Allentown Postcards

I have often used old postcards of Allentown on this blog. Most of the cards have a similar coloration, and were photographed by Harold Becraft in the early 1950's. Becraft was a photographer from Suffern N.Y., who produced many of the images used in the postcards of Allentown's parks. These cards were produced locally by E.H. Scholl Co. In addition to Becraft's name on the front, they're also marked Kodachrome. Although Becraft did many park scenes for Schall, the image shown above is one of his few cityscapes.

reprinted from May of 2013

The Morning Call Delivery

I've been a continuous Morning Call subscriber for 34 years, every day, seven days a week. I think that might well be some sort of record. Even other dinosaurs, occasionally, have let their subscriptions expire, to take advantage of some promotion. Not me, full ticket, paid by the year. The last couple of years, as their delivery system broke down, I have taken to pay semi annually. Quarterly will now be the prudent choice. I no longer attempt to complain about a missing paper. Waiting to speak to somebody in India is detrimental to my blood pressure. molovinsky on allentown opens early, but the paper keeps coming later; Even mcall doesn't refresh itself until about 5:45 a.m. I no longer get the paper in time for my morning coffee, the pot is long empty by the time it arrives. I suppose soon I'll have to get my news from the City Web Site.

reprinted from December of 2011

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

above reprinted from December of 2011

ADDENDUM DECEMBER 24, 2021: In the decade since the above was written, downtown Allentown turned into an urban office park. While there are a few stores, it no longer aspires to be a shopping destination. The first floor retail space in the new apartment buildings are to justify the NIZ financing requirement, not to meet any market demand for storefronts. Criticism of the new center city is limited mostly to this blog. Other voices, such as the newspaper, have either profitted from the NIZ, or are indifferent.

The Clown And The Landlord

Yesterday's Morning Call had an article by Dan Hartzell on Sunday's Halloween Parade. Dan wrote "Last minute financial donations from community activists saved the 2005 parade..." Hartzell goes on to write about the candidates present and the weather conditions, but who were the community activists? He then writes "City Parks and Recreation Director Greg Weitzel said the parade is no longer under threat of extinction- a good thing, since the event dates to 1905 and could be the oldest Halloween parade in the country." But who were the community activists? As a boy growing up in the 50's, the Halloween Parade was one of the biggest events of the year. My family would watch from around 15th and Hamilton, avoiding the packed crowds further down in the teeming shopping area. I remember Hopalong Cassidy riding his horse in the parade. In 2006, another TV icon from that era, cowgirl Sally Starr, participated in the parade at age 83. I don't know how many people in 2006 had any idea who Sally Starr was? Now in 2010, not only is Sally Starr forgotten, so are the community activists who saved the Oldest Halloween Parade in America(Inc.)*. Saving the parade was organized by Everett Bickford, aka Apples the Clown, and Heidi Unterberg. The parade was able to occur because of a donation from John Chapkovich, at the time a 23 year old landlord. Thanks Everett, thanks Heidi, thanks John, for keeping a 105 year old tradition going.

*Oldest Halloween Parade in America Inc. is copyrighted by Everett Bickford

reprinted from November of 2010

Branding Candidate Molovinsky

An article on Wehr's Dam referred to me as a blogger running for State Representative. Before that label sticks,  please allow me to identify myself. I'm a long time community advocate, who in recent years has used a blog to help shine light on issues. Long before I had a blog, or even a computer, I was a contributor to the community dialogue. Although a life long proponent of historical preservation, in the late 90's I organized homeowners who felt an unnecessary proposed historic district infringed upon their property rights. Among many other issues in recent years, I turned my attention to the preservation of the WPA structures gracing our communities. Although the article referred to me as a member of the group defending Wehr's Dam, I actually started that effort. Even though Allentown is not part of the 183rd District, I continue to publish molovinsky on allentown, because it is an archive on my activism during the last decade. However, that activism started long before the blog. 

above reprinted from September of 2014 

ADDENDUM DECEMBER 22, 2021: I have always considered state government in Pennsylvania dysfunctional, and self serving for those incumbents elected here for life. With that conviction, I ran as an independent in 2014 against eleven term incumbent Julie Harhart, even though the Northampton area dominated the little sliver of South Whitehall in the 183th District. It is my understanding that the proposed new map places the township in one district. I wonder if South Whitehall would now be ready to be represented by a trouble maker like myself?

The New Bloggers

One thing about the blogosphere, with the cost of operation, free, it's always expanding. There are several new blogs I would like to bring to the attention of both my readers. By now, both of you have probably noticed that I added a blog link list last month. Blogspot, which hosts this blog, offers several options for the list. I settled on the most simple, arranged in alphabetical order. Although this post will mention a couple others, I will not be updating my list at this time. Send In The Clowns is published anonymously, as most blogs are, and has been taking some of our elected officials to task. Allentown Parking Authority has a bone to pick with the Allentown Parking Authority. Clancularius Introspective has been in business for about a year now, publishing over 53 posts alone in October. IronPigPen is a sport's buff smorgasbord, with an attitude. Unfortunately, the blog is for sale; Personally, I hope the deal falls through, and the current owners stay stuck with the chore. For those of you who prefer less controversy, Lehigh Valley Transplant spotlights the valley with fresh, innocent eyes. The logo used at the top of this post has no affiliation to the mentioned Clown blog, I simply like the image.

reprinted from November of 2009

ADDENDUM DECEMBER 21, 2021: Although twelve years have passed since I wrote the above piece, not much has happened in the local blogosphere. Both Bernie O'Hare and I continue to offend daily. Reillyville, formally downtown Allentown, continues to build bland buildings. Today the paper published their Road To Nowhere article about the new unnecessary road connecting Jaindl's good fortune with the less fortunate to their north. Quoted in the article were Morning Call experts Hasshan Batts and Ce-Ce Gerlach. When the experts are done squandering our share of the Infrastructure Money, let's hope they at least widen Route 22.

Was Guridy First Latino Council Member?

A Morning Call article on Saturday described Julio Guridy as Allentown's first Latino council member. Recently, Matt Tuerk was described as our first Latino mayor by the paper. If Tuerk's Cuban grandmother qualified him as a first, then certainly Martin Velazquez's Puerto Rican father made him the first Hispanic council member in 1994.  

In fairness to the paper, Velazquez's terms were many years ago, and the "First Latino" was missing from both the headline and article by Sunday. Guridy and Velazquez were both motivated to run in opposition to Emma Tropiano, especially her sponsored ordinance on English as the official language. Marty also became a candidate for mayor, and beat Emma Tropiano in the primary by one vote. 

I do agree with the article about Julio's contributions to Allentown. Although he and I over the years had some heated discussions, both in the council chamber and on the street, Allentown has certainly benefitted from his devotion to the city.

A Supremo Christmas

While I've never shown much enthusiasm for J.B. Reilly's attempt to revitalize downtown through his high end shops, neither has the marketplace. Christmas day, I visited the new Supremo Market on 7th Street, occupying the former Levine's Fabric store. The market was attractive, large, well stocked and mobbed.

There is an old saying that there are more nickels than quarters. I suppose that it should be no surprise that in a city populated by a large percentage of low income people, a well run store geared for that demographic can prosper. What's interesting is that while the taxpayer ponied up a $Billion dollars, so far, for the NIZ, the thriving Supremo costs us nothing. While the Morning Call writes one promotion after another for Reilly's portfolio, there is nothing said about this real success story in Allentown.

Let me provide some history.  Once upon a time,  that was the busiest block on 7th Street. The building was built as a Sears and Roebucks in the early 1950's, using a plan duplicated in other cities. The store did well competing with the three local department stores, and was first to go suburban.

Talking of history, some may notice a new item on this blog's sidebar. It's a picture of a Mack Truck Magazine cover, which was printed each month. I have titled the new insertion, LOCAL HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE.  Hopefully, the local political shenanigans will slow down, so I can devote more posts to our rich history.

stock photo from Supremo website

above post reprinted every December since 2015 

Allentown School District

One of the most amazing things about Allentown is that the population, despite the problems, has remained about the same since 1928. That was the year Allentown celebrated reaching 100,000. Today, we are about 106.000. Although the numbers stayed the same, the demographics have changed drastically. We are now officially a minority city. When I grew up, there was a saying, If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much. How's that for political correctness? Today, if you want to see a Pennsylvania Dutchman, you have to look at the picture on a bag of pretzels. During my school years, a delinquent was a kid smoking a cigarette in the alley. Today, we have machete attacks, and parents beating someone else's kid in a classroom. In this environment, should we be concerned about math scores in Singapore? There is a disconnect between the discipline problems and the preoccupation for better scores on the standardized tests; Increasing civility is much more important. If we could get that math score up, will the public overlook the machete attack? We'll build a new school next to Jackson Elementary, move the students, and put the machete attackers in the old Jackson. Then, we'll take the real achievers and put them in an academy of excellence. Let's hope not too many parents insist that their child belongs in the academy. Let's hope that the prison school works out. We all agree that all the students are a precious commodity. What we really need is safe classrooms, conducive to learning. We need supervised streets, conducive for getting to and from school safely. Isn't it interesting that a child can leave Central Catholic at 4th and Chew, and be safer than a child leaving William Allen at 17th and Chew? The photograph, from the late 1940's, shows a kindergarden class before Lehigh Parkway Elementary School was completed. One of the twin houses served both as the neighborhood school and church. 

above reprinted from December of 2010 

UPDATE DECEMBER 16, 2021: Much has happen, and much hasn't, since I wrote this piece a decade ago. We have some new school buildings, with a middle school finally on the drawing board for the east side. We have been through a series of superintendents. We now have an unwritten requirement that he/she must be a person of color. Recent progress in our system, along with the rest of the nation, has been stymied by the pandemic. I remain blunt and devoid of PC.

Allentown's Managing Director Position Superfluous

In 1996 when the current city charter (home rule) was approved, Allentown had decided against a manager, choosing instead to stay with the strong mayor system.  However, when Ed Pawlowski assumed office in January of 2006, he appointed a managing director anyway,  even though the position had never existed before in city hall. City Council at the time erroneously approved the redundant position.  I might point out that the particular director ended up being indicted by the FBI on his second round in that position.

When Leonard Lightner complained the other day that he was picking up the slack for the currently unfilled position, someone with more institutional memory might have informed him that at best he was just performing the duties originally intended for his Community Development position. 

I commend city council for putting the position on hold for now. I suggest that both council and Matt Tuerk reference the charter, so that they might become more familiar with which positions are actually mandated. Furthermore, I suggest that all discretionary positions be phased out, so that the police department can be expanded even beyond current recommendations. Perceptions of public safety and livability are quickly eroding.

postcard showing the new city hall in 1962

Nagy Novelty Company

In Downtown Allentown's commercial years, stores extended 3 blocks out from Hamilton Street. The only remaining remnant of that era is the parking meters, which apparently haven't noticed that the stores have been gone now for over 30 years. A magic shop mentioned in the previous post was on 9th Street, between Linden and Turner. On 8th Street, also a couple blocks off Hamilton, was the Nagy Novelty Company. The dictionary defines novelty as a small, often cheap, cleverly made article, usually for amusement. The Nagy's had thousands of them, floor to ceiling. There were little jokes and gags, sometimes risque, passed around parties in the 40's and 50's. When you pulled " Miss Lola, The Snappy Bubble Dancer" leg's out, your finger got snapped. 

The Nagy's, an ancient father, son and dog, stayed open till around 1980. I was never sure which one was the son. To me, as an aficionado of the old and curious, the store was a shrine. Items which they sold for a few cents, now sell on ebay for many dollars. They manufactured their own greeting cards. Shown here is the front and inside of an embossed card probably dating back to the 1920's.

reprinted from December of 2008

A Reflection On Christmas Lights

When I was a child, when it came to Christmas lights, more seemed better. I recall my father taking us to see a house out on Union Street, beyond Union Terrace, which decorated lawn, house and roof. The home owner continued that tradition for many years, until he became too old to perform that labor of love. 

When I became older and more visual, I found less decorations more tasteful. Not only was I drawn to less, but also older. Over the years my camera would turn to the retro decorations, especially those faded and shopworn. The film elmusion has held up better than my memory...I can only guess where the photo above was taken. 

Today's inflatables are not, in my opinion, camera worthy.

reprinted from previous years

A Bastard Blogger And Christmas Lights In Parkway

As dusk falls, cars start entering Lehigh Parkway to enjoy the annual Christmas light display.  In the darkness they drive past the top of the Double Stairwell, built by the WPA in 1935. It was designed as the signature structure in the park. In daylight they would see that the top landing is breaking up, and the subsequent landings down the double stairs are even in worse condition. These cracked landings allow seeping water to undermine the steps below them,  jeopardizing the entire structure.  I have been reporting these deteriorating conditions to the Park Department for six years. While nothing has been done to rehab this irreplaceable structure, the department is actively seeking grants to build another new park, near the old incinerator plant off Basin Street.

As a long time public critic of the former Pawlowski administration,  his park directors may have dismissed my criticism of park policy as political discontent. However, with the current mayor and park director I have a long time rapport, but to no apparent avail.

When I drive through the park I don't see the pretty lights, but a sad situation. I see crumbling WPA structures. I see neglect and misplaced priorities.

reprinted from December of 2019 

UPDATE DECEMBER 2020: The Park Department did repair the vertical surfaces on the stairwell structure this past summer through a Trexler Trust grant, but not the landings. Because the landing surfaces are essential to maintain the structural integrity, I will keep up my campaign for such repair.

UPDATE DECEMBER 2021: In a few weeks we'll have a new mayor, but this old blogger will to continue to focus on the same shortcomings to our park system. Rather than seeking outside grants for the WPA structures, they must become main park budget items. They must be given the priority their place in our history deserves.

Jennie Molovinsky, Part 1

I was at a party where the host recently acquired a lawn sculpture. Unknown to him, a section of it was comprised of an old Jewish tombstone, of a wife and mother, M. Azrilian, who died at the age of 25 in 1918. It's a beautiful carving of a branchless tree trunk, symbolizing a life ended prematurely.
I became concerned as to where this stone had come from. Who would know if their great-grandmother's stone was taken? I had no idea even where my great-grandmother was buried. I searched for this young woman's grave. Finally, Rabbi Juda from Bethlehem directed me to the old Agudath Achim Cemetery in Fountain Hill. There I found the woman, M. Azrilian, with a new grave marker. Next to her I discovered Jennie Molovinsky, my great-grandmother.

My thanks to Rabbi Juda and M. Azrilian (1893-1918)

I  wrote the above paragraph in July of 1997.  In searching for M. Azrilian, I first became aware of Mt. Sinai, the small Jewish portion of Fairview Cemetery on Lehigh Street in Allentown. Early posts on this blog deal with my advocacy for that cemetery, and the history of the Mt. Sinai portion.  When Jennie died in 1913, the former Agudath Achim Synagogue on 2nd Street in Allentown had just consecrated their new cemetery on Fullerton Avenue. Jewish tradition requires that the first burial be a man, so Jennie was buried in the old cemetery, on Fountain Hill.

reprinted from June of 2014

Using A Bad Lesson Well Taught In Philadelphia

Back on May 4th, before the death in police custody in Minneapolis, I wrote about Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw.  She instructed the police force not to arrest for minor infractions, like theft and prostitution, during the virus crisis. Large groups of young people were running amok in center city Philadelphia convenience stores,  scooping up everything their backpacks could hold. Meanwhile at City Hall, woke mayor Jim Kenney stayed silent about this decline in civilization. Only after a couple weeks, after a merchant and citizen backlash, did Outlaw and Kenney finally reverse policy.

Philadelphia inner city kids were taught a bad lesson by their police commissioner and mayor. 

Perhaps with that lesson fresh in their mind, some of them may have graduated to the looting this past weekend.

My first reaction to the looting on Walnut and Chestnut Streets was that the police must have stood down. How could looters smash windows and enter a Wells Fargo Bank without being stopped? How could all that theft and destruction only result in 13 arrests Saturday night?

I realize that there are a limited number of police and that Philadelphia is a large city. While I can't pass judgement on the police response, I will on the looters shown above. I do not believe that their thinking centered on George Floyd and institutional racism, but rather about what they could steal.

Here in the Lehigh Valley, the mayors and police chiefs conveyed their commitment to social justice.  But more importantly,  the local protestors expressed their hopes and solidarity in a lawful manner.

photocredit:Steven Falk/Philadelphia Inquirer

above reprinted from January of 2020

ADDENDUM DECEMBER 8, 2021: Yesterday, liberal Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner tried to convince the press that citizens or tourists shouldn't worry about the record 521 homicides, because some other crime statistics are down. He said this nonsense despite more and more innocent victims caught in the crossfire.

Lehigh County recently had a smash-and-grab incident at Hamilton Crossings. Fortunately, I couldn't imagine local DA Martin echoing Krasner's sentiments.

The Lehigh Valley At War

If you lived in the Lehigh Valley during either World War, you knew that those victories required an enormous amount of equipment. Mack Truck was under control of the War Department during both conflicts, starting in 1915 and then again in 1942. The Queen City Airport on Lehigh Street is a vestige of the second war. Mack Truck and Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft joined forces to produce planes and plane parts. Mack's biggest contribution was its trucks during WW1, establishing their reputation for durability. The naval gun shop at Bethlehem Steel was one of the largest in the world when built. With barrels up to 16 inches, it was capable of providing up to 30 guns a day.

Mack Trucks for War Department 1918

above reprinted from January 2013

UPDATE May 2, 2018: Mack Defense, a division of Mack Truck in Macungie, was just awarded a Defense Department contract for $82 million to produce trucks through 2023.

A Messy Transition For Allentown

There is no going back to 50's and 60's for downtown Allentown. There's no going back to the strawberry pie in the Patio Resturant at Hess Brothers. There was somewhat of a classist element to the removal of the recent former businesses on Hamilton Street. While there was nothing there to appeal to a more well heeled west end crowd, there was nevertheless quite a bit of business.  So now we're out with old, but as of now, not much new shopping has replaced it. The transition was rather messy, and not reported upon by the Morning Call and other more main stream local media.

I became very much involved in the transition. I met and championed for the former merchants. I attended meetings with them at city hall. On this blog I documented their plight. I noted the irony that while they were considered a blight on Hamilton Street, they were then lauded as a success story for 7th Street. 

Several years ago while the Morning Call was pumping out one press release after another for the new NIZ, this blog remained with reporting the other side of the story. The newspaper itself is now reduced, with their building sold to the NIZ Czar, and their reporters working from home. 

I too remain working from home, with my old Kodak camera and Smith Corona typewriter. I hope to continue documenting that other side of the story. 

Shopping Around The Corner In Allentown

Needless to say that when I was a kid downtown Allentown was bustling. There was nothing that you couldn't find or buy on Hamilton Street. The mercantile district was so vigorous that it could support stores and businesses two blocks out in either direction. Across the street from the Earl Theater on 8th Street, the Look Steak Shop did a hardy business. Also in that block was Stangl's Jewelry, Goodin's Optical and a hearing aid business.

It is a little difficult to recognize those businesses in the photograph above. While the city and newspaper was lauding the progress of the upcoming arena, I was documenting the demolition of the city's history. The buildings were not the only victims. The last group of owner operators were also roughed up by the city...I also documented that.

I apologize to those of you who are happy season ticket holders at the new arena. While you can read about the progress at numerous other sites, including the city web page, City Center Realty, and The Morning Call, this blog commemorates the past.

reprinted from previous years

Treasures Lost On Hamilton Street

                                                   click photograph to enlarge

The merchants who built Hamilton Street counted on architecture to attract shoppers into their emporiums. Large neon signs wouldn't appear for another fifty years. The soffit and fascia shown above, halfway between 7th and 8th on Hamilton, is one of the most elaborate facades in Allentown. One thing you can say about Allentown City Hall, they never let culture, art, or history get into the way of their plans. As successful cities come to value and profit from their history more and more, Allentown keeps using the standard catalog of proven failures. I know from other projects on Hamilton Street that Pawlowski isn't big on history. The Cityline Building in the 800 Block was permitted to stucco over beautiful brickwork. Sad that the puppies, who are directors at the Art Museum and Historical Society, remain silent on the planned destruction. It's hard to describe the magnificence of the skylight shown below, also in the targeted block. It's very large in three sections, in pristine condition. Should be quite a snack for Pawlowski's bulldozer.
The bulldozer prevailed, and the former architectural treasures of our mercantile history were not preserved, save for this blog's archives. Above is reprinted from May 2011

ADDENDUM:   This past weekend, a member of Old Allentown Preservation Association, and an active local Democrat, bragged on facebook about how he had recycled an old second floor office door from the demolished buildings in the arena zone. In truth, Old Allentown also turned a self serving, callous eye to the destruction noted in the above post. Although I'm glad the door was recycled, allow this post to note the irony and hypocrisy of the Association.

reprinted from January of 2015


UPDATE NOVEMBER 16, 2017: Although there's always some group bestowing some award on any new development, the Allentown NIZ is certainly no architectural destination.  Although I've taken hundreds of photographs in Allentown, including the ones shown here,  I have yet to buy film for any new building in the NIZ.

above post reprinted from previous years.

ADDENDUM DECEMBER 2, 2021: In the decade since I wrote the original portion of this post, most of the historical buildings in the former mercantile district have been replaced. While architecturally significant buildings, owned by different people have been lost, they have been replaced by unremarkable boxes, mostly owned by one man. Young people moving into these new apartments will not remain,  there is no urban environment to enjoy... Today's new apartments along Walnut and Linden Streets will be tomorrow's tenements. 

Double Down (Towns)

People often speculate as to why Bethlehem now is a destination, while, too often, Allentown is considered a place to avoid. The long answer will not fit within this short post, but here may be a few reasons. Bethlehem had two downtowns, on both sides of the river. While downtown Allentown certainly was the premier shopping area for the Lehigh Valley prior to the malls, it may have become a victim to over-planning. In the late 60's, early 70's, Allentown attempted to compete with the suburban malls by building a canopy on Hamilton Street. The viability of Hamilton Street was extended for a few years, but the magnetism of Hess's could well have been the reason. Bethlehem also built a pedestrian mall on Broad Street, but the historical quaintness of Main Street remained. Although the commerce in its southside business district languished, the architecture remained. By the time Allentown removed the canopies in the late 90's, the architecture of its buildings had long been bisected and altered. As historical became chic, Bethlehem profited from having done less in the past.

Its southside business district is a time capsule, architecturally unchanged since the turn of the last century. It now is becoming a mix of boutiques and bistros in a fashionable historic setting. Last, but not least, Bethlehem benefited from consistency of developmental leadership. While Allentown has had a succession of Economic Directors, Tony Hanna, with benefit of his institutional memory, has led Bethlehem for many years.

Shown at the top is pop up photo matches from the 1930's, promoting Julian Goldman's Fine Clothes For The Family on the South Side, East Third Street. Also shown is Tony Hanna, along side of the former Goodman Furniture Store.

above reprinted from July of 2012

ADDENDUM DECEMBER 28, 2018: Allentown lost most its historical mercantile district with the arena, and new NIZ office towers. They are without architectural merit.

ADDENDUM DECEMBER 1, 2021:When I wrote this post in 2012, I  had no idea Allentown would lose almost all its vintage buildings on Hamilton Street. Someone recently commented on social media that they're glad some older buildings were retained on the southside of the 700 block. Actually, those buildings were financial holdouts from Reilly's City Center Real Estate offers, not historical planning.  When Reilly's real estate portfolio is completed, Hamilton Street will be unrecognizable from 2012.

The Allentown Parking Authority

The Allentown Parking Authority Officer shown here is by far the most productive person they have, he may well be the most productive city worker period. I estimate he easily writes over a $half million dollars a year by himself. He spends the day hopping from one fertile hot zone to another. You can see him everyday, several times working Chew Street, between 16th and West. That block, because of the hospital, has time restricted parking. He's like a fisherman, a very good one, who knows the good spots. For those less familiar with this blog, please use the search engine on the upper right; type in parking authority. Along with taking them to task numerous times, I documented fictitious data they provided to City Council to justify doubling the meter rate and fine structure. I also 

"They're acting like a vampire sucking the blood out of downtown," Molovinsky said of the authority.

conducted a news conference, covered by Channel 69, on unnecessary parking meters as far out as 10th and Chew. Those meters were finally removed, only this year. Some comments on the previous post suggest that there is justification for the Authority and their policies. As a student of this bureaucracy for years, I can tell you that it has actually had a negative affect on center city commerce. It's simply a back door tax, mostly on those who can least afford it. The cars shown are being ticketed for not moving for street sweeping, despite the snow.*

*photographs from 2007, Parking Authority supposedly no longer gives "sweep tickets" during snow storms.

This is a reprint from September of 2010 and March of 2014.   I was told by the former Authority director that although the regulations haven't changed, they now use discretion concerning enforcement during snow hardships.

Welcome To The Vendig

In 1933, with the end of Prohibition, my grandparents(maternal) started operating the Vendig Hotel. They were the working partners, another immigrant family, here longer, were the silent backers. The hotel was directly across from the current Main Street Depot Restaurant in Bethlehem, which was the old New Jersey Line Terminal. With my grandmother cooking, they became well known for crab cakes and other shelled seafood. What wasn't known, was that she was strictly kosher, and never even tasted anything she prepared. As some may recall, my grandparents came from Hungarian Transylvania (now Romania) in the early 20's. Family lore* says Bela Lugosi visited the hotel. Lugosi was born in the same area of then Hungary, and started his acting career playing Jesus in Passion Plays. In 1931, after immigrating to America years earlier, he got his big break playing Dracula. Typecast as a villain, Lugosi was reduced in later years to drug addiction and playing in low budget monster films. He died in the mid 50's and was buried in his Dracula cape.

*My uncle, who as a boy lived above the hotel, had no recollection of Lugosi. The partner families would later merge through marriage, and 40 years later come to own the old vaudeville theater in South Bethlehem known as The Globe. It too is gone.                                                      

reprinted from 2008

Defending Monocacy Park

I have often explained to people how Allentown WPA projects came to benefit so much from Harry Trexler.  In the late 1920's Trexler commissioned Franklin Meehan, a leading Philadelphia-based landscape architect, to design the park system for Allentown. When the depression hit in 1929, Trexler put implementing those plans on hold.  In 1935, when the New Deal WPA came to town,  the city was shovel ready with plans commissioned years earlier by Trexler. 

In the last decade (and before) I have been an advocate for maintaining the WPA structures within our park system.  While Allentown can boast of numerous magnificent structures, Bethlehem also received the royal treatment with the construction of the elaborate dam complex in Monocacy Park. 

Unfortunately for Bethlehem, the Wildlands Conservancy still has its sights set on demolishing that and all other dams. Although they publicly state that they respect a municipality's decisions on such matters, they never stop moving forward with their agenda.  They poison the well behind the scenes with state agencies, which have regulation over dams.  In South Whitehall, their scheming with counterparts in Harrisburg has driven the cost of keeping Wehr's Dam from $50K to $750K.

While I cannot actively take on the mission of protecting the Monocacy Dam, the least I can do is sound the alarm.  If there are people out there who realize that Bethlehem will never again be graced with such a magnificent park,  they should start organizing to defend it.

Sledding In Allentown

The photograph shown above is from 1958. It was taken in Little Lehigh Manor, the 1940's era housing development located above Lehigh Parkway's south ridge. I had the pleasure of growing up in that neighborhood. Our sledding hill of choice was above the Log and Stone House. 

Other popular sledding hills were in Allentown's west end,  behind Cedar Crest College, and Ott Street, between Livingston and Greenleaf Streets.  Years ago, a bridge crossed the creek by the park office at 30th and Parkway Blvd., with a parking area for sledders by the Cedar Crest hill. The Ott Street hill was closed to cars by the city, as an accommodation for sledders.  None of these hills are now accessible to a kid with a sled.

photo courtesy of S. Williams

reprinted from previous years

ADDENDUM THANKSGIVING 2021: Allentown is sledding into a new era, with a new mayor set for January. The Allentown of my youth, in the 1950's, is melting away. This blog, printed every weekday, is a chronicle of the past and a commentary on the present. My other project, Facebook group Allentown Chronicles, provides a venue for more participants.

Matt Tuerk's Transition Team

Matt Tuerk announced his transition team with pronouns after every name (he/him, she/her).  The pronouns concern me a little, because there are issues at city hall which should not be eclipsed by a preoccupation with political correctness. Missing on the transition team was yours truly (he/him), but rest assured that the new mayor will still receive my advice, probably in a much more public fashion than he would prefer.

Tuerk also announced that city hall personnel will stay as is. Many of those positions were filled and advanced by Pawlowski on less than the best practices, and were then left in place by O'Connell. Consequently, in some positions of authority there is still a reflection of Pawlowski's imperial attitude.  I can understand Tuerk wanting to start the journey with an experienced crew,  but I'm hoping to see some changes as time passes. We can no longer--for example--have a property owner targeted for amusement or revenge. We can no longer have supervisors who condone such bullying.

Music From The Morning Call

Readers of this blog know that I'm very critical of the Morning Call.  My criticism is both long standing and well informed.  Over the decades I've seen them contort numerous issues, both through taking politicians' statements at face value, and outright omission. My accusation is as recent as this past spring's article on Wehr's Dam.

On the other hand, I keep reminding readers that we're fortunate to still have a local paper. Most of the reporting is accurate, and without them we would be much more in the dark.  I take sincere pleasure in complimenting current columnist Paul Muschick. 

Muschick has been producing forthright articles, taking local institutions to task for their shortcomings. Recently, he has taken aim at the Parking Authority and our State House. 

Muschick is very good.  To get blogger mean, he'd have to work in a slaughter house and collect rent downtown.

A River Of Money Flows Through Allentown

Any official who was anybody, was under the Tilghman Street Bridge last week praising the new road to be built, wedged between Front Street and the river.  The Morning Call in their glowing article was wrong in its first line, The road stretches for about 3.5 miles on the east side of Allentown, and no more accurate thereafter. 

East Allentown of course is on the other side of the river, on the east side, and never gets anything.  If the money and project was going to the east side, then it would be indeed the big deal our bloated officials make this out to be. However, the bloaters and their erroneousness statements brought a smirk to my face, well worth the $22to$55 $million $dollars being $wasted. The Jaindl portion of the road being built is referred to as "private money."  I suppose in the world of bureaucratic grants, public money from another source, such as the NIZ diverted state taxes, almost seems like private to them.

Over the decades I watched the bureaucrats involved mature from interns to fully salaried public pontificators. State Rep Schlossberg warned that roads can be racist, but no worry, Hasshan Batts is on traffic duty.

Half a block to the west, Front Street will still run the same path from Hamilton Street north to Whitehall. Many thousands of people, over a hundred and fifty years, took dozens of small roads into their workplaces along the river during our prosperous past.  Taxes and public good came from those enterprises. Now our taxes will flow the other way, to benefit the connected bloaters.

Molovinsky vs. Parking Authority

Although the Morning Call went out of their way to under-report it, there was a third candidate in the 2005 mayoral election,  independent Michael Molovinsky.  During the campaign I held three press conferences... One about subsidized housing, and the other two about the Parking Authority. The paper only reported on one,  and for that one they invited the Authority's director at the time, Linda Kauffman, to refute my allegations.  Of course the paper never revealed their connections to the Authority. 

The Authority had bailed Park & Shop out of the dwindling downtown parking business by buying their lots.  The malls on McArther Road were going full tilt, and Hamilton Street was dying a quick death.  Morning Call owner Miller owned most of Park & Shop, along with Jack Leh and Harvey Farr. 

Both the Morning Call and the Parking Authority would continue to serve the establishment and each other for the next three decades. This would include the Parking Authority purchasing Morning Call shed property, such as their parking deck. The Morning Call never reported that the Authority fabricated merchant surveys to justify meter increases to Allentown City Council, as documented by this blogger. More recently, not clarifying the nexus between the Authority, the Morning Call and the NIZ.  The Morning Call was included in the NIZ map, although it was across Linden Street from the district. Authority surface lots sold to selected developers at taxpayer inconvenience, was also not clarified.  

Wednesday's Morning Call article about ticketing parents waiting to pick up their children from school, was the first article critical of the Authority in memory. Of course the Morning Call no longer has assets to protect,  they're no longer even a tenant in their own previous building. While the recent article was a welcome development, don't expect too many revelations from them...Their editor and culture is still very much establishment oriented.

I'm shown above in 2005 at a press conference on housing that the Morning Call attended, but didn't report on. I documented that the property was already remodeled and sold three times at taxpayer expense, and that the most recent subsidized "owner" had also defaulted.

The Allentown Parking Authority Monster

Although the shopping district in Allentown has shrunk down to only Hamilton and 7th Streets, the meter district remains as it did during the heydays of the 1950's. The meters extend from Walnut to Chew, from 5th to 10th, well over 1000 meters in 20 sq. blocks. Parking meters extend out to 10th and Chew Sts, three full blocks beyond the closest store.* These meters are a defacto penalty for the residents, mostly tenants. In essence, it is a back door tax on Allentown's poorest citizens. The apologists claim the tenants can purchase a resident meter pass, however their friends and visitors cannot. To add insult to injury, in 2005, to help finance a new parking deck for the arts district, the Parking Authority doubled the meter rate and fines. Testimony to City Council permitting the rate increase indicated it was favored by the merchants. At that time I documented to the Council that in fact the merchants were not informed, much less in favor. The vote was 5 to 2, with Hershman and Hoover dissenting
* I used the above copy on my posting of October 3, 2007. In the past several weeks the Parking Authority finally removed the meters in the 900 block of Chew St, 50 years beyond their legitimate need.

UPDATE: The post above is reprinted from September 2009. I have published dozens of posts on the Parking Authority. In 2005, I conducted two press conferences on their abuses; One conference was at 10th and Chew Streets, and concerned the oversized meter zone. The second conference, directly in front of their office, concerned the fabricated merchant survey that they  presented to City Council. Old tricks die hard. Forward ahead to 2015, and the Parking Authority will once again penalize both existing merchants and residents.  The new plan is to double the meter parking rate from $1 an hour, to $2, and extend the metering time to 10:00pm.  They claim that the merchants are in favor of this plan. Although I will not conduct my own survey, as I did 2005,  their survey defies logic.  Why would any of the few surviving merchants want their customers submitted to a destination city parking rates in Allentown? Despite the hype,  Allentown is not Miami Beach or N.Y.C.. In reality, just as the taxpayers are subsidizing the arena zone,  now the merchants and residents will be subsidizing the arena plan through punitive parking rates.

UPDATE Memorial Day Weekend 2015: I did end up asking several merchants, and no, they were not surveyed. Eight years from the original date of this post, and the Authority is still up to the same shenanigans.   Reilly's City Center tenants, merchants and customers will get a free pass for the Authority's inconvenient parking lots. Other existing tenants in the NIZ, such as the south side of the 900 block of Walnut Street, will not be eligible for residential parking permits.  If you have a problem with any of this, remember, you must now put money in the meter at night, before  complaining to City Council.

UPDATE MARCH 20, 2020:  As of noon yesterday, the Parking Authority suspended tickets in the residential permit zones.  However, normal parking meter tickets will continue.  This would have of course punish merchants still open for business during this virus crisis. However, while there are virtually no merchants left on Hamilton Street since the NIZ revitalization, the punishment would have mostly affect the minority merchants on 7th Street....or in other words, life as usual in Allentown. Governor Wolf has declared that all non-essential businesses must close. Will the monster also now stand down?

UPDATE OCTOBER 20, 2020: Numerous voters trying to drop off their ballots at Government Center at 7th and Hamilton, report that the monster has awoken, and is giving out tickets. 

UPDATE AUGUST 10, 2021: I've been writing about the Parking Authority corruption for over fifteen years.  You will not read about this corruption in the Morning Call, because the paper has always benefitted from their association with it, going back to the days of Park & Shop.

UPDATE NOVEMBER 18, 2021: The Authority is now accused of munching on the poor waiting in line to pick up their children at the inner-city schools. Welcome to the Authority's menu, and welcome to Molovinsky On Allentown, which has been reporting on the monster's diet for the last fifteen years.

Shopping On Hamilton Street

When I was born, my parents lived on 17th Street SW near Queen City Airport. The streets in our neighborhood — Liberator, Coronado and Catalina — were named for some of the World War II planes and parts built there at the Consolidated Vultee factory. I vaguely remember taking the trolley over the 8th St. bridge for our Saturday excursions on Hamilton St... I clearly remember taking the bus. The transit station was on south 8th Street, 75 feet from Hamilton. I can't imagine what Max Hess and John Leh would have said had Lanta moved the terminal and customers to 6th and Linden Street, but then again who cares now about a few Asian merchants.

reprinted from October of 2007 

UPDATE NOVEMBER 17, 2021: I helped organize efforts against Lanta removing bus stops from Hamilton Street, and building their passenger/prison holding facility on 6th Street. My efforts were unsuccessful. I organized efforts against the Allentown Parking Authority doubling parking rates at the time...Those efforts were also unsuccessful.  

I have been successful at making some noise, and not letting the powers that be label all their schemes as good for Allentown, with no questions permitted.  

shown above employee badge from WW2 Consolidated Vultee

No Dutchmen Need Apply

Mildred and Milton are upset. They lived and worked their entire lives in Allentown. They both started working in sewing factories after high school and spend their working lives there. During the late 60's they owned their only car, and always lived in apartments. They never sought any help from the government, their culture taught them to make it do, use it up, wear it out and do without. When they heard about these new public housing apartments overlooking the Lehigh, they thought that would be a nice reward for a life of hard work. They were told it would take years,years they don't have, to get on the list. It's hard for them to understand how brand newcomers to the area go to the head of the line. They don't know about the poverty pimps, the social organizations, funded by grants; The professional advocates who know what buttons to push, who make a career out of political correctness. Maybe we need a Pennsylvania Dutch American Organization.

reprinted from 2007 and 2010 

ADDENDUM: Needless to say ,the previous times I published this piece some readers were offended by its bluntness. Here we are in 2017, and Mayor Pawlowski isn't even seeking Mildred and Milton's vote.

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2021: Fourteen years later, and my 2007 post is more politically incorrect than ever. Mildred and Milton were real people, who never got into Overlook Park. Things come and go...The strawberry pie at Hess's, Roadside America and the Mildreds' and Miltons' of Allentown.

Allentown Before Crime Became Everyday

Shown above is a citizen certificate from Allentown's better days, before crime and violence were everyday occurrences.  Some civic cheerleaders, mostly newcomers,  think that the best days are now,  and that those of us who think otherwise must dwell in a house of negativity. 

The local culture has changed so much that rather than citizens reporting suspicious activity,  they won't even cooperate with police against actual crime, even if they're a victim. We have city council members supporting efforts to defund the police. 

In some communities on the west coast, where defund efforts are more prominent,  young shooters are being paid a monthly stipend of up to a $1000 a month not to shoot anybody. However,  to quality for the allowance, you must have already shot someone. Allentown has already committed a $million dollars of our federal grant money to privately run violence reduction programs, and $250,000 to study inequity in the city. Other local activists have started their own organizations and are queuing up for their grants. This nonsense is given legitimacy by the Morning Call, which repeatedly refers to these opportunists as activists. Their newly graduated cub reporters have no knowledge of Allentown last year, much less any institutional knowledge of the city.

Hope I don't come to look back on our present as the good old days, but that may well be in the cards.

certificate shown courtesy of Daniel Ruth, circa 1980

The Morning Call Marches Toward Garbage Can

When the woman from India called last month to offer me the Sunday paper for free, I told her not only didn't I want it, but that I would cancel my digital subscription if they ever put it on my driveway. Not only could she read the English script, but she understood my reply. 

Although i'm aging and it becomes more difficult to pick things up, I'm still a very early riser.  I have no need for a heavy newspaper out near the street, hours after I already read the digital version. On the contrary, disposing of it is a nuisance.  The woman from India who called yesterday could barely read the script, and didn't understand my English replies at all. After I told her I didn't want the free paper and delivery, she keep reading the script anyway, like a robot with poor English.

In today's paper, reconstituted Bill White is rehashing his hatred of long gone Emma Tropiano. While the newspaper still hasn't reported who finally won the third county judgeship (Ritter prevailed by 74 votes) it spends its limited resources and space with White's nonsense. 

As a local blogger, I maintain digital subscriptions to various sources. With the Morning Call, the annoyances are starting to outweigh their news.

Changing Justice In Allentown

My recent post, Losses For Allentown, mentioned incumbent District Justice Patti Engler losing her bench. The district magistrate system is our first line of defense against Allentown's growing criminality. It is before these district judges that defendants are brought to arraignment by the police department. 

In Allentown's past, district judges were often former policemen. I believe that it would be fair to label Engler's replacement, Linda Vega Sirop, as a social activist. During the campaign she promoted that she would be both the first Latina and first gay if elected.

Philadelphia is no longer the City Of Brotherly Love, unless you're Cain and Abel. The crime and murder rate is horrendous. Social progressives there in both the police and DA's office last year suspended arresting people for shoplifting, until the merchants were almost cleaned out. Philly's latest obsurdity is not enforcing minor traffic violators, because they target people of color too much. Let us hope that down Allentown's road our new district judges won't subvert the efforts of our police department.

ADDENDUM: Although my original premise for this post was that Vega Sirop might be too progressive for Allentown's good, in fairness, that may not be the case.  She's a strong woman, who was laser focused on obtaining this position. I suspect that she will take the judgeship as a sacred mission.

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

Losses For Allentown

Years ago there was always a group of regulars who would attend city council meetings.  Many of them were advocates for their section of Allentown.  Among them was Bob Smith Jr.,  concerned with the East Side, and Patti Engler, watching out for center city. Years later, when they ran respectively for school board and district justice, they already possessed a wealth of civic knowledge. 

Both these incredibly qualified people lost in last week's election.  Local voters are preoccupied with diversity and electing candidates who look like themselves.  Although those motivations are understandable, in doing so they sacrificed the service of two great public servants.

Both Smith and Engler will still be visible in their neighborhoods, improving the quality of life for their neighbors...That's the type of people they are.

Growing Up Parkway

I'm a baby boomer. I was born in December of 1946. As soon as my mother climbed out of the hospital bed, another woman climbed in. I grew up in the neighborhood now called Little Lehigh Manor, wedged between Lehigh Street and the top of the ravine above Lehigh Parkway. That's me on our lawn at the intersection of Catalina and Liberator Avenues, named after airplanes made by Vultee Corporation for the War. We had our own elementary school, our own grocery store, and the park to play in. On Saturdays, older kids would take us along on the trolley, and later the bus, over the 8TH Street Bridge to Hamilton Street. There were far too many stores to see everything. After a matinee of cartoons or Flash Gordon, and a banana split at one of the five and dimes, we would take the bus back over the bridge to Lehigh Street.




Not that many people know where Lehigh Parkway Elementary School is. It's tucked up at the back of the development of twin homes on a dead end street, but I won't say exactly where. I do want to talk about the photograph. It's May Day, around 1952-53. May Day was big then, so were the unions; Most of the fathers worked at the Steel, Mack, Black and Decker, and a hundred other factories going full tilt after the war. The houses were about 8 years old, and there were no fences yet. Hundreds of kids would migrate from one yard to another, and every mother would assume some responsibility for the herd when it was in her yard. Laundry was hung out to dry. If you notice, most of the "audience" are mothers, dads mostly were at work. I'm at the front, right of center, with a light shirt and long belt tail. Don't remember the girl, but see the boy in front of me with the big head? His father had the whole basement setup year round with a huge model train layout. There were so many kid's, the school only went up to second grade. We would then be bused to Jefferson School for third through sixth grade. The neighborhood had its own Halloween Parade and Easter egg hunt. We all walked to school, no one being more than four blocks away.

reprinted from June of 2008

In memory of Clifford "Bobby" Edwards, 1946-2021

Allentown Chronicles Going Private

Several years ago, I started a new local Facebook group titled Allentown Chronicles.  My goal was for a group somewhat more historically oriented than the existing nostalgia groups, where members keep asking which shop had the best pizza or chili sauce. There's nothing wrong with nostalgia, and those groups are very popular, but there was no need for an additional one.

As administrator I have rejected countless people, from mostly the third world, who would like to sell the members a sweatshirt with Allentown printed on it.  While this was burdensome, I preferred  keeping the group public so that any current or former Allentonian had easy access.  The ever changing Facebook is now changing the guidelines, and anybody can join a public group without approval. 

On November 8th the group will become private. If you have been visiting the page but haven't yet joined, you may want to do so in the next few days. 

Shown above was a father promoting the Easter Egg Hunt in Little Lehigh Manor in the 1950's. Allentown has changed a lot since then, and the group-- through posts and personal anecdotes-- tries to provide a place for these recollections. 

photo courtesy of the Williams' family

The Island Of Allentown

While Allentown remains an island of Democratic votes,  the greater Lehigh County veered to the right on Tuesday.  The Republican judge sweep* showed that voters valued their experience in criminal justice, i.e. their awareness of the growing criminal reality we face.  Glenn Eckhart appeared to have scored an upset against incumbent Armstrong, until the write-in count was completed early Wednesday morning.

I expect that Susan Wild didn't sleep well last night. While the progressives in Allentown can't stop worrying about social justice issues,  elsewhere in the county people are apparently getting tired of subsidizing and pandering to the protestors.  

Allentown's new Democratic mayor, Matt Tuerk (there hasn't been a Republican elected Mayor since 1998) has his work cut out for him.  A young man moving from one of the new apartments out to the suburbs said that there isn't anything to do downtown at night except get mugged.  With the voter base in Allentown Tuerk may not have to address the young man's concerns politically... only if he really wants to make a worthwhile difference in Allentown.**

*vote for third judge very close, provisional votes need to be counted

**postcard shown above from Allentown's glory days, which aren't coming back. Tuerk will find no shortage of people playing up for advantage from a new administration, instead, this blog will offer blunt reality checks before day one. 

Old Project With New Mayor

I recently met Matt Tuerk for the first time in a city park. During our brief encounter he mentioned that he knew about my work on the WPA, and indicated that he would like to learn more about park history. 

During his years on city council, Ray O'Connell and I became acquainted from my then frequent visits to council chambers. When he became mayor he invited me to his office discuss the park system, especially my concerns about the WPA structures.  

Although Mayor elect Tuerk also indicated he would be interested in my opinion about the parks and WPA,  I'd be reluctant to make any more visits to city hall.  For several years now, to no avail, I have been actively campaigning to have the long neglected landings on the Parkway's Double Stairwell repaired. Until which time as that important repair is finally made, I'll confine my park recommendations to this blog.

photo: Karen El-Chaar and Molovinsky after his 2013 Parkway WPA tour