Pinsley Sees Another Opportunity For Publicity

Mark Pinsley is suing the local Republican Committee for defamation because they sent out a brochure supposedly describing him as pro-Hamas. As an independent, I did not see the flyer, but I certainly noticed the Morning Call picture of Pinsley at the Gaza rally. 

I remember when Pinsley stood with protestors against the South Whitehall Police Department, after the shooting at Dorney Park, when a man was terrifying drivers on Hamilton Blvd. He was jumping on car roofs and pounding on the windshields of women drivers. The reason I remember the incident so well was that Pinsley was then only recently elected as a South Whitehall Commissioner, and accordingly I thought he was on the wrong side of that line. 

Pinsley claims that the flyer makes him look like a "self hating" Jewish man.  Maybe he could sue himself for being there?

You can always count on Pinsley running for higher office and conducting publicity stunts.

photo/The Morning Call

An Inadvertent Art Dealer

With the untimely passing of Jessica Lenard in 2016, I inadvertently became an art dealer.  Jessica created art for over forty years, both paintings and print making.  While shown locally at Muhlenberg College, most of the shows were in NYC.  Her work is known for its raw and naked emotion. 

Those interested in acquiring a piece can send me a comment with their contact information. Such comments will not be seen by anyone other than myself.  Proceeds are donated to the Shriner's Hospital for Children.

NIZ Money Shuffling

Save for this blog, nobody until recently concerned themselves with the shuffling of our diverted state taxes to the NIZ oligarchy. New State Senator Jarrett Coleman campaigned on scrutinizing the NIZ, but has been stymied by the NIZ shield of privacy rules. While this post is based on a recent Morning Call article,  the paper has unfortunately performed more like a partner in the NIZ, instead of a watchdog.  They actually were dealt into the hand, with their former building being included in the NIZ district map, despite being on the wrong side of the road, or in this case Linden Street.

The latest $75mil bond deal involves, as usual, Reilly's City Center.  While his two Hamilton Street projects will be fronted $33.5mil in construction loans, the remaining major portion, $41.5mil, will go to associated expenses. Those expenses include refinancing existing debt, reserve funds and cost of issuance. I'm no finance man, but it's hard to understand the refinancing of (recent) existing debt. We left a 2% environment and are now three times higher.  Are we providing seed money for projects outside of the NIZ, such as the former State Hospital parcel?

Besides Reilly, what all these transactions have in common are ANIZDA board leaders signing off with their permission. Chairman Seymour Traub is quoted as saying that the two projects will provide "thousands" of construction jobs.  I know that there will be dozens of workers, maybe even a hundred... but can you imagine thousands of workers on a couple three story projects?

I have serious doubts that Jarrett Coleman will be able to shine any light on the NIZ. However, if he even sincerely continues to try, he'll keep my support.

Allentown Flood Of 1936

In 1936, northeast United States was decimated by extensive flooding. While Johnstown, Pa. and Nashua, N.H. made national news, Allentown certainly wasn't spared. While locally flooding of the Lehigh and Delaware received the most attention, the Jordan and Little Lehigh Creeks also caused widespread damage. Shown above is Lehigh Street, in the vicinity of the Acorn Hotel, south of the Little Lehigh. The building on the far left would become the Sherman Hotel, which operated for about twenty years, from 1942 to 1961. None of the buildings pictured still stand.

The low lying areas between the Jordan Creek and Lehigh River were flooded.  Numerous people were rescued by rowboat from porch roofs. At that time there was still many houses on the lower section of Hamilton and nearby Streets.

photo courtesy of the Schoenk family.

reprinted from April of 2020

Defending The Parks

This evening at 6:00 p.m., City Council's Park and Recreation Committee will hold a discussion on the dams in Lehigh Parkway. I will be there to defend the dam at the Robin Hood Bridge. Wildlands Conservancy and assorted environmental types will be there to promote their agendas. The magnificent park has been vandalized by special interests for several decades. Three WPA structures have been buried rather than maintained. Christmas lights have been strung to monetize the park during the holiday season. The steel bridge was allowed to rust away, ending 70 years of a beautiful ride through the park. Because of the park's abundantly designed beauty, it still manages to bestow tranquility onto its visitors, but it deserves more respect than now being a workshop for assorted special interests.

photocredit:molovinsky 

above reprinted from August of  2013

ADDENDUM OCTOBER 27, 2023: I lost the battle to save the dam, and the Wildlands demolished it within two days of Council's approval. The salt in the wound was them piling the broken dam debris around the stone bridge piers, despoiling a formerly beautiful vista. Mayor Tuerk has ignored my offer to give a public park tour if the debris is removed. I'm a veteran of being disliked by city administrations, but regardless continue my advocacy for the parks.

Minority Opportunities In The NIZ

When Allentown started acquiring properties for the Arena, I suggested that the displaced Asian merchants could end up with the rickshaw concession on Hamilton Street. Recently, I suggested that as a Community Benefit Agreement, our downtrodden be allowed to sell peanuts at the Arena. Lo and behold, our inspirational leaders did make room outside the new hotel for the underclass, they can operate food carts. "There's a lot of exciting opportunities right now," said Shannon Calluori, operations manager for the city's Department of Community and Economic Development. "Food vending is one of many." Julio Guridy, City Council President added, "It could also be a good opportunity for minority-owned businesses." Who knows, perhaps leather shoes will make a comeback, and the community college could provide training in shoe shining. 

above reprinted from September of 2013

ADDENDUM OCTOBER 26, 2023:Ten years have passed since my politically incorrect post above. Hasshan Batts has learned how to turn his prison past into lemonade -- m-e-n-t-o-r-i-n-g! Mentoring has become the growth industry in Allentown. Mayor Tuerk is looking at how to expand a youth boxing program. Perhaps minor minority gladiators could fight in the underused arena?

The Jews Of Iran

In 539 BC, when the Persian King Cyrus defeated Babylon, the Israelites were free to return to Jerusalem. Many instead ended up in that part of Persia which constitutes modern day Iran. Despite the current political climate between Iran and Israel, over 25,000 Jews still live in Iran. It has remained the largest Jewish population in a Muslim country since the creation of Israel in 1948, and among the most ancient of Jewish communities. Although certainly a minority in what could be perceived as an awkward situation, the community takes great pride in their Iranian history. Shown above is the Tomb of the Prophet Daniel, revered by both Jews and Muslims, in Susa, Iran.

reprinted from March 2011

ADDENDUM OCTOBER 24, 2023:It is now estimated that about 8,300 Jews remain in Iran. Turkey now has the largest remaining Jewish population in the Muslim world, over 14,000.

Allentown On A Tightrope

Forty three years ago Philippe Petit walked above Hamilton Street on a tightrope. Two weeks earlier he had walked between the Twin  World Trade Towers above Manhattan. Back then, you could count on Allentown's retail titan Max Hess to bring the best to town.

Flash ahead over four decades, and now Allentown itself is on the tightrope. Our mayor, who has been alleged corrupt by the FBI, will likely be re-elected by a coalition of minority voters. Aiding in that election result is a city councilman, who will most likely divide the anti-corruption vote, hoping to enter the office through the back door early next year.

The public is distracted by some new buildings which poach tenants from elsewhere in the valley, and the local newspaper was incentivized to under-report that reality by the same real estate deal.

Those who still seek unbiased commentary may well be limited to this blog.

photocredit: The Morning Call/August 1974 

reprinted from September of 2017

ADDENDUM OCTOBER 24, 2023:Six years have passed since the above post. Pawlowski was elected, and then convicted,and is still serving his sentence. Some of the minority/majority people Pawlowski empowered in his last campaign, such as Phoebe Harris, have been the topic of some recent posts. We now have a self proclaimed Latino as mayor. The new construction, fueled by diverted state taxes, has continued at a pace unrelated to any real estate market reality. That real estate deal now even owns the former newspaper building. Those interested in current political analysis of these changes in Allentown are still mostly limited to this blog.

Markets Of Allentown's Past

When I was growing up my parents lived on two ends of Allentown, first the south side and then the west end.  I was fortunate to have experienced two great independent markets of Allentown's past.

The Lehigh Super Market had a great section of small inexpensive toys for a small boy.  An easy walk from Little Lehigh Manor,  I could keep my Hopalong Casidy six shooter in caps, and replace my lost water pistol each summer.  The ice cream fountain featured hand dipped Breyers.  While the kids took a cone, the parents would have a quart or gallon scooped and weighed to take home.

Before  Food Fair was built farther west on Lehigh Street,  my mother would do all her shopping, except for meat,  at Lehigh Market.  Although I didn't pay too much attention, I do remember the cookie selection.

In the late 1950's my parents moved to the west end, and my times at Deiley's West Gate Market began.  Although too old to notice the toy selection,  the soda fountain became a hangout.

In addition to numerous corner markets, every section of Allentown had a popular larger independent, like Lehigh or Deiley's.   A few like Hersh's Market, have survived to this day.

photo of Deiley's Market in 1938

reprinted from April of 2020

Bullying As A Business

I've watched with cynicism as various non-profits has been profiting from violence and bullying reduction programs.  These programs are funded with grants administered through the city and school district. Needless to say, or better perhaps needed to say, these grants are funded with our tax dollars. 

These non-profits are manned and womaned by former perpetuators, who now are paid to mentor youngsters away from their former bad ways.

Currently a member of the school board, Phoebe Harris, claims that she was a victim of intended intimidation by one of these non-profits, who in turn accuses her of being non-professional. Imagine the unconventional accusing someone of being unconventional!

We live in an era of wokeness. Our White local media treads lightly with Black and Brown orange shirt issues. Everybody fears being labeled with the dreaded scarlet R

Mayor For A Block

Although I've titled this image Mayor For A Block, I could have just as easily called it The Future Mayor. When the Budweiser Wagon left the staging area on 10th Street, and rounded the corner down Hamilton, Julio Guridy had the seat of honor. Although I do not believe that Pawlowski will succeed in his try for the governorship, we now know that his ambitions extend beyond Allentown. When he does leave City Hall, Julio is the likely successor. Regardless, I have enjoyed using the Budweiser Wagon as a vehicle for my photography.

photocredit:michael molovinsky

Click on photograph to enlarge.

reprinted from September of 2013

ADDENDUM OCTOBER 19, 2023: In May of 2021, Julio would lose to Matt Tuerk in a very close primary election for mayor.

The People's Candidate

In the late 1970's, neighbors would gather in the market on 9th Street to complain and receive consolation from the woman behind the cash register. Emma was a neighborhood institution. A native Allentonian, she had gone through school with Mayor For Life Joe Dadonna, and knew everybody at City Hall. More important, she wasn't shy about speaking out. What concerned the long time neighbors back then was a plan to create a Historical District, by a few newcomers.

What concerned Emma wasn't so much the concept, but the proposed size of the district, sixteen square blocks. The planners unfortunately all wanted their homes included, and they lived in an area spread out from Hall Street to 12th, Linden to Liberty.* Shoving property restrictions down the throats of thousands of people who lived in the neighborhood for generations didn't seem right to Emma. As the battle to establish the district became more pitched, Emma began referring to it as the Hysterical District.
Emma eventually lost the battle, but won the hearts of thousands of Allentonians. Emma Tropiano would be elected to City Council beginning in 1986, and would serve four terms. In 1993 she lost the Democratic Primary for Mayor by ONE (1) vote.

Her common sense votes and positions became easy fodder for ridicule. Bashed for opposing fluoridation, our clean water advocates now question the wisdom of that additive. Although every founding member of the Historical District moved away over the years, Emma continued to live on 9th Street, one block up from the store. In the mid 1990's, disgusted by the deterioration of the streetscape, she proposed banning household furniture from front porches. Her proposal was labeled as racist against those who could not afford proper lawn furniture. Today, SWEEP officers issue tickets for sofas on the porch.

Being blunt in the era of political correctness cost Emma. Although a tireless advocate for thousands of Allentown residents of all color, many people who never knew her, now read that she was a bigot. They don't know who called on her for help. They don't know who knocked on her door everyday for assistance. They don't know who approached her at diners and luncheonettes all over Allentown for decades. We who knew her remember, and we remember the truth about a caring woman.

* Because the designated Historical District was so large, it has struggled to create the atmosphere envisioned by the long gone founders. Perhaps had they listened to, instead of ridiculing, the plain spoken shopkeeper, they would have created a smaller critical mass of like thinking homeowners.

reprinted yearly since 2010

Lehigh Valley Railroad Piers

In this era of class warfare, while we worry that the rich are only paying 35% income tax, instead of 39%, let us be grateful that once upon a time we had the Robber Barons. In this era when we have to give a grant for some woman to open a small cookie shop on Hamilton Street, let us be grateful that men built railroads with private money. Let us be grateful that incredible feats of private enterprise built piers, bridges and trestles. Trains allowed us to move vast amounts of raw and finished materials across America. This network allowed us to protect ourselves during two World Wars, and provided the prosperity upon which we now rest.

The Lehigh Valley Railroad tracks extended from their piers in New Jersey to the shores of Lake Erie. The Mile Long Pier in Jersey City was the scene of German sabotage in 1916. A train full of munitions, awaiting shipment to Europe, was blown up on July 30th of that year. In 1914, the railroad built the longest ore pier in the world, in Bayonne. The ore would come from Chile, through the new Panama Canal, for shipment to Bethlehem.

reprinted from February 2011

New Fight For MsPhoebe

Hasshan Batts has become the darling of the establishment. Money flows his way from the city, state and Washington. They take his Promise Neighborhoods as a legitimate solution to local violence, despite record homicides continuing....never let reality interfere with political correctness.

The local media has been featuring Batts in their essays on solitary confinement.  They omit mention of why he was in prison, or why he was given solitary while there. He is the poster boy for the progressive establishment, but more literally the billboard face.

Phoebe Harris isn't a shy woman. Originally empowered by an appointment to the city Human Relations Board by Pawlowski, she has parlayed that appointment to being on the Allentown School Board and a position with the local NAACP.

Harris is now claiming that she was bullied by a Promise official, and Promise has now set their sights on her...they want her removed from the School Board.  I have no knowledge of what actually occurred between Harris and the Promise person, but I've known Phoebe Harris long enough to know that she doesn't stand down.

image from Harris facebook page

Too Many Community Services

There has been recent speculation that this year's[record] homicide rate in Allentown reflects a lack of community services. That school of thought believes that we need to invest more in the smorgasbord of non-profits, which supposedly intercede with these bad inclinations in our society. 

It appears to this long time observer of Allentown that our real problem may be just the opposite: too many services, creating too much dependence. 

There was a time when people focused on improving their lot, and rested between those efforts. [Now the streets are teeming at 2:00AM, with subsidized people looking for recreation in a less than wholesome late night culture.] We fitted out these intervention organizations with large budgets and staffs to no avail. The hope and promise of these mentor groups have produced no dividends to public safety. 

If I had a say with my taxes, they would go to more police and consequences for bad actions. The notion that one more grant may make a difference has no credibility with me.

Michael Molovinsky

The above appeared as a recent letter to the editor in the Morning Call. The bracketed word and sentence did not make it into their published version.

The Wailing Wall

Israel had hoped that Jordan would not join the Arab forces against them in 1967. It was not to be; their artillery opened fire on Israel. Israeli paratroopers fought with small arms in the Old City. They were ordered to use no artilley, which could damage Holy Shrines.

Although Israeli Jews and Christians were barred from both the Wall and Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the twenty years of Jordanian rule, Israel immediately opened access to all. Administrative control of the Temple Mount, upon which sits the Al-Aqsa Mosque, were immediately given to the Jordanian Waqf (Islamic Trust).

The Wailing Wall is the Western Wall of the Mount, which is considered the closest and only remnant of the Second Jewish Temple, and is the holiest site in Judaism. No matter where in the world, all Jews have always prayed facing Jerusalem and the Wall.

reprinted from April 2010 

ADDENDUM OCTOBER 11, 2023:The Mosque on the Temple Mount has become a flashpoint and rallying cry for Palestinians. Although Muslims do have control and access to the shrine, they can't abide Jerusalem in Israeli control. Furthermore, they can't abide Israel. 

There is much speculation on Israel's failure to guard the border and Hamas's success with the infiltration. Speculation extends to Iran, and even American aid to Iran. Partisan agendas are in full uniform. My interest and prayers only concern the hostages.

Capernaum By The Sea

Matthew 4:13: And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum,...

Capernaum, the city of Jesus, is on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The foundation of the Synagogue of Jesus, is beneath the ornate 4th century synagogue, partially restored by the Franciscans in the early 1900's.

Mark 1:21: he entered into the synagogue and taught

Nearby, the modern Church of St. Peter's House was built by the Franciscans in 1990. It's glass floor reveals the lower walls of the 5th century octagon church, which was built around the walls of St. Peter's House. Also there, shown in the photograph, is the Greek Orthodox Church of the Twelve Apostles. It was built in 1931, during the British Mandate period (1917-1948).

reprinted from November of 2010

ADDENDUM OCTOBER 10, 2023:Over the years I have written numerous posts about the Holy Land.  While most concern sites from the Old Testament, some, such as this, dwell on the Christian period. 

My intention yesterday and today was to provide a venue where people might express themselves about current events in Israel/Gaza. When the left mentions occupation, they are referring to Israeli settlements on the West Bank. The problem for Israel is that when Palestinians use the term, they are referring to the east bank, or Israel itself. For Israel it is an issue of survival.

Zeppelin Over Jerusalem

The German airship LZ127 Graf Zeppelin was in service from 1928 to 1937. Two of it's 590 flights were over Jerusalem. The first occurred on March 26, 1929. It was a night flight, during which they dropped mail into the German colony at Jaffa. The second flight, pictured above, was from Cairo on April 11, 1931. The ship hovered above the Church of Holy Sepulchre for several minutes.

reprinted from May 2011 

ADDENDUM OCTOBER 2023: Clouds over Jerusalem.

Allentown's Orange Car

While the Orange Car, on Union St. near the Lehigh River, went out of business over twenty years ago, the building sat there vacant, fading away.  Although recently demolished, there's a story behind the slow demise.

When the Lehigh Valley Railroad went bankrupt in 1976, its rolling stock and track went to Conrail. However its other assets, such as real estate, were tied up in bankruptcy.  The Orange Car building was owned by LVRR.  Many years ago there was a small six track rail yard between the Orange Car and the meat packing business to its east.  Carloads of fresh citrus fruit would arrive weekly from Florida. After the rail service ended, the lessee continued operating the fruit stand for another twenty years. 

I labeled this post Allentown's Orange Car, because there was an identical looking sister store in Reading.  That location also had a major event in 1976,  a flood from which it never recovered. 

above reprinted from April of 2021 

2nd & Hamilton

Up to the mid 1960's,  before Allentown started tinkering with urban redevelopment, lower Hamilton Street still teemed with businesses. The City had grown from the river west,  and lower Hamilton Street was a vibrant area.  Two train stations and several rail lines crossed the busy thoroughfare.  Front, Ridge and Second were major streets in the first half of the twentieth century.  My grandparents settled on the 600 block of 2nd Street in 1895, along with other Jewish immigrants from Russia and Lithuania.  As a boy, I worked at my father's meat market on Union Street.  I would have lunch at a diner, just out of view in the photo above.  The diner was across from the A&P,  set back from the people shown on the corner.  A&P featured bags of ground to order 8 O'Clock coffee, the Starbucks of its day.

please click on photo

photocredit:Ed Miller, 1953

reprinted from 2011

The Trexler Greenhouse

The former greenhouse at the current Trexler Park was the pride of Harry and Mary Trexler. The General was very specific in his will about its future;

I, Harry C. Trexler declare this to be my last Will and Testament: ......into the Treasury of the City of Allentown, for the perpetual maintenance of said Park, (Trexler) as well as the Greenhouse thereon located. This bequest shall include all the plants and other contents of said Greenhouse (1929)

Although nobody in charge of Allentown remembers, the greenhouse was a thing of wonder... Full of banana trees and other tropical plants, it was a true escape from winter for all visitors. The park director at the time touted all the money in maintenance to be saved if it was demolished. A couple years later the same director replanted the creek banks by the intersection of Cedar Crest Blvd. and Cetronia Rd.. That planting cost $750,000. I recall the price, because Longwood Gardens built a new greenhouse for that same amount, we had just lost our greenhouse, and only had a new creek weedwall to show in its place.  

Several years ago Allentown Park Department cut down all those plantings, and we now have nothing to show for our loss of the greenhouse. Even back then, I was an advocate for the traditional park system. Current visitors to Trexler Park don't notice that the weed wall has been cut down, and certainly don't know that they lost a beautiful greenhouse in the backstory.

reprinted from 2014. Postcard of Trexler duckpond from the glory days of the Allentown Park System

The Magic Of Allentown

We who grew up in Allentown during the 50's know that Hess's was a magical place, but did you know that Hess's actually sold magic. The advertisement shown above is from 1941.

By 1915, Allentown sported the Willard Magic Shop on Allen Street. In the 1940's Allentown's own Houdini, Harry Beehrle, started his shop on Hamilton near 4th. Later, after a wave of urban renewal, he would move to 9th and Linden Streets.

I remember Arthur Neimeyer's Fun shop on 9th Street. It was on the corner, below ground level. As I got older, into jr. high school, I rarely went to Neimeyer's, because he really didn't carry club or stage props, no apparatus actually, just the little S.S. Adams & the Robbins' E-Z Magic line, of basically packet magic and/or gag items. So, for magic, there was only one shop at that time (the 1950's) and that was Harry Beehrle's Magic shop, downtown on Hamilton, just up from the train station....... Harry was a gruff curmudgeon type, not kid friendly at all. In his youth he had been an escape artist, Allentown's "Houdini" and there were photos in the shop of him as a young man hanging upside down doing the straitjacket escape, etc., etc. That was where I purchased all my U.F. Grant magic and such. By the time I was in high school, Harry was either ill or had died, ........ I can't remember which, and his daughter was running the shop. notes from a former Allentonian and magician.

In the mid 80's Jim Karol sold magic from his home on Front Street. Years later, Ed White would continue the tradition from his home shop.

reprinted from March of 2020

Ring 32

When I was growing up in the mid-50's, stage magic was still popular. Famous magicians of the day would occasionally appear at the Lyric Theater (Symphony Hall). Local magicians were popular for entertainment at parties. Allentown always had at least one magic shop, back then Beehrle's on N. 9th St. was the local favorite. The valley chapter of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, Ring 32, dates back to the early 1930's. The Brotherhood now numbers over 300 chapters worldwide. Up till about 15 years ago, the local chapter would have a show and dealer convention each year in May. As special effects in movies and television evolved, the wonder of performing illusions, and it's popularity diminished; For a while, until Las Vegas once again put magic center stage. I've always been in awe of the performer posters from the early 1920's, lithography at it's best. They were meant to be exotic, to mystify, to be magic.

reprinted from December of 2008

A Cookie For Old Allentown

About once a year, Mayor Pawlowski gives the boys and girls of the Old Allentown Preservation Association a cookie. Last year, he gave them new historic street signs. Unfortunately, they didn't have much structural integrity, and within 3 hours every one of them was bent. This year we're dressing up the corner where the Association has its office. Brick crosswalks will be added to 10th and Turner, and the the stoplight and other utility poles will be painted a more historic color. The boys and girls have been good. There hasn't been one peep from them about the demolition of the historic mercantile district, and the construction of the Great White Elephant. More important, they're behaving about the traffic cluster that the arena will bring their way, when all the patrons exit at the same time. I see more cookies in their future.

above reprinted from October of 2013

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER 29, 2023: The boys and girls of the Preservation Association still behave themselves. In current time they have turned a blind eye to both the sale of Zion Church/Liberty Bell Museum and the decaying WPA/art deco post office. Add the Art Museum and Historical Society to the list of deaf and blind. Enjoy your wine and cheese.

Using A Bad Lesson Well Taught In Philadelphia

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

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

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

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

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

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

photocredit:Steven Falk/Philadelphia Inquirer

above reprinted from January of 2020

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER 28, 2023:On Tuesday night looters once again had their way in several areas of Philadelphia. In large cities throughout America retailers are closing shop because of everyday shoplifting.

Shootings In What's Not Paradise

Last week on this blog I wrote that it's time to raise the flag for homelessness, since flag raising seems to be a big part of this administration.  Here I am less than a week later correcting myself...IT'S TIME TO RAISE THE FLAG ON PUBLIC SAFETY, THAT IS AGAINST SHOOTINGS AND STABBINGS. I don't literally need to see such a flag flying, but let's not delude ourselves anymore that hope and promise organizations are any solution. WE NEED MORE POLICING.  We need to protect life and limb.  

Instead of the police car passing the double parker, let's start by checking them out. We already know that such citizens don't have much regard for public safety, and probably not much for laws either. Don't worry about culture or offending anybody. If Charles Roca is not up to the task, a new chief may be in order. If Matt Tuerk isn't up to the mission, maybe a new mayor will also be necessary.

illustration by Mark Beyer

The Mad Men Of Allentown

Back in the day, the titans of Allentown would fill the five barberchairs of the Colonial Barbershop, 538 Hamilton Street. That was when the town had three department stores. That was when Wetherhold and Metzger had two shoe stores on Hamilton Street. That was when Harvey Farr would meet Donald Miller and John Leh at the Livingston Club for lunch, and discuss acquiring more lots for Park & Shop. By 1995 all that was gone, but Frank Gallucci, 82, would still give some old timers a trim. The Colonial Barbershop property, closed for many years, has been purchased by J.B. Reilly. It is my pleasure to present this previously unseen portrait of Gallucci, toward the end of his career.

photocredit:molovinsky

reprinted since 2013

Jews In Jerusalem

Except when barred by one conqueror or another, Jews had lived in Jerusalem since King David. Prior to Jordanian rule in 1948, there was a Jewish majority for 150 years. In 1864, eight thousand of the fifteen thousand population was Jewish. By 1914, two thirds of the sixty five thousand residents were Jewish. In 1948 the United Nations Partition Plan divided the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. Jerusalem was to be initially an international city, with access guaranteed for all. This plan was rejected by the surrounding Arab nations, which attacked Israel in concert immediately upon the UN vote. When the truce was declared, Israel had survived, but East Jerusalem(walled Old City) was in procession of TransJordan. The Jordanians subsequently destroyed over 50 synagogues in the Jewish Quarter, which dated back to the 1400's. For hundreds of years both Christians and Jews were prohibited from building higher than Muslim structures. The few synagogues which survived were the ones built mostly below street level. The oldest surviving synagogue, The Jerusalem Synagogue, was built by the Karaite Jews in around 900. Shown above is the Ben Kakai, a Sephardic Synagogue built in the 16th Century.

Perhaps the most famous synagogue destroyed by the Jordanians was the Ashkenazi Hurva Synagogue built in 1720, it's dome visible in the top center of this photograph from the 1920's. It's replacement was completed in 2010.

This post was first printed in April of 2010, and titled The Synagogues of Jerusalem

Time For The Homeless Flag Raising

Allentown activist Lewis Shupe took the photo above, and wonders aloud how we can have homelessness surrounded by a $Billion dollars of new development?  While mental illness is certainly an explanation, it doesn't make the sidewalk any softer or warmer for the poor person shown.

We have raised the flag for numerous republics in the Caribbean, perhaps it's time to raise one for the homeless? While such an effort to help done quietly would be more dignified, if political fanfare gets the job done, raise a flag and give a speech!

I do acknowledge that local efforts to help homelessness have occurred. Both the Fountain Park pool house and the YMCA have recently operated shelters.

Allentown is concerned with its image.  Both 7th and Hamilton Street gateways get dress-up grants...That's nice, but it's time to concern ourselves with the people sleeping on those new sidewalks.

photocredit: Lewis Shupe

Saving The Bridge

Allentown and Lehigh County aren't much for history. Last year Allentown celebrated it's 250th anniversary by having someone rewrite the lyrics to the Billy Joel song. The County actually commissioned a whole music program for their 200th, also last year. Believing our history should be more than a tune and a speech, I've been using this blog to advocate for the preservation of our historic structures. During the County Commissioner committee meeting last night, the project manager said that if the bridge is repaired instead of replaced, it might last two months, or it might last six months. Considering that the bridge has endured everything that has come it's way for 189 years, that statement clearly demonstrated that he was never a fair broker for options concerning the bridge. Recently, the Commissioners expressed support for preserving the King George Inn, but noted that they had no say in it's fate. Last night, I pointed out the durability of the bridge, and reminded the Commissioners that they do have the say concerning the bridge's fate. By a 7 to 2 vote, the Commissioners decided that the historic Reading Road Bridge should continue to provide passage over the Cedar Creek, by Union Terrace. 

reprinted from October of 2013

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER 21, 2023:Saving the Reading Road Bridge in 2013 took me two weeks, two blog posts and attending two meetings.Saving Wehr's Dam took nine years, twenty meetings and fifteen blog posts. I'm hoping that someone will come forward to campaign for the iconic WPA/Art Deco post office. Already two irreplacable light fixtures have disappeared. For a city with a $Billion dollars worth of new crass construction, the languishing post office is a crime.

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 it's history of cannibalism.

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

reprinted from November 2011 

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER 20, 2023:When I wrote the above post twelve years ago, I didn't expect the NIZ to bulldoze practically every building on Hamilton Street. Worse, the new buildings are devoid of any architectual merit. The tenants in the new Strata apartment buildings are seldom seen, and appear to bestow very little economic benefit to the few new businesses. Why anyone would want to live in the new monstrosity at 7th and Linden, between the hapless bus passengers and the infamous 7/11, is beyond my comprehension. Needless to say my opinions or frankness on these topics is not very appreciated by the powers that be. If you need some smoke blown your way, buy the local paper, don't read this blog.

The Lost Beauty Of Lehigh Parkway

                                                                         photography by Tami Quigley

This beautiful photograph was taken by Tami Quigley last fall. This classic view of the stone piers, rising out of the Little Lehigh, has been inspiring photographers and artists for over 70 years. I have picture postcards of the same view. The stone piers are now surrounded by the concrete rubble of the former dam. Although the rapids still provide some sound and view, the portion of beauty and magic has been reduced in half. The new park director may have set a record in park degradation. Although only here for a matter of weeks, before even having seen the whole park, he agreed and recommended that the Robin Hood Dam be demolished. Piling it's rubble by the stone piers is salt in the wound of our lost beauty.

photograph by Tami Quigley

reprinted from October of 2013 

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER 19, 2023: It has been a decade since the broken rubble of the former small scenic dam was piled around the stone bridge piers. What was formerly beautiful is now an eyesore. Weeds and saplings are now growing in the rubble. While I've had no success with the administration on this degradation of the park, I respectfully now ask City Council to address the issue.

The New Jobs Of Allentown

J.B. Reilly said this week that the downtown development is bringing 3,000 jobs to Allentown's $600 million NIZ. Between the National Penn Bank, and his other prospective tenants, that figure seems high. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, and considering everything else he's gotten, we can easily throw that in, each job will cost the state taxpayers $200,000.00. Now, this is nay-sayer math, but then again, this is a blog. Talking of nay-saying, last night over 200 unemployed  packed into a center city church, hoping for some benefit from the NIZ. I think a church was an appropriate venue, because that will take a lot of prayer. As I had written in a previous blog post, the new jobs, except for the peanut vendors at the arena, will be white collar, college degree required. This brings us to the photograph shown above. As they demolish the former Gallery Building in the 900 block of Hamilton Street, we see that the steel beams were fabricated at the former Lehigh Structural Steel. At one time, the buildings on Hamilton Street were built by entrepreneurs, to accommodate our prosperity.  Now they are funded by taxpayers, hoping to steal another town's employees.

above reprinted from November of 2013

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER 18, 2023: A decade has passed since I wrote the post above, and we're now funding a $Billion dollars worth of real estate for J.B.  Outrage that a privately owned empire is being paid for by the taxpayers is still limited to this blog. The Morning Call continues to praise and promote each new building as progress. The former Lehigh Structural Steel site itself is now part of the NIZ, and hosts a new commercial building by the Jaindl dynasty.

Allentown's Fading Memories

I have written recently that the market for Allentown memorabilia was closing fast. With so many new comers to the area, and the graying of the old timers, those interested in acquiring such objects are far and few between. Nostalgia is a different story. The internet allows former Allentonians to remember the good old days. In Allentown's case, many feel that the expression is unfortunately very true. Shown above is the first mayor for life, Joe Daddona, with Willie Restum. Willie was a nationally known sax player, who never forgot his Allentown roots in the Syrian 6th ward. Adding to this blast from the past, is Willie wearing the Allentown All American City tee-shirt. This post was for the subset, born in Allentown before 1960.

reprinted from November of 2013

Allentown's Industrial Hoax

Allentown's looking to identify an industrial area, where an investment in infrastructure can produce jobs. The Allentown Economic Development Corporation hired a consultant, to tell them what they wanted to hear. Never mind that we have an industrial area, already complete with infrastructure. Shown above is the area along the Lehigh River, where industry began in Allentown. The working railroad line is still there, as are the industrial buildings, and even industrial tenants, including Air Products. Problem is, that area is now slated for Pawlowski Transformation Number Two, turning the industrial reality into a commercial and residential hope to be. Enter AEDC and their choo choo project. Many years ago, Traylor Engineering on S. 10th Street, was serviced by the Barber Quarry rail spur. That rail branch has been completely removed, from it's start back at 3th and Union Streets. Last year, the AEDC purchased Traylor's successor, the vacant Allentown Metal Works, and sought a grant to rebuild the branch line. The bureaucracy of the AEDC would actually spend $millions of dollars to rebuild a railroad line, on the speculation of attracting an industrial tenant. Lo and behold, the new study they and the City have commissioned, recommends this very nonsense.

above reprinted from November of 2013

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER 14, 2023: In the above post from ten years ago, I take AEDC to task for wanting to rebuilt the rail branch line to S. 10th Street. Only in their dreams would we ever have a new industry there that would need rail service. To that regard they should have actively protested when the old line there was removed. But let's move ahead to 2023. The area along the river, former home of Lehigh Structural Steel, is now part of the NIZ.  As I reported recently, Jaindl has built an attractive commercial building on the parcel, with a residential component planned.

When Allentown Worked

Regular readers of this blog know that I often visit Allentown's better days of the past. I even belong to a nostalgia group, where someone recently asked where everyone's parents worked. Many group members are in their 50's and 60's. Here was the question; When we grew up the best jobs for our dad's was the Bethlehem steel and mack trucks unless they were lawyers or doctors or had another profession occupation I know my my mom worked in a factory all her life and I think most of them have closed. Where did you mom and dad work and are the companies are open? Over 90 people responded, actually constituting a survey. In current Allentown, this would be a study, which taxpayers would have to pay for; Here, it's on the house, no charge. Fourteen of the fathers worked at Bethlehem Steel, while five worked at Mack Trucks, and five worked retail on Hamilton Street. The others worked at Allentown's many other industries, one or two here and there. Only two respondents said that their fathers weren't much for working. Twenty mothers were stay at home, while eight worked in various sewing factories. The remainder worked as teachers, nurses, factory workers and various other jobs. One person wrote, "My parents sound like the scene you described. My dad worked at Beth Steel and my mom at Penn State Mills on a sewing machine. They owned their own home and sent me to college where I graduated without the burden of a loan. Thanks, Mom and Dad." Shown above was the General Electric plant on S. 12th Street, just beyond the old Mack 5C.

reprinted from November of 2013

Visiting Easton

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

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

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

A Personal Memoir

I'm not sure memoir is a good title, rather than facts and records, I have hazy recollections. Assuming my memory will not improve at this stage of the game, let me put to print that which I can still recall. In about 1959 my father built Flaggs Drive-In. McDonalds had opened on Lehigh Street, and pretty much proved that people were willing to sit in their cars and eat fast food at bargain prices. For my father, who was in the meat business, this seemed a natural. As a rehearsal he rented space at the Allentown Fair for a food stand, and learned you cannot sell hotdogs near Yocco's. He purchased some land across from a corn field on Hamilton Blvd. and built the fast food stand. In addition to hamburgers, he decided to sell fried chicken. The chicken was cooked in a high pressure fryer called a broaster, which looked somewhat like the Russian satellite Sputnik. The stand did alright, but the business was not to my father's liking, seems he didn't have the personality to smile at the customers. He sold the business several years later to a family which enlarged and enclosed the walk up window. Subsequent owners further enlarged the location several times. The corn field later turned into a Water Park, and you know Flaggs as Ice Cream World.

I'm grateful to a kind reader who sent me this picture of Flaggs.

reprinted from 2009

The Turning Point At City Council

As a blogger/journalist I'm at a table for one. No one accuses me of having favorite politicans or favorite anything...I can't be counted on to take a predictable viewpoint, so most officials have no use for me. However, I do get contacted by activists now and then, willing to roll the dice that I will see things their way. I think that this post may equally offend all. 

The Discrimination Resolution was never in doubt, because of the math. Hendricks proclaimed before the discussion that he would vote against it, and Affa often shares his sentiments on such things. Even if Napoli joined them, co-sponsors Zucal and Gerlach could count on Santos and Mota. Before the Discrimination Issue reached discussion, Tuerk called on Karen Ocasio from HR to explain procedure on sick days. His introduction of her demonstrated that people of color were in positions of regard within city hall. 

The meeting progressed through the various resolutions on the agenda, leaving the investigation of discrimination until last. When Karen Ocasio stood up again to speak, this time as an employee of color who felt victimized, I think that Hendricks and Tuerk knew that they had no chips left to play. 

Photo shows Ocasio walking past Tuerk after testifying about what she felt as harassment in city hall.

Discrimination At City Hall

Despite Matt Tuerk's public image as a crusader for diversity and inclusion, rumors persist of discrimination in City Hall.

Since the controversial local branch NAACP letter on that topic, their leadership has changed. Lisa Conover is now president, replacing Walter Felton.* Conover is also on the school board.

City Councilman Ed Zucal co-sponsored a resolution asking for an investigation of the allegations concerning city hall. Some might phrase this as an investigation of the Tuerk administration. How culpable Tuerk is remains debatable. While some might blame an ingrained institutional mentality in the building, others feel that Tuerk hasn't been proactive enough about the problem. 

Several minority activists had reached out to me with their concern about Tuerk, so I stopped in at last night's council meeting to gauge the climate. In Tuerk's quest for inclusion, he has brought whites, browns and blacks together to criticize him. As you can tell from the photo, at least one rather animatedly.

By meeting's end, after heartfelt pleas, council voted unanimously to fund an outside investigation into the allegations.

* Felton does not consider the changeup legitimate.  He states that he was excluded from a zoom meeting when the voting occurred.

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 M,

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

above reprinted from October of 2009

Measuring Allentown

Although I no longer attend meetings, about once a week I measure Allentown by driving down Tilghman Street, from Cedar Crest Blvd. to Front Street. I'm measuring civility and quality of life, both of which are getting smaller and smaller. 

 

Double parking now seems to have a de facto legality.  I'm also seeing more U turns, and the left turning lane used as a passing lane at intersections. Gotta love those low rider Honda Accords with canted wheels blasting their stereos. 

I can understand why such observations are not publicly made by our aspiring local elected officials. 

Supermarket Comes To Allentown

The concrete monolith still stands five stories above Lehigh Street at the Parkway Shopping Center. Currently it sports a clock and a sign for St. Luke's medical offices. It was built in 1953 as the modernistic sign tower for Food Fair supermarket, which then was a stand alone store. Behind it, on South 12th Street was the General Electric small appliance factory. The shopping center would not be built to decades later, connecting the former supermarket to the bowling alley built in the 60's. Food Fair was started in the 1920's by Russian immigrant Samuel Friedland in Harrisburg. By 1957 he had 275 stores. 1953 was a rough year for the butcher, baker and candle stick maker: the huge supermarkets were too much competition, even for the bigger independent markets, such as Lehigh Street Superette -- it was further east on Lehigh, now the site of a Turkey Hill Market. The sign tower also remains at the 15th and Allen Shopping center, which was another stand alone Food Fair. That parcel remains an independent supermarket. Food Fair would eventually absorb Penn Fruit, which had a market on N. 7th Street, then turn into Pantry Pride. When the Food Fair was built, there was as yet no 15th Street Bridge. Allentown only connected to the south side by the 8th Street Bridge and the Lehigh/Union Street hill (stone arch bridge, near Regency Tower, was route to West End).  Allentown was booming and Mack Trucks were rolling off the line, a block east off Lehigh Street, as fast as they could build them. The factories on S. 12th st. are now flea markets. Mack Headquarters is being sold to a real estate developer. Perhaps those concrete monoliths are the monuments to better times, by those of us who remember.

reprinted from June 2009