Harris Converts To Republicanism

Lisa Scheller and the local Republican party have gained a forceful ally, MsPhoebe Harris. Apparently, after being censured by the local Democrats for attending a function associated with the other side of the aisle, she attempted to participate in a Democratic committee meeting. Not only did she find herself unwelcome, but the police were actually summoned to eject her.  Harris maintains that she had never endorsed a Republican, and that other Democrats attended events hosted by elected Republican officials without consequence. Although my understanding of the sequence of events is somewhat murky, Harris felt discriminated against, and before the dust settled, she felt lynched. 

I first met Harris at a coffee klatch organized years ago by Robert Trotner.  A transplant from Maryland, Harris was introduced to Allentown politics when Pawlowski appointed her to the Human Relations Council. In addition to becoming the Allentown Democratic Committee president, she was elected to the Allentown School Board.  

Although being a former political opponent, I suspect that she will be appreciated by Republicans for both her focus and tenacity. Harris will have to defend her conversion to both Democrats and the local Black community, which are tightly associated. Next Saturday, at the Black History Month Commemorative Event,  I suspect that Harris will be the only Republican in the house. Perhaps there will be more before the evening is over.

ADDENDUM:I should clarify that the event she was censured for involved state senator Pat Browne. She only attended the Dr. Oz event AFTER her dust up at the Democratic Committee meeting. 

photo of Dr. Oz and MsPhoebe Harris

Bill Whitewashing At The Morning Call

In his recent column, we learn that Bill White is worried that what he calls the MAGA candidates are going to win come November.  He goes on to clarify that these are the Trump people.  Now, I'm not a Trump person myself, but I sure hope that there are some wholesale changes in Harrisburg. 

Bill claims that he was a long time critic against the Democratic corruption in Harrisburg, but that these MAGAs will really undermine our state's progress. Of course in this Valley of Incumbents Voted for Life, White never put a name to any of these Democrats. It's easy to complain about corruption in the state house when never naming a culprit. 

While White claims that he wanted to see improvement in Harrisburg, he's still worried about any of the status quo being changed out. Over the years White has labeled me misguided and dour for actually naming bad people and programs.  There is a reason that the FBI spent two years investigating Allentown, and practically every contract signed at city hall. It took that long because there were no clues from Bill White or anybody else at the Morning Call.

The West End Train Branch

The Lehigh Valley Railroad operated a train branch line which served Allentown's commercial west end. It ran along Sumner Avenue servicing the scrap metal yards, warehouses and numerous coal dealers located there. The line then crossed Tilghman Street on a diagonal at 17th, before looping back east by Liberty Street at the Fairgrounds. The line ended at a rail yard now housing the small shopping center at 12th and Liberty. Although many of former commercial buildings still exist, all now house more retail type businesses. The B'nai Brith Apartments occupy the site of the former Trexler Lumber Yard. These historical shorts are difficult to write, because most current residents have no frame of reference to our former commercial past. True historians, such as the local railroad buffs, cringe at the lack of detail and specific location of the tracks. Suffice to say that once upon a time, the mid-section of Allentown had much more commerce.

photo of train crossing Tilghman at 17th Street taken by Kermit E. Geary in 1974, from the Mark Rabenold Collection.

reprinted from December of 2012

Palin Fair Game

Sarah Palin has been fair game with the press since McCain nominated her in 2008. In the case against the New York Times, she lost before the trial, during the trial, and when the verdict was read. The judge dismissed half the case before the trial, and publicly declared that he would dismiss the charges of libel against the Times, regardless of the verdict. 

Even the Times, although a libel defendant in the case, besmirched her further during the trial. Their reporter wrote that Palin is back in the public eye in a way that is "wholly fitting" with her political persona. 

As a blogger I certainly appreciate freedom of the press.  However, the New York Times purports itself to have standards of objectivity much higher than the gonzo world of words in which I dwell. Although entitled to make a mistake, associating someone with shootings is not something which can be squared away with a correction. 

They certainly did damage her. The real problem is that they in their arrogance consider her fair game. Apparently, the judge also had that same elitist attitude.

A Voice And Style Is Silenced

Patrice Sidoione passed away suddenly earlier this week. When Allentown began the property acquisition program several years ago for the arena, the methods were not nice. Straw buyers were sent into the properties, making offers with threats of eminent domain to those who would not cooperate. Although these tactics were ignored by The Morning Call, this blog reported the process, threat by threat. Patrice, who owned a hair salon on 8th Street, keep me updated on this process and invited me, as did other merchants, to attend their meetings with city officials. Although the administration was hoping that the merchants would go quietly, they didn't know Patrice Sidoione. She championed for her rights, and encouraged the other merchants to stand up for theirs. Those who knew her are saddened by her untimely death. An obituary notice appears in today's paper.

photo of Patrice by Ramy Song

above reprinted from March 21, 2014

An Allentown Cheesesteak Story

Readers of The Morning Call have seen several photo spreads of Tony Luke's opening on Hamilton Street. Two spreads in a row showed Mayor Pawlowski and the owner hyping the new cheesesteak spot, along with at least two articles in recent weeks announcing that the business was coming. The same readers have also seen paid for coupon ads by Zandy's, which have been advertising in the paper for maybe 20 years. Zandy's, on the intersection of St. John and Lehigh Streets, is a third generation Allentown business. Yesterday, a reader commented on a different blog topic that the NIZ is crony capitalism, supported by crony journalism. Submitted comments about which cheesesteak you think is better will not appear, I don't care about that. What I do care about is a mayor and a newspaper, who now seems to think that Allentown starts and stops at the NIZ portion of Hamilton Street.

above reprinted from November 18, 2014

UPDATE FEBRUARY 14, 2022: Since I wrote the above post over seven years ago, not only has Tony Luke's come and gone, but also local cheesesteaker Vince's, in the same spot, has come and gone--- not to mention Pawlowski himself.  However, Zandy's is still on St. John Street, serving up its famous cheesesteaks, without the paper's promotion or any NIZ subsidized rent. Until last week the Morning Call has stayed faithful to NIZ, with no questions asked. However, lo and behold they revealed that their right to know inquiry about NIZ taxes was stymied by Pat Browne's latest NIZ amendment.  On the surface it might appear that the paper is finally doing what it should have been doing for the last decade. However, having a smudge of cynicism,  I see another possible motive. The Morning Call editors have embraced Mark Pinsley and his political ambitions. Bashing Browne now serves the paper well with that agenda.

Hasshan Batts Not A Bashful Man

Hasshan Batts was on my radar a few years ago, when a video emerged with him angry about a parking ticket. He was ranting about racial discrimination. I can assure him that the Parking Authority also victimizes white, yellow and brown people

He also made this blog page previously when Cynthia Mota repeatedly nominated him to be appointed Pawlowski's replacement mayor. Cynthia forgot to mention that she was at the time in his employ at Promise Neighborhoods. Although I broke the story here, the Morning Call gave no attribution when they reported the same story several days later, but that's another complaint, for another day.

I'm back on Hasshan's case today because of his current editorial in the Morning Call. It concerns Black History Month and he's certainly a qualified representative. My issue is his conclusion...to support Black leadership, local Black businesses and Black-led nonprofit organizations... I personally don't think that support should be automatic because a person or group is black, but because they're  competent individuals. But the glare is Black-led nonprofit. Just like Mota forgot to mention that she worked for Batts, Batts might mention that he leads a Black non-profit.

photo of Hasshan Batts and Alan Jennings

ADDENDUM: Police Chief Charles Roca had officers join Batts' candle vigil at the scene of the latest shooting. While Roca wants to show police empathy to community pain, he may be inadvertently Defunding his own department.

The Morning Call's Steep Price

On Saturday, the Morning Call featured a story about Enid Santiago's challenge to the primary election, mentioned that she is now a write-in candidate, and linked to the voter's guide they published the day before. The paper's pre-election coverage now included every candidacy, except mine.

Ironically, the article documented that there was no basis for Santiago's charges alleging ballot irregularities.  The newspaper cheerfully cooperated with her to gain maximum publicity for a write-in campaign, after losing a primary election. 

I have paid a steep price for scrutinizing local government, and calling out the newspaper for not doing the same.  However,  my activism, and subsequently this blog, wasn't motivated because all was well in the Lehigh Valley.  Between ineptitude and corruption, watchmen are always needed.  The Morning Call went from good old boy local ownership, to outside corporate indifference, with neither entity motivated to upset the local status quo. 

Years ago a critic such as myself was limited to an occasional letter to the editor, or a soapbox on the corner. Things have changed with the internet. Myself and other bloggers can present information previously kept from the public.  Somebody researching former Mayor Pawlowski will find questions about his integrity here on this blog, more than a decade before the Morning Call broached the topic.  On many other topics, such as the Parking Authority and the NIZ, which I have scrutinized,  the paper has yet to take its head out of the sand.  

In regard to the NIZ,  this blog documented that the city, through straw buyers, was using strong arm tactics to dislodge the former merchants of the arena block.  The Morning Call was not only compliant, but complicit in that scheme.  They were the only private entity included in the NIZ map, on the north side of Linden Street. 

Although my criticism of the paper has cost me any coverage in regard to my campaign for Harrisburg, it's a price I'd rather pay, than joining their endorsement of status quo mediocrity in our community.

above reprinted from November of 2020

The Morning Call Awakens To Allentown's Monster

After being subservient for over a decade, The Morning Call finally decided to investigate something about the NIZ. After the paper submitted a Right To Know request, Pat Browne changed the law to thwart their inquiry. I have often said that the NIZ was written in pencil, and has been changed numerous times, as J.B. Reilly and other benefactors sought ever-expanding opportunities. 

In my view, the Morning Call was almost complicit in the NIZ's early shenanigans. They had no issue with being included in the first map, although their building was across the street from the district's main zone. Reilly would end up owning the Morning Call building for use in the cigarette tax add on amendment. That map itself has become a historic relic, because amendments to the NIZ law now allow the NIZ to trade for property outside of the district. 

This blog was vindicated by the FBI when Pawlowski's deals were adjudicated. The NIZ may never be deemed illegal because our elected dolts signed off on it, but it may well become a case study in government ethics.

Shown above, I'm flanked by Pawlowski bagman Mike Fleck and NIZ Authority lawyer Seymour Traub as I'm complaining about how former property owners were bullied into selling. While back then the Morning Call's Bill White labeled me misguided for my criticism of the NIZ, the paper is now finally beginning to see the monster they helped promote. 

Lamont Doesn't Impress In Northampton

I don't suffer either political correctness or myths well. One of the myths that aggrevate me most is farmland preservation. Fly over Pennyslvania some time and you'll realize that the state is mostly farmland. The only thing in short supply is farmers, and the notion of training people to become farmers is even more absurd than preservation itself. We have no food shortages, and farmland preservation is a solution looking for a problem. 

When I read a recent op-ed praising preservation by Northampton's Lamont McClure, I was very unimpressed. McClure wants to "combat" warehouse proliferation. In our real, real estate world, the Jaindl Company develops their land with good road access, and rents thousands of acres to grow feed corn. *

Although McClure is fellow blogger Bernie O'Hare's current favorite pol, I never paid him much mind before. Yesterday, O'Hare reported that McClure also wants to reward county prison employees with a 25% raise for three months, if the workforce reaches a vaccination rate of 75%.

Fortunately, I'm not a taxpayer in Northampton County. Although I no longer routinely tolerate attending meetings, I would be compelled to help Lamont find his misplaced common sense.

photocredit:Lehigh Valley Ramblings

*ADDENDUM: The Farmland Preservation programs can mostly only afford to buy land that wouldn't be developed anyway.

 ADDENDUM: The Farmland Preservation programs could never afford the warehouse ready land near major interstates. Farmland Preservation is a feel-good nonsense program largely enriching the landed gentry.

National Republican Discourse

As a conservative independent, when not casting my vote for an independent, it more often than not goes to the Republican candidate.  While my disillusionment with Trump occurred early in his term,  any defense of him completely expired on January 6th, 2021.  

While I take heart in Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and Mike Pence,  the RNC Salt Lake winter proclamation defending January 6th can only hurt the party in 2022 and 24. Hopefully, by their spring meeting, they will be more Republican, and less Trumpican. 

Trump didn't win the election in 2020, and likewise he wouldn't win in 2024. However,  there is a backlash to the progressive Democratic programs now occurring.  The Defund The Police mentality has turned the urban cores into a lawless jungle.  The endless stimulus payments have a negative effect on the economy. There are real opportunities for rational Republicans to prevail.  However, supporting Trump's delusions is not rational. 

I suppose Republican candidates feel that they can walk the tightrope to win primaries in the spring, and then move more toward the middle for November.  They are overestimating themselves, and underestimating the voters.

Over The Dam In 2014

For this early morning edition blog, 2014 is under the ice and over the dam. Between fighting to preserve Wehr's Dam, running for office and providing reality checks about downtown Allentown, its been a busy year.

I believe that the unvarnished truth is a commodity in short supply in the Lehigh Valley. From the main stream media, out of town readers would think that Allentown has turned completely around. We who actually plug the meters on Hamilton Street know that although the new buildings are in place, the promised commerce has yet to begin. So far even the arena events can be counted on one hand. Mayor Pawlowski had read so many proclamations about the New Allentown in the local paper, he thought that he could ride that bus to Harrisburg. Although the articles about success were premature, I do believe that real change is coming Allentown's way.  

molovinsky on allentown will be glad to celebrate that success when it arrives, but in the meantime, will tell it like it is.

above reprinted from December 31, 2014

UPDATE FEBRUARY 4, 2022: Although over seven years has passed since the above was written, things are pretty much the same in Allentown... Not many events at the arena, or people on Hamilton Street. While Covid-19 is a valid excuse for the last two years, we know now that the expectations of 2014 were not to be anyway. Allentown may become a successful urban office park. The up and coming politicans may mature into leaders. We may be able to establish civility in the urban core. Hopefully, we can avoid becoming one more large crime ridden city.

Tuerk Bloats Mayoral Staff

Last night when approving four new positions for Matthew Tuerk's administration, councilwoman Candida Affa reminded us that new presidents and governors always create new slots for their trusted people. Someone might remind Candida that so far Tuerk is only a mayor. She was Pawlowski's most loyal supporter, and now seems to be kissing Tuerk's ring.

Allentown's new Communications Manager, Genesis Ortega, said previously that the new positions reflect a “fresh start” and “new approach.” So far I see neither.  

Here at molovinsky on allentown, there are no new positions or approaches. We will scrutinize the new administration, as we have always done in the past.

photo: two mayors and a governor wannabe

Zac Cohen And Donald Trump Have A Lot In Common

Zac Cohen and Donald Trump both refuse to accept the results of their respective elections. A Hail Mary federal lawsuit has been filed seemingly on Cohen's behalf after exhausting all legal options in Pennsylvania.  Five bipartisan electors, who didn't remember to date their mail-in ballot, have filed the suit. Cohen clearly is more concerned with his career than justice in Lehigh Valley, which continues without its third new judge.

On a bipartisan note, allow me to say that we can do without any candidate who refuses to accept the results of their election. 

We can do without a president who considers sedition part of the electoral process. We can do without a judge who cannot accept a verdict.

UPDATE: Bernie O'Hare weighs in on the same topic.

UPDATE FEBRUARY 3, 2022:  Bernie O'Hare weighs in on the same topic once again.

Lanta Chronicles

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 weeks party for the Brewpub, the rickshaws will operate on a regular basis between Hamilton Street and our new Lanta Transportation Center. Reprinted from Oct. 7, 2007 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. Reprinted from Oct. 20, 2007 ONCE UPON A TIME This image heralds back to once upon a time, when traffic, buses and shoppers on Hamilton Street were desired, much less called congestion. Although Lanta's circulator bus has only attracted 12 riders a day, their new concessions, which do not start until Feb.11, only add stops on 7th and 8th streets to the northwest and south sides. No concessions will be made for the Hanover Ave. and east side passengers. Lanta has clearly put the justification of their new transfer station over the survival of our merchants. I ask you to join me, merchants and bus riders on Tuesday Dec. 11, at 12 noon at the Lanta Headquarters, 1060 Lehigh Street, to let them know their still doing too little, too late. The image is part of a watercolor by Karoline Schaub-Peeler Reprinted from Dec. 6, 2007 MONSTER AS LANDLORD Can anyone explain why the Allentown Parking Authority should be a landlord? It is apparently not to make money, because the rent is far below the cost to construct the square footage. It is not to serve a local neighborhood need or the need of the bus riders, few of them purchase private vineyard wine or natural fiber designer clothes. Here's the answer; because Linda Kauffman, former director of the Allentown Parking Authority, thought it was a good idea. She also wanted stores in the new deck at 4th and Hamilton, but City Council decided not to compete with local investors. So now we have a parking deck which is mostly empty, a Lanta Transfer Station which is putting the Hamilton Street merchants out of business, and a new subsidized yuppie who will fail anyway because she is in the wrong location for her product. Ms. Kauffman retired and moved to the Maryland beach. Reprinted from Dec. 11, 2007 The Parking Authority never did find a tenant, and now is relocating it's office there from 10th and Hamilton, which will become a Police substation- Feb. 20, 2010 As Hannibal would say, this is only a taste of posts concerning Lanta and the Hamilton Street merchants. The full menu may be found in the blog archives between Oct. 2007 and Feb. 2008

above reprinted from February of 2010 

UPDATE February 1, 2022: Needless to say both the private vineyard and the designer clothes knew better than to open shops under the parking deck. What all the above outrages have in common is that the only scrutiny came from this blog, while the Morning Call promoted the nonsense. Over a decade later, and this blogger continues to speak out.

Saturday Afternoon Matinee

Occasionally, some of the older boys in Lehigh Parkway would get saddled with taking me along to a Saturday matinee in downtown Allentown. We would get the bus from in front of the basement church on Jefferson Street. It would take that congregation many years to afford completing the church building there today. The trolley or bus would go across the 8th Street Bridge, which was built to accommodate the trolleys operated by Lehigh Valley Transit Company. Downtown then sported no less than five movie theaters at any one time. Particularly matinee friendly was the Midway, in the 600 Block of Hamilton. Three cartoons and an episode or two of Flash Gordon entertained our entourage, which ranged in age from five to eleven years old. We younger kids, although delighted by the likes of Bugs Bunny, were confused how the Clay People would emerge from the walls in the caves on Mars to capture Captain Gordon, but our chaperones couldn't wait till the next week to learn Flash's fate. Next on the itinerary was usually a banana split at Woolworth's. Hamilton Street had three 5 and 10's, with a million things for boys to marvel at. The price of the sundae was a game of chance, with the customer picking a balloon. Inside the balloon was your price, anywhere from a penny to the full price of fifty cents. The store had a full selection of Allentown souvenirs. Pictures of West Park on a plate, the Center Square Monument on a glass, pennants to hang on your wall, and picture postcards of all the attractions. Hamilton Street was mobbed, and even the side streets were crowded with busy stores. Taking younger kids along was a responsibility for the older brothers, the streets and stores were crowded, but predators were limited to the Clay People on the silver screen.

reprinted from previous years

Anonymous Comments Now Permitted

I have decided to once again allow anonymous comments on the blog. While a commenter can establish a pseudonym, whose identity is unknown to both me and other readers, there remain those more comfortable with the anonymous option. Comment moderation will continue; that is, comments must still be approved for publication. While the blog office opens very early on weekday mornings, it also closes early in the evening. Comments submitted after 6:00pm will not appear until the following morning.

Allentown (Water) Goes Private... Anonymous Comments Now Accepted

Tomorrow morning at 11:00am, Mayor Pawlowski will announce the sale of Allentown's water and sewage departments to a private operator. The sale is being conducted to satisfy the pension obligations incurred by the police and fire contracts. Two well placed sources have provided this blogger with two versions of the announcement. In the first version, the systems have been sold for $150 million. In the second version, the systems will be put out to bid. In this city, it's very possible that both versions are true; It will be formally put out to bid, but he has a predetermined buyer at the 150 price. The buyer would assume control of both the plants and distribution systems, and be responsible for every aspect of operation. A former city worker insures me that the quality of service from the water department will certainly suffer. Blogger Bernie O'Hare contributed to this post.
UPDATE: The Morning Call apparently felt compelled to issue a statement, and posted their announcement of the pending sale two hours after this post.  They quote an unnamed source saying "If this done right, this will solve the pension problems overnight, but we must install proper oversight and control."  Allentown has no experience with doing things right, or with oversight and controls.  We are in trouble.
UPDATING THE UPDATE:  Our local LCA might well be a bidder (or the bidder) for the Allentown systems.  The current project through Cedar Park interconnects the systems, and will expand their capacity to deliver treated water to western Lehigh County. If the Lehigh County Authority is in fact the buyer, the consequence of selling this prime Allentown asset would be tolerable. Allentonians could expect responsible stewardship and reasonable fees.

building the water works in 1928

above reprinted from July of 2012 

UPDATE JANUARY 28, 2022: When the FBI started to scrutinize the Pawlowski administration in 2013, the water and sewage sale was already a done deal. Allentown had a large capacity for both water and sewage because of Lucent's silicon wafer production, which was water intensive. The water/sewer systems were Allentown's golden goose, always profitable, with the promise to remain that way. A decade has passed. The Morning Call's golden boy Ed Pawlowski, always promoted and never scruntized by them, is in the pokey. Allentown is still in financial trouble, but no longer has its profitable water component.

The Morning Call's Marred Editorial Page

We who opine about local news agree that the Morning Call has about as censored an editorial page as there could be. Most obvious is the paper's use of its Go-To people. Whether for news or opinions, the same people appear in articles and op-eds, time and again. One of the longest standing Go-To regulars is Alan Jennings. Yesterday, his featured front and center editorial on freeing Ed Pawlowski might be a low point even for a newspaper that compromises itself on a regular basis. 

Jennings contrasted Pawlowski's incarceration with Donald Trump's freedom. It was of course a cheap parlor trick, trying to take advantage of our extremely polarized politics. For the Morning Call to permit such a tactic only degrades itself further. 

While Jennings' loyalty to his friend Pawlowski is admirable, his editorial itself was beyond being distorted. Jennings even questioned Pawlowski's guilt. While we give defendents the benefit of the doubt, Pawlowski was convicted on over 45 counts. Numerous people testified under oath about Pawlowski's schemes at the taxpayers' expense. 

Pawlowski's appeal rights will be determined by the court, not pleaded by a Morning Call Go-To favorite. Likewise, that court will decide the appropriateness of the sentence given.

The Morning Call should concern itself with examining their editorial page standards.

Jeopardizing Your House For Ocean Spray

Unknown to Lehigh County residents, one of the reasons Ocean Spray moved here was to avoid costly upgrades to their pre-sewer treatment plant. When you're in violation of New Jersey environmental standards, what do you do, you turn to Donny Cunningham. Here in Sap Valley, we invited Ocean Spray with incentives and called it progress. They, along with the other new bottling industries attracted by Cunningham and LCA, will now jeopardize your home. Rather than expand the sewer treatment plant, homeowners are being forced to block their plumbing safety net, their floor drains. Up to a decade ago, floor drains were mandated by code so that if a pipe broke, your home was protected against flooding. Although nothing has ever gone down my floor drain, I must now block it to comply with new regulations. The thinking is that a drop saved here, and a drop saved there from thousands and thousands of homes, can spare the LCA the expense of enlarging the sewer plant, or building an additional one, and still meet EPA standards. Hell, there's even enough capacity left to invite Ocean Spray. Now, if your hot water heater springs a leak, its too bad for you.

reprinted from April of 2014

ADDENDUM DECEMBER 18, 2019: While the commercial rates paid by the bottling companies remain attractive to them, homeowners in Allentown and other local municipalities are now seeing their residential water rates double.

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

ADDENDUM JANUARY 26, 2022: We now learn from Peter Hall at the Morning Call that carcinogens found in the Delaware River have been traced back to the pre treatment LCA plant in Macungie. Furthermore, that plant is accepting tanktrucks of porta potty waste and chemical waste from New Jersey. What the MC article doesn't mention is that the flow to the Delaware, by way of the Lehigh, goes through the Little Lehigh, a source of Allentown's water. We have become New Jersey's slop bucket, their bedpan.

Allentown's New York Tragedy

Years ago, some in Allentown complained that imported people from New York and New Jersey were lowering the quality of life in Allentown.  This past weekend the person who shot the NYC police officers came from Allentown.

In reality the quality of life is lower in both places.

New York's new mayor, Eric Adams, is pushing back against liberal demands to defund the police.

Let us hope that Allentown's new mayor follows Adam's lead in recognizing that livability in our city depends on a strong police presence.

Allentown's Problem

On social media, someone wondered why Allentown wasn't a local destination,  like Bethlehem or Easton. Most of the answers centered on crime, or the perception of crime, and onerous parking.  I refrained from reminding the group that diverted state taxes were financing the privately owned urban office park that replaced the historic mercantile district.

Bethlehem and Easton present visitors with history, architecture and ambience.  Allentown lost all those attributes, as one developer leveled Hamilton Street for his office empire. In fairness to Allentown's situation, it must be noted that the pandemic has restricted the number of office workers who would otherwise be present.

The architecture of Bethlehem and Easton remains from their shopping district's past. Their restaurants and shops resulted from market demand.  Allentown is a staged production, hoping to attract customers. 

The easiest problem to remedy is the parking.  As noted on this blog as it was happening,  Allentown made a huge mistake allowing a couple of developers to build on the surface parking lots.  People want close by convenient parking, not a parking deck three blocks away. 

To be frank, Allentown Parking Authority, Planning, Zoning and other municipal oversights have catered to the developer, at the expense of everything else.  Their rationale was that their successes are linked. Although there is some linkage,  it's a big city with many shareholders. 

Despite a $Billion dollars of privately owned, publicly financed development, Allentown is a dead zone. The Morning Call hyped the developer's press releases as news, and ignored the empty streets and failing restaurants. 

I am hopeful that the new administration will address some of these issues, starting with the Parking Authority.

photo: Beginning demolition on Hamilton Street for the arena and its adjoining offices

WPA, A Work In Progress

On Labor Day in 2011, The Morning Call ran a story about my efforts in regard to the neglected WPA structures, and announced my upcoming meeting at the Allentown Library. Among those in attendance at that meeting was Karen El-Chaar, director of Friends Of The Allentown Parks. Later that year, I took El-Chaar on a tour of the WPA structures throughout the park system. In 2013, I conducted my first tour of the WPA in Lehigh Parkway, in conjunction with Friends Of The Parks. This year, El-Chaar successfully secured a grant from The Trexler Trust, which is currently being used to restore the steps at Fountain Park. The grant is being supervised by Lindsay Taylor, Allentown Park Director. The work is being done by Dietrich Stonemasonry, and managed by parks supervisor, Rick Holtzman.

Although much work remains to be done, it's my sense that all the decision makers mentioned above, are developing a greater appreciation of the unique gift that the WPA bestowed upon the Allentown park system.  I'm hoping that both that interest and work continues this coming spring and summer, especially in preserving the remaining portion of the wall in Lehigh Parkway.

reprinted from October of 2015

molovinsky on allentown is published weekdays Monday thru Friday.  Comments are accepted using your name or by establishing a pseudonym. Pseudonym identities remain unknown to both myself and other readers. Your readership is appreciated.

UPDATE DECEMBER 1, 2020: Karen El-Chaar is now director of parks. Because she has an appreciation of the WPA, it is my hope that the next mayor has the insight to retain her in that position. Work finally began on the double stairway in Lehigh Parkway.  While the vertical surfaces have been restored, the flat landings at the top and on the stair landings remain to be done.  

UPDATE JANUARY 21, 2022: Although restoring and preserving the WPA structures has been a mission of mine for well over a decade, as a blogger I paid a price.  My criticism of local government and the local press has not helped either with publicity or funds for the WPA projects.  Nevertheless, l will continue advocating for the iconic stone structures throughout our park system, and opining about our local government...There remains a need for both.

General Trexler's Bridge

The 8th Street Bridge is one of the marvels of Allentown.  It was built to facilitate the Liberty Trolley run, from 8th and Hamilton to Philadelphia.  I posted about it before, with its impressive statistics. At the time it was the largest concrete bridge in the world.  It involved two business interests of Harry Trexler,  both the transit company and the local cement industry.

Harrisburg and The Morning Call have been braying about the bridges scheduled for improvement and replacement in the area.  Although, I virtually stopped attending municipal meetings,  I still partake in field trips to the local construction sites.  I don't announce myself, and try to be quick and quiet on these unauthorized inspections.  I would prefer not to vanish like Jimmy Hoffa.  I want to inspect the bridge, not end up in the bridge.

On first glance the work on the bridge looks very impressive. The bridge walls have been replaced with new concrete walls, almost identical to the original, even including the lighting pillars. My question is that the roadbed has been raised about 18 inches, but is still supported by the same arches. Eighteen inches of additional concrete on the roadbed and sidewalk is an enormous additional weight load. Furthermore, I have learned that there was bonding issues between the older base and new concrete. Only the approaches, on both ends of the bridge, have been replaced.  This was done because they are the lowest part of the bridge, and the most feasible parts to replace.  However, they were replaced with pre-stressed concrete beams, and the new arches are only decorative panels.  The original approach bases were massive constructions, which probably would have stood another 1000 years.

Only now is the part of the project which I knew to be necessary beginning.  The massive bridge arches has been showing spalling damage over the last decades.  That is the process where old concrete lets loose from the steel re-bar used as the construction frame.

When the project is completed, I do not expect to be invited to the ribbon cutting. 

reprinted from July of 2016

ADDENDUM JANUARY 20, 2022: The second iconic concrete bridge, the Tilghman Street Bridge, is now undergoing a similar reconstruction process. That project is considerably behind schedule, penalizing both residents and businesses on Union Blvd. Although I have done some photo recon, I have not interviewed workers as I did on the 8th Street project. 

The reason for this reprint is my doubts about the huge Infrastructure Spending Bill that our local politicans are patting themselves on the back about. In slower times the taxpayer money is seldom put to the best use. With all this money there is no project to widen Rt. 22, sorely needed now for two decades. Instead, our portion will build a new road along the Lehigh, only duplicating Front Street a block parallel. Another ribbon cutting I won't be invited to.

Allentown's Real Estate Market

If you sold your house in the last two years, the current real estate market is a wonderful thing.  However, this post is about the future, and what I can only forecast as buyer's remorse.  The amount of remorse will be regulated by the neighborhood.  

With row houses in Old Allentown going for north of $250,000, the remorse will be painful. For those in West Park and farther west, time will heal your wound sooner.

This blog post will offend both current buyers and sellers, and the middle men in between. However, offending people is not outside of this blog's wheelhouse.  There are numerous feel good publications to soothe you on numerous topics, but I have neither the disposition or time for such things.

The street shown above is not meant to reference any particular street, and certainly not any particular property.

Pip The Mouse Assaulted

Pip the mouse was victimized over the weekend by a car highjacking and possible sexual assault.  Although Allentown police chief Charles Roca confirmed the carjacking, he declined to comment on the assault. Mayor Tuerk said that he/she and his/her administration wish Pip a speedy recovery.

City council-person Ce-Ce Gerlach told this blog that she expects to be called about it by the Morning Call today (Tuesday), because the paper no longer works over the weekend. Ce-Ce is a Morning Call Go-To person.  Council-person Joshua Siegel said that he still favors defunding the police, and diverting money to Hasshan Batts, who promises better neighborhoods. 

It has been a rough week for Pip.  His home at Zion Church is up for sale.  Apparently, none of the thousands of new residents of the Strata complexes have joined the congregation, which can no longer afford to maintain their historic church.  Plans are under way to relocate Allentown's Liberty Bell to the former Shula's Steakhouse on the Arts Walk.  Building owner J.B. Reilly said that although the restaurant operator changes frequently, the bell should be secure there.

photo of people watching Pip perform in more innocent times

An Allentown School Primer

While Morning Call readers learned yesterday that Allentown School superintendent Russ Mayo would not be seeking another contract, molovinsky readers already knew that since early last week. However, today's post is a lesson in recent history. Before Mayo, the superintendent was John Zahorchak. The board that hired him thought very highly of themselves for that choice. Zahorchak was former Secretary of Education under Rendell. What the board didn't realize was that while the Rendell administration was a case study in cronyism, it was not concerned with expertise. Zahorchak came to town and turned the school system inside out, and upside down. He instituted every new concept ever written in the education magazines. Among one bad move after another, he transfered Allen High's very effective principal to desk job on Penn Street. In wake of the mess, the board was then glad to hire Mayo, who was familiar with the system before the chaotic changes.

Allentown School System has been suffering from the same problems which affect all urban systems with high poverty rates.  Why the board thinks that a new superintendent will change the parameters of that reality escapes me.  The district just announced that there will be another year with no tax increase, which would be considered welcome news in most communities.

Now some older history;  Shown above is Dorothy Taliaferro, as pictured in the 1920 Allentown High School yearbook.  Dorothy was a vocal supporter for woman suffrage, and hoped to become a doctor. She was the first black girl to graduate from Allentown.  Although Dorothy did not fulfill that career ambition,  she had two younger brothers who did become physicians.  The family lived at 450 Union Street, which was later demolished in one of Allentown's misguided urban renew projects.

Thanks to Dan Doyle for loan of the 1920 Comus.  

reprinted from 2016

Time Moves Slowly In Easton

Reprinted From November 23, 2009: Business, in the center cities of the Lehigh Valley, is a fragile thing at best. Even Bethlehem, considered the most successful, is more charm than dollars. Essentially, these prior centers of commerce have been reduced to three separate economies. The upscale restaurants serve a clientele, mostly in the evening, that has absolutely no interaction with the surroundings. The tourist venues, fixed or seasonal, also provide little revenue for the surrounding shops. Last, but not least, you have an urban population and the bus people. Bethlehem has managed to maintain an upscale demographic living in it's center city, but this post is about Easton. (Allentown only has one such person living on Hamilton Street, she is the Community Development Director)

The Morning Call has published three stories about the High School Sports Hall of Fame, which will occupy part of the new parking deck and Lanta Terminal, several blocks south of Center Square in Easton. Easton Mayor Sal Panto, perhaps hoping to once again see his high school picture, has been cheerleading this effort. Although there is no question that this is a moronic idea doomed to failure, grants are available, and Panto can't resist a grant. The pending failure of the Sports Museum is the good news; the destruction of the bus people economy is the real consequence. Allentown should have taught Panto an expensive lesson. (Lanta doesn't care about lessons or merchants) People waiting to transfer buses, as they do now at Easton's Center Square, will shop if the store is very close and convenient. They will not walk. They will not make an additional stop and wait for another bus. They don't buy much, but there's many of them. Now, they will sit on benches at the Easton Lanta Transfer Terminal and watch school children come to the Al Bundy Museum on field trips. Panto will wonder why business died on Northampton Street.
reprinted from November 23, 2009, then titled Selling Easton's Soul

UPDATE: Over four years later, Al Bundy and Sal Panto have announced that they're canceling their long planned date. The parking garage and Lanta Terminal will now house Easton City Hall.  I first started writing about Easton's planned parking deck when it was scheduled to be behind the Wolf Building, going back to last century. I understand now why Panto supports Pawlowski for governor, time and projects move very slowly in Easton.

 

above reprinted from 2009 and 2013 

UPDATE JANUARY 14, 2022: Time really does move slowly in Easton. Panto is still mayor, and still talking about parking decks and grants. Mayor Pawlowski has been in the big house for several years already, so he won't be much help to Sal after-all. However, there is a new opportunity from Allentown for Easton...Pip The Mouse is looking for a new home. Allentown's privately owned, publicly financed NIZ favors new construction, and there's no appetite for old or historical. If Sal plays his cards right, Allentown will throw a replica of the Liberty Bell in with Pip. I hope to update this post in 2032, and let you know how Mayor Sal is doing with his parking deck project.

The Language Police Never Sleep

Although this blog has been downsizing our political staff, and concentrating on our history bureau, a current story is too ironic to ignore. 

Self proclaimed local Democrat leader Mark Pinsley was reprimanded in a wokefest by his elected peers for using the word ghetto, while complaining about the new redistricting plan in Harrisburg. In trying to explain away his indiscretion, he babbled about being Jewish and the Warsaw Ghetto. I learned about his faux pas from the WFMZ news site. His promoters, aka Morning Call editorial staff, made sure that the story didn't appear on their pages. Expect the paper to shortly host a damage control editorial by Pinsley. 

Although Lehigh Valley's rich history continues to be our current focus, resources will be assigned to monitor Minority Opportunity Zone eggshell walking contests.

Bernie O'Hare also notes Pinsley

UPDATE JANUARY 18, 2022: A Morning Call article on January 8th featuring Lisa Boscola's comments on the new mapping, did mention Pinsley's ghetto comment toward the end of the article.

Moving Allentown's Freight

The Lehigh Valley Transit, in addition to moving people on the trolleys, also moved freight. In Allentown, the freight house was behind Front Street, near the former A&B meat plant. The Kutztown and Reading Trolley Company also had a freight house in west Allentown, which would decades later become the home of former mayor Joe Daddona, at Union Terrace.

UPDATE: Forty five years later, in 1951, we're back at the freighthouse. Notice that a window has been added on the building's side, with only the memory of the earlier sign still present. In another year, both passenger and freight service are gone, with the end of the trolley era.

reprinted from December of 2013

Temporary Inconvenience

Urban renewal projects are nothing new to Allentown. Every couple decades some Mayor thinks he has a brighter idea. In a previous post, I showed the historic Lehigh and Union Street neighborhood, totally destroyed by city planners. Today, an under used Bank calling center sits awkwardly alone on that Lehigh Street hill. The picture above shows another hill of merchants and residents, fed to a mayor's bulldozer. The picture is from 1953, and shows Hamilton Street, from Penn Street down toward the railroad stations. At that time we still had two stations, The Lehigh Valley Railroad and The New Jersey Central. The current closed bar and restaurant occupies the Jersey Central. Everything on Hamilton Street, west of the bridge over the Jordan creek, with the exception of the Post Office, was demolished up to Fifth Street. Government Center would be built on the north side of the street, and a new hotel on the south, to accommodate the many anticipated visitors. Recently we had to remove and replace the facade of the county courthouse, which leaked since it was constructed. The hotel is now a rooming house.

Unannounced plans are underway for a new hotel to service anticipated visitors to Pawlowski's Palace of Sports. It will be up to some future blogger to document how that hotel becomes a rooming house.

reprinted from July of 2011 

UPDATE JANUARY 11, 2022: When I wrote the above post over a decade ago, I didn't foresee the wholesale destruction of the mercantile district into an urban office park. I did however report that the office park was being essentially owned by one man. After J.B. Reilly dominated the NIZ office park,  that legislation was relaxed to also allow his apartment complexes. While those apartments were hyped for young office workers by the Morning Call, reports on the ground indicate a less affluent clientele. That tenant base, for better or worse, will determine the success or failure of this latest urban redevelopment in Allentown.

Allentown Or Zombietown?

When I think back to the excitement and pride which was Allentown this time of year, back in the day, I cringe at what we have become. Although there's a little buzz about the arena, when you divide the state taxes diverted by the people who will attend, it's a very expensive ticket. Circumstances have conspired against Allentown; Demographically, center city keeps becoming poorer. We have become a one party town, not benefiting by a meaningful civic discourse. What was once a powerful local newspaper is now in an idle mode, waiting for another consequence of corporate takeover. This blog will continue to write about both history and politics, but will never blend them together into some sort of artificial smoothie.

above reprinted from December of 2013

UPDATE JANUARY 10, 2022: Our new mayor claims to be excited about Allentown having a majority of women on city council.  While I have no problem with their gender, I'm very nervous about their disposition.  One of the women, Ce-Ce Gerlach, participated in the march to defund the police. Another one, Cynthia Mota, worked for Hasshan Batts, whose organization would most likely receive any diverted funds. Batts writes...

Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley is a Black-led, anti-racist, liberation-based grassroots organization focused on healing and wellness through leadership development, violence prevention and reentry, racial justice and health equity and community capacity building. 

I applaud Matt Tuerk's diplomacy, but I can only hope for the sake of Allentown that he realizes that rather than defund or divert police funding, the police department needs to be bolstered.

Jennie Molovinsky Was A Quiet Neighbor

For nearly a hundred years the Wenz Memorial Company had a tombstone factory at 20th and Hamilton.  Their parcel extended from Hamilton Street back to Walnut Street, across from the home of former mayor Joe Daddona.   Years ago, large granite slabs would be delivered by railroad, using the the Barber Quarry spur route.  During the Phil Berman era,  the facilities were also used to produce large stone sculptures.  Behind the office and production building, most of the property was used for storage of tombstones.  Some of the stones were samples of their handiwork, and others were old stones that had been replaced with new ones, by family members.  Such was the case with my great grandmother's first stone, which has laid at Wenz's for several decades.  The row houses and their front porches on S. Lafayette Street faced this portion of Wenz's, and it was very quiet, indeed.

Some readers may have noticed that Wenz's has been demolished, and the parcel will now contain a bank,  Dunkin Donut, and Woody's Sport Bar.  The residents of Lafayette Street,  experiencing complete quietness for all these years, attended the zoning hearing as objectors.  Their previous view, a dark, quiet lot, would now be replaced with a lit parking lot, with bar patrons coming and going.  Although I will not comment on the zoning issues,  residents were supposedly told by the zoners that the development would improve their quality of life.  It's one thing to have the quality of your life degraded,  it's another to have your intelligence insulted, to boot.  Perhaps the zoners need some training in sensitivity.

reprinted from May of 2016

Jenni Molovinsky Still Teaching Me History

Many years ago my advocacy for Fairview Cemetery resulted from a search for the grave of a young Jewish woman who died in 1913.  During the search I learned about Mt. Sinai, the small Jewish portion of Fairview.  The search ended on Fountain Hill, where I inadvertently also found the grave of my great grandmother, Jenni Molovinsky, buried at Agudas Achim's cemetery.  

Mt. Sinai predated the synagogues in Allentown, and the men's society which founded it was a precursor to the current Kenneth Israel Congregation, which now has its cemetery on Walbert Ave. 

Another Jewish Fraternal organization, the Emil Zola I.O.B.A. of Allentown, also established a cemetery on Fountain Hill.  Zola was a French writer who championed Alfred Dreyfus, a Jew falsely accused of treason in 1894.  The lodge established a burial ground on Fountain Hill in 1898,  near the other Jewish cemetery where Jenni Molovinsky was buried in 1913.

photocredit: J. Nasta

Allentown Becomes A Monarchy

Park and Shop Lots

Downtown Allentown boomed for about 100 years. During the prosperity years following World War II, the two car family emerged. Several business leaders of Allentown realized both the parking problem and the potential to enhance sales. Park and Shop was begun by Harvey Farr, Donald Miller and John Leh. The current small parking deck at 10th and Hamilton, above the current uptown police substation, was the first deck in the country. To make the parking lots, shown in the postcard above, houses were purchased and torn down. Although the gentlemen mentioned in this article profited from their influence, they always provided solutions for the betterment of the community. They seemed to be a benevolent oligarchy. As the viability of the Park And Shop enterprise declined along with the intercity shopping, The Allentown Parking Authority was conveniently formed by local politicians, and it purchased the lots using Municipal bonds; The process allowed the aforementioned gentleman to land on their feet, in a downward market.

Flash ahead thirty five years to another downward market, and we have one gentleman, J.B. Reilly, buying up center-city with municipal bonds backed by state taxes. Reilly has purchased far more property than ever owned by Park and Shop. He has purchased virtually the four square blocks surrounding the arena, a significant portion of the Neighborhood Improvement Zone(NIZ). Again the process was facilitated by our elected officials. Let us hope that the new monarchy will be as benevolent as the old oligarchy.

reprinted from November of 2012

The Wagon Trail

Most of Lehigh Parkway lies in a deep ravine. The slope up to Lehigh Parkway South, across the creek from Robin Hood, is very steep, about 60 degrees. Unknown to many people, there is a diagonal trail on part of the slope, which comes out halfway up the hill behind the Stone and Log House.

We kids, who grew up in the Parkway, called it the Wagon Trail. I believe it was part of the Kemmerer Farm (Stone and Log House), which dates back to the late 1770's. In the 1950's, the foundation of a small kiln was still visible on the trail. The subsequent years had not been kind to the old trail,  and it is no longer maintained by the Park Department. About halfway between it's entrance and exit on the hill, the trail has been blocked by a large fallen tree. People had dumped debris on the trail, and it remained there for years.

In April of 2010, I organized a cleanup.  The park director at the time cooperated on the project. I agreed that no power tools would be used, and he arranged for the city to pick up the rubbish.

It is my hope that the new administration will realize that our parks are more than just space to cram more recreational gimmicks.  They are steeped in history, and places where children can explore.

reprinted from previous years

A Better Time For Allentown's 9th Street

Allentown's latest shooting fatality (as of Jan. 1, 2022, 5:00AM), collapsed in front of the ice machine shown above.  Apparently the 300 block of N. 9th Street has more than its share of drug activity, and a few suspects (not necessarily related to the shooting) were escorted by the police out of homes on the block. 

Unfortunately, shootings and drug activity are nothing recent to Allentown.  What brings us to today's post is the particular storefront pictured.  Those familiar with Allentown's past recognize it as Emma Tropiano's store.  Those familiar with Allentown's past remember when the Morning Call thought Emma and her complaint about sofas on porches was the biggest problem in Allentown. Their reporters would attack her, and their columnist mocked her.  

In retrospect, when she was behind the store's counter it was truly better days for 9th Street and Allentown.

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 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.

UPDATE DECEMBER 31, 2021: A decade later and Panto is still mayor of Easton, but they're saying that even that new parking deck is now outdated.  I still enjoy visiting Easton,  which continues to improve from its organic growth, as opposed to Allentown's NIZ induced building frenzy.

Cannibal Valley

During the summer of 1952, Lehigh Valley Transit rode and pulled its trolley stock over to Bethlehem Steel, to be chopped up and fed to the blast furnaces. The furnaces themselves ceased operation in 1995, and are now a visual backdrop for young artists, most of whom never saw those flames that lit up that skyline. Allentown will now salvage some architectural items documented on this blog, and begin tearing down its shopping district, which was serviced by those trolleys. As young toothless athletes from Canada, entertain people from Catasauqua, on the ice maintained by a Philadelphia company, Allentown begins another chapter in its history of cannibalism. 

photo from August 1952, showing last run on St. John Street to Bethlehem Steel

reprinted from November of 2011

Hispanic Identity Politics

Some of the new state house districts in Pennsylvania,  especially for Hispanics in Allentown,  are ethnic mapping by design.  Although it is Hispanic political affirmative action, it's still not enough for some activists.  Local Spanish radio guru Victor Martinez complained that there are too many other minorities in the new third Allentown District as proposed.

I suppose that in the world of Enid Santiago and Martinez, only Hispanics would run and vote, ensuring Enid's victory.  After Enid lost the primary last time, in addition to contesting the vote, she ran as a write-in against her own party's elected winner.  Her crew even managed to strong arm support for the effort from some incumbent Democrats.

Because the new state map was purposefully drawn with eight minority opportunity districts,  the local Hispanic community and others will succeed in electing more representatives to the state house. However, whether such a preoccupation with identity politics really serves the best interests of any community in the long term is questionable.