The Morning Call Can't Spell Molovinsky

Out of frustration, J.B. and Kathleen Reilly have stopped reading the political blogs that snidely refer to downtown Allentown as Reillyville or Reillytown, so writes Scott Kraus and Matt Assad in today's feature story. Although a large portion of the article defends against criticism from this blog, including the phrases Reillyville and Reillytown, reporters and editors have once again chosen to not give attribution to molovinsky on allentown. Although perhaps J.B. has stopped reading this blog, I know that Kraus and Assad are reading these words: So boys, here's the biggie you missed today. You forgot to mention that the City gave Reilly $20 million (loaned from National Penn) in seed money, with no specifications, which he used to buy those 32 properties for $15.1 million. I say the City, because the loan was made even before the NIZ Authority was formed. You forgot to mention that some of the owners displaced by Reilly's buying spree felt intimidated, supposedly even including the possibility of eminent domain. Although you keep parroting Pawlowski's premise of risk on Reilly's part, the only real risk was ours. Although you have presented a defense against all the apparent connections, the fact remains that we now have Reillyville.

UPDATE: Kraus and Assad write; records show he(Reilly) didn't buy his first new property until March 2011 — three months after the new downtown NIZ map was adopted, and a week after the city publicly announced it was shifting the arena downtown. Public records refer to deed transfers, but when were the Agreements of Sale signed? Reilly wonders why other developers are not taking advantage of the NIZ.  Perhaps because Reilly has already purchased all the adjoining blocks? Perhaps because they are not assured that their project will be granted the same NIZ Authority approval, necessary for  the tax debt funding, being enjoyed by Reilly?  

above reprinted from February of 2013

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 28, 2023: A decade has passed and not much has changed about the Morning Call's reportage on Reilly and the NIZ.  Ironically, Reilly now owns the former Morning Call building, and the city is now covered by reporters who never heard of Allentown in 2013. Of course Allentown is much more Reillytown now than it was ten years ago. This past weekend even fellow blogger Bernie O'Hare seemed to pitch Reilly a soft ball. He wondered if the town seems dead, it could be because residents are at home, like most of us. Needless to say, young professionals don't move to center city, tolerate parking in deck a block away, to stay in at night.  O'Hare goes on to explain... The NIZ is controversial, but this post [O'Hare's post]  is NOT about the wisdom of this redevelopment tool, It's here. It's whether Reilly's vision can be seen as putting Allentown in a better position than other downtowns. 

O'Hare and I agree that Hamilton Street is almost 100% Reilly.  IMO, that alone demonstrates the moral dilemma of the NIZ. I have little doubt that it was a boutique legislation for a friend, a quintessential insider deal. Reilly can keep building without corresponding occupancy, because diverted state taxes are paying his debt service. While this arrangement may be legal by the boutique NIZ state law, it is a profound conflict of interest against the taxpayers. 

Scrutiny of the NIZ  remains limited to this blog, and for my reward I remain a persona non grata.

Better From The Pagoda

When I was a kid growing up in Allentown, we would visit my cousins in Reading. Allentown and Reading seemed very similar, row houses and corner stores. My aunt owned a corner soda fountain. Those Sunday trips were special, because I could sit at the soda counter, eat ice cream and read comic books, to my content. Outside the store, you could look up and see the Pagoda, seemed sorta  magical. This weekend I returned to visit the Pagoda and the neighborhood. While the Pagoda pretty much hasn't changed, downtown Reading is devastated. Block after block is run down, with no revitalization in sight.

While this blog misses the Allentown center city of years ago,  Reading doesn't even resemble its former self.  If you visit, I suggest viewing it only from the pagoda. From that height the city looks as it always did, up close it gets very rough.

molovinsky on allentown is produced every weekday, year-round.

above reprinted from December of 2019

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 27, 2023: What brought on this reprint was weekend shootings, in both Reading and Easton. So far, there have been no shootings reported in A-town this weekend. 

There are those apologists who credit Reilly(town) with making Allentown at least look better than Reading. I prefer the organic growth of Easton, or the historic charm of Bethlehem. Hopefully, Allentown will grow culturally into its new buildings. However, that sort of change is much slower and more complicated than the current pace of demolition and cookie cutter construction taking place.

Allentown Picks Winner, Then Announces Contest Rules

In what could only happen in Allentown, the City announced the contest rules, after the winner was picked. The Morning Call dutifully reported on the murky guidelines the City will use to allow property owners use of NIZ tax funds for development. The rules come after developer J.B. Reilly had his plans approved, and even before anybody else knew such a tax incentive was available to private owners. If that wasn't enough favoritism, the City loaned Reilly $20million to do the project. As the kids now say, everything about the deal is sketchy. First of all, what I call the City is called ACIDA. This is handpicked Pawlowski Authority, used as handmaiden of convenience. The Morning Call article kindly refers to the guidelines as flexible, having wiggle room and not cast in stone. Missing from the article is that the CocaCola Park promoters complained that they never were given a chance to bid on arena management. The displaced merchants, despite two meetings with the City, were never informed that the NIZ could be used by private property owners, and the unions have already protested initial renovations by Reilly. Most glaringly missing from the article is no mention of these Bizarro sequence of events; The City will now allow public input after all the decisions were made. The City will now explain how to enter the contest, after the brass ring has been won. The article does mention that The Morning Call building is in the NIZ zone.

above reprinted from October of 2011

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 24, 2023:Back when J.B. Reilly was gobbling up the NIZ parcels, this blog and this blog alone, was reporting that one person was going to own the former mercantile district. The Morning Call, part and parcel of the NIZ deal, reported everything as progress. Over a decade later, nothing has changed about the local reportage. Pat Browne, NIZ frontman, was recently given a hero's sendoff at his state senator retirement banquet. He even has been rewarded by a clueless new governor. 

The former Hamilton Street mercantile district is now an office park. The former undesirable merchants and their undesirable merchandize have been segregated, subsidized and dressed up, over on N. 7th St.  Anybody looking for an evening out, now travels to Bethlehem. Anybody looking for any insight how this all occurred, still visits this blog.

The Historical Record

During the City Council Eminent Domain Hearing, Louie Belletieri came in about halfway during the meeting. I encouraged him to stay and say a few words. Louie stood up at the meeting's end and told City Council that they should pay the shopowners straight up. Although Louie wasn't involved with the issue before, during or after that meeting, his Godfather presentation resonated with the local newspaper reporter. In addition to quoting Louie for the coverage about eminent domain, the paper used it as the Quote Of The Week, in the weekend edition. Fortunately, for the historical record, a local documentary videophotographer was covering the meeting. Sydney "Imantrek" McKenzie captured the soul of the shareowners, the storeowners, whose lives were being bashed by the hockey puck. In addition to making documentaries, Imantrek also produces music and Grounzero, an internet magazine. He is now lending his talent to the fight to preserve Allentown's WPA icons. Like many true artists before him, he remains an outsider to the newspaper and local art establishment. 

above reprinted from October of 2011
 

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 23, 2023:We lost Louie Belletieri last week. The Morning Call and other venues have given Louie proper due for his contributions to Allentown over the decades. After Pawlowski was elected in 2005, he handed out numerous patronage jobs, including one to Louie. Louie was titled a Business Liason, and worked freelance. Although Louie probably could have had taken the check for many years, he resigned in less than two.

Making Lemonade At CNN

Don Lemon is returning to the air after a six minute training session at CNN. Needless to say the training is a joke, and the joke is on their audience. Although woke sells on CNN, Lemon's marketability apparently trumps his misogyny.  He checks so many boxes at CNN... Black, pleasant looking, pleasant talking, and gay to boot...Such newscasters don't grow on trees.

As an image makeover, don't be surprised to see him doing some special on older women. The real lesson is for CNN, not Lemon... They shouldn't allow him to talk off script...He was hired as a pretty face, not a deep thinker. Putting him in a pair of black frame glasses didn't make him any smarter, even if it worked for Anderson.

A Woman Of Letters

Barba-Del Campbell was in the hallway at the overflow Council meeting this past July on Cedar Creek Park. She handed me a handwritten letter which I put into my pocket. I met Barba-Del a few years earlier at the first meeting for the Lanta merchants. There were at least two passions in her life, activism and art; Apparently, she had a long relationship with both. This past summer, The Morning Call had a feature story about her role in commemorating Paul Robeson with a postage stamp.

I typed and printed Barba-Del's letter and faxed it along with my own to the Morning Call. Both our editorials appeared side by side in the paper. My effort resulted in a handwritten thank you note. Barba-Del didn't have a computer. I would print out pieces I wrote on the merchants or on the parks, and leave them at her "office", that would be the first table to the left at The House of Chen.

There will be a gathering this Saturday in her memory at the restaurant. Barba-Del is on the far right in photo above, which was taken after that Lanta meeting by participant Bernie O'Hare. Ann Elizabeth Schlegel and Heather Sincavage also remember this remarkable woman.

ADDENDUM:  I STOPPED INTO THE HOUSE OF CHEN TRIBUTE TO BARBA-DEL TO PAY MY RESPECTS,  THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE.
Heather Sincavage reflects on the memorial service

above reprinted from March of 2010

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 21, 2023: The above tribute to activist Barba-Del Campbell's memory is almost thirteen years old. Her memorial gathering was in a restaurant which no longer exists. Even Jenny Lim's replacement eatery in South Bethlehem recently closed.

Downtown's transition to Reillytown didn't happen without protest. This blogger and others, especially those displaced by the new sterile bland towers, spoke up here and on other alternative media. Town by then was perhaps funky, but it was organic, and real. What there is today is a news release by Reilly Real Estate, echoed by the Morning Call.

Although not all of my current readers may know who and what I'm remembering here today, nevertheless, it is my honor to reprint this post.

A 2014 Campaign Promise

 

In 2014 I ran as an independent for state representative, against the long term incumbent Republican, and a Democrat. At that time, my neighborhood was gerrymandered into the 183th district, with Julie Harhart's stronghold of Northampton. In that election Harhart won her eleventh term. 

Although I didn't even come close to winning the election, I'm glad to report that Wehr's Dam has been saved. The dam survived the machinations of the Wildlands Conservancy and a complicit board of commissioners at that time. I thank the current* board for honoring the voter's 2016 referendum. I urge  them to place Wehr's Dam under their historic district designation, to help ensure its long term future. 

My same neighborhood is now in the 132nd, represented by Mike Schlossburg. I wish it was in the 132nd in 2014. I wish I was eight years younger. I wish I was nicer.

*Diane Kelly, David Kennedy, Monica Hodges, Jacob Roth, Brad Osborne

Resurrected Life Church Bites Zion and Allentown's Hand

Reverend Gregory Edwards, after securing the iconic Zion Church for one dollar, has turned around and spat on local history. The Liberty Bell Museum rents the front portion of the basement for one dollar a year from the church...That's where the Liberty Bell was hidden during the Revolutionary War. Edwards wants a rent increase to $1000 a month!!!! 

As for the board of the former Zion Church,  they learned that their former good deed has not gone unpunished....not exactly a Christian lesson. The crass decision by the charismatic preacher is not a surprise to everyone,  just to the woke former church board. 

Unless the museum can stay in that historic place where the bell was hidden, it has no meaning. To this blogger, Edward's decision is just another erasure of Allentown's historic mercantile district. I hope the city manages to save the art deco post office at 5th and Hamilton.

Shown above is an old linen postcard of Zion Church. Even the postcard is historic, only requiring a one cent stamp. On the back of the postcard it states...This Church housed the Liberty Bell during the Revolutionary War in order to prevent its capture by the British who wished to convert the metal into bullets. It was brought to this city in a hay wagon by local farmers.

Molovinsky On Allentown is normally posted every weekday of the year. However, the above post appeared early the evening before, because of its important connection to Allentown history.

Planning Puppies Approve New Reilly Project

Before we get into this project, allow me to officially change the name of two Allentown subdivisions.  I have been referring to downtown as Reillyville. Considering that Reilly now owns the state hospital parcel,  formally aka Rittersville, downtown will now become Reillytown, and Rittersville will become Reillyville. Now that we have the new designations, let's get on with today's post.

We learn from the Morning Call that Reilly's new Reillytown project has the approval of the city planners. Although that might seem newsworthy to the new Morning Call reporter, the only thing that would be newsworthy is if they had disapproved. Only a new reporter could think that approval was anything more than a formality. I have already used the term planning puppies half a dozen times in previous approval posts.

Now, finally the project...There are actually those very excited about it, a mid size entertainment venue. The theater will hold about 1,500 people, and supposedly feature up and coming bands.  I hope that it does, but I recall the arena was supposed to have many more events than it does. I note that Symphony Hall is also very underused.  Perhaps this will be a spark that ignites some nightlife in Reillytown.  Although nobody would confuse this blog or me with a downtown cheerleader, I do wish it success.

shown above 1950's era ad for the Lyric, now called Symphony Hall.

Police Shooting In Allentown's Reillyville

We have been reading for several days in the Morning Call  about the mugger shot and killed by police. They observed him assaulting someone, and he fired on police when pursued.  While the paper has emphasized that the shooting took place at 8th and Maple, they have downplayed its proximity to 8th and Hamilton, epicenter of downtown Reillyville, aka Allentown.

The alley Maple Street separates Reilly's Hamilton Street office tower from his new apartment hive behind it on 8th. Usually in regard to violence, the police inform us that the incident was no threat to the law-abiding, which implies that it was an inter low-life altercation. We have heard nothing about the original victim, just about the aftermath. Was that victim a fellow low-life, or was it a new hive tenant? Either way, it's not reassuring for prospective hive tenants. 

The news reports indicate that there were at least two policemen at the shooting. Originally, the Reilly Corporation, CityCenter Real Estate, was to have their own security force. If Allentown police are guarding the Reilly forts, is the rest of the city receiving adequate protection?

As Molovinsky On Allentown approaches its 16th year of publication, it still must ask questions the Morning Call avoids.

photo of 8th & Maple, alley south of Hamilton, new office tower on Hamilton, new apartments to its rear.

Credible Messengers And Allentown City Council

Allentown councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach proposes that Allentown spend $100thousand to hire a consultant to study the good work of credible messengers.  Credible messengers assign a convicted felon to mentor a young boy so that he doesn't become a future felon, or so goes the scam.  In my day they had Big Brothers. A Big Brother was a successful person who could act like a role model for a young person, how square is that?  

I believe that Allentown would be better off with credible councilpersons, who wouldn't even think about wasting city money on such nonsense.  I personally don't think that credible messengers is good work. But I know that spending money on such, instead of another police officer, is bad governing. 

Candida Affa has announced that she is running for another term on city council. On one hand, I appreciate that she has institutional knowledge of Allentown, but there's another side that would trouble me. She mentions that it's a new administration, and that she wants to be part of the accomplishments....that's the problem. In the Pawlowski regime, she stayed loyal, too loyal, until they took him away in cuffs. City Council is supposed to be a check and balance on the administration, not a rubber stamp. I wrote a few sentences ago that it would trouble me...In another time with a more responsible council. However, in this time, when we're considering credible messengers, Affa is comparatively a conservative... Hopefully she'll be re-elected.

In the photo above, I'm addressing city council in person...That's something I no longer do.

Tip For Schnooks

The sign in the photo comes from the crybaby immigrant who operated the diner at 9th and Linden. He had heard stories that if he came to America, worked hard and saved his money, this was the land of opportunity. The schnook thought when he bought the diner he need only work from early in the morning till late at night to get his share of the pie. Sure, seven day weeks are hard, but the bus stop always provided a new customer or two. Schnook didn't know about Pawlowski's plan to move Allentown forward. All those bus stops would be centralized to the Lanta terminal at 6th and Linden, even the Hamilton Street merchants wouldn't be spared. When Butzy was enticed to build his office building at 9th and Hamilton, it's good to be Butz, the stage was set for the revitalization of Hamilton Street. The riffraff bus people who populated the boatpeople stores would be rafted down to the new Lanta terminal at The Morning Call Square. Last Christmas Lanta even provided a shuttle bus to bring the marginal back to Hamilton Street as a concession to the merchants, but the shopping habits had already changed. Rite Aid is returning, in spite of our poor planning, because of a fluke with their 7th Street building. Back to Butzy, tenants never materialized for his building, and there is less business on Hamilton Street than ever. The Chamber of Commerce, after saying there was no need to be in Allentown and selling their Walnut Street building, "changed" their mind, and opened an office at Butz's. The County moved its Visitor Bureau there, but there's only so many connections available. The prime first floor space has remained empty since construction in 2006, but that's about to change. Although our state income tax will likely rise, there's a grant coming Butz's way for his tax free KOZ building. With a start up grant of over $350.000, an Easton restauranteur will open an upscale blah blah blah this spring. If you eat there, you have already left a tip. 

ADDENDUM: Apparently Pawlowski is willing to pay for everything, even the kitchen sink. In addition to the 350k from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program, listed as 9th and Hamilton, there is another grant application from DCED for the prevention and elimination of blight under section 4 of the Housing and Redevelopment Assistance Law on behalf of Alvin H. Butz, this time using the actual street number, 840 Hamilton St. Who would think that a new building would qualify for funds under blight elimination? In a few years, not unlike the Brew Works, it will be impossible to trace the subsidies provided. 

ADDENDUM 2: A little more sugar; R60 Economic Development Liquor License for 840 West Hamilton Street.

above reprinted from August of 2009 

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 13, 2023: Well, fourteen years later I can say it's still good to be Butz, but better to be J.B. Reilly. Even Butz could have never imagined the NIZ back in 2009. He got a little taste with the Butz 2 Building, to the left and rear of Butz 1. Of course most of the pie went to Reilly, who bought up the properties on the Hamilton Street NIZ map, before people realized how lucrative that diverted state tax spigot would be. Browne then threw in the cigarette tax and parcel switch out option, making the NIZ limited only to Reilly's imagination. He now even owns the State Hospital acreage. Although Browne lost the election, he just won directorship of the state Revenue Department from new Governor Shapiro. Who knows what's coming Reilly's way? Making all this so much sweeter for Reilly is that scrutiny of the NIZ, like the KOZ in 2009, is almost exclusively limited to this blog.

Weitzel's Expensive Catalogs

Although Greg Weitzel is leaving in 7 days, before he leaves, he is attempting to bully a compliant City Council into destroying our swimming pool system. Rather than simply build some ramps and railings to comply with new ADA regulations, like pools all over the country, Weitzel's plan is to close 2 pools, and turn the other ones into water parks. Although CedarBeach Pool has served the city for 60 years, he wants to move it up the hill and add water park features. He wants to close Irving Pool, the only one on the east side, and turn the spot into a spray park. He wants to close Fountain Pool, which serves the inter city children, whose mothers don't have vans to drive them to CedarBeach. He spent $80,000 on a consultant from Indianapolis for these recommendations, which could have paid for the handicapped ramps at several of the pools. Let me be blunt. Before coming to Allentown, Weitzel built a destination playground in Lewisburg. He established a relationship with the manufactures of playground and water park equipment. Much of his accomplishments in Allentown were purchased from their catalogs. Allentown should wish him well, and have him take those catalogs with him.

above reprinted from May of 2012
  

old postcard: Fountain Park Pool

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 10, 2023: I spent over a decade defending the traditional park system  and routinely attending city council meetings during the Pawlowski regime. Despite my efforts, we lost both the Fountain Park and Irving Street pools. The city is now hoping for a grant to replace the former Irving Park pool. 

I no longer attend council meetings. Allentown has a new park Director, but I no longer knock on the doors of department heads. However, I will continue pecking away on this typewriter, and continue not hesitating to call out those who despoil our history.

Closing The 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 in the city 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. At that time myself and few other malcontents, like Lou Hershman, would gather very early in the morning for coffee at Jerry's Cafe, located on the first floor. The building had begun its life as the 1st National Bank. After being closed for many years, it reopened as Corporate Center. The new buyer renamed it Monument Building. 

645 Hamilton Street was torn down, to be replaced by J.B. Reilly's Two City Center. Let me tell you the story of the little people, who were disposed of along the way.

The previous April,  Pawlowski wrote "I want to thank Valley Latino TV Show and Magazine for keeping the Latino community informed. Your dedicated effort shows commitment..congratulations... I wish you great success!" Along with the magazine and television studio, a graphic art designer, a festival promoter, and a security company were displaced.  The Morning Call, reporting on the violation report from the City of Allentown, described the building as unsafe. It was the same building, with the same tenants, in the same condition, as before. Unlike the city inspectors, or the paper's reporter, I was there every day for coffee at Jerry's Cafe. Jerry's was not one of the upstart businesses blessed with a grant. He had to pay for everything, and everything had to be inspected, inside out. His plans had to be approved, his electric and plumbing had to be approved, his grill and hood system had to be approved. City inspectors in and out of the building during this process included no less than plumbing, electrical and health. Although violation report issued to the building after the raid listed extension cords, it failed to note that those cords were attached to a movable lighting grid for the Latino Television production studio, and were cords by design. Although the city citation report cited unlicensed businesses, it omitted the fact that the lower level was occupied by Sassi, which performs drug testing for the Lehigh County, and the city's action caused Melendez Reality and Madison Mortgage, among others,  to vacate. 

I don't know if Pawlowski will teach government in prison, but Molovinsky University will teach how Pawlowski abused Allentown.

reprinted from previous years

photocredit:molovinsky

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 9, 2023: Pawlowski had weaponized code enforcement, and that arrogance  remained within the code staff, even into the O'Connell administration.  Since then there has been personnel changes and retirements... I'm not informed about the current integrity status within that department.

A Giant Among Midgets

Here's a story you will not read about on any official City of Allentown website. It's a story of private gumption, instead of the usual public subsidy. It's the late 1990's, and I stop in and visit infamous Allentown landlord Joe Clark. He's sitting at a desk in the middle of a large empty storefront at 7th and Turner, surrounded by landlord supplies and building materials. The phone rings and it's Mayor William Heydt. Heydt just learned that Clark purchased the vacant Eastern Light Building on Hamilton Street, and wants to know Clark's intentions. Clark tells him he's going to build the best nightclub Allentown has ever seen. Heydt doesn't offer any help, but tells him that he'll be under close scrutiny. Clark does go on to build the club, without a nickel of help from Allentown. Years later, when the BrewWorks would open with unlimited city subsidy, a public parking lot on 8th Street was given exclusively to the BrewWorks. A few weeks ago Clark asked if he could rent the Parking Authority lot behind the nightclub; Request Denied. This week, based on ticket sales, Crocodile Rock was rated the 60th most successful nightclub in the world for 2011. The midgets at City Hall pay for consultants, when there's a genius half a block away.

above reprinted from January of 2012

ADDENDUM February 8, 2023:What brings this decade old plus post back today is the news that J.B. Reilly's CityCenter Real Estate will build a band venue within their new projects in the 900 block of Hamilton Street. The Morning Call doesn't mention that Reilly purchased the old Croc Rock building and virtually all of Hamilton Street, except for a few holdouts who wouldn't sell. The Morning Call also doesn't mention that Croc Rock was run by Joe Clark, less, but still infamous. I can't tell you how much the current Call article amused me, but Joe got to laugh all the way to the bank.

Allentown's Father Flanagan

My mother was a tough cookie; but, about once a year, in the late 40's and early 50's, she would get misty eyed as the letter from Boy's Town arrived. It was that picture, the boy carrying his brother, with the caption saying "He's not heavy..." The twenty dollar bill would go into the envelope, and you wouldn't want to get in her way to the mailbox. Well it seems my mother wasn't the only one, Father Flanagan had rooms full of money. Here in Allentown, Gary Millspaugh of the Rescue Mission has his own special flyer... it shows a grisly man waiting for a turkey meal around Thanksgiving. Like the boys in Flanagan's picture who never get older, Millspaugh's guy never gets a shave and stays skinny. I guess what made me a cynic is my associates who actually donated apartment houses to the Mission, and the constables who evict people from them for not paying rent. I can't get my arms around a homeless shelter which makes people homeless. This posting could be the end of me. After all, Bobby Gunther Walsh makes meatballs by hand to raise money for Gary. My girlfriend's parents, in their nineties,look forward to Gary's talk at their church. Gary talks to all the churches in the West End. I gotta go hide now, I hear Bernie O'Hare pounding on my door...

above reprinted from May of 2008

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 7, 2023: You would think that as I aged, I would be less of a bastard...apparently not.  Back channel comments on yesterday's Promise Neighborhood post reminded me of Father Flanagan.  In fairness to Promise, I can't think of too many non-profits that I have any use for.

Raining Money On Promise Neighborhoods

Hasshan Batts won the lottery when he started the local Promise Neighborhoods. The politically correct are always looking for a cause to support, and combating gun violence is the current fashion. Years ago, Alan Jennings was in the right place at the right time, with combating poverty, now it's Batts' turn. After Pawlowski's departure, Cynthia Mota nominated Batts for mayor, without revealing that she worked for him. That was a story that this blog broke, but it was appropriated by the Morning Call, without attribution. Local virtue signalers started flocking around Batts, adding credence to his self promotion.

Just in the last couple weeks alone, he has received $Millions of $dollars... Fed money from Susan Wild, state money from Governor Shapiro and local money from Lehigh Valley Health Network. Corporate America, and LVHN is corporate, love enhancing their profile by making community contributions. The Allentown School District has partnered with Batts to operate a food pantry.

Some of the people who know the local Promise organization best are starting to protest. The commotion at last week's city council meeting touched on that irony. Some of the people arguing at the meeting were Promise workers. These same people are supposed to be conciliators.

Activist Jessica Lee Ortiz was largely responsible for the huge turnout shown in the photo above. While the Morning Call decided not to report on the meeting, LehighValleyNews.Com covered the controversy. 

Mayor Tuerk told the crowd that's he working with an organization of mayors for gun control. That won't help Allentown anytime this century. Likewise, neither will Promise Neighborhoods.  An excellent suggestion was to allow police to moonlight as security in private clubs... that was a common practice many years ago in Allentown. 

photocredit:Jay Bradley/LehighValleyNews.com

Rumble At City Council

From what I understand, Wednesday's council meeting was a real popcorn event. I say understand, because readers of this blog know that I no longer attend meetings. 

These are second hand observations gleaned mostly from WFMZ. The Morning Call never covers courtesy of the floor topics, or other issues not on the agenda. That journalistic restriction is probably proscribed by their editor/publisher, who was previously their long time local news editor.  Apparently the peanut gallery at the meeting, there to complain about violence, got rowdy themselves, and some were ejected from the meeting. 

Tim Ramos would be surprised to learn that he was a Democratic candidate in the last mayoral election cycle. Of course, in fairness to WFMZ, who would think that a surname Ramos in Allentown would be Republican?

Mayor Tuerk made lemonade out of the discontent, by saying that citizen concern is the first step toward solutions.

artwork by Mark Beyer

ADDENDUM: This prohibition against reporting anything not on the official agenda, seemingly directed by Mike Miorelli, goes a long way in explaining the Call's long term failure in corruption reportage.  In a more perfect government, perhaps city council would be a check and balance against a mayor, but that was never the case in Allentown. 

In this blog's history, one former reporter would routinely call me and other concerned citizens...He now covers the White House for a national news agency.

The Devil Of Ocean Paradise

The resort town's boardwalk is partially open during the cold winter months for the hardy of spirit.  The stores that remain open were purchased mostly by middle eastern immigrants, who overpaid for their piece of the American dream in the dying resort.  Their mortgage demands every nickel they can muster,  and their large families are eager to practice their broken English on the few customers willing to brave the boardwalk's cold winter wind.

All their stores sell the same things...  brightly colored candy, souvenirs and small toys designed to make children nag and beg.  Along with the stores there is a strip of game stands, where during the warm summer breezes,  fathers and boyfriends hope to win a stuffed animal.  During the winter, the steel garage doors are closed on all these stands, except for one.  The immigrants with their broken English cannot lure in players, but the Devil can.

Oversized brightly colored stuffed animals adorn the stand. Music from the 70's pulses from one loud speaker,  while the Devil commands the occasional passing man to "show her that you care by winning a bear."  Please don't misunderstand me, he is not Satan himself, but a minor devil.  He can give you a cold, or ruin a first date,  but he has no power over life and death.  Even those he afflicts can purchase redemption.... Inside the stores there are chocolate wafers for sale,  covered with white candy sprinkles.  For a mere $26 a pound, the bad omen can be eaten away.

This minor devil came from Coney Island a decade ago.  Brooklyn's Brighton Beach area started gentrifying in the late 90's, and the dress up spread to adjoining Coney.  Doc, the minor devil, thrived on hearty spirits, but not heady minds.  His move to Ocean Paradise was a win-win.  While the owning immigrant gets to keep almost all the money the stand takes in,  Doc gets to dispense a headache or two each weekend.  He has a room at a nearby old motel owned by the same family, and enjoys the middle eastern food that he has eaten since time immemorial.

If you walk on the boardwalk during the winter, you better dress warm, and not be tempted to show her that you care.

reprinted from November of 2018

Blogging And The Lone Ranger

I fancy myself as the aging Lone Ranger of local blogging, because I'm beyond caring about what or who I offend.  At this point in time, for my name to appear in the Morning Call, I would either have to get arrested or die ... For now, I'm trying to stave off both those options. Likewise, public officials have no use for me. I've been informed that Matt Tuerk loathed me, even before he was a candidate.

I do have one regret about my abrasiveness. Perhaps, if I was more diplomatic, I might have prevailed upon city officials to have more appreciation for the WPA structures throughout the park system.

Several years ago I started a facebook group, Allentown Chronicles. I billed it as mostly for local history, with a side of local non-partisan politics. Most of such local groups concentrated on who made the best chili sauce, cheesesteak or pizza. The history posts on them are cut and pasted from wikipedia, or just pictures scanned from a book. I aspired to see original material and personal memories. While I still keep those guidelines for my own posts, I'm learning to be more lenient with what other people present. 

The takeaway from all these facebook groups is that people want to remember a gentler Allentown from their youth, as opposed to the current harsher reality. 

I spend much more time on the sofa now than on the streets of Allentown. I no longer attend meetings. Nevertheless, with so few venues willing to be candid, I still get tips and requests for help. I still wake up early and eager to sprinkle a little frankness on Allentown.