A Woman Of Letters

Barba-Del Campbell was in the hallway at the overflow Council meeting this past July on Cedar Creek Park. She handed me a handwritten letter which I put into my pocket. I met Barba-Del a few years earlier at the first meeting for the Lanta merchants. There were at least two passions in her life, activism and art; Apparently, she had a long relationship with both. This past summer, The Morning Call had a feature story about her role in commemorating Paul Robeson with a postage stamp.

I typed and printed Barba-Del's letter and faxed it along with my own to the Morning Call. Both our editorials appeared side by side in the paper. My effort resulted in a handwritten thank you note. Barba-Del didn't have a computer. I would print out pieces I wrote on the merchants or on the parks, and leave them at her "office", that would be the first table to the left at The House of Chen.

There will be a gathering this Saturday in her memory at the restaurant. Barba-Del is on the far right in photo above, which was taken after that Lanta meeting by participant Bernie O'Hare. Ann Elizabeth Schlegel and Heather Sincavage also remember this remarkable woman.

ADDENDUM:  I STOPPED INTO THE HOUSE OF CHEN TRIBUTE TO BARBA-DEL TO PAY MY RESPECTS,  THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE.
Heather Sincavage reflects on the memorial service

above reprinted from March of 2010

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 21, 2023: The above tribute to activist Barba-Del Campbell's memory is almost thirteen years old. Her memorial gathering was in a restaurant which no longer exists. Even Jenny Lim's replacement eatery in South Bethlehem recently closed.

Downtown's transition to Reillytown didn't happen without protest. This blogger and others, especially those displaced by the new sterile bland towers, spoke up here and on other alternative media. Town by then was perhaps funky, but it was organic, and real. What there is today is a news release by Reilly Real Estate, echoed by the Morning Call.

Although not all of my current readers may know who and what I'm remembering here today, nevertheless, it is my honor to reprint this post.

A 2014 Campaign Promise

 

In 2014 I ran as an independent for state representative, against the long term incumbent Republican, and a Democrat. At that time, my neighborhood was gerrymandered into the 183th district, with Julie Harhart's stronghold of Northampton. In that election Harhart won her eleventh term. 

Although I didn't even come close to winning the election, I'm glad to report that Wehr's Dam has been saved. The dam survived the machinations of the Wildlands Conservancy and a complicit board of commissioners at that time. I thank the current* board for honoring the voter's 2016 referendum. I urge  them to place Wehr's Dam under their historic district designation, to help ensure its long term future. 

My same neighborhood is now in the 132nd, represented by Mike Schlossburg. I wish it was in the 132nd in 2014. I wish I was eight years younger. I wish I was nicer.

*Diane Kelly, David Kennedy, Monica Hodges, Jacob Roth, Brad Osborne

Resurrected Life Church Bites Zion and Allentown's Hand

Reverend Gregory Edwards, after securing the iconic Zion Church for one dollar, has turned around and spat on local history. The Liberty Bell Museum rents the front portion of the basement for one dollar a year from the church...That's where the Liberty Bell was hidden during the Revolutionary War. Edwards wants a rent increase to $1000 a month!!!! 

As for the board of the former Zion Church,  they learned that their former good deed has not gone unpunished....not exactly a Christian lesson. The crass decision by the charismatic preacher is not a surprise to everyone,  just to the woke former church board. 

Unless the museum can stay in that historic place where the bell was hidden, it has no meaning. To this blogger, Edward's decision is just another erasure of Allentown's historic mercantile district. I hope the city manages to save the art deco post office at 5th and Hamilton.

Shown above is an old linen postcard of Zion Church. Even the postcard is historic, only requiring a one cent stamp. On the back of the postcard it states...This Church housed the Liberty Bell during the Revolutionary War in order to prevent its capture by the British who wished to convert the metal into bullets. It was brought to this city in a hay wagon by local farmers.

Molovinsky On Allentown is normally posted every weekday of the year. However, the above post appeared early the evening before, because of its important connection to Allentown history.

Planning Puppies Approve New Reilly Project

Before we get into this project, allow me to officially change the name of two Allentown subdivisions.  I have been referring to downtown as Reillyville. Considering that Reilly now owns the state hospital parcel,  formally aka Rittersville, downtown will now become Reillytown, and Rittersville will become Reillyville. Now that we have the new designations, let's get on with today's post.

We learn from the Morning Call that Reilly's new Reillytown project has the approval of the city planners. Although that might seem newsworthy to the new Morning Call reporter, the only thing that would be newsworthy is if they had disapproved. Only a new reporter could think that approval was anything more than a formality. I have already used the term planning puppies half a dozen times in previous approval posts.

Now, finally the project...There are actually those very excited about it, a mid size entertainment venue. The theater will hold about 1,500 people, and supposedly feature up and coming bands.  I hope that it does, but I recall the arena was supposed to have many more events than it does. I note that Symphony Hall is also very underused.  Perhaps this will be a spark that ignites some nightlife in Reillytown.  Although nobody would confuse this blog or me with a downtown cheerleader, I do wish it success.

shown above 1950's era ad for the Lyric, now called Symphony Hall.

Police Shooting In Allentown's Reillyville

We have been reading for several days in the Morning Call  about the mugger shot and killed by police. They observed him assaulting someone, and he fired on police when pursued.  While the paper has emphasized that the shooting took place at 8th and Maple, they have downplayed its proximity to 8th and Hamilton, epicenter of downtown Reillyville, aka Allentown.

The alley Maple Street separates Reilly's Hamilton Street office tower from his new apartment hive behind it on 8th. Usually in regard to violence, the police inform us that the incident was no threat to the law-abiding, which implies that it was an inter low-life altercation. We have heard nothing about the original victim, just about the aftermath. Was that victim a fellow low-life, or was it a new hive tenant? Either way, it's not reassuring for prospective hive tenants. 

The news reports indicate that there were at least two policemen at the shooting. Originally, the Reilly Corporation, CityCenter Real Estate, was to have their own security force. If Allentown police are guarding the Reilly forts, is the rest of the city receiving adequate protection?

As Molovinsky On Allentown approaches its 16th year of publication, it still must ask questions the Morning Call avoids.

photo of 8th & Maple, alley south of Hamilton, new office tower on Hamilton, new apartments to its rear.

Credible Messengers And Allentown City Council

Allentown councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach proposes that Allentown spend $100thousand to hire a consultant to study the good work of credible messengers.  Credible messengers assign a convicted felon to mentor a young boy so that he doesn't become a future felon, or so goes the scam.  In my day they had Big Brothers. A Big Brother was a successful person who could act like a role model for a young person, how square is that?  

I believe that Allentown would be better off with credible councilpersons, who wouldn't even think about wasting city money on such nonsense.  I personally don't think that credible messengers is good work. But I know that spending money on such, instead of another police officer, is bad governing. 

Candida Affa has announced that she is running for another term on city council. On one hand, I appreciate that she has institutional knowledge of Allentown, but there's another side that would trouble me. She mentions that it's a new administration, and that she wants to be part of the accomplishments....that's the problem. In the Pawlowski regime, she stayed loyal, too loyal, until they took him away in cuffs. City Council is supposed to be a check and balance on the administration, not a rubber stamp. I wrote a few sentences ago that it would trouble me...In another time with a more responsible council. However, in this time, when we're considering credible messengers, Affa is comparatively a conservative... Hopefully she'll be re-elected.

In the photo above, I'm addressing city council in person...That's something I no longer do.

Tip For Schnooks

The sign in the photo comes from the crybaby immigrant who operated the diner at 9th and Linden. He had heard stories that if he came to America, worked hard and saved his money, this was the land of opportunity. The schnook thought when he bought the diner he need only work from early in the morning till late at night to get his share of the pie. Sure, seven day weeks are hard, but the bus stop always provided a new customer or two. Schnook didn't know about Pawlowski's plan to move Allentown forward. All those bus stops would be centralized to the Lanta terminal at 6th and Linden, even the Hamilton Street merchants wouldn't be spared. When Butzy was enticed to build his office building at 9th and Hamilton, it's good to be Butz, the stage was set for the revitalization of Hamilton Street. The riffraff bus people who populated the boatpeople stores would be rafted down to the new Lanta terminal at The Morning Call Square. Last Christmas Lanta even provided a shuttle bus to bring the marginal back to Hamilton Street as a concession to the merchants, but the shopping habits had already changed. Rite Aid is returning, in spite of our poor planning, because of a fluke with their 7th Street building. Back to Butzy, tenants never materialized for his building, and there is less business on Hamilton Street than ever. The Chamber of Commerce, after saying there was no need to be in Allentown and selling their Walnut Street building, "changed" their mind, and opened an office at Butz's. The County moved its Visitor Bureau there, but there's only so many connections available. The prime first floor space has remained empty since construction in 2006, but that's about to change. Although our state income tax will likely rise, there's a grant coming Butz's way for his tax free KOZ building. With a start up grant of over $350.000, an Easton restauranteur will open an upscale blah blah blah this spring. If you eat there, you have already left a tip. 

ADDENDUM: Apparently Pawlowski is willing to pay for everything, even the kitchen sink. In addition to the 350k from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program, listed as 9th and Hamilton, there is another grant application from DCED for the prevention and elimination of blight under section 4 of the Housing and Redevelopment Assistance Law on behalf of Alvin H. Butz, this time using the actual street number, 840 Hamilton St. Who would think that a new building would qualify for funds under blight elimination? In a few years, not unlike the Brew Works, it will be impossible to trace the subsidies provided. 

ADDENDUM 2: A little more sugar; R60 Economic Development Liquor License for 840 West Hamilton Street.

above reprinted from August of 2009 

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 13, 2023: Well, fourteen years later I can say it's still good to be Butz, but better to be J.B. Reilly. Even Butz could have never imagined the NIZ back in 2009. He got a little taste with the Butz 2 Building, to the left and rear of Butz 1. Of course most of the pie went to Reilly, who bought up the properties on the Hamilton Street NIZ map, before people realized how lucrative that diverted state tax spigot would be. Browne then threw in the cigarette tax and parcel switch out option, making the NIZ limited only to Reilly's imagination. He now even owns the State Hospital acreage. Although Browne lost the election, he just won directorship of the state Revenue Department from new Governor Shapiro. Who knows what's coming Reilly's way? Making all this so much sweeter for Reilly is that scrutiny of the NIZ, like the KOZ in 2009, is almost exclusively limited to this blog.

Weitzel's Expensive Catalogs

Although Greg Weitzel is leaving in 7 days, before he leaves, he is attempting to bully a compliant City Council into destroying our swimming pool system. Rather than simply build some ramps and railings to comply with new ADA regulations, like pools all over the country, Weitzel's plan is to close 2 pools, and turn the other ones into water parks. Although CedarBeach Pool has served the city for 60 years, he wants to move it up the hill and add water park features. He wants to close Irving Pool, the only one on the east side, and turn the spot into a spray park. He wants to close Fountain Pool, which serves the inter city children, whose mothers don't have vans to drive them to CedarBeach. He spent $80,000 on a consultant from Indianapolis for these recommendations, which could have paid for the handicapped ramps at several of the pools. Let me be blunt. Before coming to Allentown, Weitzel built a destination playground in Lewisburg. He established a relationship with the manufactures of playground and water park equipment. Much of his accomplishments in Allentown were purchased from their catalogs. Allentown should wish him well, and have him take those catalogs with him.

above reprinted from May of 2012
  

old postcard: Fountain Park Pool

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 10, 2023: I spent over a decade defending the traditional park system  and routinely attending city council meetings during the Pawlowski regime. Despite my efforts, we lost both the Fountain Park and Irving Street pools. The city is now hoping for a grant to replace the former Irving Park pool. 

I no longer attend council meetings. Allentown has a new park Director, but I no longer knock on the doors of department heads. However, I will continue pecking away on this typewriter, and continue not hesitating to call out those who despoil our history.

Closing The Monument Building

One morning in early July of 2008, code enforcement descended upon the Monument Building like a swat team. Every officer, in every department in the city entered the building at the same time, and spread out looking for every possible violation. Under the previous owner, the same conditions, with the same tenants, were lauded as a rebirth. Whatever motivated Pawlowski to pull the plug on the new owner, the tenants were lightweights, of no consequence. At that time myself and few other malcontents, like Lou Hershman, would gather very early in the morning for coffee at Jerry's Cafe, located on the first floor. The building had begun its life as the 1st National Bank. After being closed for many years, it reopened as Corporate Center. The new buyer renamed it Monument Building. 

645 Hamilton Street was torn down, to be replaced by J.B. Reilly's Two City Center. Let me tell you the story of the little people, who were disposed of along the way.

The previous April,  Pawlowski wrote "I want to thank Valley Latino TV Show and Magazine for keeping the Latino community informed. Your dedicated effort shows commitment..congratulations... I wish you great success!" Along with the magazine and television studio, a graphic art designer, a festival promoter, and a security company were displaced.  The Morning Call, reporting on the violation report from the City of Allentown, described the building as unsafe. It was the same building, with the same tenants, in the same condition, as before. Unlike the city inspectors, or the paper's reporter, I was there every day for coffee at Jerry's Cafe. Jerry's was not one of the upstart businesses blessed with a grant. He had to pay for everything, and everything had to be inspected, inside out. His plans had to be approved, his electric and plumbing had to be approved, his grill and hood system had to be approved. City inspectors in and out of the building during this process included no less than plumbing, electrical and health. Although violation report issued to the building after the raid listed extension cords, it failed to note that those cords were attached to a movable lighting grid for the Latino Television production studio, and were cords by design. Although the city citation report cited unlicensed businesses, it omitted the fact that the lower level was occupied by Sassi, which performs drug testing for the Lehigh County, and the city's action caused Melendez Reality and Madison Mortgage, among others,  to vacate. 

I don't know if Pawlowski will teach government in prison, but Molovinsky University will teach how Pawlowski abused Allentown.

reprinted from previous years

photocredit:molovinsky

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 9, 2023: Pawlowski had weaponized code enforcement, and that arrogance  remained within the code staff, even into the O'Connell administration.  Since then there has been personnel changes and retirements... I'm not informed about the current integrity status within that department.

A Giant Among Midgets

Here's a story you will not read about on any official City of Allentown website. It's a story of private gumption, instead of the usual public subsidy. It's the late 1990's, and I stop in and visit infamous Allentown landlord Joe Clark. He's sitting at a desk in the middle of a large empty storefront at 7th and Turner, surrounded by landlord supplies and building materials. The phone rings and it's Mayor William Heydt. Heydt just learned that Clark purchased the vacant Eastern Light Building on Hamilton Street, and wants to know Clark's intentions. Clark tells him he's going to build the best nightclub Allentown has ever seen. Heydt doesn't offer any help, but tells him that he'll be under close scrutiny. Clark does go on to build the club, without a nickel of help from Allentown. Years later, when the BrewWorks would open with unlimited city subsidy, a public parking lot on 8th Street was given exclusively to the BrewWorks. A few weeks ago Clark asked if he could rent the Parking Authority lot behind the nightclub; Request Denied. This week, based on ticket sales, Crocodile Rock was rated the 60th most successful nightclub in the world for 2011. The midgets at City Hall pay for consultants, when there's a genius half a block away.

above reprinted from January of 2012

ADDENDUM February 8, 2023:What brings this decade old plus post back today is the news that J.B. Reilly's CityCenter Real Estate will build a band venue within their new projects in the 900 block of Hamilton Street. The Morning Call doesn't mention that Reilly purchased the old Croc Rock building and virtually all of Hamilton Street, except for a few holdouts who wouldn't sell. The Morning Call also doesn't mention that Croc Rock was run by Joe Clark, less, but still infamous. I can't tell you how much the current Call article amused me, but Joe got to laugh all the way to the bank.

Allentown's Father Flanagan

My mother was a tough cookie; but, about once a year, in the late 40's and early 50's, she would get misty eyed as the letter from Boy's Town arrived. It was that picture, the boy carrying his brother, with the caption saying "He's not heavy..." The twenty dollar bill would go into the envelope, and you wouldn't want to get in her way to the mailbox. Well it seems my mother wasn't the only one, Father Flanagan had rooms full of money. Here in Allentown, Gary Millspaugh of the Rescue Mission has his own special flyer... it shows a grisly man waiting for a turkey meal around Thanksgiving. Like the boys in Flanagan's picture who never get older, Millspaugh's guy never gets a shave and stays skinny. I guess what made me a cynic is my associates who actually donated apartment houses to the Mission, and the constables who evict people from them for not paying rent. I can't get my arms around a homeless shelter which makes people homeless. This posting could be the end of me. After all, Bobby Gunther Walsh makes meatballs by hand to raise money for Gary. My girlfriend's parents, in their nineties,look forward to Gary's talk at their church. Gary talks to all the churches in the West End. I gotta go hide now, I hear Bernie O'Hare pounding on my door...

above reprinted from May of 2008

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 7, 2023: You would think that as I aged, I would be less of a bastard...apparently not.  Back channel comments on yesterday's Promise Neighborhood post reminded me of Father Flanagan.  In fairness to Promise, I can't think of too many non-profits that I have any use for.

Raining Money On Promise Neighborhoods

Hasshan Batts won the lottery when he started the local Promise Neighborhoods. The politically correct are always looking for a cause to support, and combating gun violence is the current fashion. Years ago, Alan Jennings was in the right place at the right time, with combating poverty, now it's Batts' turn. After Pawlowski's departure, Cynthia Mota nominated Batts for mayor, without revealing that she worked for him. That was a story that this blog broke, but it was appropriated by the Morning Call, without attribution. Local virtue signalers started flocking around Batts, adding credence to his self promotion.

Just in the last couple weeks alone, he has received $Millions of $dollars... Fed money from Susan Wild, state money from Governor Shapiro and local money from Lehigh Valley Health Network. Corporate America, and LVHN is corporate, love enhancing their profile by making community contributions. The Allentown School District has partnered with Batts to operate a food pantry.

Some of the people who know the local Promise organization best are starting to protest. The commotion at last week's city council meeting touched on that irony. Some of the people arguing at the meeting were Promise workers. These same people are supposed to be conciliators.

Activist Jessica Lee Ortiz was largely responsible for the huge turnout shown in the photo above. While the Morning Call decided not to report on the meeting, LehighValleyNews.Com covered the controversy. 

Mayor Tuerk told the crowd that's he working with an organization of mayors for gun control. That won't help Allentown anytime this century. Likewise, neither will Promise Neighborhoods.  An excellent suggestion was to allow police to moonlight as security in private clubs... that was a common practice many years ago in Allentown. 

photocredit:Jay Bradley/LehighValleyNews.com

Rumble At City Council

From what I understand, Wednesday's council meeting was a real popcorn event. I say understand, because readers of this blog know that I no longer attend meetings. 

These are second hand observations gleaned mostly from WFMZ. The Morning Call never covers courtesy of the floor topics, or other issues not on the agenda. That journalistic restriction is probably proscribed by their editor/publisher, who was previously their long time local news editor.  Apparently the peanut gallery at the meeting, there to complain about violence, got rowdy themselves, and some were ejected from the meeting. 

Tim Ramos would be surprised to learn that he was a Democratic candidate in the last mayoral election cycle. Of course, in fairness to WFMZ, who would think that a surname Ramos in Allentown would be Republican?

Mayor Tuerk made lemonade out of the discontent, by saying that citizen concern is the first step toward solutions.

artwork by Mark Beyer

ADDENDUM: This prohibition against reporting anything not on the official agenda, seemingly directed by Mike Miorelli, goes a long way in explaining the Call's long term failure in corruption reportage.  In a more perfect government, perhaps city council would be a check and balance against a mayor, but that was never the case in Allentown. 

In this blog's history, one former reporter would routinely call me and other concerned citizens...He now covers the White House for a national news agency.

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

Blogging And The Lone Ranger

I fancy myself as the aging Lone Ranger of local blogging, because I'm beyond caring about what or who I offend.  At this point in time, for my name to appear in the Morning Call, I would either have to get arrested or die ... For now, I'm trying to stave off both those options. Likewise, public officials have no use for me. I've been informed that Matt Tuerk loathed me, even before he was a candidate.

I do have one regret about my abrasiveness. Perhaps, if I was more diplomatic, I might have prevailed upon city officials to have more appreciation for the WPA structures throughout the park system.

Several years ago I started a facebook group, Allentown Chronicles. I billed it as mostly for local history, with a side of local non-partisan politics. Most of such local groups concentrated on who made the best chili sauce, cheesesteak or pizza. The history posts on them are cut and pasted from wikipedia, or just pictures scanned from a book. I aspired to see original material and personal memories. While I still keep those guidelines for my own posts, I'm learning to be more lenient with what other people present. 

The takeaway from all these facebook groups is that people want to remember a gentler Allentown from their youth, as opposed to the current harsher reality. 

I spend much more time on the sofa now than on the streets of Allentown. I no longer attend meetings. Nevertheless, with so few venues willing to be candid, I still get tips and requests for help. I still wake up early and eager to sprinkle a little frankness on Allentown.

Paul Muschick Might Become A Columnist

Since Muschick is already the Morning Call's columnist, this post's title alone probably offends him...Offending people is never an issue for me. I do fancy myself a Lone Ranger in blogging. The Morning Call hasn't had a columnist since Paul Carpenter retired.... Bill White squandered his bully pulpit with Christmas Light Tours and chocolate cake contests. He's still judging chocolate cakes.  

The reason I see hope in Muschick is that his recent column takes Ray O'Connell to task for considering running for reelection, after he pledged not to. I don't have an opinion on that topic at this point, but appreciate that Muschick does, and that he expressed it. Muschick's new boldness goes somewhat awry criticizing the voters for reelecting an indicted mayor Pawlowski. A search of the paper's archives shows no one at the paper writing against Pawlowski, including Muschick, at the time. Furthermore, the paper gave the indicted Pawlowski space for column after column during the election. 

For a current columnist at the Morning Call the bar is very low. If I were Muschick, especially with the deteriorating corporate profile for the paper, I would be going all out against the local establishment.

above reprinted from February 4, 2020
 

ADDENDUM JANUARY 31, 2023: For a bastard like me, over the last several years I have been very complimentary toward Paul Muschick.  However, Muschick never has gone after the local establishment hard, and never against the paper, as Paul Carpenter occasionally did. I bumped into Muschick last spring, when he and cohorts were protesting Alden Holdings purchasing Tribune Papers....They're apparently willing to speak out for their salaries.  I was bitching about the Wehr's Dam article, which omitted my mention, even through it was me who advocated for the article, and provided most of the background questions. Muschick gave the stock answer that no one tells them what to write. Of course the real issue is that they know the whats and whos they dare not write about... I'm one of them.

Years ago, when I was out and about more, people would tell me how much they liked Bill White's theme columns. Likewise,  I'm sure Paul Muschick has a current fan base.  When I ran the post in 2020, I got a note from Bernie O'Hare that said, "You save dams and burn bridges." 

Rumble At Secret Lounge

Last night while Mayor Tuerk was attending a solidarity service for the brutal death in Memphis, discontent was fermenting in Allentown.  While police were out of  control in Memphis, some think there's not enough policing in Allentown.

The Puerto Rican inspired protest logo shown above was created by Jessica Lee Ortiz. She's very upset about the fight at an east side club...A video shows people getting hit by thrown tables.

I met Jessica years ago when she was first becoming involved in civic activity. She is now director of the Ortiz Ark Foundation.

As a native Allentonian and local political commentator, I've taken Tuerk to task for what I consider pandering to the Hispanic community, at the expense of older Allentown and public safety.  If a major player in the Hispanic community also finds his performance lacking, he might want to reevaluate the game plan.

The Neuweiler Story

Allentown's NIZ was a boutique legislation that allows private property to be publicly financed.  On the up side, for the most part, the beneficiaries have been local boys. That is about to change. 

The Morning Call had an excellent report on a New Jersey firm muscling in on our tax dollar giveaway. They learned their lesson well from the first interloper, Ruckus Brewery.  Ruckus was set up with the Neuweiler Brewery by Mike Fleck, before he went to the pokey with Pawlowski.  Ruckus managed to raise money from their NIZ approval and get possession of the brewery without actually spending any of their own money. For that fund raising, they changed their name to Brewers Hill.  Previously they never even had experience with actual brewing or real estate...Never underestimate the value of a political connection.

Like Ruckus/Brewers Hill, the new player promises to relocate their office here to Allentown. Sprinkle in a promise of affordable housing, and the Allentown welcome mat is out.  They have agreements now with Brewers Hill, and options on neighborhood properties. 

Personally, I preferred my tax dollars benefiting the local boys, like Reilly and Jaindl.

photocredit: Robert Walker

above reprinted from February of 2021

UPDATE MAY 18, 2022: With the recent news about Neuweilers, I decided to revisit the brewery posts. The post above is just one of dozens I have written on the brewery since 2008. I may have somewhat more knowledge about the topic than the Morning Call's changing cast of reporters, because I had actually sat down with the last private owner. In 2007 Pawlowski said that "We have to get it out of the hands of this guy," It was also the last time that any property taxes were paid on the property. While the city took procession supposedly because no improvements were made, likewise nothing has been done since, fifteen years later. Actually, the property now is in considerably worse condition. But in addition to no taxes being paid in all these years, we have been paying the salaries of the bureaucrats in the various controlling agencies since the property was confiscated.

Whether demolished or restored, or a combination of both, we all want to see change at the property. But understand that we as taxpayers will be paying for that change with our diverted state income taxes. Understand that although the project will be publicly financed, it will be privately owned.

Those interested in an account of the situation from 2007 until now, can use the search engine of this blog's sidebar... simply type in Neuweiler brewery.

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 15, 2022: A recent headline in the Morning Call put this money pit back on this blog's front burner. It referred to investment coming to the river. It all these years of NIZ promoting, the Morning Call has never clarified that the investment is our money, our diverted state taxes. Perhaps the new crop of young reporters don't fully understand that. I can appreciate that it's hard to understand how privately owned buildings can be completely publicly paid for....Credit outgoing state senator Pat Browne for that grab of the century. As for Neuweilers, before the recent owners signed over to the current owners, they were given a couple $mil in seed money by the public authority. An enterprising reporter or investigator, might want to track where those dollars went.

Down the road, when some local cheerleader strolls up to the new bar at Neuweilers, and orders the first brewski,  he'll have no idea how many $millions and $millions it really cost the taxpayers.

UPDATE JANUARY 27, 2023: Demolition has begun on the brewery, only the iconic front tower portion will remain.  That portion has been so structurally compromised from neglect, that its preservation is only possible because of our unaccounted for tax dollars. I'm amused how people are so excited about the project, but so oblivious to the true story about it, outlined above. There are a few civic notables relieved that scrutiny, so far, has been limited to this blog.

Allentown Administration Disconnect

As I read about the shooting last weekend on Allentown's east side, I couldn't help but be bewildered by Facebook posts by both Mayor Tuerk and Police Chef Roca. Tuerk was smiling in his gold laced sneakers in Washington D.C., and Roca was celebrating his 21st year on the force. Neither seemed concerned with the ongoing carnage in Allentown.

Nor do the commonplace shootings seem to diminish Tuerk's and Roca's popularity with their constituents.  Allentown has fallen so far that the current public accepts the violence as part of everyday life.  I still haven't recovered from Tuerk's field trip to the Dominican Republic. I'm still suffering from Congresswoman Susan Wild bragging about giving Hasshan Batts $1.5 million for his Promise approach to crime. 

Tuerk certainly is a populist... He's everywhere, and the public appreciates his energy. While I've grown longer in the tooth, and no longer snarl at the bureaucrats in person, I can still peck away on this typewriter...I understand that I won't be invited to any city functions.  In recent years, I was already considered a naysayer.  That description now actually seems too positive for my current perception of Allentown.

History And Politics

In 2012,  then county executive Don Cunningham and his public works director went about demolishing and replacing several historic bridges. When they got ready to demolish the Reading Road Bridge, this blogger went on the offensive to defend the bridge.

The bridge was built in 1824 and totally rehabilitated in 1980. At that time a separate walking bridge was built next to it for pedestrian safety.  Because the bridge was documented to be in excellent condition, I decided that Don would have to smile and cut his next ribbon somewhere else...I succeeded in convincing the commissioners to save the bridge.

A couple years later residents in South Whitehall would organize to save the historic King George Inn.  I would then play a part in saving Wehr's Dam.  None of these structures would exist today if advocates for history were afraid to do battle with elected officials.  Often these battles even have to be refought against persistent bureaucrats, and other vested interests.

Yesterday on facebook a group member complained about me mixing politics with the history. I only wish that they were as separate and protected as they should be.

reprinted from October of 2019

photo/molovinsky/Reading Road Bridge, view from north side

The Boat Landing

Getting to the Boat Landing, for six year old boys who lived above the park in 1953, was quite an adventure. There were three other wonderful WPA structures to navigate on the journey. Unfortunately,  poor foresight by a previous park director has erased some of the WPA's monuments in Lehigh Parkway. As the postcard from the mid-50's above shows, the Boat Landing (my name for the structure) was a source of pride for the city and park system. It is located at the end of the park,  near Regency Apartments. I use the present tense because remnants of this edifice still exist,  buried under dirt and debris. Other attractions lost in that section of the park include the Spring Pond near the Robin Hood parking lot, and the bridge to the "Island", plus the mosaic inlaid benches which were on the island. ( Island halfway between parking lot and boat landing). Neither the Mayor or the Park Director knows that these centerpieces ever existed. These are irreplaceable architectural treasures well worth restoring.

UPDATE: The above post was written in May of 2009. Later that year I organized a small group of volunteers, and we unearthed a portion of the boat landing. The next year I prevailed on the Allentown Water Shed Foreman, Michael Gilbert, to expose the remaining stones around the Spring Pond and remove the growth hiding the Miniature Bridge.

Trexler Smiles, Landing Revealed

I believe that today, for the first time in decades, General Trexler had something to smile about. Most people never understood why three steps were near the lower entrance of Lehigh Parkway; they seemed to lead nowhere. This morning eight people joined a grass root effort to unveil, for the first time in decades, the structure I called the Boat Landing.

Buried under the dirt and grass were several more steps leading to a landing. Chris Casey was the first to arrive and cleared these steps and the first landing himself. A second set of steps led from the landing to the main landing on the creek. These second steps had a foot or so of ground and plants.

The quality and condition of the stonework is excellent, as was all our WPA icons. I will be polite and say only that it was a crime to have let this neglect occur. On the main landing the accumulated earth was two and half feet thick. The crew dug out the curving retaining wall several yards in each direction, and cleared off the top of the wall.

Eight people working four hours managed to reveal about one third of the landing at the bottom of the steps. It was a thrill to realize we were standing at creek's edge as the WPA architects had envisioned. I stood there often as a boy. There still remains a large portion of dirt to remove at the steps base, but you can now experience the Boat Landing.

The retaining wall and the landing continue for fifty feet or so in both directions. Unfortunately a huge tree has grown on the landing to the right, but the left appears reclaimable.

We who worked there today, hope to return and clear off the remainder of the dirt at the bottom of the steps.

Perhaps others will be motivated to clear off the remaining portion of the landing to the left. Now that might even be an idea for the City; imagine restoring an irreplaceable icon instead of buying something from a catalogue. I'm most grateful to all those who helped today, and will reveal their names with their permission.

ADDENDUM:Michael –

I just wanted to thank you for organizing today’s cleanup at the “Boat Landing” in the Lehigh Parkway. It’s not often that one gets to help unearth a treasure while barely leaving home, but that’s exactly what happened today.

It was truly impressive what big difference a small group of people can make. I can’t even estimate the amount of dirt that was moved with nothing more than a few shovels and a lot of hard work.

We can only hope that the City and the Trexler Trust will become aware of this location and start giving all the great structures in the Parkway the care they deserve.

However, the best part of the story for me came after we all left. I got home and my daughter Lucy (age 7) wanted to know how things went. We hopped in the car and soon we were walking up to the stairs leading to the landing. The sun was shining, and the sunlight trickled through the trees and onto the freshly-exposed stairway.

Lucy asked if she could go down to the landing by the water and next thing I knew we were both there at the waters edge, standing on what had been buried only a few hours earlier and marveling at the beauty of the location.

We spent a few moments there - a father and daughter both enjoying something completely “new” to us (even though the landing is over 70 years old). We talked briefly about what was – and more importantly what could be again.

Thank you for making that moment possible, and I hope many others take the opportunity to visit the landing in the near future.

Mike Schware

P.S. – After visiting the landing, Lucy and I walked further upstream and saw the remnants of the bridge to the island (near the water fountain). The remaining supports of the bridge confirmed what you had told me earlier about the island being much smaller years ago.

I organized the excavation shown above in 2009. We did return and remove the remaining dirt at the bottom of the steps.
reprinted from two separate posts combined

The above post is a reprint

Stairway To Shame

In the mid 1930's, Allentown, and especially its park system, was endowed with magnificent stone edifices, courtesy of the WPA; Works Progress Administration. This was a New Deal program designed to provide employment during the aftermath of the depression. Stone masons from all over the country converged on this city and built structures which are irreplaceable. The walls and step structures in Lehigh Parkway, as the Union Terrace amphitheater, are legacies which must be protected. Pictured above is the grand stairway from Lawrence Street (Martin Luther King Drive) up to Junction Street, built in 1936. The steps are in a state of disrepair. They lead to the great Junction/Union Street Retaining Wall, thirty feet high and two blocks long, which was completed in 1937. I call upon the Trexler Trust and Allentonians of memory, to insist these steps are re-pointed and preserved. The current Administration knows little of our past.  It's important to save the things in Allentown that matter.

The City of Allentown is embarking upon a $3.8 million dollar capital plan to change the nature of our parks, funded in large part by the Trexler Trust. Although a number of fads will be accommodated, not one dollar is earmarked to preserve the existing WPA treasures. General Trexler envisioned the parks as a reserve for the passive enjoyment of nature. Among the new Disney-World type plans are a wedding pavilion in the Rose Garden, and the largest playground in eastern Pennsylvania to be built in Cedar Park. The trail through Cedar Creek Park will have lights installed, and the picnic areas will be expanded. Anybody driving past Cedar Beach on a Monday morning sees the trash generated currently by only a few picnic tables. How many more park workers will be required to deal with the consequences of these new plans? The playground is being billed as a "Destination Playground", who will pay to keep that clean? Allentown should build and monitor numerous playgrounds throughout center city, within walking distance for children and parents. The Trexler Trust and The City of Allentown have a responsibility to first repair and maintain these iconic stone edifices which are unique to Allentown.

photo info: the dedication stone is on the Union Street wall. The steps shown in the photo here go through a tunnel in the wall and climb up to Spring Garden Street. They are in total disrepair. This posting is a combination of two previous posts, which appeared on this blog last September.

above reprinted from May of 2009

UPDATE APRIL 10, 2018: My campaign to save the WPA structures has been on going  for over a decade. About 10 years ago, I organized meetings at the library to bring attention to the neglect inflicted upon these structures. In the process I tutored Karen El-Chaar, from Friends Of The Parks, on the issues. She then was able to obtain a grant from the Trexler Trust,  and repoint the Fountain Park Steps. I opposed the more outlandish proposals cited above for Rose Garden area, and plans were scaled back.  I organized efforts to dig out and reveal the WPA Spring Pond and Boat Landing, both of which were discarded decades earlier. Because of the neglect, the Lehigh Parkway wall collapsed, but has since been partially rebuilt, to allow use of the entrance road into the park. In cooperation with Friends Of The Parks,  I conducted tours of Lehigh Parkway, featuring its history and WPA structures. During the Pawlowski regime I offered my advice to City Council on the traditional park system and WPA, but it was rejected.  I again make the same offer to Mayor O'Connell and the new administration.

UPDATE MARCH 3, 2020: Although O'Connell did invite me to a meeting about the parks, I am once again a persona non grata.  Karen El-Chaar is now director of parks.  It is my understanding that the Trexler Trust has commissioned a study of the Parkway Structures,  but declined to share any information with me.  It is my informed opinion that the immediate services of a stone mason are much more needed than that of their consultants. Time is the enemy of these structures.

UPDATE MARCH 23, 2022: Recently, I have been asked by several people if I will be conducing  another tour of the WPA structures in Lehigh Parkway? My current mission is to prevail upon the city to repair the landings on the Parkway's double stairway, and to remove the rubble around the Robin Hood Bridge piers. If the city does these most worthwhile projects, it would be my honor to lead another tour.

UPDATE JANUARY 23, 2023: With the departure of Karen El-Chaar as park director, I have lost an ally. Although she never fulfilled my wish list for WPA repairs, her door was open to me.  While the Parkway Entrance Wall is almost completely repointed, the landings on the double stairwell desperately  need to be repaired. The stonework at Union Terrace also needs attention. 

Those so interested can type in fountain park steps on this blog's search engine, for numerous posts on the WPA.

The Transformation Of Allentown

Transformational is Ed Pawlowski's word for the change taking place in Allentown. What's happening at the moment is demolition. There is an odor and dust in the air. One merchant told me he's fearful for his health walking around; Is the white soot asbestos? Thirty five, one hundred year old buildings, do that. I recall when the demolished rows of buildings were jewelers, shoe stores, opticians and tailors. None of the stores, even the ones on Hamilton Street, harked back to that era. The demolished stores apparently catered to a disposable clientele, whose votes matter more than their opinion. Those merchants, in vain, actually had gathered thousands of signatures pleading for their survival. The bulldozers, in one week, have established that Hamilton Street will never again aspire to be a shopping district. The only question now is will Allentown succeed as an entertainment and office venue? Will the taxpayers be able and willing to support a vision in which they had no input? The official answer will take years to determine. The true answer, even longer.

reprinted from January of 2012

ADDENDUM JANUARY 20, 2023: Back a decade ago, any scrutiny of what was going on was limited to this naysayer blogger.  Pawlowski and the Morning Call thought that he was a star, the only question was his future, Governor or Senator?  Behind the scene, he was trading city contracts for campaign contributions.  

The arena seems to have been a ploy for the NIZ, which has turned one millionaire into a billionaire, using our diverted state taxes to publicly finance a privately owned real estate empire.

Although years have now passed, center city is a zone now deader than ever.

I'm still basically the lone critic... my name banned from city hall and the Morning Call and assorted apologists.

I still produce this blog for those who stir reality into their morning coffee.

Lehigh Valley Transit Freight Service

Lehigh Valley Transit Company began their freight service in 1908, using converted passenger cars. By 1912, they were purchasing cars manufactured for commercial hauling. Various train/trolley websites specialize in the exact specifications of these trolley cars, and trace the history of specific cars. It was not uncommon for a car to be used by three or four different companies, and retrofitted for various uses. Throughout the formative years, Lehigh Valley Transit acquired smaller companies and absorbed their freight operations; The Quakertown Traction Company operated between Perkasie and Quakertown. Lehigh Valley's freight operation extended to the 72nd Street Freight House in Philadelphia.

Several years ago, Allentown lost an expert on our local train/trolley history, Gerhard Salomon. Mr. Salomon was a partner in the family jewelry store, one of few remaining gems from Hamilton Street's past.

UPDATE: This post heralds back to May of 2010, and was republished in May of 2013. Since that time we lost the few remaining gems on Hamilton Street.  Salomon's was torn down and replaced by another glass Reilly NIZ tower.  Tucker Yarn has recently closed, and will become the location for yet another tower of blandness.  This blog, with perhaps a unique combination of history and politics, will continue chronicling these transitions.

Allentown's Vanishing History

Years ago a reader sent me the above image.  It looks down the hill from 7th and Hamilton, north, toward Linden Street. He had been attempting to locate the old Lafayette Radio store on 7th street, because of a pleasant memory from his childhood. By my day the store had moved onto the southern side of the 700 block of Hamilton Street. History is quickly succumbing to the wreaking ball in Allentown. All the buildings shown above, on the unit block of 7th Street, have been knocked down for the arena and Reilly's Strata complexes.  When Salomon Jewelry departed,  Tucker Yarn remained one of Hamilton Street's last remaining businesses from the glory days.

Phil and Rose Tucker opened their first yarn store on N. 7th St. in 1949. That first store can be seen on the left side of the above photo. The Tucker Yarn Company had been at its current location at 950 Hamilton Street for over 50 years. For knitting enthusiasts the endless inventory was legendary. Phil told me years ago how even in May, traditionally a slow month for the industry, Hess's annual flower show kept Hamilton Street and his store busy. A busy Hamilton Street is a memory now, shared only by a couple of surviving merchants. Although many of Tucker's customers were elderly, the business was much more than a time capsule. His daughter Mae, nationally known in the trade, gave classes and operates a large mail order web site, tuckeryarns.com

Tucker Yarn has closed.  In the near future you will see the building replaced by one more new office building.  This blogger will continue his downtown recons, but I will no longer be sitting in a familiar place with familiar faces.

The above image can be found in Doug Peters' Lehigh Valley Transit

reprinted from November of 2019

Faith Baptist Church (Allentown)

There is a small church on the 200 block of N. 12th Street, which is served by a humble man, Pastor Robert Hargrove. Pastor Hargrove has been ministering to his flock at Faith Baptist Church for over 40 years. Years ago, when I managed buildings in the neighborhood, I had the privilege of meeting the pastor and seeing his concern for others. While his congregation was small, his outreach in the neighborhood was large. In addition to running a summer program for local kids, his church door was always open for those in distress.

While his formal congregation was mostly Black, it seemed that most of his outreach helped the poorer whites in the surrounding blocks.

Over the years he kindly allowed me to conduct a few community meetings at the church, on topics such as Fairview Cemetery and the removal of bus stops.

While the large churches with the politically astute leaders get most our attention,  many people in need often turn to the small neighborhood churches, such as Faith Baptist.

reprinted from December of 2019

A Hammer From 7th Street

The other day I noticed a ball peen hammer head for sale.  It was stamped 521 N 7  Allentown PA   Although I've seen machinist stamp their tools with their initials and even work ID numbers,  usually a stamping like this means that the hammer was made at 521, or at least sold there.  Allentown has a long tradition in iron, steel and hardware.  In the next block, C.F. Wolfertz, knife maker, was in business from 1862 to 1989.

Although I have yet to identify the hammer head,  521 has its own story.  Over the years many people lived in the apartments over the store. Although I won't mention people by name, there were births, deaths, accidents, robberies,  marriages and arrests.  Although the walls don't talk, the newspaper archives do.

Over the years many people worked in the storeroom, in many businesses.  In the mid 1940's, Clements Variety Store had about everything,  but I suspect the hammer is from before then. In 1958 a business called Niagara offered a good living to good salesman, but apparently you had to apply before learning what you sold.  I suppose not that many people applied, because the storeroom was for rent in 1959.  By 1961 Melody Organs gave the space a try.  However, by 1962 you could buy a whirlpool by Jacuzzi there. In 1963 a dry cleaner gave it a shot.  The 1960's must have been slow on 7th, because the space was again vacant in 1964.

In 1971 the building was offered for sale at $22,500.  Filmlab operated there throughout the decade and into the 80's, until they moved up to the corner on Liberty. Today that storeroom, at 445, is owned by Peter Lewnes,  current 7th Street Development Director.

Back at 521,  rough times were coming again. In 1991 Unique Treasures opened. Apparently, the merchandize wasn't unique enough, because by 1993 it was the People's Choice Store.  They were ahead of the times by about 25 years, and were dispensing marijuana, until the police thought better of it.  Years later, in 2012, a barber shop fronted for an after-hours club in the basement.

Peter Lewnes is doing a terrific job  managing the street. Over the decades I had many favorite eating spots on 7th Street.  I look forward to the continued development of the street,  and I will learn more about that hammer.

reprinted from May of 2020

Allentown Parking Authority 2023

Today I planned on running a reprinted Parking Authority post, with an addendum about increased enforcement in the west end.  However,  I came across an older facebook piece by community activist Julian Kern, he reported...

So I found out from a confidential source that the Allentown Parking Authority has instated a daily quota their officers must meet every day. They must now write 100 tickets per day. Not only will this affect the officers but it will affect the residents of the city because now officers will be pushed to write more tickets. Former executive director Tamara Dolan said at a city council meeting that the APA does not have a quota or push their officers to write tickets but that they push for compliance. Well now they have a quota so don't be surprised you see more tickets being issued. I certainly have no problem believing that there is a quota, regardless of what the Parking Authority may say. In the past I have documented them being less than honest about surveys they falsely claimed to have conducted. .Julian Kern May 8, 2018

The Parking Authority was created under less than meritorious circumstances. Old timers may remember when three meter maids, working for the police department, monitored the parking meters in golf carts. Downtown was still busy back then, and three people were enough for the shopping district. However, when the owners of Park & Shop decided the heydays were over, they prevailed upon the city to buy the lots...and the Allentown Parking Authority was born, to bail those influentials out from under those parking lots. Since then, they have grown into the beast that preys upon the citizens of Allentown. 

Shown above is the parking officer I used to call the Producer. I suppose by now he's probably retired, it's a photograph from 2009 or so. He's giving street cleaning tickets on 16th St., just off of Allen 

St.. Never mind that the city hadn't even plowed the snow yet! 

Over the past 15 years I have written many posts on the Parking Authority and their abuses. Those so interested can use the search engine on this blog's sidebar (web version) and type in Parking Authority. I often portrayed the Authority as Frankenstein's monster, preying on residents, people voting, and even parents picking up their school children.

So, in the meantime, don't forget to pay your tickets!

ADDENDUM:  Mr Kern's quote was actually from May of 2018. I modified the post to clarify that his quote isn't current. Nevertheless, the complaint about recent harassment by the Authority in the west end is current. Quotes and complaints about the Parking Authority can never really be out of date.

link to more Parking Authority posts

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

ADDENDUM JANUARY 12, 2023: While Dorothy above was the first Black to graduate Allentown, Russ Mayo may well have been the last white superintendent. As I reported in previous posts, the current school board seems obsessed with race. Recently, the NAACP accused a white board member of "sporting" a Hispanic married name, to deceive the voters. Two white members have just resigned from the board, although not for racial reasons. However, race may well become an issue with their replacements.  As a former delinquent myself at Allentown High, I can assure the board that we never knew or cared who the superintendent was....he didn't have to look like us. Furthermore, we never even knew that there was a school board.

Allentown's First Black Bar

In a neighborhood that no longer exists, Allentown's first legal Black liquor establishment had a short tortured run.

McLaughlin's Cafe was on the corner of Wire and Lehigh, at the bottom of the hill. Wire was the street that ran along the Wire Mill, another long forgotten part of Allentown's industrial history. By the mid 1950's, things were getting rough in the old bar. Police became a regular referee as fights and prostitution frequented the establishment. Finally the state liquor board decided to pull their license. 

The neighborhood had two complexions. There were the white descendants of the factory workers, and it also was the center of Allentown's small Black population.

Hamp Webb was a popular figure in the Black community. Just outside the straight and narrow, he was courted by the white officials for his influence with his community. Hamp operated unlicensed speakeasies with some success.

In the final days of McLaughlin's, they featured black entertainers from Philadelphia, and even referred to it as the Black & White Club. As McLaughlin's license was being revoked, he negotiated a sale to Hamp Webb.

The Morning Call reported that he fought to secure a license to provide a drinking establishment for his fellow Negroes, where they could congregate without being molested. After a court hearing, he was finally given the license in 1957, and Ham Webb Bar&Grill opened.

Hamp Webb was killed the following year in an automobile accident. While operation of the bar was taken over by his sons, they apparently didn't have local connections to deflect legal citations that came with operating a rough bar in a tough neighborhood. The property and license were liquidated at a tax sale in 1960.

reprinted from April of 2020

Boxing Eggs

When I was a little boy, I would work at my father's meat market, boxing eggs. The job was pretty straightforward. I would take eggs from a big box, and put them in small boxes with folding lids, each of which held a dozen. If I did a whole crate without breaking an egg, I did a good job. The real adventure was the drive to the shop. We lived just off Lehigh Street, and would take it all the way to Union Street. The many landmarks are now gone forever, only remaining in my camera of the past. Shown above in 1952, is the portion of Lehigh Street near the Acorn Hotel, which is not visible in the photograph. Before reaching the Acorn, you drove under The Reading Railroad bridge overpass, which recently has been dismantled and removed. That line served the Mack Plant on S. 10th Street. Just beyond the area pictured, the Quarry Barber railroad spur also crossed Lehigh Street, at the bridge over the Little Lehigh Creek. That line also crossed S. 10th, and served Traylor Engineering, now known as the closed Allentown Metal Works. Just last week Mitt Romney was there, to rebuke Obama's former visit to the site. Mayor Pawlowski is now rebuking Romney, but none of them really know anything about its past. A half block away, on overgrown steps built by Roosevelt's WPA, a thousand men would climb home everyday, after working at Mack and Traylor. Freight trains, on parallel tracks, from two different railroads, were needed to supply those industrial giants.

After my father rounded the second curve on Lehigh Street, we would head up the steep Lehigh Street hill. It was packed with houses and people. At the top of the hill, we would turn right on to Union Street. Going down Union Street, Grammes Metal was built on the next big curve. Grammes made a large assortment of finished decorative metal products. Beyond Grammes were numerous railroad crossings. The Lehigh Valley Railroad tracks crossed Union, as did the Jersey Central and several spurs, near Basin Street. It was not unusual to wait twenty-five minutes for the endless freight trains to pass. A two plus story tower gave the railroad men view and control of the busy crossing. A few more blocks and we were at the meat market, in time for me to break some eggs.

reprinted from July 2011

Stephen Colbert School Of Journalism

The marriage between news and entertainment isn't new, but it's now polygamous, with opinion and politics. With the Stephen Colberts and Jon Stewarts, pundits are comedians, and comedians are pundits.  Both parties, left and right, are the brunt of the other sides' jokes.

This merging of politics, humor and ridicule did the country no good. People have become so polarized that they think that the other side deserves the derision.

I have no delusions that we will revert back to more separation between news and entertainment... That paste isn't going back into the tube.  There is no longer any separation between news and opinion. On the contrary, down the road today's broadcasts might look scholarly. Instead of beautiful blondes, perhaps the news will be delivered by a dummy and ventriloquist...and we won't know the difference.

Zooming In On Allentown's Past

Today I assigned our aging staff photographer to document the demolition of the 1st National Bank building. He only took two photographs, complaining that there was no water spray to control the dust. For a building supposedly encumbered with asbestos, one would think that the pedestrians of Allentown deserved better treatment, but of course the upscale people have yet to arrive. Regular readers have been hearing about Lehigh Structural Steel on this blog. If you click on and enlarge this closeup, you can clearly see Lehigh Structural Steel Allentown is stenciled on this main beam. Imagine a time when an Allentown centered bank used steel beams made in Allentown for its headquarters in center square. We will be lucky if the beams used in the new building are made in the U.S.A.

UPDATE: A Morning Call video shows water being sprayed during the demolition. The spray person may have been on lunch break yesterday when I visited the site. 

reprinted from October of 2012