Sore Loser, And Desperate Gambit By Republicans

It's a sad day when Enid Santiago and the Lehigh County Republican Committee are on the same page. At first I thought the notice about the press conference today must be from the local Tea Party,  which protests against everything and anything. Then, upon closer inspection, I saw that it was from the local Republican Party, grasping at the embers of the tragic fire in Allentown.

The lawsuit by the family of the victims is their legal right, and I have no issue with it. The accusation by Enid Santiago that the callers were ignored by 911 operators because they were Spanish speaking was opportunist, inflammatory theater by a sore loser.  Her write-in effort against the rightful winner of last year's primary state representative race, Peter Schweyer, was undemocratic, and her party members who supported it owe Schweyer an apology.

It is important that citizens respect our public safety network: Police, fire, EMS, and 911. Republican candidates who appear at today's press conference are doing themselves a disservice.

photo of sign on Enid Santiago's Facebook page urging Phil Armstrong to resign

Election Roundup

This election cycle I only made one endorsement, Smith for Allentown School board.  There are excellent people running for South Whitehall commissioner: Hodges, Kennedy and Osborne, but my battle there was in the primary, against the old guard Morgan.

I questioned the actions of two school board candidates, Harris in Allentown, and Millo in South Whitehall, who unclearly dropped out of the race in August.  The Harris piece brought on criticism from the giant Ed DeGrace, fortunately by email, rather than in person.  The Millo piece upset Republicans, but their support for him was premature and their bad, not mine. 

My annual election season piece on Emma always upsets everybody. Emma was outspoken, non-partisan, and could care less about political correctness, traits that I admire.

The People's Candidate

In the late 1970's, neighbors would gather in the market on 9th Street to complain and receive consolation from the woman behind the cash register. Emma was a neighborhood institution. A native Allentonian, she had gone through school with Mayor For Life Joe Dadonna, and knew everybody at City Hall. More important, she wasn't shy about speaking out. What concerned the long time neighbors back then was a plan to create a Historical District, by a few newcomers.

What concerned Emma wasn't so much the concept, but the proposed size of the district, sixteen square blocks. The planners unfortunately all wanted their homes included, and they lived in an area spread out from Hall Street to 12th, Linden to Liberty.* Shoving property restrictions down the throats of thousands of people who lived in the neighborhood for generations didn't seem right to Emma. As the battle to establish the district became more pitched, Emma began referring to it as the Hysterical District.
Emma eventually lost the battle, but won the hearts of thousands of Allentonians. Emma Tropiano would be elected to City Council beginning in 1986, and would serve four terms. In 1993 she lost the Democratic Primary for Mayor by ONE (1) vote.

Her common sense votes and positions became easy fodder for ridicule. Bashed for opposing fluoridation, our clean water advocates now question the wisdom of that additive. Although every founding member of the Historical District moved away over the years, Emma continued to live on 9th Street, one block up from the store. In the mid 1990's, disgusted by the deterioration of the streetscape, she proposed banning household furniture from front porches. Her proposal was labeled as racist against those who could not afford proper lawn furniture. Today, SWEEP officers issue tickets for sofas on the porch.

Being blunt in the era of political correctness cost Emma. Although a tireless advocate for thousands of Allentown residents of all color, many people who never knew her, now read that she was a bigot. They don't know who called on her for help. They don't know who knocked on her door everyday for assistance. They don't know who approached her at diners and luncheonettes all over Allentown for decades. We who knew her remember, and we remember the truth about a caring woman.

* Because the designated Historical District was so large, it has struggled to create the atmosphere envisioned by the long gone founders. Perhaps had they listened to, instead of ridiculing, the plain spoken shopkeeper, they would have created a smaller critical mass of like thinking homeowners.

reprinted yearly since 2010

UPDATE: Although it has been almost two decades since Emma passed, she still incites controversy. A Republican supporter of Heydt still resents her opposition to the Rental Inspection law. Some Hispanics still wrongly believe that she was a racist. I could tell both of them that Emma was a Democrat,  when Allentown was still a two party town, and that voters were much more engaged then than they are now.

Morning Call's Hot Air

Readers may recall that not so long ago I took the Morning Call to task for promoting an announced candidate, Mark Pinsley, in one opinion piece after another.  Pinsley is a political opportunist, who has run for higher offices after just getting elected to a lessor one. Within the last few years he has run for South Whitehall commissioner, Lehigh County controller, and state senator, now for the second time. 

My first post on this topic was triggered by the frequency of his editorials, complete with a large portrait of him. In the last year the Morning Call ran his opinion pieces about once a month.  

What brings us to today's post is his current editorial on airship travel from LVIA to NYC.  Never mind that no such thing exists anywhere, and its only purpose is to provide another opportunity for candidate Pinsley's oversize portrait. Perhaps the paper, rather than submit its paid readership to nonsense editorials, could go ahead and feature Pinsley's picture on the front page every day, but leave space on the editorial page for other people writing about real issues.

Weak Link On Parkland Ballot

Friday's post on Phoebe Harris inadvertently flushed out an unqualified candidate for Parkland School Board. When the post was shared on a couple of Facebook pages,  a few supporters of Harris came to her defense. Among them was Michael Millo, who wrote Big deal...she asked for a loan. Seems hyper political (referring to my post). I thought it was a big deal, or I wouldn't have written the post. I also find Millo's comment a big deal, because he's running for the Parkland School Board. 

South Whitehall hasn't recovered from its own ethical breaches,  embezzlement by a former controller and no audits for a decade.  The Parkland School System is very much a large part of the township's success. It's vital that candidates for the school board have both the savvy and ethics required, Millo doesn't appear to.

Phoebe Harris is a Democrat. Mike Millo is a Republican.  It's essential that voters disregard political affiliation in local elections and pick the best candidates.  We need sharp people, not red pencils or red ink.

UPDATE 8:00AM:  I have been informed that Mr. Millo withdrew as a school board candidate in August. When I met him last spring and he told that he had just moved here from Texas,  my thought was that he should hold off running for any local office until which time he became familiar with the issues, i.e. some institutional knowledge.  While I didn't see his withdrawal preparing this post (his withdrawal is not even stated on his campaign facebook page, only that he will be out of "commission"), I did see  numerous endorsements from local members of the Republican party. I found the endorsements disappointing, considering the candidate's lack of local background.

Ethical Question At Allentown School Board

MOLOVINSKY ON ALLENTOWN EXCLUSIVE

Allentown school director Phoebe Harris requested a personal loan from longtime district solicitor John Freund late in 2019. When Attorney Freund declined the loan request, her demeanor toward him changed drastically. This year he was replaced as solicitor to the district. 

This sequence of events raises numerous questions. Did Harris use her influence with the other directors to retaliate against Freund for denying her a personal loan? Did any other school directors know of the loan request and denial? 

For someone who sat at her mentor Pawlowski's trial, she must have known that her actions were ethically tainted. 

UPDATE OCTOBER 23: I have changed the word Violation to Question in the title. While it's certainly a question,  a violation should be determined by her peers on the board. I have deleted the last sentence calling for her resignation.  With only ten days remaining until the election,  the voters will judge her actions.

When 6th Street Was West Allentown

In 1903, the 600 block of 2nd Street housed one Russian Jewish family after another. They built a small synagogue there, which was kept open until about twenty years ago. My grandfather, who then worked at a cigar factory, had just saved enough to bring his parents over from the old country. They lived in an old house at 617 N. 2nd. The current house at that location was built in 1920. By the time my father was born in 1917, the youngest of five children, they had moved to the suburbs just across the Jordan Creek.

My grandfather lived on the corner of Chew and Jordan Streets. He butchered in a barn behind the house. The house is still there, 301 Jordan, the barn is gone. He would deliver the meat with a horse and wagon. On the weekends, when the family wanted to visit friends, the horse insisted on doing the meat market route first. Only after he stopped in front of the last market on the route, would he permit my grandfather to direct him. excerpt from My grandfather's Horse, May 13, 2008

Allentown has just designated the neighborhood west of the Jordan to 7th Street, and between Linden and Tilghman Streets, as Jordan Heights. The area encompasses the Old Fairgrounds Historic District. Allentown's old fairground, in the years between 1852-1888, was in the vicinity of 6th and Liberty. It was an open space, as is the current fairground at 17th and Chew Streets. When my grandparents moved to Jordan Street it was a modern house, just built in 1895. Many of the Jewish families moved to the suburbs between Jordan and 7th. The Jewish Community Center was built on the corner of 6th and Chew, today known as Alliance Hall.
I wish the Jordan Heights initiative well. There's a lot of history in those 24 square blocks, and hopefully much future.

reprinted and retitled from previous years

photo: Opening of Jewish Community Center, 1928, 6th and Chew Streets.  Now Alliance Hall

Bob Smith For Allentown School Board

Regular readers of this blog know that I'm non-partisan, a registered independent, and very reluctant to make endorsements.  I have often encouraged people only to vote on those ballots on which they are informed, and pass over the other contests. In my opinion a few informed votes are much more meaningful than random picks.  As for straight party voting, I think that it should be very much discouraged.  

With all the above said and out of the way,  the purpose of this post is to inform you about Bob Smith, with the hope that he will gain your vote. I've known Bob for twenty-five years, and you would be hard pressed to fine someone more dedicated and sincere.  Years ago Bob was seriously injured saving the life of a suicidal nursing home patient, who pulled them both over the edge of a roof.

Bob was on the school board previously, and is again making his experience available to the taxpayers. We who pay Allentown school taxes could find no better friend than Bob Smith. Nobody is more familiar with the structure and needs of the school system. 

I'm grateful that he is again making himself available to serve our students.

Ce-Ce Praises Philly Pro-Crime Policy

Philly's newest pro-crime policy is not to stop cars for minor violations.  The rationale is that the stops disproportionately affect people of color.  Never mind that large sections of Philadelphia are predominantly Black.  Allentown's own Defunder, Ce-Ce Gerlach, praises the new policy.

Several years ago they decided not to arrest people for shoplifting, until the merchants finally protested loudly enough.  Over the weekend a woman was raped on a subway, with no fellow passenger even calling for help.  Philadelphia appears out of control.

Years ago, when Ce-Ce first expressed interest in Allentown government, this blog supported her.  At the time I published  numerous posts on her behalf.  A few years ago my independence was misconstrued as a lack of loyalty.  While some might consider that a character flaw,  support for public officials has to be reevaluated when their policies change.

Promise And Promotion In Allentown

While the Morning Call promises us the news in its promotions, it mostly promotes Promise Neighborhood and other woke distractions from our grim reality. While the shooting  at the Lancaster Mall still didn't make the Morning Call by Monday morning, the weekend paper was full with an essay on Hasshan Batts' Promise Neighborhood,  marching against the shootings in Allentown last week.

My issue with the Hasshan Battses of Allentown is not only the distraction from what I call the grim news of Allentown's reality, but also the effort to divert precious public safety funds from actual law enforcement.  While Batts' employee Cynthia Mota  and other distractors actually sit on council, so far the mayor's office realizes that our survival lies with the police department. Nevertheless, those seeking office must pay homage to Batts and other opportunists in the new violence industry.  It doesn't help that the paper and their cub reporters drink the woke kool-aid which will eventually be our demise.

While our aspiring politicians must appease the defunders to harvest enough votes to win, and our paper also wrongly wallows in that mentality, this blog understands that our future relies on the Blue.

Shootings In Allentown

Over the weekend there was another shooting in Allentown. Funny thing about these shootings, in most of the cases, nobody knows nothing. Nobody hears, sees or says anything to help the police solve these crimes. However, let someone get pushed down by a police officer, then we have videos and testimony against police brutality.

The recent shooting was on 4th Street, but don't expect to see any advocacy groups protesting the violence, or the public's lack of cooperation.

molovinsky on allentown is published weekdays Monday thru Friday.  You will find a perspective and candor here not found anywhere else in the valley. Comments are accepted using your name or by establishing a pseudonym. Pseudonym identities remain unknown to both myself and other readers. Your readership is appreciated. 

reprinted from September of 2018

UPDATE NOVEMBER 10, 2020: Although the above post is over two years old, in regard to this past weekend's shooting, it could be a new post.  Once again, the advocates against police brutality, who have been louder than ever in this past summer, are silent about the shootings this weekend. Some of these advocates have been hyped as leaders by the Morning Call, and now are candidates for mayor. 

UPDATE OCTOBER 15, 2021: This is my second post this week about violence in Allentown, but it's also the second shooting this week. As I stated yesterday, we have a good chief, but it's time for many more policemen in Allentown...Many more boots on the ground.

Allentown Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Yesterday, Allentown event promoter Alfonso Todd wondered aloud why Allentown's  political establishment was distracting itself with doing away with English as the official language, when wholesale shootings were occurring on main streets during the day and early evening.  Todd knows that nothing hurts or slows down an event or city as the much as people feeling unsafe.

While our progressives concern themselves with defunding the police and social issues,  our reality demands more police than ever on the streets.  We have a popular, excellent chief, but he needs a bigger force to cope with the Allentown of 2021.

While this blog is steeped in history,  the Allentown of yesteryear is no more.  A recent resident commented that Allentown is a better place now than it was ten or twenty years ago.  That's a hard statement for me to evaluate,  having graduated from William Allen in the mid 1960's.  Like the strawberry pie at Hess's, the Allentown of my reference is never to return.  However, as Mr. Todd observes, we must at least make our main corridors a safe place.  Call me old fashioned, but my prescription would be for many, many more policemen.

Allentown Memorabilia

The time and market for Allentown memorabilia has come and gone. With a changing population, and the graying of the older town folks, objects of our history are destined for the landfill. Even the local historic society concentrates on shows of general interest, such as Abraham Lincoln. In addition to having been a retail mecca, Allentown manufactured a large assortment of products. Allentown was stamped on tools, knifes, and metal products of all kinds, distributed nationwide. A local regional food product was the hard pretzel, a variation of the traditional German soft pretzel. Allentown had several pretzel companies. Miller's operated out of their factory at 732 Tilghman Street, between 1944 and 1978. In the coming months this blog will profile some of these Made In Allentown products, before litter and meaningless slogans became our legacy.

reprinted from July of 2013

The Morning Call Assassinates Marty Northstein, Twice

The first assassination of Marty Northstein occurred in 2018, just prior to the congressional election, in which he was a candidate.  They reported that he had been suspended from a cycling directorship because of an obscure allegation almost twenty years prior. Although the allegation was found to have absolutely no merit, the adverse publicity probably cost him the election.

While Northstein rightly sued the paper, he recently dropped the effort. The paper's editor, Mike Miorelli, crows about how right and courageous they were in printing the story back then.  Strange rationale from someone who just defended not printing an actual confession from another candidate,  just prior to this past primary election. 

The current article put another bullet into Northstein, by not noting his innocence from the allegation until almost the end of the article.

ATTENTION: Any local candidate for the November 2021 election is welcome to forward a short position piece for publication.

The Legend Begins

On July 4th, 1934 Joe louis made his debut as a professional fighter. Eleven months and nineteen straight victories later, most by knockout, 62,000 fight fans would jam Yankee Stadium to watch the new sensation fight the giant, Primo Carnera.

New York, New York - Primo Carnera, giant Italian boxer and former heavyweight champion of the world, and Joe Louis, hard-hitting negro heavyweight from Detroit, Michigan, weighed-in this afternoon at the offices of the New York State Boxing Commission for their fifteen round bout tonight at the Yankee Stadium. - 6.25.1935

Although badly battered from the first round, Carnera would gamely stay in the fight till it was stopped in round six. The legend of the Brown Bomber was clearly established.
photo of Primo Carnera

This blog has produced 24 posts chronicling the Joe Louis boxing era, many featuring Abe Simon, a Jewish heavyweight of the era... Simon and my mother were cousins. Lately, Allentown violence has allowed me little time and space to visit Madison Square Garden in the early 1940's. During the next few weeks I will reprint some of these posts, while still assigning staff to the city beat. One of my attractions to the boxing world is the black and white photography produced during that era. The public would listen to the fights on the radio, and then see the photographs in the newspapers the following day. While reproducing these posts, I may in some instances substitute alternative photographs, all classic images from the age of film and flash bulbs.

reprinted from 2012 

UPDATE OCTOBER 11, 2021: I postponed my scheduled post today in reaction to the Fury fight this past weekend. I think that Fury and Carnera had a lot in common, very large men with little skill. Fury is actually larger than Carnera was.

Allentown's Blind Spot

When it comes to scrutiny by the major media in Allentown, WFMZ and The Morning Call, it's fair to say that there isn't any.  While I have long criticized the Morning Call about their wholesale promotion of Reilly's NIZ Kingdom, allow me to now include the TV station.  

In a report about the recent NIZ meeting, the city Deputy To The Director Of Economic Development, as if we need such a position, endorses upgrading the gateways to Reilly's Kingdom. Thank you anyway, but Pete Lewnes has been doing fine on 7th Street with our money for over a decade already. We were also reminded that Reilly can trade out parcels he already owns in the NIZ, for parcels outside the original map. That map and all the rules were written in pencil by Pat Browne.  The report richly claims that Reilly is president of City Center Investment Corp. The company has invested about $800 million in the city, changing the Allentown skyline and attracting residents and businesses. Reilly sees more to come.  Because these NIZ investments are paid for by diverted public tax money, but privately owned by Reilly, to write and broadcast that the developer invested it is disingenuous, either by ignorance or deception.

Occasionally I get contacted by someone doing research on the WPA.  I'm always told that my writing on that topic is mostly all they can find.  I think that when it comes to future students scrutinizing the NIZ,  again this blog will be about all that they will find.

Shown above is the north side of the 700 block of Hamilton Street, just prior to its demolition for the arena. Almost all images on this blog can be enlarged by clicking on the photo. 

ATTENTION: Any local candidate for the November 2021 election is welcome to forward a short position piece for publication.

New Problem For Allentown's WPA

For the last five years I have been advocating for the landings on Lehigh Parkway's Double Stairwell to be repaired.  I have recently learned that the city is holding off until a consultant for the Trexler Trust makes a recommendation about which kind of mortar mix the mason contractor should use.  This is truly a case where the perfect is the enemy of the good.  Flagstone patios and landings need to be repaired about every twenty years.  Because leaking water can undermine the structure and steps, it is much more important that the repairs are done in a timely fashion, than exactly which cement composition is utilized. 

A personal mission of mine is to advocate for the preservation of our remaining WPA structures, we have already lost several. If in the course of this mission I offend any city officials and/or Trexler Trust members, while I apologize for that,  I have no regrets about pursuing the mission.

The picture above showing the deteriorated top landing of the Stair Structure is five years old. It and the landings below have only further degraded, and are in immediate need of repair.

ATTENTION: Any local candidate for the November 2021 election is welcome to forward a short position piece for publication.

The Mad Men Of Allentown

Back in the day, the titans of Allentown would fill the five barberchairs of the Colonial Barbershop, 538 Hamilton Street. That was when the town had three department stores. That was when Wetherhold and Metzger had two shoe stores on Hamilton Street. That was when Harvey Farr would meet Donald Miller and John Leh at the Livingston Club for lunch, and discuss acquiring more lots for Park & Shop. By 1995 all that was gone, but Frank Gallucci, 82, would still give some old timers a trim. The Colonial Barbershop property, closed for many years, has been purchased by J.B. Reilly. It is my pleasure to present this previously unseen portrait of Gallucci, toward the end of his career.

photocredit:molovinsky

reprinted since 2013

ATTENTION: Any local candidate for the November 2021 election is welcome to forward a short position piece for publication.

Our Elected Goodness Squad

While I normally maintain a firewall between Molovinsky Property Management and Molovinsky On Allentown,  a recent letter to the editor must be addressed.  County Commissioner David Harrington and City Councilman Joshua Siegel recently wrote that tenants being evicted should be represented by public defenders. 

As a manager involved in evictions over the decades, I can attest to the fact that a large segment of tenants don't pay rent out of choice, rather than any hardship, even during the pandemic.  A public defender is a lawyer paid for by the taxpayers. Needless to say their first move would be to request a continuation, or more time and loss for the property owner. Most property owners never recover the rent not paid prior to eviction. Landlords have been squeezed between the eviction moratorium and municipalities & banks wanting their taxes and mortgage payments.

While the public at large never loses sleep over the problems faced by landlords, if Harrington and Siegel had their way, they would be subsidizing the delinquent tenants.  With so many businesses not being able to find employees to hire, we know that there are people eagerly milking the pandemic.

Taxpaying homeowners should also wonder what else these elected officials are being so generous about with their money.

ATTENTION: Any local candidate for the November 2021 election is welcome to forward a short position piece for publication.

The Trexler Greenhouse

The former greenhouse at the current Trexler Park was the pride of Harry and Mary Trexler. The General was very specific in his will about its future;

I, Harry C. Trexler declare this to be my last Will and Testament: ......into the Treasury of the City of Allentown, for the perpetual maintenance of said Park, (Trexler) as well as the Greenhouse thereon located. This bequest shall include all the plants and other contents of said Greenhouse (1929)

Although nobody in charge of Allentown remembers, the greenhouse was a thing of wonder... Full of banana trees and other tropical plants, it was a true escape from winter for all visitors. The park director at the time touted all the money in maintenance to be saved if it was demolished. A couple years later the same director replanted the creek banks by the intersection of Cedar Crest Blvd. and Cetronia Rd.. That planting cost $750,000. I recall the price, because Longwood Gardens built a new greenhouse for that same amount, we had just lost our greenhouse, and only had a new creek weedwall to show in its place.  

Several years ago Allentown Park Department cut down all those plantings, and we now have nothing to show for our loss of the greenhouse. Even back then, I was an advocate for the traditional park system. Current visitors to Trexler Park don't notice that the weed wall has been cut down, and certainly don't know that they lost a beautiful greenhouse in the backstory.

reprinted from 2014. Postcard of Trexler duckpond from the glory days of the Allentown Park System

ATTENTION: Any local candidate for the November 2021 election is welcome to forward a short position piece for publication.

Allentown Archeology

When it comes to the history of industrial Allentown, the railroad buffs are among the current experts. Our heavy manufacturing base moved it's materials on the tracks of several railroads. The Front Street area was crisscrossed with tracks and sidings. The West End Branch ran along Sumner Avenue, crossed Tilghman Street, looped around 17th Street and ended near 12th and Liberty. The Barber Quarry Branch ran along the Little Lehigh until it then followed Cedar Creek. It crossed Hamilton Street near the current Hamilton Family Restaurant and ended at what is now the Park Department Building. The rail buffs are current day archeologists, looking for remnants of those glory days. Shown above is a portion of the Barber Quarry pier and track. This is at the bottom of Lehigh Street hill, near the former bank call center, near the former Acorn Hotel, in a former city still called Allentown.
photo courtesy of Mike Huber, Coplay
related posts
The Train of Lehigh
Parkway
The World of Mirth
Lehigh Valley Railroad Piers
Depot at Overlook Park

ADDENDUM: This remnant of the previous railroad bridge is part of the Wire Mill Bridge over the Little Lehigh 

reprinted from 2011 

ADDENDUM: Any local candidate for the November 2021 election is welcome to forward a short position piece for publication.