.  Now they want to build a hotel?

What people want are flights and destinations. What this airport needs is a new executive director, and a new board of directors.

Allentown Photographic

My experience with Allentown Photographic in the late 70's, at 12 N 8th Street, was not unlike my grandparents with the Vendig Hotel. Neither were particularly successful, both only lasted a few years, but provided many memories. Now, Bela Lugosi never came into my shop, but my custom darkroom did attract numerous characters. I printed negatives, supposedly smuggled out of Russia, of the Romanov Family, while my strange anonymous customer watched by the door for KBG agents.(If they were real, I made no copies, nor did I keep the negatives) I once rented the darkroom to the local Porno King for his art directors to produce Puritan Magazine. His former building is now becoming the new Mayflower Condominiums. I snuck into a local high school at night to photograph an old circus juggler perform his act, one more time, on the stage. This photo gem, of a midget skating between legs, is from the juggler's mementos.

reprinted from 2014

Welcome To The Vendig

In 1933, with the end of Prohibition, my grandparents(maternal) started operating the Vendig Hotel. They were the working partners, another immigrant family, here longer, were the silent backers. The hotel was directly across from the current Main Street Depot Restaurant in Bethlehem, which was the old New Jersey Line Terminal. With my grandmother cooking, they became well known for crab cakes and other shelled seafood. What wasn't known, was that she was strictly kosher, and never even tasted anything she prepared. As some may recall, my grandparents came from Hungarian Transylvania (now Romania) in the early 20's. Family lore* says Bela Lugosi visited the hotel. Lugosi was born in the same area of then Hungary, and started his acting career playing Jesus in Passion Plays. In 1931, after immigrating to America years earlier, he got his big break playing Dracula. Typecast as a villain, Lugosi was reduced in later years to drug addiction and playing in low budget monster films. He died in the mid 50's and was buried in his Dracula cape.

*My uncle, who as a boy lived above the hotel, had no recollection of Lugosi. The partner families would later merge through marriage, and 40 years later come to own the old vaudeville theater in South Bethlehem known as The Globe. It too is gone.                                                      

reprinted from 2016

Union Rumbles At Morning Call

An article on Lehigh Valley Live, web version of the Easton Express, reports that elements at the Morning Call want to unionize.

While the group has already created a website and facebook page, as of 5:00PM on Monday, there is still no report about it in the Morning Call itself. While those employees interested are pictured in a photograph, I noticed that some of those who might be considered senior staff are not involved, at least as of this writing.

While those organizing are fearful of Tribune policy and job security, ironically a journalism professor at Lehigh has a column in the paper stating how the industry is holding its own. Talking about Lehigh Journalism teachers, Bill White likes the group's facebook page. I sincerely doubt that he would be part of the effort if still employed by the paper.

Although, I'm generally not a union guy,  I wish the group success with their mission.

UPDATE: At 7:25PM an article on the unionization effort appeared on the paper's website. The article states that the request for union (The News Guild) recognition was signed by 48 employees, which is 79% of the staff.  The article was written by Morning Call Staff.

Citizenship The Hard Way

According to my mother, a Gypsy prince was buried in Allentown years ago, she knew about such things. She was born in Galgo, Hungary, an area of Transylvania, now part of Romania, near present day Gilgau. In Galgo, the Jews and Gypsies lived on the edge of town. In the early 20's, my grandparents, along with their Gypsy neighbors, came to Bethlehem to work at the Steel. On weekends, to make extra money, my grandparents would open their house and show Hungarian movies. None of their relatives, Jew or Gypsy, save one cousin, survived the Nazis... Even the cemeteries were desecrated. As you can see from the document above, my grandfather earned his citizenship the hard way.

reprinted from previous years

The Livingston Club, Allentown's Benevolent Oligarchy

Back in the day, when the town had three department stores, the major decisions affecting Allentown's future were made at the Livingston Club. Harvey Farr would meet Donald Miller and John Leh at the Club for lunch, and discuss acquiring more lots for Park & Shop. The bank officers of First National and Merchants Bank would discuss loans with the highly successful merchants, many of whom had stores in all three major Lehigh Valley cities. As the heydays wound down, likewise the exit plans were made there. The City of Allentown acquired the Park & Shop lots, becoming the Allentown Parking Authority. Leh's became the Lehigh County Government Center.

The new oligarchy consists of much fewer men, they could all meet at a small table in Shula's, and be entertained by watching street people arrested. The former 1st National Bank location is now a new Reilly building. The former Livingston Club building is now a parking lot, and future site to another Reilly building. Shula's is also a Reilly building....

reprinted from August of 2015

UPDATE: Dear readers,  I found the demise of older Allentown depressing, and new Allentown painfully boring.... Shula's, referred to above, didn't last... of course referring to an alley as an Art Walk, didn't make it so.  In spite of the Morning Call (now also a Reilly building) compromising its journalistic integrity to outright promote the NIZ district, it remains a sterile collection of new tasteless buildings.

History Of Union Terrace

The area now known as Joseph S Daddona Lake and Terrace has a rich history. The stone arch bridge dates back to 1828.  If Lehigh County had its way, the bridge would be gone now. I'm proud to have played a large part in saving it.  The park consists of the former city ice skating pond, and the WPA amphitheater.

This blog previously featured the train of Union Terrace, which was near the end of the former Barber Quarry Branch line... Talking of tracks, shown above is the freight station of the Allentown and Reading Traction Company.  Their trolley would go under the Dorney Park roller coaster on its way to Kutztown.  Many of you would know the freight building many years later, as the store and home of Joe and Ann Daddona.

reprinted from April of 2013

French Hill

French Hill went straight up from the old mill along the Nashua River, in Nashua, New Hampshire. It was always a poor neighborhood, housing mill workers and immigrants going back over a hundred years. Almost all the buildings on the narrow streets were wood, except the churches. The name came from the many French Canadians drawn there to work. I lived on the Hill during the early 1970's, on the top floor of a triplex.

The old wooden three unit was heated by gas space heaters and the whole building would rumble and shake when a vehicle came down the street. In the morning I would walk down the hill, through the mill property and over a pedestrian bridge to the old main street, where I worked in a photography store. A google search tells me that the neighborhood now houses street gangs. Nashua is right over the border from Massachusetts, yet I would have never imagined such urban problems reaching so far north.


The above post is a reprint from 2010.  Years ago I also never imagined Allentown having gangs,  nor the shootings and stabbings which are now occurring.

Allentown's 6th Ward

When my grandfather first arrived in Allentown, he lived in the Ward, on 2nd. Street. It was around 1895, and the neighborhood was full of immigrants. Some groups came from the same area in the old country, most noticeably the Syrians, from the village of Amar. They were members of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, a Christian minority in a Muslim country. The congregation of St. George's Church on Catasauqua Ave., largely is descended from those immigrants. Well known names in Allentown, such as Atiyeh, Haddad, Hanna, Makoul, Koury and Joseph are among their members. They were among one of the first groups to organize, and those organizations still exist. The photo above was organized by the Syrian American Organization in 1944. Note that Jewish, on the left, is treated as a nationality.

click on photo to enlarge

reprinted from previous years

Moving Allentown's Freight

The Lehigh Valley Transit, in addition to moving people on the trolleys, also moved freight. In Allentown, the freight house was behind Front Street, near the former A&B meat plant. The Kutztown and Reading Trolley Company also had a freight house in west Allentown, which would decades later become the home of former mayor Joe Daddona, at Union Terrace.

UPDATE: Forty five years later, in 1951, we're back at the freighthouse. Notice that a window has been added on the building's side, with only the memory of the earlier sign still present. In another year, both passenger and freight service are gone, with the end of the trolley era.

reprinted from December of 2013

Defending Zion

With the election of two Muslim congresswomen, one of which is Palestinian, Israel as the oppressor is a front and center topic.

Most of all the world loves to read about a Jew bashing Israel. Al Jazeera routinely uses Jewish writers for that purpose. They're not that hard to find, the far left and Jews go together, like pastrami and rye bread.  They portray themselves as progressive and anti-zionists.

Over the years, the Morning Call has featured numerous anti-Israel columns.  While the writers change, the tradition continued.  The letters are often signed at the end associating the writer with some organization that sounds sincere about peace, but in reality, is anti-Israel.

Israel is low-hanging fruit. Jews have been portrayed as greedy for two thousand years, so why shouldn't they also be land grabbers?

In reality, Israel is eager for a sincere partner in peace.  Their withdrawal from Gaza was only met with the election of Hamas, and its dedication to Israel's destruction.  By the way, that's not Tel Aviv shown above, but Gaza City.

No Valentines At Parkland High In Florida

Today is the one year anniversary of the mass shooting at the High School in Parkland, Florida. Their congressman, Ted Deutch, who is a Bethlehem, Pa. native, is hoping that the proposal for universal background checks can pass a house vote. A proposed counter amendment, that domestic violence victims can buy a gun with no background check, shows how irrational the gun debate has become. 

Being a right leaning independent, my blog audience tends conservative. Yesterday's post, supporting Mark Kelly for senate, illustrated the divide on this issue. Electronic background checks only take a few minutes to complete, when purchasing a gun. Although true that this measure will not prevent shootings in itself, there is no reason not to vet everyone before they purchase a lethal weapon.

As an avid supporter of the 2nd amendment, I do not buy the NRA's slippery slope argument. I believe that I can best protect my gun rights by conceding that some regulations can be rational, such as mandatory background checks.

Giffords and Kelly on Capital Hill

Issues With The NRA

I'm a supporter of the 2nd Amendment. Although that is a right which I defend, as an engaged citizen I appreciate living in a society of laws. There are rights and laws, and we can all live within them. I do not blindly consider every regulation as a curtailment of my rights, or as a slippery slope which will erode them, as does the NRA.  I can exercise my rights in a responsible manner, without purposefully provoking those who feel differently about this issue.

Each November the NRA sends its current and former members a card telling them whom they should vote for in their district, to protect their 2nd Amendment rights. Although their member magazine often features hunting rifles, the organization must also think of their members as sheep, who should only care about one issue. As Americans we should guard our right to own firearms,  but never tolerate being told how to vote.

I support Americans For Responsible Solutions, the group started by Mark Kelly and  Gabby Giffords.  They both value their right to own a fireman,  but appreciate the need for greater controls against irresponsible ownership.

Shown above is a 38 special, gifted upon Frank Sinatra by the Miami Beach Police & Firemen's Association.  

reprinted from February of 2018

UPDATE FEBRUARY 13, 2019: Former astronaut and fighter pilot Mark Kelly has announced his candidacy for Arizona's senate seat as a Democrat. Although I tend conservative, Kelly is a Democrat who has my support.

Duck Farm And Hotel

At the turn of the last century Allentonians could take a day trip out to Griesemerville, and spend the day at the Duck Farm and Hotel. The trolley, operated by Reading Traction Company, actually went through the Duck Farm building. That same trolley would continue west and go through or under the Dorney Park roller coaster. Today, Griesemerville is known as Union Terrace, or more precisely, Joseph S.  Daddona Lake and Terrace. The Hotel portion still exists as an apartment house. Heading west,  cross the Reading Road stone arch bridge, built in 1824, and the former hotel is the first building on your right. Note the bridge in the lower left of the above news clipping. This blog is proud to have played a part in preserving the bridge, and my hope is that the County of Lehigh will formally recognize the bridge's historic value, and secure it's future. Collectors of Lehigh Valley historic memorabilia can still find  Duck Farm postcards.

news clipping courtesy of Danny Ruth

reprinted from July of 2013

Allentown's Affordable Housing

Lately, from several quarters, there has been a chorus for more affordable housing in Allentown. Generally speaking, they believe that developers should have to set aside a certain percentage of new units for low income. In reality, there is currently affordable housing available right along side of the NIZ, essentially being the remainder of center city Allentown.

The reason I know that this low income district exists, is because it attracts so many low income people.... Low income people do not move to high rent districts. When I ran as an independent candidate for mayor in 2005, I stated that Allentown was inadvertently creating a poverty magnet. As a landlord, I heard of several agencies that were sporting the chronically unemployed, coming from out of town, to move in money. Ironically, now 15 years later, no less than Alan Jennings recently told me that there were too many low income in Allentown.

My analysis of housing in 2005 was politically incorrect, and I endured several untrue accusations for it. Likewise, my analysis now will be unpopular, but I know Allentown, and its housing situation.

photo of Eleanor Roosevelt visiting Hanover Acres

The Reading Road Bridge

Part of Don Cunningham's political patter as a candidate and elected official is repairing or replacing bridges in the county. When you replace a bridge which doesn't need replacing, you're wasting taxpayer money. When you replace a historic bridge which doesn't need replacing, you're stealing our culture






The Reading Road Bridge, scheduled by Cunningham for replacement, is in excellent condition. Although my observation and top photograph clearly shows that, I did confirm it's structural integrity with someone formally with the City engineering department.

The bridge was built in 1824 and totally rehabilitated in 1980. At that time a separate walking bridge was built next to it for pedestrian safety.*





Although the beautiful two arch stone bridge needs no work, and Cunningham has been in office since 2006, the steel beams of the walking bridge are in dire need of paint. How sad that inexpensive maintenance is ignored, while $million dollar projects are planned.

Let Don smile and cut a ribbon somewhere else, please join me in saving our history. Call Cunningham and our County Commissioners. Let them know our past means more to us than their political future.

* a former manager under Mayor Daddona, recalls walking bridge constructed in 1980.
click on bridge photographs to enlarge image


The above post was written in 2010. I'm happy to report that this blogger had some success in regard to saving the bridge, and it still stands.  Earlier in the week, The Morning Call reported that the historic Youell's Oyster House burned to the ground.  The seafood restaurant was at that location for about 20 years, what was historic was the building; It was one of the inns along the Reading Road, the connection between Allentown and points west.  With the inn gone, the little bridge shown above is one of the few remnants of that era still standing in Allentown.  Although the county project manager was stymied in his attempt to destroy the bridge, he has failed to perform any maintenance on the structure since.  Let us not lose the bridge by neglect.

UPDATE FEBRUARY 2019: I would go on to save the Reading Road Bridge. Donny Cunningham went on to become CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation. He is now featured in a regular column by The Morning Call. Today he writes that not everything is made to last. Under his leadership as County Executive, historic structures in good shape were needlessly destroyed.

Pelosi's Choir

Often  in the course of blogging I offend a few people, sometimes many more.  When I saw all the congresswomen dressed in white, although I know that it was supposed to represent homage to the suffrage movement,  I thought that it would be more liberated not to be in any costume.  Of course the women also didn't show much individuality by demeanor, either being stern faced or all clapping at the same time....They looked like a choir, being led by Nancy Pelosi.

The congresswomen with political ambition beyond the choir, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, dressed themselves, but not in white.

Allentown, Not Much For History

Once you go a mile west beyond Bethlehem, there's not much interest in history.  There's also not much interest in art or architecture.  Boast as you will about Allentown's new NIZ buildings, but there won't be any awards given there for architecture.  The new waterfront NIZ district will remove the historic LVRR rail tracks.  The local historical society concentrates on shows about Abraham Lincoln, with no interest in local topics. The Allentown park department actually encourages the disregard to its original plans and structures.*  We're being led by people who seemed more concerned with their own future, be it in real estate or politics.

For years my efforts have concentrated on trying to save those historical structures unique to our area.  Although I may occasionally still succumb to that compulsion in the future,  hopefully, most of my protest will now be limited to posts on this blog.  I pleaded to no avail with too many commissions with predetermined agendas.  Let the less disillusioned plead to the deaf ears behind those dais.

Shown above is the former LVRR railroad station on Hamilton Street, which was demolished in the early 1960's.  The existing train station was the New Jersey Central.  Allentown never met a unique older building that it couldn't wait to tear down.

* This post is reprinted from July of 2015. Allentown now has a new mayor and a new park director. I am encouraged that the new administration will be more sensitive to our history.

The Life Of Riley

The situation comedies of the 50's had a common theme. The father would have to resolve some family commotion within 30 minutes, but back then 30 minutes was longer, there were many less commercials. Diversity was limited to social-economic circumstances. Ozzie Nelson lived in an idealized suburban house and had all day to find the solution. Riley worked in factory, lived in a duplex, and had to do his conflict resolution after work.

Conflict is no stranger to this blog, often only lubricated by turmoil. Though usually dissecting Democrats, I have also bickered with the remnants of the local Republican party. Seems the remnants resented it when I revealed that the majority of homeowners in the West Park area were opposed to the Historic District, imposed upon them a decade ago. They can't understand why the opposers didn't attend their coffee clutches at the time; They say that they would have dropped the plan if only they knew. They didn't offer that option back then, to the standing room only protesters, at the City Council Meetings.

William Bendix, as Riley, would end every episode by saying "What a revoltin development this is", pretty much like Allentown.

UPDATE: This post is adapted from April 2009. In retrospect, they were the good old days. An outrage at that time was having an historic district imposed on a neighborhood. Now, we have a mayor who takes an entire square block, tears it down, and burdens the community with $200 million in debt, with no public input what-so-ever. What a revoltin development this is.

reprinted from April of 2012

Crime And Perception In Allentown

An article in this weekend's Morning Call vaunts the statistical decrease in Allentown crime.   Although the numbers may give the local politicians and police chiefs some talking points,  they provide no comfort, what so ever, to the citizens.  Furthermore,  they do nothing to change the perceptions of crime and safety in center city Allentown.

Although I realize that this post will deemed as naysaying by my usual critics,  perception is more important than numbers.  Reporting that homicides dropped from 17 to 12 for last year, says more about bad aim than civility.  The number of stabbings increased.

Crime dipped supposedly all across America.  Here again, when you hear about the number of shooting deaths in Chicago, Detroit, and Baltimore, one must wonder about how meaningful these new crime guidelines actually are.

artwork by Mark Beyer

Allentown's Pending Cold Winter

2018 promises to be a cold winter in Allentown. The city is being governed by a mayor facing over fifty charges of corruption. He was elected by plurality in a three way election, mostly by Allentown's newer population. If he is forced to resign because of a plea or conviction, Ray O'Connell expects to be selected mayor by city council.

The photograph shown above is from 1958. It was taken in Little Lehigh Manor, the 1940's era housing development located above Lehigh Parkway's south ridge. I had the pleasure of growing up in that neighborhood. In yesterday's post the hill favored by the kids of that neighborhood was featured.* Other popular sledding hills in Allentown were behind Cedar Crest College, and Ott Street, between Livingston and Greenleaf Streets. Years ago a bridge crossed the creek by the park office at 30th and Parkway Blvd., with a parking area for sledders by the Cedar Crest hill.  The Ott Street hill was closed to cars by the city, as an accommodation for sledders.

None of these hills are now accessible to a kid with a sled. The current mayor has no memory of those times, and might be too preoccupied to care much about sledding this winter.

* hill in Lehigh Parkway, above the Log and Stone House

photo courtesy of S. Williams.

reprinted from December of 2017