The Bricks Of Allentown

When Mildred Gehman* portrayed the house on the southeast corner of 12th and Walnut Streets in 1950, it was already about 60 years old. Another 60 years have passed, and the house still looks the same today. The bricks of Allentown hold up well. Yesterday, as I passed the corner of Madison and Chew Streets, I noticed three buildings in a row wearing a new orange tag, Unfit for Human Habitation. I have seen many clusters of these orange tags. They are generally handed out to one unfortunate owner or another, by one inspector. Recently, I received a phone call from such a hapless owner. His two buildings were tagged for some superficial reason, such as peeling paint. Everybody knows who has painted, or paid to have his house painted, that the stuff starts peeling off in short order, since the lead and other emulsions have been removed. Back to hapless owner. Because his buildings were tagged, the tenants were forced to move. In addition to the disruption in the tenants lives, the owner was denied the income stream to meet his debt service. Upon completion of the work on the list, the inspector then created a new list upon re-inspection. The re-inspections required scheduling specific inspectors, such as plumbing and electric, and dragged out the time frame. The primary inspector then inflicted a third list on the owner. Over a year has passed, his two buildings remain vacant, and the owner is out over $Thirty thousand dollars. Buildings on 12th Street, just north of Chew, have been tagged so long that the orange is fading on the notices. The city can mistreat rental operators because the public has little to no sympathy for that class of ownership. Several years ago, Allentown passed a Point Of Sale inspection law, which requires inspections of all private houses for sale. Welcome to the bureaucracy. To post a comment pertaining to a specific property, owner or inspector, you must must use your name.

 *Mildred Gehman,1908-2006, starting teaching at the Baum Art School in 1946. At that time, Baum was on the southwest corner of 12th and Walnut Streets, across the street from the house shown above.

above reprinted from May of 2012


UPDATE SEPTEMBER 30, 2019: Years ago, I would occasionally blog about some property owner who was being victimized by Pawlowski's City Hall. Although Pawlowski has been exorcised from the building, I'm afraid that the attitude he fostered apparently remains in some segments of middle management.

Last month, I reported on an east side homeowner who was being bullied by a nearby business owner, who has a connection at city hall. While the property next door to her,  also owned by the bully, is in a distressed condition, she is getting the citations, and being taken to court. After verifying the situation myself,  I called upon a middle supervisor for relief on behalf of the homeowner.  The reply seems to be the inspectors doubling down, and circling the wagons.  From the bully's distressed adjoining property, they rephotographed the homeowner's property, looking to fabricate more violations.

I can understand some residual arrogance remaining in the code department middle management... after all, Pawlowski ruled the roost for 13 years, and used some of those guys as his henchmen.  What they don't understand is that this blog started in 2007,  largely to fight such inequities.

The Mohican Markets

Once, before the malls, there were three thriving cities in the Lehigh Valley, and some merchants would have a store in each of the downtowns. Some of the buildings still exist, and have been reused; The Allentown Farr (shoe) Building is now loft apartments. Two of three Mohican Market buildings, famous for baked goods, no longer exist. The Easton location, on S. 4th St., was victim to fire. The Allentown store became a bingo hall and then a parking lot.  Butz's newest office building now occupies the space.

The Mohican Markets were owned and operated by Bernard Molovinsky, who purchased the three Lehigh Valley stores from a small chain located in New York and Pennsylvania.

revised and reprinted from September of 2007

Abuse At The Monument Building

The building had begun its life as the 1st National Bank. The second owner renamed it Corporate Center. The third owner renamed it Monument Building.

One morning in early July of 2008, code enforcement descended upon the Monument Building like a swat team.  Every officer, in every department , entered the building at the same time, and spread out looking for every possible violation. Under the previous owner, the same conditions, with the same tenants, were lauded as a rebirth.

Whatever motivated Pawlowski to pull the plug on the new owner, the tenants were lightweights, of no consequence to him. At that time, myself and few other malcontents, like Lou Hershman, would gather early in the morning for coffee at Jerry's Cafe, located on the first floor.

Jerry's was not one of the upstart businesses blessed with a Pawlowski grant at the time. He had to pay for everything, and everything had been inspected, inside and out. His plans had been approved, his electric and plumbing had been approved,  and his expensive grill and hood system had been approved.  While all the tenants were put out of business that day,  Jerry was also financially ruined. 

During this sorry Pawlowski era, he used the code department as a weapon.  Although Pawlowski is gone, some of that same mentality apparently still lurks with some of the code officers.  I wrote about Pawlowski's tactics back then in 2008, and I will continue to defend those currently victimized by such abuse.

The Monument Building would be torn down years later by J.B. Reilly, and replaced by one of his Corporate Towers.

I photographed the code cars that morning lined up for the raid   

Stealing Allentown's History

The Lehigh Valley Railroad Line along the Lehigh River, which was a basis for our industry and prosperity,  will now be a path for the spandex people, and their made in China bicycles.

While The Morning Call and Mayor Pawlowski celebrate another link in the rail to bike trail, Allentown lost a major part of it's history. While Pawlowski said "The community has been separated from water access for years," he ignored Bucky Boyle Park, just south of the Jaindl project. Bucky Boyle has been providing river access for over a century. Perhaps our Chicago Mayor has never been there, he should learn about our park system. While the spandex crowd applaud these paths, we lose an infrastructure that can never be replaced. Can you imagine how much compensation Jaindls' would want in the future to provide a rail line with a right of way? Ironically, while the spandex yuppies also want metro rail service, they are oblivious to the fact that these were the very tracks leading to both our train station and New York City. Future generations will be flabbergasted that their track tracks were scrapped for bicycle paths.

The photograph dates to 1976.  Note the A-Treat billboard, part of our commercial history that was saved by the Jaindl family.  Wish that they also had a soft spot for trains.

above reprinted from March of 2016 

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: Although the historic track line has been removed, the waterfront project now waits, until all the pieces are in place. While quick to tear out the tracks, apparently the trail portion will not be built without a federal grant.

Mapping Allentown's Past And Future

The map, partially shown above, was produced by the Nathan Nirenstein Company of Springfield, Massachusetts in 1929. His firm specialized in engineering maps of various center cities on the eastern seacoast. The map is 22X30, and expands out from 7th and Hamilton for 2 1/2 blocks east and west,  2 blocks north and south. The map includes names of both the owner of the building, and the merchant/tenant occupying the space, if different.

While numerous small banks are shown on both Hamilton and the side streets, the coming Depression surely culled that herd. Allentown City Hall and police station are still on Linden Street, while the post office is at 6th and Turner. Two large hardware stores, Young and Hersh, are on Hamilton Street.

The buildings are owned by hundreds of different people.  What will future generations think when they see a 2029 map, and all the buildings are owned by just a few people?

Smelling Roses In Allentown

When Allentown built the Rose Garden in 1929, it wasn't a good year for numerous citizens of the west end. In addition to the stock market crash, the city had condemned their land for Cedar Park and the gardens. Among the prominent families affected were Sofranscy, Laudenslager, Minnich, Oswald, Nearhaus, Heist, Wagner and the Ottos.

However, the construction served future families well... The garden and park provided one of the premier street views in Allentown.

The gardens have enchanted Allentown and its residents for ninety years. While the Allentown Park Department now puts in emphasis and budget mostly toward recreation, let us remember the value of what Harry Trexler referred to as beauty and serenity.

Disappearing Park Features

Long time readers of this blog know that one of my missions is to try and preserve the irreplaceable WPA structures, and what I consider the traditional park system infrastructure. That infrastructure suffered another loss recently, the removal of the small Cedar Beach pedestrian bridge.

The little bridge connected the picnic area with the pool for well over 70 years. Furthermore, with high weeds choking the creek bank most of the summer, it provided a glimpse of the creek for children and adults, who still value such a view.

The Allentown park system continues to put its emphasis on recreation, at the expense of charm and beauty. The future doesn't bode well for the park system of my youth, the park system of picture postcards,  the park system that was a regional destination.

park pavilion behind Cedar Beach Pool

Gag Me With A Spoon

For those who don't realize it, J.B. Reilly literally owns the Morning Call building, and the paper is his tenant. Yesterday's paper featured Reilly's new Artswalk food court on the front page.

Some of the nuggets from the article,  by the reporter....No matter what your taste buds are craving, there’s a good chance they’ll be satisfied at the Downtown Allentown Market...

From Reilly's leasing agent.... “We hope we’ve created a really fun environment where people can come and enjoy the food, their friends and family, and then stay downtown, visit some of the stores and just really enjoy all of what downtown Allentown has to offer,”  What stores would that be?

 From a food vendor ... “I was born and raised in south Allentown, so when this opportunity arose, I immediately jumped at the chance to give back to my community,”  Give back, is your food free?

From another vendor...   “My husband and I really enjoy coming to downtown Allentown because we love trying new restaurants and attending events at the PPL Center, so it just seemed like a no-brainer to add to that evolving food scene,"   Hope  there are more events scheduled at the arena in the future, than there has been so far.

My father operated a small meat market downtown on Union Street.  Each Thursday he would pay for a 4X5 inch advertisement in the Morning Call,  hoping that his ad would appear somewhere in the paper that people would see it.  Needless to say, it was never a free article on the front page.

I do wish the vendors success. Although I don't know how much Reilly made them pony up, they will be working long hours.

Morning Call photo, front page

The Poverty Banquet

Once a year CACLV celebrates local poverty with a festive banquet. Poverty has been very successful in Allentown, reaching an impressive 30% by 2017. Allentown can now boast that 100% of its student body qualify for a free lunch.

In addition to the growth in poverty, we are now spawning a crime industry. As Hasshan Batts surveys the success of CACLV, he can only be encouraged about his potential at Promise Neighborhood.... Perhaps $multi $million dollars budgets are also in his future.

While the changing socioeconomics have been bad for almost all the remaining middle class, there have been winners. Certainly the poverty has been growth for the staff at CACLV.  The void in real economic growth has provided cover for the NIZ... J. B. Reilly's real estate portfolio has blossomed.

For the remaining middle class, you have no future.  While our elected officials are chastised for such candidness, this blog remains dedicated to bluntness.

Allentown's Poverty Industry

Yesterday, a division of Allentown's poverty industry had its annual meeting, they call it Upside Allentown.  Most of the poverty business is run by Alan Jennings' Community Action Committee of Lehigh Valley. Six local institutions pony up and write off about a $million a year for Upside. The cast of characters and beneficiaries has remained the same for over two decades.

Although CACLV* provides its cast of administrators a steady job, by what yardstick do we measure its accomplishments? I would certainly hope not litter, double parking or crime!

What sustains the business is political correctness. Besides this blog, nobody would ask such questions.

Upside Allentown is administered by a division of CACLV called CADC.  Next week the mothership, CACLV, has its annual toast to poverty.

Dead At The Water

Dead in the water is an old expression. Allentown's waterfront NIZ project is dead at the water. This past week the local media reported that Jaindl has tenants lined up, but is waiting for all the pieces to be in place, before starting construction. Whoever those commercial tenants are, they sure must be flexible.

This weekend our overpaid, underworked, ghost voting state representative Mike Schlossberg was in Washington, begging for a grant for project's piece of the rail trail. He is getting better at fibbing. He actually claimed that they need the grant, so that the residents of the 1st and 6th Wards can mingle with the future tenants of Waterfront. I believe that Jaindl wants the grant, but he sure doesn't want those ward citizens mingling with his future millennials.

Talking about dead liquid, the Neuweiler building is in worse shape than ever. Even the plywood covering some of the broken windows is rotting away. If the AEDC allows one cent of tax money to be used by Ruckus to rehab that building, Scott Unger should be put in jail. That building is now beyond saving.

brewery circa 1950

I Watched The Debate

For most of my life I have been registered as an independent. Recently, Rick Santorum stated that he agrees with 90% of what Trump does, and 20% of what he says. I would change those figures to about 50% and 5%. While I think that Bill Weld has traits to support, his chances of getting on the Republican ticket aren't much better than mine.

With the above options in mind, last night I stayed up to watch the Democratic Debate. I was hoping to maybe find someone to reluctantly support.  Soon I fantasized about trap doors, so that I could pull a lever and drop some of the contestants off the stage. Then I started thinking about a dart gun, so I could tranquilize Bernie, and energize some of the others.

Toward the end of the long evening, I put on my record player and fell asleep.

Alan Jennings Misspeaks

Alan Jennings has declared that because of Judge Anthony's prejudicial rant, he should resign.  Jennings seems to have personified Anthony's comment about Allentown being a cesspool, to the people who appear before his bench.  Earlier this week I read on social media that Anthony singled out Puerto Ricans in his rant.  He did not, his admonition was directed against the increasing shootings,  not a particular person, and certainly not any particular ethnicity.

It pains me to write this post.  Although Jennings and myself are on different ends of the liberal/conservative spectrum,  I appreciated our rapport over the years... I even had appeared on his NPR show twice.

Coincidentally this week, I wrote about Allentown first having a poverty industry, and now a violence industry.  Alan was the main force behind the poverty industry.  I once wrote that his organization doesn't just give out fishing poles, that they give out fish markets.  He's disappointed in the judge, and I'm disappointed that Alan wrote this letter to the editor.

photo:The Morning Call

They Shoot Landlords, Don't They?

When I ran as a long-shot independent for mayor in 2005, against Ed Pawlowski and Bill Heydt,  the first thing I did was take The  Morning Call reporter on a tour of the properties that I managed.  As an intercity landlord, operating apartments between 4th and 12th, Walnut and Tilghman Streets,  I knew that  downtown apartments could  become problematic for Allentown.  After the WW2,  it became fashionable to live in a twin or small ranch, and Allentown's row houses began being divided into apartments.  Those apartments were mostly occupied by singles or childless couples, and helped keep downtown and Hamilton Street vital, long past many of its sister cities.  In the 1960's, despite the thousands of converted apartments,  center city was clean, and Allentown was the All American City.  Both the tenants and landlords were hard working and conscientious.  As the urban poor from New York and New Jersey discovered the clean streets of Allentown, and its moderately priced apartments,  a steady influx of new residents arrived daily.  These changes were not encouraged by the landlords.  Nobody ever purchased a building hoping to replace their conscientious middle class occupants, with a poorer, more problematic tenant base.  Various social agencies staked many of these newcomers to the first month rent and security deposits.  Although politically incorrect, I said at the time that Allentown was creating a poverty magnet.  My phrase and analysis back then is now recognized as an unintended consequence of such programs.  During Heydt's administration, Allentown passed a Rental Inspection Law.  Some viewed  this as the solution to the rental problem, I didn't fully agree;  You cannot legislate pride of ownership. Bad operators could, and easily did, cross the T's and dot the i's.  Pawlowski's solution has been to tag buildings as unfit for habitation, so many,  that the process itself has created blight.  Halls of Shame, either by the city or private groups, only stigmatize both the property and owner, but don't produce a solution.  The programs in place, if applied with more flexibility, can work.  The school district is starting to show concern about the consequences of more apartments and students.  Recent zoning changes allowing the conversion of commercial space by right, rather than by variance, will be an additional challenge.  At the end of the day,  all landlords want to see their investment appreciate.  The city must learn to work with that basic incentive as a vehicle for change.

reprinted from June of 2015

Shootings Now Normal In Allentown

When I looked at the digital version of the Morning Call Monday morning, the weekend shootings were the 7th story down the page. The Friday and Sunday shootings were lumped together in one article. By Monday afternoon the shooting story was at the bottom of page.

When shootings have become so commonplace in a city this size, we are indeed a cesspool. When our elected officials are so incensed that someone would dare use that term, it is they who should apologize. They should apologize for thinking that the citizens should consider this level of violence as normal. They should apologize for wanting to put image above safety.

As for the ones who say we should stop complaining, and join them in the marches for harmony, I feel no sense of security from their performances. They for the most part are either being paid to work in the new violence industry, or hope to be elected.

Years ago I complained about the poverty industry.... Those groups and organizations that specialized in the poor. Now that we have a violence industry,  the advocates for the poor seem like the good old days.

Saturday Night In the Little Apple

This weekend I popped into an opening at Soft Machine Gallery at 101 Ridge Avenue. Although the gallery might be in the 1st Ward near the Lehigh River,  the art is as uptown as it gets. John Mortensen and Eva DiOrio started the gallery in a rented space on 15th Street about ten years ago, before creating their own current space on the corner of Ridge and Linden Streets.

The show, which runs through October 5th, features the South African born and Israeli trained  constructions of Michelle Marcuse,  the mixed media collages of Netherland trained Diane Tenerelli, and the whimsically edgy drawings of Kate Hovencamp.

On the way back to the blog bunker, I drove up Linden Street past the Strata buildings. With Stratas on my left, not a millennial in sight on the right, or wrong side of the street. It is as if  J.B. Reilly installed an invisible dog fence to keep his tenants in and safe, not so much different than a minimum security prison. 

I've added the Soft Machine logo and info to this blog's web version sidebar.  It's inspiring to know that people still invest their time and capital elsewhere in the city, without our tax subsidizes as in the  Hamilton Street NIZ.

Allentown Wants To Kill The Messenger

State Representative Peter Schweyer suggested that if Judge Anthony doesn't apologize for referring to a cesspool when sentencing a murderer, that he should resign. I think that Schweyer should resign for not facing facts. I would also recommend that Mike Schlossberg resign.

Mike Schlossberg said that Anthony's comment changes the narrative. Since when is the blunt truth a narrative? According to Schlossberg, the narrative is that 300 people marched against crime. Did that march chase crime away? Since the march, there have been both shootings and stabbings.

Schweyer called Judge Anthony's cesspool comment a cheap shot against Allentown.  I believe that Schweyer's comment was the cheap shot.  Schlossberg called Anthony's comment over the top.  I think that Schlossberg's comments are below par.  Worse for these state representatives, I think that they grossly miscalculate the voter's attitude about the violence.  Simply put, they are sick and tired of it, and the politicians who are in a state of denial and do nothing about it.

A Cesspool Named Allentown

When Judge Anthony used the term cesspool the other day in regard to the shootings in Allentown,  I expected that there would be some push back. Although he was referring to the rash of shootings taking place in the former All American City, I expected to read about him accused of racism, or some other popular accusation of insensitivity, often used to suppress the forthright from speaking the plain truth.  Instead, he is being accused by  our elected leaders of a truly inexcusable insult against our so called award winning revitalizing city.

Judge Anthony is correct,  the city has become a cesspool, and the awards are bull. Furthermore, if our elected leaders are so complacent that they view this daily carnage as acceptable,  it is their leadership that may well be inexcusable.

These elected leaders cite articles praising all the new buildings, and claim that all cities this size have these urban crime issues.  Actually, Allentown is no larger than ever, and most of the new buildings are owned by one man, who was set up by these same elected leaders. Beyond some new offices and their workers poached from the local suburbs,  there is no more activity downtown....Revitalizing is more than some new bricks owned by one person.

If Judge Anthony erred about the shootings, it is that he forgot to mention the stabbings.  I hope that our elected leaders do not start accusing the messengers, and expect us to accept the current level of violence as normal.

Growing Up Parkway

I'm a baby boomer. I was born in December of 1946. As soon as my mother climbed out of the hospital bed, another woman climbed in. I grew up in the neighborhood now called Little Lehigh Manor, wedged between Lehigh Street and the top of the ravine above Lehigh Parkway. That's me on our lawn at the intersection of Catalina and Liberator Avenues, named after airplanes made by Vultee Corporation for the War. We had our own elementary school, our own grocery store, and the park to play in. On Saturdays, older kids would take us along on the trolley, and later the bus, over the 8TH Street Bridge to Hamilton Street. There were far too many stores to see everything. After a matinee of cartoons or Flash Gordon, and a banana split at one of the five and dimes, we would take the bus back over the bridge to Lehigh Street.




Not that many people know where Lehigh Parkway Elementary School is. It's tucked up at the back of the development of twin homes on a dead end street, but I won't say exactly where. I do want to talk about the photograph. It's May Day, around 1952-53. May Day was big then, so were the unions; Most of the fathers worked at the Steel, Mack, Black and Decker, and a hundred other factories going full tilt after the war. The houses were about 8 years old, and there were no fences yet. Hundreds of kids would migrate from one yard to another, and every mother would assume some responsibility for the herd when it was in her yard. Laundry was hung out to dry. If you notice, most of the "audience" are mothers, dads mostly were at work. I'm at the front, right of center, with a light shirt and long belt tail. Don't remember the girl, but see the boy in front of me with the big head? His father had the whole basement setup year round with a huge model train layout. There were so many kid's, the school only went up to second grade. We would then be bused to Jefferson School for third through sixth grade. The neighborhood had its own Halloween Parade and Easter egg hunt. We all walked to school, no one being more than four blocks away.

reprinted from February of 2017

Center City Kids And Stevens Park

Over the last decade, a large portion of my effort on this blog has been focused on maintaining what I refer to as the traditional park system. To me, that would include the WPA structures and both access to, and view of the streams. I rallied against the riparian buffers, and what I consider the excessive emphasis on recreation. In the park department, although there is no less than six supervisors for recreation, there is not one person assigned to the parks per se.

While the designation playground at Cedar Beach cost $1 million dollars, only $25,000 has been spend on the WPA structures in the last decade, and that was a grant from the Trexler Trust. However, this post isn't about my opinion of current park priorities, but rather the implementation of the current policy.

 The designation playground at Cedar Park was almost, if not criminal in design and implementation. A former park director as the time purchased every item in the Playworld Catalog, from a company he had a prior relationship with from his previous job. So we ended up with an oversized playground, in a location inaccessible to center city kids. Regarding these kids, and our current emphasis on recreation, perhaps no park is more important than humble Stevens Park, at 6th and Tilghman Streets in center city. Although the playground equipment and infrastructure are well up to snuff, community groups found it necessary to reclaim the park this past Saturday. This park should be a sanctuary for the children of center city, and the police department should do whatever is necessary to make it that way. In 2019, that might well require a 24 hour presence.

Stevens Park sits on the site of the former Stevens Elementary School, as shown above in 1918.

Kingdom At Stevens

On Saturday afternoon, Stevens Park, a large center city playground, teemed with festivity. As the parents and older kids swayed to the Latin beat from a live band, children at the other side were entertained with craft activities. In between, large stands provided free hot food. The event was sponsored by Kingdom Life Family Center, an outreach ministry based in Orefield. After leaving the park, I decided to visit some merchants who are relocating to 7th Street from Hamilton. On 7th, I encountered the Pastor of the Ministry, Tony Adamo. It is his hope to secure a storefront in that vicinity, and establish a full time presence in Allentown. That would be a blessing.

above reprinted from November of 2011

My apologies for an earlier post where I acted so haughty about Stevens Park. Ive been sick the past couple weeks. That being said had family over today and bragged about the new park. Took my 2 yr old and a couple other toddlers with parents. Trash everywhere! Dirty needles...I picked up 6 heroin used bags. I was horrified! We left, kids in tears. Me on the verge! I went later with husband and cleaned it up. Ive been so excited for the young neighborhood kids....it will soon just get totally trashed. And Im moving......

The above comment appeared on a community facebook page. I have redacted the writers name. The Morning Call did a pictorial spread on the the renovated park, but of course the women above gives us an actual nitty gritty experience from visiting the park. Despite the reality of who will congregate there after hours, and whatever nefarious activity that may take place, it is important to provide attractive parks within the urban center for children.   However,  the nature of the neighborhood requires that the park receive extra cleanup and surveillance.

 Allow me to commend the Parks Department on a renovation well done.

photocredit: The Morning Call/Harry Fisher

above reprinted from June of 2017

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2, 2019:  This past weekend the Morning Call had an article about a Community Day at Stevens Park, sponsored by several community groups. Earlier that morning,  police investigated shots being fired in the park.  Although the article's heading was about reclaiming the park, as you can see from my older posts above,  reclaiming the park is actually an on going process. A new reporter covers new community activists, optimistic that they have solutions to a problem which has been ongoing for a decade before them.  As I wrote in 2017, the location of the park (6th and Tilghman) requires an ongoing police presence, no less than 24 hours a day.