Allentown Becomes Reillytown

molovinsky on allentown exclusive*
Just as William Penn gave this town to William Allen two hundred and fifty years ago, Pat Browne, Jennifer Mann and Ed Pawlowski have now given the town to J.B. Reilly. Actually, Reilly's getting a better deal than Allen, because the existing taxpayers will underwrite all his new acquisitions. This blogger has learned that with three exceptions, Reilly has purchased the square block across from the arena; that would be from 7th to 8th, and Hamilton to Walnut. The exceptions are the LCCC Portland Place building, and two adjoining store fronts. All other properties are either under an agreement of sale, or have one pending. One of the sellers claim that they were initially approached by a strawbuyer, who used language of eminent domain, similar to the tactics employed on the arena side. Although the offers appear fair to generous, several of the sellers supposedly felt they had little to no option. Although I initially thought that the threat of domain was an idle threat, perhaps it is possible. City Council really doesn't know what authority they gave the City and it's agents, when they signed that dotted line. One council member hoped it wouldn't result in just some rich white guys getting richer; Guess what? Just as the general public was not aware that the NIZ taxing mechanism could be used by approved private parties, few people understand that property taxes** will be used if the earned income and sales tax fall short. In addition to the block outlined above, Reilly's City Center Investment Corp., funded by an initial $20million from the City Authority, and a yet disclosed second amount, is buying up both sides of Hamilton, from 5th to 10th Street. Additionally, he is purchasing the property north of Linden Street, to Turner Street. Several displaced former merchants who owned property on Hamilton, will now be tenants in Reilly buildings.

City Center Investment Corp. is a visionary real estate development and management company....We look forward to welcoming many tenants to live, work and play in what will be an inviting, accessible urban community.

Considering that Reilly hasn't been given the keys to the city, but rather the city itself, let us hope he succeeds.

reprinted from May of 2012

ADDENDUM APRIL 25, 2024:He has succeeded more than perhaps he even hoped for. In addition to owning mostly all of downtown, he now also owns the former State Hospital parcel. Twelve years later since this post, critical analysis of the NIZ scheme is still mostly limited to this blog. The Morning Call acted as outright promoter for many years, and still treats CityCenter press releases as news. Reilly now even owns the former Morning Call building itself. New state senator Jarrett Coleman is the only legislator questioning the benefit of Reilly's windfall in regard to the taxpayers.

McHistory In The Lehigh Valley

Readers of this blog know that I'm upset about what little value history is given in this community.  Yesterday's Morning Call story on the Lehigh Valley Trust Bank building goes a step farther, and significantly alters the story of an important structure.  After reading the Morning Call article, one would think that the bank closed,  Abe Atiyeh purchased it and then sold it to the Jaindls,  who are now opening an event center after restoration.  The real story is so different,  I can only conclude that this current article was only meant as another NIZ promotion, not a serious background of the building.

When the building was purchased by Seigfried Braun, unmentioned in the article,  it had been modernized.  He and his family spend years and most of their assets lovingly restoring it.  The famed skylight and other adornments were covered over decades earlier, by a massive new lowered ceiling.  What you see now is the fruit of his labor. Restoring the skylight alone took over a year.  In addition to that bank,  he also purchased the Dime Bank and the Elks Club.  The Dime Bank has now been incorporated into the new Renaissance Hotel.  The Elks Club was demolished to make way for J.B. Reilly's aborted massive Two Towers project.

Unfortunately, illness forced Mr. Braun to quickly sell these significant structures for pennies on the dollar, to Abe Atiyeh.  We should thank Braun for saving these magnificent structures.  Although, I like to think that my local political opinions have merit,  my better calling is to defend and advocate for local historical structures, when I have the needed endurance.  Meanwhile, I use this blog to present local history, and occasionally point out misconceptions about it.

reprinted from January 7, 2017

molovinsky on allentown is published early morning every weekday.

Allentown's Great OPM Triumph

The skylight shown above was over Charles Snelling's conference room.  Although that name will mean nothing to newcomers to the area, which includes many of our current elected leaders, he is largely responsible for Allentown's current revitalization. Snelling was a great proponent of OPM*, using Other People's Money. Among his young disciples back then was J B. Reilly. Reilly is now rebuilding Hamilton Street, owns all the new buildings, and we're paying for them with our diverted state taxes.  Charles would be most proud of his former student.

Although I no longer partake in any public gatherings, I do venture out early morning on photo reconnaissance. While I remain a staunch critic of the NIZ on principle, I must confess amazement at the proliferation of new structures on Hamilton Street. If and when the envisioned people ever arrive, it could be impressive, but never-the-less, completely inappropriately funded.

As a historian, my new photographs are too current to use. However, I do promptly develop the film, and hope the future allows me to someday use them.

This post and the phrase OPM is based on collaboration with Michael Adams, who was employed by Lehigh Valley Hospital and close to a member of the Snelling family during the referenced time.

skylight shown above was in the 700 block of Hamilton

The above post is by Michael Molovinsky in conjunction with Michael Adams.

The addendum below is by Michael Adams

ADDENDUM BY MICHAEL ADAMS:Charles Darwin Snelling may correctly be remembered as the Spiritual Father of the contemporary NIZ. Charles preached the Gospel of OPM to a select group of acolytes, all extraordinary and ambitious young men including several prominent physicians. Charlie did a stint as a Board Member for the Lehigh Valley Hospital Center. An especially blessed member of his coterie might receive an invitation to Snellings private island nestled on the U.S. side of the St. Laurence Seaway, a stones throw from the Scull and Bones retreat. Snelling’s last public position was as Chairman of the Ronald Reagan International Airport, in the headlines last week after a runway near miss incident involving two passenger planes. Charlie was an avid amateur pilot and a major bundler of campaign finances for regional and national Republican Party candidates, utilizing OPM, naturally. Snelling himself, unlike his father, Walter O. Snelling, the innovative and entrepreneurial mind behind bottled gas as the world knows it, did not leave a a fortune to his heirs in the will he modified shortly before his death. 

Michael Adams

1953 In Allentown

In 1953 you could escape the crowds on Hamilton Street by walking down beyond the third department store, Zollinger Harned, to the 500 Block. The malls in Whitehall were still two decades away, and Hamilton Street was where the Lehigh Valley shopped. Although the photograph above shows a trolley and a bus, the last trolly would run in June of that year. South side Allentown was bustling with Mack Truck and General Electric. The first supermarket, FoodFair, opened that year on Lehigh Street, now the Parkway Shopping center. In addition to the three department stores, downtown Allentown boasted three five and dimes and five movie theaters. Ike was our President, and Brighton Diefenderfer was our mayor. In the scene above, Man In The Dark is playing at the Colonial Theater. In that 3D movie, a criminal gets a second chance if he submits to an operation to excise the criminal portion of his brain. In 2012, could we give our elected officials that option? 

reprinted from May of 2012

Mileage From The Violence

It seems that some are trying to get some funding or publicity from the current wave of carnage in Allentown. The Morning Call newspaper went to bat for Promise Neighborhoods, and got some funding restored for that organization.

Promoter Ed White recommended supporting a new organization he started.  By my standards, the most logical recommendation came from councilman Courtney Robinson...He recommends creating an inventory of existing activities available for young people. While little leagues for baseball and basketball have existed since my youth, there are also excellent existing facilities for after school activities. In addition to keeping school gyms open, there is the YMCA and Jewish Community Center. There are people like Pastor Jim Rivera, who has been engaging youth constructively for decades.

Realistically, those who engage in gangs and violence, resist partaking in such activities as enumerated above. While hopefully some kids will find alternatives to the street, we will also need beefed up police action. 

 

above reprinted from July of 2019 

ADDENDUM APRIL 19, 2024:Pastor Jim Rivera is starting a new program and citizen patrol called PULSE, in response to the growing drug traffic and violence occurring in the 1st Ward. I've known of Rivera for a long time. He once marched his congregation into City Council to protest Pawlowski using the Hamilton street cleaning contract as a political football. 

The developer of new apartments in the Ward on Front Street hired a private security firm to patrol, hoping to make his investment more marketable to a higher end clientele. 

Police Chief Roca and Mayor Tuerk should actually be providing the sense of security through the police department, but it's apparent to a developer and pastor that the city isn't doing its job. It is also apparent to more and more citizens everywhere in Allentown.

Depot At Overlook Park

Old timers have noticed that the contractor's building on Hanover Avenue transformed into a community center for Overlook Park. But only the oldest, or train buffs, realized that the building was the freight depot and office for the Lehigh & New England Railroad. Lehigh & New England was formed in 1895, primarily as a coal carrier. The line ran from Allentown to Maybrook, New York.

In 1904 it was acquired by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. The line ceased operation in 1961. Among it's infrastructure were impressive bridges across both the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers, both of which were dismantled. Ironic that a remnant of our industrial era is being utilized by the successor of a public housing project.

reprinted from February 17, 2011

End Of A Legend

When Joe Louis retired as Heavyweight Champion in 1949, he had beat all challengers for a dozen years. Before winning the title, he had avenged the only loss in his career by knocking out Germany's Max Schmeling, in one of the most famous fights in ring history. The only man he feared was the tax man, who wouldn't let Joe rest. On October 26, 1951, he climbed back into the ring to fight a young, undefeated Rocky Marciano, who had won 31 out of 36 fights by knockout. In the eighth round, the aging legend was knocked through the ropes, down and out, in what would be his last fight.

reprinted from May 2011

DECEMBER OF 2012 IS FIGHT MONTH, WITH 29 JOE LOUIS ERA FIGHT POSTS

Crime and Punishment in Allentown and America

When I see articles and statistics about crime going down, please excuse my doubts. In my simple mind, when crime goes down, the quality of life should be going up. I think even the most gullible out there don't feel any safer of late. It is apparent to me that law enforcement and the courts are the ones relaxing the guidelines. 

I think that there is a relationship between the myth described above, and people standing in the cold for a mile to hear Trump rant about deception. This post is not an endorsement for Trump, but rather a siren call against delusion.

My circulation is very local. I would ask Mayor Tuerk and Police chief Roca to also ignore the statistics, and please proceed as if crime is worse, because it is.

When Mack Was Allentown

I grew up around the corner from Mack's famous 5C plant, on the corner of Lehigh and S. 12th Streets. In the early 1950's, the brightly colored truck tractors would cover the lot next to the old assembly plant. All day long, a new tractor would leave for delivery somewhere, with two more piggy back on the coupling hitches. Over the years I have written a lot of posts about Mack, especially how their workers would use the Fountain Park WPA steps, walking to their jobs on S. 10th Street. Mack made all their own truck parts there, except the tires. Built Like A Mack Truck, was a result of the local craftsmanship.

In Saturday's Morning Call article about Mack investing in the Macungie plant, the vice president is quoted as saying that Mack was here to stay. By Saturday evening, that vice president was no longer with the company, according to WFMZ. I remember when the larger share of production was moved to South Carolina in 1987. Shortly before that plant closed in 2002, they handed out sunglasses to symbolize their bright future there. I remember when the World Headquarters on Mack Boulevard moved to North Carolina. I don't know about Mack's long term future in the valley, but I do know that the ties that bind have long since been broken.

Jack Mack, one of Mack Truck's founding brothers, was killed in an auto accident in 1924. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery on Lehigh Street.

reprinted from 2016 

ADDENDUM APRIL 15, 2024: Volvo North America, now owner of Mack Trucks, has announced that a new plant will be built in Mexico to supplement production in Macungie and Virginia. I remember when Mack first moved south, some Allentown workers went with them to South Carolina. 

Will Allentonians end up in Mexico, will Volvo be handing out sombreros? Among those who wouldn't appreciate any humor on this topic is the union local. In Volvo's explanation, they mentioned the Latin and South American markets. This past October there was a strike at the Volvo plants, which lasted over a month.

The Corner Market

Although I doubt that there will ever be a show at the Historical Society, or brochures at the Visitors Bureau, perhaps nothing encapsulates the history of Allentown more than the corner grocery stores. Allentown proper, is mostly comprised of rowhouses built between 1870 and 1920, long before the era of automobiles and suburban supermarkets. Most of the corner markets were built as stores, and over the years many were converted into apartments. Up until the late 1940's, there may have been well over a hundred operating in Allentown. Some specialized in ethnic food. The bodega at 9th and Liberty was formally an Italian market. Live and fresh killed chickens were sold at 8th and Linden, currently H & R Block Tax Service. A kosher meat market is now a hair salon on 19th Street. The original era for these markets died with the advent of the supermarket. In the early 50's some corner stores attempted to "brand" themselves as a "chain", as shown in the Economy Store sign above. That market is at 4th and Turner, and has been continually operating since the turn of the last century. Ironically, as the social-economic level of center city has decreased, the corner stores have seen a revival. Most of these new merchants, many Hispanic and some Asian, know little of the former history of their stores, but like their predecessors, work long, hard hours.

ADDENDUM: The above post is reprinted from 2009.  The sign shown above has been removed or sold. When my parents were first married, they lived next door and would patronize the same store.  My grandparents lived nearby on the corner of Chew and Jordan Streets.

ADDENDUM 2: the Economy Stores sign shown, apparently came from an early A&P format in 1912 when they leased small stores. If this particular store was such an A&P, or just dressed later with a reused sign, I have yet to determine.

ADDENDUM APRIL 12, 2024: When I took the photo back in 2009, I was friendly with the long time owner, from having managed apartments in that neighborhood. Both she and the enamel sign are now long gone. When I told the current owner that members of my family have been coming into that same store for over a hundred years, he looked at me as if I was from another planet. There are very few long time store owners that I still know.

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

The Sunday Drive

My family wasn't much for recreation.  My father worked six days a week, from early morning until early evening.  We did go for a long car ride on Sundays.  Back then gasoline was cheap, and having no destination wasn't thought of as wasteful.  Children were more content to sit in the back seat and look out the window, now they want a video screen in the vehicle.



Even children's play then involved more imagination and interaction.  Howdy Doody was just a puppet on strings, who spend most of his time talking to an adult, Buffalo Bob, can you imagine?

 Sitting in that back seat in the mid fifties, I might well had



my "coonskin" hat with me.  Fess Parker was a genuine American hero.  It mattered little if he played both Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, both were king of the wild frontier.  The ride probably lasted for two hours and then we would go to a restaurant to eat dinner.  Compared to now, there were very few restaurants.



My mother would cook all the other meals that week, and we probably ate out more than most.  Supermarkets were the new rage in food shopping, but the butcher, baker and candle stick maker were still going strong.  If my father headed west or south, chances are we ended up at Shankweiler's Hotel, famous for chicken and waffles.   They were at the intersection of Old 22 and Route 100.  The building still exists and currently is a bank.  The family also owned another hotel on Route 309, which had an adjoining Drive-In movie venue.



If my father headed north or east,  we would end up at Walp's, which was on the corner of Union Blvd. and Airport Road.  Walp's was a much more urban place.   While Shankweiler's was an old country inn,  Walp's was built as a modern restaurant.  I enjoyed those rides, they were a learning experience.

reprinted from previous years

Knockdown At The Garden

You could knock Joe Louis down, the problem was when he got up. Shown above, Louis's former sparring partner, Jersey Joe Walcott, circles above Louis. Louis had returned from four years in the service, and resumed defending his title. Walcott himself would eventually become champion, but not this night, not against Joe Louis.

Madison Square Garden, December 5, 1947

DECEMBER OF 2012 IS FIGHT MONTH, WITH 29 JOE LOUIS ERA FIGHT POSTS

Allentown's New Highway of Mischief

I've been an opponent of bikes in the parks for a long time. The photo above is actually from an interview with Fox News many years ago which appeared on the Hannity Show. Now that Allentown is again gearing up their plans to interconnect the parks, I'm again sounding the alarm.

Back when that interview took place, the cyclists were suburban yuppies in spandex and helmets.  While that group is civilized, the danger was their speed  combined with old folks like me walking around.  The new danger is the junior thugs with electric bikes. Unlike the spandex yuppie, consideration isn't even something they aspire to.

The park interconnection will become a highway of mischief, with no police cars.  I know that there are destinations where bikes, motor vehicles and tourists respect each other, Allentown isn't one of them.

I'm an advocate for being site appropriate. In Allentown parks, the Riparian Buffers are weed walls.  In this era of dirt and electric bikes, interconnecting the parks will become another well meaning mistake.

Molovinsky For Allentown

Before this Molovinsky On Allentown blog began in 2007, there was Molovinsky for Allentown mayoral campaign in 2005. If you think that this blog is ignored by the Morning Call now, you should have seen the treatment they gave me in 2005. Actually, you couldn't have seen it, because they ignored my press conferences and only mentioned me in a smearing way. Although I was on the ballot as an independent, they never once published my photograph, or any picture with me in it.

I bring this up now, nineteen years later, because of current news about the Allentown Parking Authority. I was on their case, even back then. I held a press conference in front of their then headquarters at 10th and Hamilton Sts. The MC reporter ignored me, and instead interviewed the Authority's director at the time, and wrote about the wonderful things the Authority was doing for Allentown. 

The roof of that headquarters was the original Park&Shop parking deck, first in the country! When Park&Shop became less viable, the Allentown Parking Authority was started to take the big boys, including Morning Call owner Donald Miller, off the hook. The Parking Authority has been a behind the scenes handmaiden for the big boys ever since. 

Currently, the building is a satellite police station. The Tuerk administration now wants to sell it back to the Authority. The mayor is offended that some people think a shenanigan might be cooking. Whatever the backroom deal is, I'm sure you'll never read about it in the Morning Call.

Pictured above in 2005, I'm explaining the recent history of a restored house on Liberty Street. It had been restored, at our expense, three times in two years. If you want to know more about that, you won't find it in the Morning Call, they ignored that news conference too.

shown above screen grab from WFMZ

A Call To Arms

The above poster was circulated on social media Tuesday afternoon. The photo used, taken by this blogger last year, features many of those activists who feel disenfranchised by the Tuerk administration. At issue on the citizen side is which non-profits are supported by city hall, and which aren't.  At issue on the city council dais is the decorum of the protesters. 

If all the above wasn't enough for a lively meeting, not all city council members are on the same page. While Candida Affa is traditionally a staunch supporter of current administrations, Ed Zucal shares more and more sentiments with the citizen side. The protesters are particularly interested in a proposal to divert left over grant money to the general fund, as opposed to funding more non-profits. This proposal was forwarded by both Affa and Zucal, illustrating the ongoing dynamic tension between council, city hall and the activists.

One of the protesters is Jessica Lee Ortiz. This past weekend her organization, The Ortiz Ark Foundation, ran a highly successful, well publicized Easter Egg hunt at Stevens Park. 

Everyone has their own agenda,..I'm always promoting long overdue WPA restorations in our park system.

ADDENDUM: Jessica Lee Ortiz and the non-profit advocates prevailed. The city will set up applications and a scoring system for allocation of $1.2mil.

Municipal Wishful Thinking

One of the things that annoys me most is municipal wishful thinking. Perhaps nothing exemplifies that more than bicycle lanes. 

In the grit of real center city, cyclists are pre-teen boys, who haven't yet acquired enough for their unlicensed dirt bike. Instead, they pop wheelies on their bicycles, like their older brothers do on their loud dirt bikes. and ride down the middle of the street. 'They practice going the wrong way, and ignoring traffic lights. 

Meanwhile, in Delusionalville, elected officials  takes credit for the bicycle stencil grants, wasting our tax dollars on complete uselessness. I remember the trash compactors, as if they would solve the littering problem.

If my tone sounds somewhat more bitter than usual, it's because I think time's running out for the Allentown I knew. This city west of Bethlehem will still be called Allentown, but it won't resemble anything I remember. Likewise, I'm sure the old timers in Reading can say the same thing.

As I peck away on the typewriter with this municipal obituary, I do take solace from pictures of an inner city Easter Egg hunt.  Those mothers want better for their children. I would have liked to see more fathers there, but there were some. These are tougher times in every way than my Allentown was. All these new buildings on Hamilton Street mean nothing except to the few people who own them. The smoke stacks are long gone, and so are the high paying union jobs that they fostered. Immigrants still want to come here, the left over bones from our industrial past are still more than from where they come from.

How to fold this all together, the memories with new realities, is a tough recipe. 

Radio Molovinsky Wishful Thinking PodBlast

The Bicycles Of Allentown youtube by Gary Ledebur

The Weigh-In

                                            Madison Square Garden, March 27, 1942
When they met for the first time the previous March, Abe Simon battled Joe Louis for 13 rounds. The Detroit crowd went wild that the Jewish giant from New York could absorb Louis's punches. Louis had the power of Mike Tyson and the finesse of Muhammad Ali. When it was revealed that Simon had fought with a broken hand, the Madison Garden rematch became a big ticket. Louis knocked Simon out in the sixth round. It would be Simon's last fight.
click on photo to enlarge

DECEMBER OF 2012 IS FIGHT MONTH, WITH 29 JOE LOUIS ERA FIGHT POSTS

Allentown's Poor Park Decisions

Allentown had one of the finest park systems in the United States, but one national fad after another has diminished it. 

After the Park and Recreation departments were combined, former mayor Ed Pawlowski  hired a succession of recreation trained directors, who in turn farmed out park policy to the Wildlands Conservancy.  The Conservancy, like many of our other local sacred cows, have more influence than expertise, and promote trendy fads, not always site appropriate.  

While the banks of our park streams were secured with Weeping Willows, rather than replace the aging willows, the Conservancy pushed for Riparian Buffers.  The buffers become infested with invasive species which have to be cut down several time a season. Several years ago Allentown was warned by the DEP about Poison Hemlock infecting our drinking water supply from the Little Lehigh. Before the downside of these buffers were fully realized by the park department, all the new trees were planted out away from the creeks, only complicating the grass mowing. In the meantime, our citizens are cut off from both access and beauty of the creeks.

The Wildlands Conservancy, also in alignment with national trends, demolished two important dams on the Little Lehigh. After demolishing the Fish Hatchery Dam, that facility suffered the biggest fish loss in its history from flooding. Demolishing the Robin Hood Bridge Dam has despoiled the beautiful bridge piers and that immediate area, which formally was the pride of the park system.

I take great pride in having fought against all the above violations by the Conservancy. While I lost those battles in Allentown, I was able to help save Wehr's Dam in Covered Bridge Park from their schemes.

What brings me back to the parks today* is the announcement that Allentown has secured a grant to continue its plan to connect the parks with a trail. While the promotion states that the Trail Network is for walkers and cyclists, reality is very much different. As a walker, I can tell you that any of the Allentown parks is long enough...The connection is really for the cyclists. Any walker in the park will tell you that it's frightening and dangerous when a cyclist zooms by you. 

As a longtime advocate for the parks, I could show the city where this grant money could be much better spent in restoring neglected existing features in our parks. We do not need to connect the neglect, but rather address and save our separate parks.

Decades ago picture postcards of our park system would be sent across the country. Now-a-days. those images are nostalgic reminders of what we've lost.

1955 picture postcard of Lehigh Parkway, before being despoiled

*Over the weekend Mayor Tuerk admired the creek bank in Lehigh Parkway. He should realize that by mid-summer that bank will be hidden with a 6' tall weed wall under current park policy. Also over the weekend state representative Pete Schweyer announced Allentown was awarded the grant to connect the parks. He should realize that we would be better off restoring the parks, instead of connecting them.

Whose Parks Are They?

  photocredit:Denise Sanchez

I used this picture of a cute little girl in 2010 fishing with her daddy, using her Barbie fishing pole. Although the post at that time had her name, now fourteen years later, using it would it be an invasion of her privacy. My point then, as now, is that the park department should keep the creek banks mowed, so that a father and daughter can share such an experience. 

Although Mayor Tuerk and Mandy Tolino, Director of Parks, may not realize it, I have been very gentle toward them compared to their predecessors. But, as my hair thins, so does my patience. Parks and Recreation are combined departments. While I have no opinions concerning the recreation programs, I feel strongly about the parks, especially the WPA structures. 

As the summer progresses, I will be sharing those feelings here on this blog.

photocredit:Denise Sanchez

Allentown's Prime 'time

During Allentown's prime time, it prospered as an enlightened oligarchy. Allentown's leaders would meet for lunch at the Livingston Club on S. 7th Street, and decide what this town needed to do to remain The All-American City. John Leh, Donald Miller and Harvey Farr owned the Park&Shop, and made sure that there was adequate parking for all the merchants. Additionally,  an eccentric outsider, Max Hess Jr. did more than his share for Hamilton Street. Not only did Hamilton Street prosper, but so did everyone else, living and working on the side streets leading to Hamilton. Although the oligarchy died off, and the Livingston was torn down, democracy doesn't seem to have served Allentown as well. We now have a strong arm-mayor and a subservient City Council. If the current project, with no cost limits, transforms Allentown remains to be seen. I remain doubtful that any benefits will spread down the side streets.

above reprinted from July of 2012

ADDENDUM MARCH 28, 2024: It seems as if my doubts were correct in 2012. Although the NIZ has benefited a couple of men immensely, it has done little to nothing for the side streets and beyond. Analysis of this irony has been limited mostly to this blog. 

Allentown has two new populations. One is poor and not concerned with Allentown's past, but their own present. Another demographic, in the growing medical industry, is likewise not concerned with Allentown history. Neither group cares how state wide taxpayers feel about their diverted state taxes going to Hamilton 'Street.

As administrator of a large facebook group comprised of many former Allentonians, I know that group is nostalgia orientated, with some curiosity, but little concern about present day Allentown.

BONUS OR PENALTY:  NEW BROADCAST ON SURVEYS

The Sign Of Delusion

When I first saw the new street signs in Old Allentown, I gave them about a year. I must now downgrade that lifespan to about 6 months. The old green and white signs are going on 60 years of use. Generations of boys did pull ups on the old sign at 12th and Turner; This sign will support one pull up by one boy. The Allentown planning office told Morning Call reporter, Dan Hartzell, that the antique looking signs are to enhance the historic nature of Old Allentown. Hartzell thought that it's wonderful that the Old Allentown yuppies get something, because they Walk the Walk. He did not report that the signs have no structural integrity, are too short and are junk. Although Hartzell took the above photograph only one week ago, the Turner has since broken off the sign. In truth, we do not have an historic district, we have a poverty district with a few yuppies and a city hall deluding itself. In the City Without Limits, we wasted another half a $million dollars.

above reprinted from August of 2012

ADDENDUM MARCH 27, 2024: The new posts and signs were such junk that they only looked decent for ten minutes. Twelve years later, I'm certain you can't find one that isn't bent. That result is the good news, the bad news is that the city planning department at that time got paid for such decisions. Most of the lackeys of that period have retired. If the new personnel is any better, I have no direct knowledge. Back then I was still visiting city hall on a regular basis. My visits now are curtailed to an occasional  observation of a city council meeting.

New Park Ranger

When the doctor told me about my incredibly low vitamin D, he asked if my family was from Transylvania? When I replied that we were, he apologized for his faux pas and we determined that my condition was caused by blogging. I decided to get some sun by walking in our parks, combining my vitamin deficiency with my civil annoyance. Because I have never owned shorts or sneakers, the first week saw me in jeans, shirt and shoes. I went to a local discount store and purchased shorts and a tank top. Fashion now dictates that men's shorts go below the knees. Because I have short legs, the shorts went halfway to my ankles, looking like knickers from 1920. I took them to be shortened, but apparently mismarked them. Besides at the Pride Festival this past Sunday, no man wears shorts that short. I also made a mistake with the tank top. Apparently, I had inadvertently crossed over into the women's section at the discount store. When I washed the shirt, I saw the flowers on the label. Anyway, I am getting plenty of sun and investigating our parks. My first reports dealt with the No Maintenance Zone and included a letter from a dog owner, who can no longer enjoy the stream at Cedar Park. An apologist for City Hall suggested tick and insect repellant. Tony Martin replied: The no-mow zones does absolutely nothing beneficial to the creek in cedar creek park. My dog is small. Not a lab. He is only 10 inches tall and I prefer not to marinate his or my body with pesticides to repel ticks and other insects. Neither should any children be subjected to that. I, nor my best friend, have access to this once great park's best asset,the creek. You cannot even tell that a creek exists unless you cross the bridge. Please speak out about this issue,and let Mayor Pawlowski know that you the people, that pay his salary, will not stand for this nonsense to continue any longer. Mow the weeds already and restore both the view and access to this once beautiful creek/park. - Tony Martin Although I certainly do agree with Tony, currently the citizens must fight for fresh drinking water. With the private for profit Trash To Energy Plant, we have already lost the right to fresh air. Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself in my new persona as Park Ranger. More reports surely to follow. 

above reprinted from August of 2012

ADDENDUM MARCH 26, 2024:It has been almost a dozen years since the above post was written, and very little has changed in Allentown. Although the mayor mentioned above is serving time, his embrace of poverty for political purpose is now firmly established in Allentown. We now have a DEI mayor accused of discrimination. Our economic development has been legislated to essentially benefit one man. I still walk the parks, but with a more masculine ensemble. Despite my continuing efforts, the weed walls blocking our creeks prevail. I continue to write and speak out against those policies which are an affront to me and the better Allentown I knew.

Doing It His Way

He was Frank Sinatra's favorite fighter. Tami Mauriello started fighting professionally when he was 17 years old, as a light heavyweight. After two loses to Gus Lesnevich for that title, he moved up to the heavyweight division. In 1943, Sinatra paid $10,000 to buy an interest in his fellow Italian American. Sinatra sang the National Anthem before one of his fights. Eleven straight wins set up his title shot with Louis on September 18, 1946, in Yankee Stadium. This incredible photo shows the first round knockout. Mauriello ended his career with an 82 - 13 record. He later appeared in the movie classic, On The Waterfront, with fellow heavyweights Tony Galento and Abe Simon.

DECEMBER OF 2012 IS FIGHT MONTH, WITH 29 JOE LOUIS ERA FIGHT POSTS

2nd and 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 November 2011                                                

    CLICK FOR NEW BROADCAST:BABY BOOMER EXPIRATION DATE    

A Field Trip To 7th & Hamilton

On Saturday evening, during prime dinner time, I surveyed the four trendy rent subsidized restaurants at center square. While the outside area at Hamilton Kitchen was fairly full with drinkers and snackers, the inside tables were virtually empty. Shula's was near empty. The Dime was about one third full, and Roar was also virtually empty. The Renaissance Hotel showed no signs of life in the lobby, suggesting few to no guests. An interesting comment was recently submitted to an older post.

The LVH building(at the arena) is a joke. As an employee, I wasn't allowed to park in that lovely enclosed parking lot underneath the actual building while going through EPIC training-- I had to park BLOCKS away-- It seems that all of the peons of LVH have to park quite a distance away as well from what I could see. While attempting to try to park in that "special" lot under the building, I had some nasty parking lot gestapo make me turn around since I didn't have the correct magical permit affixed to my rear view mirror. Undoubtably that lot is somehow restricted to "special people" . Honestly, they would have to hire a fleet of security officers to escort each and every one of us. I just walked quickly with my keys sticking out between my knuckles. When I work at the Bethlehem site, I wind up parking at the dead mall next door and spend fifteen minutes just walking to the desk where I work, so it made no difference to me. Taking a peak at the restaurants near the entrance, I find it hard to imagine most employees having lunches long enough to dine there, let alone being able to afford to eat there. Granted, I could afford a soft pretzel... As far as the gyn is concerned, I would rather pull out my hair one by one than deal with the traffic to go there in the morning before or after work. I highly doubt any potential patient would want to deal with driving there for a doctor's appointment, unless they live a very short distance away and are very familiar with the area. After driving through the decrepit outlying area filled with blighted/condemned houses and finally parking, the first thought that came to mind as I saw the newly developed area was, "I smell a rat".

It's apparent to me that virtually free rent may not be enough to keep these restaurants afloat. Reilly might have to consider actually paying them to stay open.

above reprinted from July of 2015

ADDENDUM MARCH 21, 2024: Although nine years have passed, there has been  no progress on the vitality and/or nightlife in downtown.  All the restaurants mentioned above have closed, and all the subsequent ones that took their place have closed, and then their replacements failed. Meanwhile, J.B. Reilly has continued to built his empire with our diverted state taxes. The NIZ supposedly wasn't passed to make a $millionaire a $Billionaire, but to elevate Allentown for the citizen taxpayers. Although State Senator Jarrett Coleman has been working on some accountability in regard to the NIZ, I'm afraid roadblocks are in his way. Unfortunately, with Josh Shapiro appointing the NIZ architect as state revenue director, I expect that no satisfaction will come from Harrisburg. I think that if Senator Coleman stays on the mission,  eventually he'll have to contact the United States Attorney General's office on behalf of Pennsylvania taxpayers.

The Morning Call Editorial Stable

There is a stable of editorial writers at the Morning Call who head our local development agencies. What they seem to have in common is the ability to write decently, and no real business experience. Under that disguise of expertise, the real movers and shakers of the area find them useful tools...Don Cunningham is the prime example. 

Another bottling company is on its way to the giant aquifer west of Allentown. Don has been welcoming this type of industry for over twenty years.  While they suck our most precious commodity dry, they provide few jobs.  The Lehigh Valley has become mecca for both bottling and warehousing under Cunningham's tenure in various public positions. He is the king of congestion and low paying jobs. Along Don's climb up his career mountain, he was Secretary of General Services under Ed Rendell. During the recent controversy, when J.B.Reilly landed the large state hospital parcel in a non-competitive handoff, Donny, although a former insider to Harrisburg shenanigans, didn't have one word to say.

If he is the king, Becky Bradley is the queen. Like Donny, she rose up the through the non-profit business agency sector. Years ago, right of ways were acquired to widen the highly congested Rt. 22. While those funds were instead diverted  to create another exit for a warehouse baron, Becky recently suggested that grant money be used to plant pretty bushes and trees along the right-of-way.  This way drivers have better scenery while they sit in line during rush hours. Never mind that it will increase expense cutting the grass around these new plantings.

You can read about development in the valley, written by the king and queen, on a regular basis in the Morning Call. I was hoping that with some recent personnel changes at the Morning Call, their Opinion Page would be more open to less-establishment type submitters....That has not happened.

Boxing's Giant Era

In California these days, everybody walks around with a yoga mat strapped to their back. That certainly wasn't the case in the 1930's, when heavyweight contender Lou Nova studied yoga. Nova was the World Amateur Heavyweight Champion and a proponent of clean living. He won his first twenty two fights as a professional. His promoters said he perfected the Cosmic Punch. Only 6'2", he fought in the era of giants. He handed giant Abe Simon his first defeat after thirteen victories, eleven by knockout. Nova knocked out 6'4'' Max Baer twice. The 1939 knockout is one second away, in the above photograph. Baer himself had won the championship by knocking out Primo Carnera, the Italian giant who was 6'6" and weighed 284 lbs. Baer lost the championship to the Cinderella Man, Jim Braddock. Joe Louis took the belt from Braddock and held it for twelve years, being arguably the best fighter in history. Clean living didn't serve Lou Nova so well with the notorious dirty fighter Two Ton Tony Galento. Galento almost gouged his eye out, putting him in the hospital for weeks. Nova got his shot with Louis on September 29, 1941, but fell in six. Nova would go on to act in movies and even was a write-in candidate for President of the United States. He dropped out of the campaign because his mother was afraid he would catch a cold shaking so many hands. She wasn't afraid of him being in the ring with some of the toughest men in the world.

reprinted from December of 2012

Weekly Reader

When I was growing up my parents would receive both The Morning Call and The Evening Chronicle.* This was their main source of news. Television in the late 40's and early 50's had national and world news, but there was no local programing in Allentown. The antenna on our roof would receive the three network (ABC, NBC, and CBS) stations from Philadelphia, and that was it. The morning and evening papers provided the local news, in addition to national and world stories. Hess Brothers and Leh's would compete with multiple full page Ads. We children also had our own little paper, Weekly Reader, handed out in the classroom every Friday. I think of it when I get the thin Morning Call on Mondays.

* The Morning Call and Evening Chronicle were both published by same company, Call-Chronicle Newspapers.

reprinted from March, 2010

New Radio Molovinsky podcast, Snowbird In Paradise

The Radiation Mystery, Wetherhold & Metzger

The Shoe giant Wetherhold & Metzger started in 1908 on Hamilton street's south side. When business began to prosper, they moved across to the more prominent north side of Hamilton Street. Their store at 719 Hamilton was recently demolished, along with most of Allentown's mercantile history. It was a two story store, with the children's department on the lower level. This post originally was scheduled for sometime in the future, and was to include a Buster Brown poster. Today's Morning Call has a story on the mystery radium 226 found in the debris of the former buildings, and I thought perhaps the molovinsky on allentown historical division could help. Wetherhold & Metzer's downtown store was quite the adventure for a kid. In addition to your mother's money being transported away in a tube system like the bank drive-ups use today, you could look inside your shoes and see your feet.

Needless to say, eventually these shoe fluoroscopes were banned, but for many years one stood in the lower level of 719 Hamilton Street. Many a child, including myself, saw our foot bones in our new Buster Browns. Wetherhold & Metzger also had an uptown store in the 900 block of Hamilton Street.

reprinted from September of 2012

A Church Of Contention

Ripple Community Inc., a non-profit, wants to turn the church at 16th and Chew into very affordable apartments, and also have recovery rooms there, where essentially homeless people could recover from illness or injury.

While I'm not involved in the current zoning board dilemma concerning these proposals, I do have a lot of background in that neighborhood. I lived across the street from the church for many years.

Years ago, the then very strong West Park Civic Association would be out in force officially opposing this conversion. I remember when they even opposed another congregation selling the church at 15th and Turner to a less funded congregation.  They complained that the maintenance on the church might suffer.

I also remember many years ago when a wealthy member of the congregation at 16th & Chew left money in his will to have the church dressed out. Although the structure was in very good condition, they repointed all the stonework anyway, and remodeled the bell tower. In more recent times when the congregation felt financial strain and put the church up for sale, I thought that if only they hadn't done those superfluous upgrades, that money might have enabled them to keep the church going.

Even Alan Jennings, who drips liberalism, thinks that the 16th Street church is the wrong place for Ripple's new plans.

photocredit:Jason Addy/LehighValleyNews.com

King Levinsky

In 1964, a young Cassius Clay trained in south Miami Beach for his first fight against Sonny Liston. At that time, this section of the city was home to mostly retired Jews on fixed income. The hotels, decades after their prime, became pension rooming houses. Decades later, these same buildings would be restored to their art deco splendor, creating today's South Beach. As Clay trained, a middle aged punch drunk necktie peddler told him, "After Liston punches your head, you'll be selling ties with me." The street peddler was a fixture in Miami Beach. He didn't ask, he told people they were going to buy a tie. The future champ probably didn't realize that the heckler was none other than King Levinsky, legend of the 1930's, and veteran of over 118 heavyweight fights. Levinsky was born Harris Krakow in Chicago, and worked at his parent's fish market on Maxwell Street, the Jewish section during the roaring twenties. Although he never got a title shot, and weighed only 185, he fought all the leading heavyweights of his time, including the 265lb. giant, Primo Carnera. Managed by his sister Lena, he was known never to turn down a fight, including those against Max Baer.

reprinted from February of  2009

photo shows Levinsky with sister/manager Lena in 1932

Molovinsky Scales Back New Radio Division

Molovinsky Publishing, after just announcing a daily radio show last week,  has cancelled its studio buildout and subleased the space.  Michael Molovinsky, President and CFO, expressed fears that the studio would be shut down by the city. After J.B. Reilly's City Center RE declined to rent us space, we ended up in a older building. I saw what happen to the tenants in another non-Reilly older building,  

Although  Radio Molovinsky will not be a daily, Molovinsky himself will produce an occasional broadcast from a commercial studio in Radio City Music Hall. I don't relish traveling to NYC, and will be looking for a closer sound studio.

The initial episodes are archived, and remain accessible through the Radio Molovinsky link.

There will be a new episode today,  airing at 6:30AM, hopefully for your listening pleasure.

You Don't Have To Be Antisemitic To Be anti-Zionist, But It Helps

I have been a continuous subscriber to the Morning Call for over 50 years. Back in the day, anti-Israel letters to the editor were a common event, and this was long before conflicts with Hamas or other Palestinian factions. 

Gary Olson and Vincent Stravino of Bethlehem were regular writers of that persuasion. When I would occasionally send a reply to their pieces, my submissions were not given the automatic editor acceptance they received. 

I was surprised to see a recent piece by George Heitman who explained that Israel was responding to an entity dedicated to Israel's destruction. Mr. Heitman acknowledged that Israel was badly losing the public relations war, but that their enemy left them no alternative. 

Zionism is the appreciation of the Jewish homeland. Jews have lived continously in the Holy Land since biblical times. The two-state solution has been rejected by the Palestinians and the Arab world numerous times. Today, many people use the term Zionist as a derogatory term, meant as an insult and slur.

I have yet to meet an anti-Zionist who ever had much use for Jews.

Housing Court For Allentown

The Morning Call picked up on a woke premise that perhaps Allentown should have a special tenant court, which would provide or steer tenants facing evictions to legal council. With such council, tenants have statistically staved off eviction longer.

I happen to know quite a bit about this. For 35 years I operated a number of apartments in center city. In all those years I never received one building code violation, or had one complaint by a tenant. However, I did have to file evictions. 

Allentown became a poorer city quite rapidly. Competing social agencies handed out money for rent and security deposit. As news of these giveaways spread to New Jersey and New York, low income people flocked to Allentown. 

Allentown now has a large core of low income people. Unfortunately, some of these people are also low-discipline. While they could afford their apartment, paying rent isn't a priority for them. At the same time real estate prices have risen dramatically. Recent landlords need a steady rent flow to meet their debt service. 

What would be worse for Allentown than evicted tenants, much worse, would be abandoned buildings.

The Shadow Returns

In 2009, I presented a series of posts as the Shadow Mayor. I contended that I donned a janitor outfit and worked undetected in City Hall, where I was able to ascertain secrets and shenanigans concerning the Pawlowski Administration.  Whether that disguise was real or fictional, this blog's disclosures, along with those of blogger Bernie O'Hare, became of interest to the FBI years later, in their investigation of Allentown.

The Shadow retired during Ray O'Connell's time in the fifth floor, but now is coming back, to monitor Matthew Tuerk. I must clarify that I suspect no shenanigans or illegality from Tuerk, whatsoever, but rather think that his policies need surveillance. 

I have been told that he has run out of flags to raise from the Caribbean, Central and South America, and now is looking to Africa for sister cities. He also supposedly wants to make Genderfluid Identity Support a cabinet position.

I apologize for being a dinosaur, and thinking that Mayor Tuerk is too concerned with things beyond the proper scope of city government.  Although I will not reveal my new disguise, I will admit that I have dyed my hair. Although Tuerk wants to protect every possible type of personal choice, I heard that regard for the elderly isn't high on his priority list. In Tuerk's younger and younger City Hall, my gray hair would have given me away.

above reprinted from November of 2022 

ADDENDUM MARCH 6, 2024:Mayor Tuerk is excited about the iconic PPL building being sold for apartments. It sold for $9million, which is less than a fraction of its replacement cost. As a Shadow Mayor, I would be excited if it was being turned into condominiums, where a group of invested owners might create a demand for some vibrancy downtown.

Meanwhile, outside of Reillyville in Realityville, there was another shooting this past weekend on the east side. We learned that the victims are not cooperating with the police...Apparently, there were no innocents involved.

As  Shadow Mayor, I would be excited to take non-cooperating shooting victims and roust them out of town!

RADIO MOLOVINSKY

Wednesday morning, March 6th at 6:30AM, I hope to kick off a live internet radio program. I'm starting with 15minute segments as I explore and learn about the medium. I invite my fellow early morning humans to join me putting together an alternative talk venue for independent conservatives. Use the link below to find the program.

Radio Molovinsky

Speaking Nonsense In Allentown

Allentown's gaggle of elected for life gathered in front of Reilly's Marketplace on the Arts Walk to endorse the state's new Main Street Initiative to spend $25 mil to boost the state's main streets. Never mind that although over a $Billion dollars of development went into Reillyville, not one original business or eatery has survived. Despite each new business given free promotion from the Morning Call, not one of them still exists. 

Among the lifers speaking were state reps. Schlossberg, Schweyer and Miller.*  

Perhaps I will have to renew their Molovinsky On Allentown subscriptions to instill a smidgen of real into our elected officials, but I don't think that their voter base holds them too accountable in regard to reality.

* lifer in training

A Jewish Sport

Jewish fighters dominated boxing between the World Wars. In around 1930, a third of all fighters were Jewish, by far the largest ethnic group. Some fighters even purported to be Jewish when they were not, such as the Baer brothers. Jews ruled the light and welterweight divisions, with long time champions Benny Leonard and Barney Ross. Ten world championships were fought with both men in the ring being Jewish. Boxing has long been an economic ladder for immigrant and minority groups.
photo of Jewish heavyweights King Levinsky and Art Lasky, 1934

reprinted from February 2011