This past Friday I visited the Jordan Meadows pathway for the first time. The pathway itself is on the west ridge above the creek, while the large homeless encampment is down the slope, on the creek itself. The city organized a trash pickup over several days, the last occurring on Friday. I passed a few do-gooders with a photographer in tow.
While the park department has built a large multi-sport complex on the east side of the creek, the purpose of the west side walk path, beyond accommodating the homeless, isn't clear to me. While the east bank sports a new lighting system, the only recent investment on the west side was by Nat Hyman, to his lawyer. Hyman, after donating land for the walkway, feels forced to sue the city to maintain quality of life for his tenants, impacted by the homeless encampment. Rather than relocate the homeless, the city is encouraging the situation by supposedly supplying porta johns and trash containers. A previous homeless encampment near Basin Street, which was not impacting any rent paying tenants, was dismantled by the city to facilitate a commercial real estate deal. Furthermore, they built that commercial developer a $million plus private bridge off Martin Luther King Blvd.
As an advocate for the traditional park system, the placement of the sports complex puzzled me.,,Bucky Boyle served the area for years. Saturday found me back at Jordan Meadows, this time on the east sports complex side. Speaking to guys playing both handball and basketball, none of them have ever seen any activity at the roller hockey field. Hopefully that will change, because the city has just reconfigured the field for soccer.
I remember when in the 1990's homelessness was a cause of the democrats, blaming it on Bush 1. I assume now it is the fault of Trump. No matter that near every city in America is a one party democrat oligarchy.
ReplyDeleteThe only stated solution, if anyone recognizes the problem, is more government funds for welfare and public housing. Of course all administered by the oligarchy.
America is no longer the light on the hill, but a system that is not an example to be envied by the world.
Mr. Hyman is 100% right to sue the city for this. That area is a mess. In exchange for investing all of that money in Allentown, Tuerk rewards him with a homeless encampment of 50 tents
ReplyDeleteMM: Isn’t Jordan Meadows part of the city park system? So why do they need volunteers to clean it up, shouldn’t the parks department be maintaining it ?
ReplyDeleteThe is just another example of Tuerk's inability to manage this city. He has an obligation to the TAX PAYING citizens in that area to clean it up. Instead, he chooses to side with those who do not pay taxes. Of course it is a sad situation but this isn’t even a close call. Leave it to Tuerk to screw it up. I wonder how many homeless he would allow to live in his back yard ?
ReplyDeleteI stay out of that part of Allentown. Streets are narrow, not very attractive. Every time I think of it just reminds me how much the Allentown has deterioriated into the slum it has become.
ReplyDeleteHyman and others have invested a lot of money in that area. If the city ever assumes its responsibility toward that section, the Jordan creek could be a destination.
DeleteWhenever Tuerk wants to actually do something for the city besides always having a "plan." Acts like His Easter egg hunt was because people cared he was there. Tuerk wants homeless people on Hymans property. I hope Hyman wins his lawsuit. This is ridiculous
ReplyDeleteanon@9:11: The large homeless encampment is not on Hyman's property, but stretches along the Jordan behind several of his buildings. Needless to say, it would NOT be tolerated along the Lehigh, in view of Jaindl's new residential construction.
DeleteThe problem along the Jordan is not the trash. It’s the homeless people living where they should not be living.
ReplyDeleteThe city organizing volunteers to treat one of the symptoms (the trash issue) is not a solution. Volunteers won’t be picking up human waste or making the area safer.
Anyone living in the park needs to be removed and placed somewhere for appropriate treatment of their underlying problems.
Will it take a disease outbreak or a person being assaulted or robbed for the city to act?
I’d hope not, but this administration has such backwards priorities that they won’t act sensibly until something terrible happens.
Hopefully there are still a few competent judges in Lehigh County and one will get this case and rule in favor of Hyman.
Tuerk’s current policy is not good for those living in the city, it’s not good for those who do business in the city, and it’s not good for the homeless. It’s nothing more than incompetence being misrepresented as compassion.
Are the sidewalks considered to be public? I believe they are, and the homeless should move their tents to Hamilton Street and live on the wide sidewalks of the NIZ. That way someone would actually be there at night and on weekends. The wide sidewalks there should have plenty of space for tents. Also they could do useful things such as wash windshields of the cars at the traffic lights to earn money for food. That is how the homeless live in Los Angeles and San Fransisco.
ReplyDeleteHow much has been spent to acquire, improve and maintain our park system, particularly along the city’s waterways?
ReplyDeleteAs a city resident, I’m concerned that allowing the homeless to set up (anywhere) in the city too long could allow someone to bring legal action on their behalf to lay claim to the property as their own.
If so, would taxpayers have to pay the homeless to acquire the property again? In a worst case scenario a developer (or developers) could then also step in and purchase that property along the waterways privately, for pennies on the dollar from desperate, homeless people. Then city taxpayers would face the choice of buying the property back for an exorbitant cost or having it converted to another undesirable use.
That’s what happens when you have a Mayor who ignores problems instead of solving them. I can only hope that Hyman wins his lawsuit.
It’s unfortunate that it takes a private citizen instead of the city to protect our parks.
Sounds like the a good name for the downtown arena homeless hockey. This being because nothing and I mean nothing is going to make a draw in downtown allentown.
ReplyDeleteThe solution to this problem is that Hyman should be the Mayor and Tuerk should be homeless. Hyman would have this city operating like a well oiled machine
ReplyDelete