Jun 21, 2019

Political Correctness Degrading Allentown

PART 1
It was deja vu at Deja Vu nightclub.  This time ten people got shot outside the Hamilton Street bar early Thursday morning.  Over the years I have seen several so called nuisance businesses closed down in Allentown. Perhaps because Deja Vu is a minority owned business, frequented by minorities, authorities tip toed around the problems there. This is no Happy Days soda fountain,  the clientele is patted down for weapons before entering. While the local NAACP  turns loose a bull horn against local police departments,  they never seem to protest against street violence.

Besides this blog, don't expect to read about such realities in Allentown...Such frankness results in accusations of racism.  Authorities will say that people have nothing to worry about,  it's gang related, not random violence.  Politicians will say that the solution is gun control.

Meanwhile, as usual, nobody cooperates with the police. Allentown cannot revitalize until it cracks down on the current bad actors overwhelming it.

PART 2

When I was writing part 1 yesterday, I knew that the Deja Vu nightclub wouldn't have much of a future. The shooting made national news, and there is no way that state senator Pat Browne would allow someplace so close to the NIZ to impact negatively on it. But Browne and the NIZ's barron, J.B. Reilly, have a bigger problem. Yesterday afternoon there was a riot in the 100 block of N. 7th Street, visible from the windows in the new Strata Loft apartments. While police were trying to arrest a man for theft, he assaulted the officers. While trying to subdue the man, a large crowd of the unemployed gainfully unproductive gathered to jeer at the police. Videos were distributed on facebook showing the arrest, and of course not showing the resistance which preceded it. Those imbued with the victim mentality chanted police brutality. While Browne and Reilly can close the bar, those numerous chanters are Allentown's greater problem.

15 comments:

  1. Allentown can't revitalize until it's voters start electing non corrupt and competent people. The party running this city is running it into the ground.With the leading vote getter running on economic dignity, identity politics,and inclusionary zoning I see more trouble and little cause for hope. By the way, this same candidate now seems to have someone writing her statements for her. Ironically candidates and their party that claim to be the champions and advocates for the poor are truly making things much worse for our low income residents.
    Allentown is geographically situated for growth, opportunity, and real progress forward. However, the ineptitude of the city's leaders, the low caliber of those running for office, and widely reported incidents such as yesterday's(news was reported nationwide) would seem to preclude any cause for optimism.

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    1. Allentown can't revitalize with the current citizens.

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  2. Couldn’t agree more! I’m sick of bing labeled a racist whenever trying to discuss the problems that Allentown has brought to itself. It’s not going to change until the bad actors are addressed and the family structure is reestabliished that emphasizes education and citizenship. It sickening reading how it’s failed miserabally with no hope in sight.

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  3. I haven't stepped foot in Allentown in 11 years.I read the media reports of all the street shootings occurring in Allentown over the years.It comes as no surprise of the shooting at The Sterling.What does surprise me is the locals have stepped up to semi-automatic rifles.Perhaps I missed the media reporting rifles being used in the past.Getting to the point I patronized The Sterling ,Rockin Robins and The Train Station with my younger friends 25 years ago and the only issue was parking

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  4. You might have also missed on Facebook the early morning block party at 11th & Hamilton a block away from Fort Apache over the weekend. Fist were flying. I think it's all these damn Dutchmen living downtown :-)

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    1. Seriously I wonder why anyone would a remain cop in Allentown. The shooting downtown and the incident on 7th Street all involved people who refuse support of police when they respond to a 911 call. These people are garbage.

      Since police and politicians end up taking the heat my question is... If YOU were the mayor or police chief. what actions and solutions would you take to fix this?

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  5. In response to your comment at the end of your essay, Mr. Molovinsky: "While Browne and Reilly can close the bar, those numerous chanters are Allentown's greater problem...."

    Sad to say, that's the heart of the issue. This does not impugn any class or ethnic group...but a **mindset** that reigns among a sad subset of society without jobs, careers, community, religious, or civic involvement, or interest in others' future or their own. That is the heart of the issue, and I don't think there is an easy answer.

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  6. About 15 years ago three social agencies were giving "move in" money to anybody coming here. Most who came were on some form of public assistance. Having so many people paid not to work changed the culture of the city.

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  7. For eight long, long years, the Great Community Organizer In Chief denigrated and disparaged the police each and every time the opportunity presented itself. Nowadays, unfortunate police forces in cities all across this great nation are currently engaged in harvesting the fruits of the often stated intentions to "fundamentally transform" the United States of America. Yes, indeed, Barack Hussein 0bama certainly left quite a legacy.

    Meanwhile, I, for one, can not help but wonder how local history might have taken a totally different course if the Republican candidate Heydt or the independent candidate Molovinsky had been able to defeat the Democrat Party candidate, Chicago transplant and would be 47-times convicted felon Pawlowski, back in 2005.

    Thanks for doing such a wonderful job of selecting the City's political leaders these last fourteen years, Allentown Electorate.

    ROLF OELER

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  8. Makes me sad to see the town of my birth go to pieces. Good comments all around, and all true.

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  9. Browne isn't the politician we need to be worried about. At least closing the bar closed will send a message about what type of behavior is expected at establishments with liquor licenses.

    The bigger problem is idiots like Peter Schweyer and Michael Schlossberg wanting to throw money at "community groups" to solve the problem. NEWS FLASH #1: These groups are the ones that are helping cause the city's problems. According to a Morning Call article, Schweyer is asking a group called Promise Neighborhoods "What do you need".

    The Promise Neighborhoods "solution" is to follow a model that's being used in places like Baltimore and New York City. NEWS FLASH #2 - Baltimore and NYC aren't places Allentown should be trying to emulate. Yet that simple bit of common sense seems to escape our clueless politicians.

    Add that to the fact that NO politician has come out to show support for the police department after the mob of "chanters" (as MM worded it) gathered during that arrest the other day. Competent leadership in City Hall would have had a press conference immediately stating their support for the police and that the behavior of the mob will not be tolerated. Any community groups that wanted to stand along with the Mayor and Council members could have been welcomed then.

    Instead, our incompetent Mayor and members of Council remained silent. You get what you tolerate, so expect more of these incidents over the summer.

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  10. And while we're on the subject of getting what you tolerate, what happened at the Deja Vu is what happens when you tolerate gangs in your city, and in your neighborhoods.

    Residents who are unwilling to call police to report gang activity end up living with it in their midst. They are part of the problem. Politicians who tolerate gang activity in their city because it's not in their neighborhoods (or in neighborhoods where the voters care) are an even bigger part of the problem. And "community groups" (and their leaders) that don't support the police and use gang violence to further their own agendas are only adding fuel to the fire.

    In a city where unlicensed dirt bikes and ATV's roam the streets without fear of arrest, should anyone be surprised that gang activity is tolerated by City Hall? Anyone who has talked to the police force knows there are at least 12 active gangs in Allentown for at least the last decade. Now we have a mass shooting to show for all the tolerance. Expect more to come.

    So where is the crackdown from City Hall? Where is the focus on weeding out the criminal element? Obviously, the attempt to police the city by making friends between the officers and agitators is failing. So what's the plan?

    I would say the focus should be on the police department implementing a zero-tolerance policy in the city, with the immediate focus on our worst neighborhoods. Make gang members uncomfortable and move them along to areas outside the city lines. Any individual or community group that sympathizes with the criminal element can leave with the gang members.

    Until gangs and their members are removed, money for youth programs is wasted. As long as gangs are in the city, they will be in the ears of the same young people those programs are trying to reach and the gangs will win every time. Focus on removing the gangs first, then on youth programs. Not the other way around.

    Our state legislators can help by increasing the consequences for parents who don't get their kids to school or whose children are involved in criminal activity. Parents should know what their kids are involved in and those who knowingly ignore it should be held accountable.

    It's time to take back the city. Sadly, I don't think City Hall has the leadership to do it.

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  11. Unknown@9:03, although I prefer not to interact in the comments, I couldn't agree more with your comment. Actually, your comment largely preempts my post tomorrow, but I will publish it anyway.

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  12. I am going to make a direct political statement here, which is unusual for me.
    I still love this "Old City" (my adopted home for 50 years, after arriving back to the Lehigh Valley from 10 years overseas)
    Started and sold 3 small businesses, and raised a family here.

    I have known the Ramos Family for going on 2 decades. Tim is the best choice for helping to correct all the ills, this beat-up beautiful Old City has endured. But the choice remains with the populace. Hopefully we head in the right direction come this November.
    "The Old Allentown Curmudgeon".....P.J.Fiske

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  13. Paul -

    I have no reason to doubt your assessment.

    But city VOTERS don't have two decades to get to know Tim and his family.

    His campaign has been largely silent, despite being one of the two candidates left in the race.

    I'd love to hear his plan for addressing the gang issue in the city.

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