I know a little about the Allentown Park System. Actually, compared to the mayor and current park director, I know a lot. I was raised on the south ridge above Lehigh Parkway, in Little Lehigh Manor. The park was my backyard and playground. Changes and neglect in that park are particularly painful to me.
Yesterday, Mayor Tuerk had news conference at Cedar Beach Pool about the New Jersey invaders overrunning our waterways. Although neither the TV station, newspaper or politically correct mayor put it that way, but that's the way it is. The mayor walks on eggshells. The invaders are New Jersey Hispanics, mostly from the Dominican Republic. The mayor claims that he is the first Latino mayor in Allentown, and their representative. He even started off his first term with a fact finding trip to the Dominican Republic. Apparently, he didn't learn enough there to deal with this current invasion of our parks. Yesterday, Tuerk actually said “We want to welcome everybody from places like Queens, The Bronx, Union City, from across the entire commonwealth..." He doesn't have the moxie to say, "stay where you live."
The first elephant in the room is that Allentown closed two major pools, Fountain and Jordan. The second elephant is the lack of gates at strategic places. Canal park only has one entrance and gating it off would be a cinch. Mayor Tuerk feels gates are unwelcoming, and it goes against his inclusionary compulsions, but that's tomorrow's post.
Shown above is the closed Jordan Pool. Fountain Park Pool is likewise closed. Mayor Tuerk said that kids should swim in pools, and not the creeks?!? Blogger Michael says that the city should have maintained its pools, rather than spending half a $mil expanding the skate park.
South Whitehall has had a major issue with this in recent months at Covered Bridge Park.
ReplyDeleteWhy can’t the kids just go swimming at the new basketball court they put in at Steven’s Park?
ReplyDeleteThe city doesn’t own the waterways and should not try to stop anyone from swimming navigating the waterways in Allentown. According to the “Public Ownership and Public Trust Doctrine:: Generally, in the US, the water in natural waterways like rivers and streams is considered a public resource, held in trust by the state government for the benefit of its citizens. This is often referred to as the public trust doctrine.
ReplyDeleteThe citizens should be challenging the legitimacy of the supposed legislation that attempts to block their access to this public trust property.
anon@6:59: But they are accessing it from a city park, which has posted signs against such activity. Let us know how your court case comes out :)
DeleteLet the administration cite a few poor kids. That should be interesting to watch play out.
DeleteThe City of Allentown does not own the streams or the river.
While attention is focused on the parks everyone should understand the parks are a reflection of all but the highest end streets and neighborhoods. Allentown as a whole is experiencing the same Matt Teurk facilitated unlawful behavior of disorder, aggressiveness, chaos, noise, litter, homelessness ...
ReplyDeleteTo simply issue warnings will not prevent finding people wading in the streams and waters. That process is too difficult to make its way all the way up to an actual monetary fine. A fine, by the way, that in the end, will also be ignored. Who’s going to track down the miscreants weeks later on the streets of Yonkers?
ReplyDeleteSo, let’s say some official does hang around to lay a fine on some persons. The violators will just remain out in the water out of reach. If one individual is collared, any name given as part of the warning step will be a fake name anyway. Whatever name is provided, a list must be maintained in order to be produced later for any 2,3rd warning, etc.
So you do give a kid, or adult a paper warning, he/she gets out of the water temporarily only to return later. The paper warning is somehow lost by the kid, blah..blah.. blah.
All Allentown can really do is make more empty threats in front of cameras. THIS, my friends is the new Allentown we’ve created.
Im curious how you tell people they cant swim, but then invite them here? Brilliant idea. Come over to my house. You can stand around the swimming pool but you cant go in it.
ReplyDeleteOh and the geniuses who say you can enforce the waterways. Your idea would be correct if one were to get in an intertub in say Topton and float all the way down to Fountain Park, never touching the bottom of the river. City might not own the water, but the banks and ground under the water they do. Which you have to get out somewhere.
Simple close the parks unless you are fishing, running, biking, or going for a walk. Lastly, and only an idea have people sign up for a sticker to put in your window like they do for local recycling centers to enter. Have some parking spots for guests with signs posted what the spots are for i.e fishing, running, etc. If people park without the sticker and not in the designated spots which would be limited, their vehicle gets towed.
This isnt brain surgery on how to fix this issue. However, those in charge or lets make it more accurate those that have the ability to fix things are either clueless, have a bigger agenda or just dont care. Id go with all three.
I’m sure the Trexler Trust is not interested in maintaining the parks for the pleasure of residents of the Bronx, Queens, Union City, and beyond. Tuerk clings to Latinos assuming they will vote for him. I don’t understand why we can’t be welcoming and still have rules that can be enforced. The parks are a mess. Cedar Beach is a weed patch. The parks look poverty stricken.
ReplyDeleteTrexler Trust has checked out. I don’t get it.
DeleteEnter the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" defense. If the Mayor doesn't speak out, people assume he is not paying attention to the problem. And if he does say something, how effective can his statement be?
ReplyDeleteSince you are in the know, MM, is there an area of riverfront that could be developed safely as beach with lifeguards?
Does anyone believe the Lehigh River is clean enough to swim in? It's my understanding waste water treatment plants are upstream of the city. As well, storm water runoff surely ends up there as well. Has anyone done any testing for fecal material or other toxins?
DeleteSee Penn Pump Park, on the Bushkill Creek, Palmer Twp.
ReplyDeleteAllentown is not the first LV community to be invaded by rule less hordes from the NYC METRO Area.
People are beginning to conflate two issues here. One is the rude and lawlessness hordes from out of the area. The second is the safety and civility of our own citizens.
Allentown cannot legally keep its citizens from walking, sitting in lawn chairs, wading, or even swimming, in the creeks, streams and the river that flow through the city. It can issue passes and permits to access areas of the park.
It can enforce parking restrictions and littering ordinances.
Again, other local municipalities have successfully dealt with these situations.
Pity the staff in the fifth floor didn’t do a few hours of research.
Doesn’t the Chief of Police have access to an office with a land line?
The Mayor isn’t interested in public policy, he had a photo op to perform.
DeleteLocal lakes are routinely posted No Swimmer as the water is deemed unsafe for swimming due to contaminants.
Deletehttps://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/lehigh-county/allentown-area/south-whitehall-issues-weekend-closing-time-for-covered-bridge-park/article_94739ef7-a0b2-4e32-b715-d781ce46b27c.html.
DeleteAmong the violations listed are swimming in Jordan Creek. Why does this argument of "municipalities can't ban swimming in blah blah blah" keep coming up?
Can you imagine the Township Manager at South Whitehall saying "We want to welcome everybody from places like Queens, The Bronx, Union City..to our Township" when their citizens tax payer funded parks were invaded, trashed and vandalized by New Jersey residents last Summer. He'd be thrown out of a job! Instead, SWT quickly adopted strict rules and regulations for their parks and immediately began enforcing them at the urging of their residents. Tuerk is too wrapped up in his personal social values and virtue signaling to property advocate for the tax payers of Allentown. As someone who supported and voted for him in his first term, its so disappointing.
ReplyDeleteSouth Whitehall has done very little. The problems in Covered Bridge Park have been observed as recently as one week ago.
DeleteI'll step out on a limb here and state that there are many out of towners using our parks, but it may not be as many as thought... you can't swing a dead cat in this area without seeing multiple out of state plates on cars and those same people have lived here for years... I see this in my neighborhood. I have no clue how they successfully manage this feat, but they do. One property has a NY and a NJ plates cars for quite some time. There is a good possibility that those folks invite their friends to Allentown for a day out. I'm not promoting, just adding another layer to consider.
ReplyDeleteanon@11:40: your comment lacks substance; New Jersey auto insurance is double Penna., N.Y. is triple. Just a few years ago I would visit Canal Park and be the only one there, now you cannot find a parking space.
DeleteYES, Mike!!! Their rates are insane, but who says they actually have insurance??? I also wondered if the plates are actually current... I'm just reporting what I see. My vehicles have been creamed 5 times since I live here over the past 40 years and I was hosed each time... and those were Pa plated cars.
DeleteMy comment was to wonder if all the people in the parks are ALL from out of state. Who knows with no active police enforcement?
The City Government might not work but the Parking Authority sure does. If those NJ or NYC tags were on current though vehicles would be ticketed again and again.
DeleteNew Jersey towns seem free to restrict beaches to residents....or charge a fee. Westchester County in New York absolutely limits its beaches, like Glen Island, to residents. I know, for as a long-ago Bronx resident we were never allowed in....except with a relative's ID. :)
ReplyDelete