Freight Trolleys and Shenanigans

This was supposed to be a Men's Stuff post, about the working cars on the Lehigh Valley Transit Company. Doing research for the previous post on that company, I became fascinated that they operated a freight operation with the trolley cars. I started acquiring documentation and photographs about the working cars necessary for such an operation. They built power substations throughout the valley that generated electric, then converted the AC to DC for their use. The rolling stock required coal trolleys, wire stringing trolleys, snowplow trolleys, and etc. I will present these black and white photo treasures in future posts, because I got side tracked by a shenanigan; you know me. Lehigh Valley Transit operated out of the Fairview Carbarn, which Lanta still uses off of Lehigh Street. Despite a trolley fleet that covered the entire City, plus the remainder of the Valley (Bethlehem and Easton), all the Men's Stuff working cars, and trolley service to Philadelphia, Lanta now needs Bicentennial BallPark because they acquired five (5) new hybrid buses? Supposedly these five new buses require a special garage. Although the Fairview facility now handles 78 regular buses, the ballfield has to go because of the five new hybrids.

 enlarge freight trolley by clicking on image

above reprinted from May of 2010

UPDATE July 4, 2019:  Attempting to save the ballpark, I organized a meeting at a center city church.  Attending the meeting were two city council members and families involved with Bicentennial Park.  Pawlowski and Lanta finally backed off, and the ballpark remains. Some people who attended that meeting became interested in Allentown politics, and attend council meetings to this day. Pawlowski's shenanigans have since caught up with him.

ADDENDUM JUNE 26, 2025: I did this post about the freight trolleys over fifteen years ago. Back in the day, especially when they (Lanta) were accommodating Pawlowski and the upcoming NIZ, I would even attend the Lanta public meetings. My words at the public commentary portion were always met with cold eyes.  Lanta has remained a handmaiden for the influential, and serving the public remains secondary.

Removing The Undesirables From Hamilton Street, Circa 2007

In the fall of 2007, Allentown began the systematic removal of the undesirables from Hamilton Street, in cooperation with Lanta. At the time, I championed for the now former merchants and their customers. Among other things, I organized a meeting at a center city church. Below, three posts from that period are reprinted. For a more complete understanding of the bus stop issue, click on 2007, listed on the right side bar, under the archive section.

MEETING AT CHURCH
As the organizer of the forum at Faith Baptist Church on Lanta, I would like to make some speculations on what was not said at the meeting. First and foremost, the meeting was not covered by The Morning Call. I sent the press release to two reporters,plus the local editor. I'd like to note the "Paper" is a "partner" in the new Lanta Terminal. It was built on land they sold to the Parking Authority and they receive free parking at the new deck; Their publisher attended the dedication with the three amigo's.(scroll down to earlier posting). All four democratic candidates for county commissioner were no shows, although one of the candidates, Kevin Easterling, expressed solidarity over the phone; but Kevin was recently hired by Ed Pawlowski as our new Recreation Director. My attempts to connect with Lehigh Carbon Community College in regard to the effect on their students at the Hamilton Street annex were unanswered. I would like to thank all the candidates who did attend, Ellen Millard-Kern from Senator Browne's office and Bernie O'Hare for his coverage of my efforts.
UPDATE: As a result of a inquiry by Ellen Kern, I did finally receive a call from a dean at the Community College. They approve of the bus stop being removed from in front of their facility because it has "reduced the litter". I inquired about the inconvenience for their students who now must walk to the Lanta terminal; they have received "no complaints". As one who tried to contact a dean myself and received no replies, I must question whether that comment has much value. As winter weather approaches, common sense would indicate a bus stop moved from in front of the building to two blocks away, is not student friendly.

 ALLENTOWN CELEBRATES

Allentown's latest Dancing in the Street, Octoberfeast, will have multi-cultural attractions. There will be genuine rickshaw rides, pulled by former Asian merchants who were forced out of business by the City Department of Gentrification. After this week's party for the Brewpub, the rickshaws will operate on a regular basis between Hamilton Street and our new Lanta Transportation Center.

 SILENCE OF THE LANTA
Hannibal Lecter has been offered parole on the condition he restrict his diet to Hamilton Street bus riders. Once a month he will be permitted an Asian merchant; on thanksgiving he may have a preselected blogger. Mr. Lector will be micro-chipped and given a new Hamilton Street loft apartment. He will be monitored by the new surveillance cameras. Mayor Pawlowski and Armand Greco will provide more details at a press conference early next week at the new Lanta Terminal.               

above reprinted from July of 2015

UPDATE MAY 10, 2021: Because J.B. Reilly is building more apartments on the northeast corner of 7th and Linden,  the Lanta Terminal,  bus entrance and exit, will once again be reconfigured. As local activist Erin Keller points out, these changes to the Lanta property, which is only twelve years old, will be at tax-payer expense. 

It started years ago when they took the bus stops off Hamilton Street. The bus passengers and the merchants had a historical relationship, dependent upon each other. Now of course the bus passengers are just cattle, whose pens are moved around at the convenience of the current establishment. The Morning Call article on the changes, characterizes them as improvements for rider convenience.

Protecting Who From Whom

When Strata 13 was built on the northeast corner of 7th & Linden, Lanta reconfigured the bus flow to accommodate it.  Actually, Lanta has been accommodating Reilly's NIZ since before the beginning. They started by relocating the bus stops off Hamilton, and herding the sheep to 6th & Linden. Actually, Strata 13 is called the Hive, but I call all Reilly's residential buildings Strata. 

On Friday police raided the Hive, seizing a gun and marijuana. Reilly's City Center Real Estate has it own security force to protect the tenants. That seemed appropriate, especially with the infamous 7/11 across the street. After reading about the police raid, the question now is who is going to protect the street people from Reilly's tenants?

With us taxpayers footing Reilly's debt service, I always figured that Reilly would  keep a unit empty rather than rent to the wrong element.  I suppose with the housing storage, the do-gooders pressure him to make units available. At any rate, it appears as if the Hive is fitting into the neighborhood. 

photocredit:WFMZ

Prostitutes and Rape in Allentown

A former Allentown police officer is charged with rape. News headlines tell us that someone can be sentenced to life in prison for certain rapes.  A street walker gets into a car voluntarily, discovers the driver is a cop, and then complains that she performed a sex act under duress, is that rape?  If an officer coerces someone he pulled over in a traffic stop for a sex act, that is rape. If a cop pulls a young girl into his car, that is rape. I understand that my feminist readers will take offense with this post. Many of my posts offend someone.

Supposedly these indiscretions were alleged before, and the previous DA declined to prosecute. There appears to be new allegations that the charged officer withheld confiscated drug money from the department. The illegality of that charge would be indisputable. Apologies, but I find rape too strong of a word against a prostitute who got into a car to perform a sex act.

Regardless of my outlook on the situation, Mayor Tuerk has a conundrum to straighten out before the upcoming election. He has stood behind police chief Roca since being elected. Will Tuerk continue that support, or will Roca find himself under a Lanta bus?

Visiting Easton

Being one of the last warm days of the year, I thought we would visit Easton. I thought perhaps it would be more interesting to do the trip circa 1948. Lehigh Valley Transit had a trolley that went from 8th and Hamilton, through Bethlehem, to the circle in Easton. In the photo above, we're coming down Northampton Street, just entering the Circle. The Transit Company was using both trolleys and buses, until they discontinued trolleys completely, in 1953. At this time, Hamilton, Broad and Northampton Streets were the shopping malls of the era, and public transportation serviced the customers. The Transit Company, now Lanta, currently serves the Allentown population from a prison like facility at 6th and Linden Streets; It just needs a fence. Easton mayor Sal Panto is now also abandoning the merchants for a remote transportation/correction facility, which will entertain the inmates with the Al Bundy High School Dropout Museum. Hope you enjoyed the trip.

above reprinted from November of 2011

ADDENDUM JUNE 14, 2024:At the time this was written in 2011, Sal Panto was trying to build a National Museum of High School Sports, thus  my cracks about Al Bundy from the Married With Children TV show. But, what is truly amazing is that he is still mayor, 900 years later. Is he that good, or is Easton that politically indifferent?

Small Victories

In the best case, molovinsky on allentown chronicles my efforts in community activism, in addition to being a source of analysis for local issues. Last week a small victory resulted from such efforts. Our local dignitaries broke ground for a new garage at Lanta. Several years ago, when the garage plans were first announced, it was to be built on the parking lot of Bicentennial Park. Allentown needed money, and Lanta had a grant to build a new garage. Lanta claimed that the ball park property was the only feasible location, and the City claimed that Bicentennial Park had outlived it's usefulness.

Bicentennial Park is virtually the history of baseball in Allentown. First opened in 1939 as Fairview Field, it was home to the minor league team of the Boston Braves; The Allentown Dukes played there through 1948, when Breadon Field was built in Whitehall, site now of the Lehigh Valley Mall. Over the years thousands of Allentown kids had the yearly thrill of playing "Under The Lights". In addition to hosting the Allentown Ambassadors, it currently serves women's fast pitch softball. In addition to the outrage in our park system, I will be adding the ballfield as a topic in my upcoming SPEAK OUT ALLENTOWN MEETING. from Lanta Mugs City, May 14,2009  

I conducted a meeting at a small local church, which attracted a couple members of City Council and the Hunsicker Family, who led the drive to build the park, decades ago. City Council went on to pass a resolution recommending that the park not be sold, and Lanta did eventually figure out an alternative space for the garage. Needless to say, I wasn't one of the dignitaries invited to the ground breaking, nor were my efforts mentioned in the newspaper article, but a small victory, never the less.

Baseball Memoirs, June 3, 2009 

above reprinted from April of 2012

Lanta Suspends Service Because Of Snow

I haven't  been on a Lanta bus since my days at William Allen. However, I've been to Lanta headquarters and other locations for meetings about their service.  I first got on their case when they ended bus service to the former merchants of Hamilton Street, steering their passenger victims to their detention center across from the former Morning Call building. 

It seems that whenever there is a frisky snow predicted, they're awful quick to suspend service. While I can appreciate that they would like to avoid stuck buses, they seem less concerned about stranded passengers. Do not those who take a bus to work depend on it for their return trip home?

Lanta accounts to nobody. Although there are occasional Dept. of Transportation meetings which allow public comment, it doesn't carry any weight with the decision makers.

Retiring In Allentown

U.S. News and World Report tells us that Allentown is the fifth best place to retire in the United States. Expect local real estate to explode as herds of gray haired migrate from Florida and Arizona to the Strata complexes in culturally rich center city. 

Local political genius County Executive Phillips Armstrong cited our metrics, like transportation. Expect to see more cappuccino and croissants at the Lanta Detention Center.

I can only hope that the magazine's news is more accurate than their retirement recommendations. However, if you disagree with me and find their retirement survey valid, there is great news. The best rated place in the country to retire isn't far away, Harrisburg! Please take Phil Armstrong with you.

Allentown 1950

Sixty years ago downtown Allentown hummed. It was fueled by the vision of people who developed empires, not cookie cutter ideas from the National Magazines for Bureaucrats, like the arena. Shown here is the Transit Office and depot at the side of 8th and Hamilton. General Trexler had been a principle in the Trolley Company, which also built the 8th Street Bridge, to connect Allentown with points south, all the way to Philadelphia. In addition to being the terminal for the Philadelphia bound Liberty Bell, it also fed the merchants of Allentown with thousands of shoppers from its many Allentown routes. The shoppers now sit on the cold steel benches at the Lanta Detention Center on 7th Street, as the non-visionaries prepare to demolish the center of town, to build a monstrosity.

The light and shadows reveal that this is an early morning photo. In a few hours 8th and Hamilton (behind the trolley) would be clogged with shoppers                                                               

reprinted from December 2011

ADDENDUM JANUARY 29, 2024:A lot has changed since I wrote this piece over a decade ago, but also very little. Although we have a cookie sheet of new buildings, both commercial and residential, the town remains virtually empty. The arena is vastly underused, seemingly a prop to justify the NIZ scheme. Fortunately for the few principals involved, most criticism of the development is limited to this blog.

Visiting Easton

Being one of the last warm days of the year, I thought we would visit Easton. I thought perhaps it would be more interesting to do the trip circa 1948. Lehigh Valley Transit had a trolley that went from 8th and Hamilton, through Bethlehem, to the circle in Easton. In the photo above, we're coming down Northampton Street, just entering the Circle. The Transit Company was using both trolleys and buses, until they discontinued trolleys completely, in 1953. At this time, Hamilton, Broad and Northampton Streets were the shopping malls of the era, and public transportation serviced the customers. The Transit Company, now Lanta, currently serves the Allentown population from a prison like facility at 6th and Linden Streets; It just needs a fence. Easton mayor Sal Panto is now also abandoning the merchants for a remote transportation/correction facility, which will entertain the inmates with the Al Bundy High School Dropout Museum. Hope you enjoyed the trip.
reprinted from November of 2011

UPDATE March 9, 2015: The above post was written in 2011, but it's taken Sal Panto longer than expected to build the Lanta Transfer/Parking Deck. The planned Al Bundy Museum is now being replaced instead by Easton City Hall, where Sal is expected to wear his high school football uniform. As it turns out, Sal and I have something in common, we both worked at our fathers' meat markets in Easton. My father's market was called Melbern, and was on S. 4th Street, catty corner the Mohican Market. During the early 1960's, on my way to lunch in the circle, I would stop and visit a friend who worked at Iannelli's chicken and coldcut counter in the 5&10 on Northampton Street. The meat markets and commerce on Northampton Street are long gone, but Easton's Center Square is having a revival as the place to dine.

ADDENDUM MAY 2, 2022: When I first wrote this post in 2011, I never imagined that Panto would still be mayor 100 years later. I suppose that here in Kentuckvania, unless you get picked up by the FBI for blatant behavior, you're elected for life and beyond. Some cities become charming by accident...at some point the lack of development looks historic. I still visit Easton on a regular basis. Even stopped in once to meet Panto, but supposedly he wasn't in.

Not The NIZ

7th and Turner is a block away from the NIZ, actually now only half a block, with the lines redrawn to include his latest apartment project, The Hive. That monstrosity faces the infamous 7-Eleven at 7th and Linden, and the hapless Lanta transfer terminal behind it. 

Back at 7th and Turner, it's symbolically the longest half block you can imagine...no delusions of sharing the wealth. I've been photographing Allentown for over fifty years, and the gap has never been more apparent.

It's not because money hasn't been spent outside of the NIZ,  because $millions have.  Grants have been given, and facades have been renovated.  People have been made store owners, complete with inventory, yet poverty permeates. The dispersing agencies have grown large and influential... We have succeeded in building a growing  poverty industry.

Improving Strata's View

Your tax dollars circling back as grants are hard at work dressing up the store fronts in the 1000 block of Hamilton Street.  What we are paying for is a better view for Reilly's tenants in Strata 15.  That's not the real name of the new apartment building, but I call them all Strata.  

Now, we can't do much for the view from Strata 12, at 7th and Linden. Out the front they're looking at the 7-Eleven, scene of numerous shootings over the years. Out the back they see the hapless bus riders waiting on the cold steel benches for their Lanta seat.                                                                                                   But dammit, we can dress up the view on Hamilton Street for his 15th Strata, and we are!

Light Rail, Circa 1935

The Lehigh Valley Transit Company ran a trolley between 8th and Hamilton and just outside Philadelphia between 1901 and 1951. In 1913 the company completed the 8th Street Bridge, which remains one of Allentown's icons to this day.



The Liberty Bell functioned as a trolley as it stopped in Coopersburg, Quakertown, Sellersville and the different towns along the way, but approached speeds of eighty miles a hour on the open track between them. At the last station in Upper Darby, passengers could transfer to a different company to complete the ride into center city Philadelphia.










Here in the Valley the company transitioned to buses by the early 1950's, and became part of Lanta in 1972. Lanta and Easton officials might take notice that the Allentown Ticket Office, shown in above photo, is only 75 feet from 8th and Hamilton, which was the center of the business district. The intercity rail beds are pretty much gone now. The same people who now advocate light-rail, couldn't wait to tear up the tracks and make bike paths.

reprinted from May 4, 2010

Black Friday

Once a upon a time, Allentown didn't have the benefit of current regulations. City Hall didn't have the vision it does now; they just let the merchants put up large neon signs without extensive guidelines and approval procedures. We didn't have the benefit of a Parking Authority; Allentown Park and Shop, one of the first in the nation, irresponsibly gave free parking just to encourage business. We didn't have the benefit of a remote Lanta Terminal; shoppers and buses clogged the street and sidewalks. Prosperity is over-rated, appreciate today's vision in The City Without Limits; Bon Appetit.
watercolor by Karoline Schaub-Peeler

above reprinted from November 26, 2010

Mistake Of Parking Authority/Lanta

At the Allentown Speak Out forum, Zee, an elderly neighborhood woman, referred to the new Lanta Terminal as Port Authority. She has a point, did Allentown need a Port Authority? In reality the mission of both the Parking Authority and Lanta has become political and distorted, to the detriment of those whom they were intended to serve. I have referred to the Parking Authority in previous posts as a Frankenstein monster who preys on Allentown's poorest residents. Its appetite has recently expanded to include poorer merchants. If it wasn't enough for Lanta to remove the transfer stations from the historical stops near Hamilton Street, the Parking Authority now provides eating and shopping venues for their captured bus riders at the "Terminal". Once upon a time, in Allentown's heyday, the parking meters were monitored by two meter maids in golf carts, employed by the police department. The original mission of the Parking Authority was to facilitate parking for the merchants' behalf. Lanta was suppose to provide the public with transportation to those destinations which enhanced the economic well being of both the riders and the community. The new Allentown Transportation Center fails to serve both the merchants and the riders, conversely, it serves itself by being a mini-mall with virtual prisoners. Allentown City Council now has a member who is on the Lanta Board. The previous Council had a member on the Parking Authority. All the merchants are suffering on Hamilton Street, and already three are closing their doors; City Line Creamery, Hamilton Perk Cafe, and Mish Mash Boutique. The Terminal, new or not, should be closed, and the transfer stops on Hamilton Street should be restored. The public interest is better served by the survival of the Hamilton merchants, than the utilization of the parking deck's adjacent Lanta Terminal.

above reprinted from January 20, 2008

ADDENDUM March 23, 2023: I'm glad to see the Parking Authority coming under scrutiny. As a blogger who has been taking them on for over 15 years,  I marvel at how long they got away with their shenanigans. To a large part the Morning Call was responsible for them not being held accountable. When myself and others would speak out and even document their abuses, the paper turned a blind eye. In 2014 I conducted two press conferences about Authority abuses. One conference the paper ignored, and for the other they took the Authority's answers as gospel. With the press now paying attention, perhaps the best interests of the city and citizens will finally be served.

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.

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.

Urban Safari

Exclusive to molovinskyonallentown; this blogger has learned that along with the golf course concession, the Allentown BrewWorks has received the first franchise to conduct urban safaris in Allentown. The evening excursions will begin and end from the safety of the municipal golf course parking lot, in the deep west end. Although still in the planning stages, sites on the tour will include 9th and Chew, gunfire epicenter of the new Allentown, and a drive-by of Trinkles Cafe. Within the safety of the armored Hummer, guests will visit an actual forensic site, and watch police officers search for shell casings. The guides will tastefully point out probable ladies of the night and merchants of recreational pharmaceuticals. The tour will include stopping in front of the home of an urban pioneer, where actual members of OAPA will wave from behind their windows. With special permission from Lanta, the excursion will drive through the bus yard, showing real passengers waiting on cold steel benches, eating stale donuts. For a VIP tour, actually driven by Mayor Pawlowski himself, contact the special events coordinator at Allentown City Hall or the Allentown BrewWorks. Jarrett Renshaw of The Morning Call did not contribute to this story. 

above reprinted from December 28, 2008 

ADDENDUM JANUARY 2, 2023: After ending the year beating up current city officials, it was my intention to start this year nice. Although I'm not creative enough to find something currently nice to write about, I have an extensive archive, stretching back a decade and a half. 

However, waking up to the news that four youths were shot by the East Side Youth Center took the nice out of me. Over the weekend, both the mayor and newspaper editor wrote about good news and hope. Those of you who need to dose on those delusions might find comfort with their greeting card type writing. Since neither of those gentlemen have any use for me, I will provide no links to their nonsense. 

Maybe next year, I can start off nicer.

Molovinsky From The Bunker

When I started molovinsky on allentown in 2007, one of its missions was to expose Pawlowski for the phony that he was. At that time, community activists and fellow bloggers were still entranced by him. Within two years, blogger Bernie O'Hare starting noticing that little people in Pawlowski's way were squashed. We joined forces about Lanta and the bus stops, about the abuse of the minority merchants and other assorted bruised victims.

Yesterday I participated in an intensely heated court hearing for a homeowner, who I believed was being harassed to accommodate a code supervisor's friend.  A code officer testified that he noticed the violation over the fence from the adjoining property,  which is owned by this friend of the supervisor.  This adjoining property is a mess, but no enforcement ever seems to occur there. The court certainly tried to accommodate the city, by allowing the inspector to cite an item not on the complaint. The judge was finally forced to find the homeowner not guilty, when she produced a permit from 2002, demonstrating that the item was indeed grandfathered. Although the city had falsely testified earlier in the hearing that no such permit was ever issued,  the judge seemed to have no issue with that, or the other improprieties.  In addition to the code officer, the code supervisor himself attended the hearing. Neither the Director of Community Development nor the mayor were interested in my concern that the rights of a homeowner were being violated. I'm particularly offended by the notion of public officials using the machinery of the state to settle personal grievances.

During those pre FBI years, I referred to having a bunker to take refuge in. After the recent dealings with community development and code, I have once again opened the bunker, and am stocking it with provisions,  in case it proves necessary.

photo of blogger in bunker

From deep in a bunker somewhere in the Lehigh Valley, molovinsky on allentown provides a daily  dose of truth. Unlike the local newspaper which is overzealous in its promotion of the NIZ, this blog reports objectively on that program, which is siphoning off our state tax dollars.  Unlike the other media in the valley, this blog doesn't cater to any of the sacred cows, which normally receive no scrutiny elsewhere.

The blog is not monetized, directly or indirectly, in any way.  This commentary is produced five days a week.  
In the course of producing this blog, as outlined above, I have offended numerous people.  This is an unintended consequence, which does give me pause.  However, unless this blog can provide something unique, not otherwise available, there would be no justification for all the time and effort required.

above compilation is from two previous posts using the same photo in May of 2018 and October of 2019

ADDENDUM JUNE 9, 2022: Over the years, this blog's activism has produced a few dividends.  Although both the city and Morning Call will not acknowledge the accomplishments, I will list some of them here.

                     

* With the support from former LC commissioner Michael Schware, I saved the historic (1828) stone arch bridge by Union Terrace on Walnut St.

                      

* Although other people joined in, I started the movement to save Wehr's Dam, and then continued it myself, until the new SW commissioners recently pledged to honor the referendum.

                      

* Uncovered the previously buried spring pond (WPA) and buried boat landing (WPA) in Lehigh Parkway, and advocated for all the WPA structures throughout Allentown.

                      

* Publicized the dire condition of Fairview Cemetery, after which time Tyler Fatzinger assumed the mission.

                       

* Campaigned against the riparian buffers and for the traditional park system.

* Provided some balance and true cost to the taxpayers in regard to the NIZ and other local sacred cows and programs.

* Publicized and defended various victims of abuse by city government officials over the years when necessary.

Allentown Speak Out

                                    REPRINTED FROM 2012

In the best use, molovinsky on allentown chronicles my efforts in the community, in addition to being an alternative news source for local issues. Last week a small victory resulted from such efforts. Our local dignitaries broke ground for a new garage at Lanta. Several years ago, when the garage plans were first announced, it was to be built on the parking lot of Bicentennial Park. Allentown needed money, and Lanta had a grant to build a new garage. Lanta claimed that the ball park property was the only feasible location, and the City claimed that Bicentennial Park had outlived it's usefulness.

Bicentennial Park is virtually the history of baseball in Allentown. First opened in 1939 as Fairview Field, it was home to the minor league team of the Boston Braves; The Allentown Dukes played there through 1948, when Breadon Field was built in Whitehall, site now of the Lehigh Valley Mall. Over the years thousands of Allentown kids had the yearly thrill of playing "Under The Lights". In addition to hosting the Allentown Ambassadors, it currently serves women's fast pitch softball. In addition to the outrage in our park system, I will be adding the ballfield as a topic in my upcoming SPEAK OUT ALLENTOWN MEETING. from Lanta Mugs City, May 14,2009  

I conducted a meeting at a small local church, which attracted a couple members of City Council and the Hunsicker Family, who led the drive to build the park, decades ago. City Council went on to pass a resolution recommending that the park not be sold, and Lanta did eventually figure out an alternative space for the garage. Needless to say, I wasn't one of the dignitaries invited to the ground breaking, nor were my efforts even mentioned in the newspaper article, but a small victory, never the less.

Baseball Memoirs, June 3, 2009

above reprinted from 2012
UPDATE DECEMBER 2016: The meetings mentioned above, in 2008 and 2009, I conducted at Faith Baptist Church on N.12th St.  Among the topics were parking meter increases, Lanta,  Bicentennial Park, and Fairview Cemetery.  They provided an informal public venue for citizens and council to interact.  Years later, I would conduct more meetings at the library on preserving the WPA structures.  Unfortunately,  Allentown and South Whitehall have demonstrated little regard for our historic structures.  The mission continues.

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above reprinted from December of 2016

UPDATE MAY 11, 2022: Although I no longer conduct public meetings, and remain a persona non grata at the Morning Call,  I continue to advocate through this blog and Allentown Chronicles, a facebook group. I started the effort to save Wehr's Dam, and was gratified to see South Whitehall reaffirm its commitment to that structure. I appreciated an email from a SWT official thanking me for my diligence on that project. Likewise, I started the effort to appreciate and repair the WPA structures in the Allentown park system. I made a public offer to give a tour of the structures, subject to the overdue repair of two sites. So far new mayor Matt Tuerk has not responded.