History of The Boat Landing

The feature shown in the photo, from the Mack Truck Magazine of 1943, shows a beautiful stone masonry structure in Lehigh Parkway that was allowed to go to ruin. We kids of the Parkway called this the "boat landing". It is located near 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.

reprinted from May, 2009. First in a series of reprints documenting the uncovering of this treasure after 50 years.

Have Gun- Will Travel

Richard Boone played Paladin, a sophisticated hired gun who lived in an upscale San Francisco Hotel between assignments. According to Samantha Marcus of The Morning Call, Paul Blunt is an Easton lawyer who will negotiate for a fee, for both school boards and teacher unions. Zahorchak has hired Paladin, I mean Blunt, to negotiate with the Allentown Teachers Union for the next contract. Considering all the financial consequences of a contract, I can't fault the hire per se. With all the questionable, new full time administrative positions Zahorchak has created, it's good to see this important task outsourced to a true professional.
Perhaps when it's time to hire a new superintendent, the school board should consider outsourcing that decision.

The Debt Crisis

When Eisenhower was President, I think he addressed the public about three times a year, on one of three networks. Media historians view the Nixon-Kennedy Debate as the beginning of politics as an audio visual experience. On a parallel track, at the same time our candidates needed to sell better to a visually literate audience, our news has become much more tabloid. Today, we actually have comedians and disk jockeys providing analysis on dozens of networks. Although our President addresses the nation about once a week, the level of public comprehension is debatable. The only sure conclusion is that we have been successfully polarized. The box, which now is a flat screen, has us conditioned to contrived drama on reality shows. The current one is called the debt crisis.

Allentown Post Office 1934

In the 1930's, the "New Deal" was good to Allentown. As I noted on earlier posts, our park system was enriched by monumental stone construction under the WPA. We also received one of the architectural gems of our area, the magnificent art deco post office. Constructed during 1933-34, no detail was spared in making the lobby an ageless classic. The floor is adorned with handmade Mercer tiles from Doylestown. Muralist Gifford Reynolds Beal worked thru 1939 portraying the Valley's cultural and industrial history. This incredible 74 year old photograph is the contractor's documentation of the project's progress. The back of the photo states; Taken Sept 1 - 34 showing lobby, floor, screens, desks, completed & fixtures hung

UPDATE: I have reinstalled the photograph with a version that will enlarge when clicked.

Reprinted from Jan.15, 2010

Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad

The "Iron Bridge" was opened in 1857, was 1165 feet long, and 104 feet above the Jordan Creek. In WWI, weight restrictions caused the P&R (the owner of the line at that time) to start filling over the bridge. Tunnels were constructed for Iron Bridge Rd., the former Slatington Trolley (using the same bore as Iron Bridge Rd.), and the Jordan Creek (2 bores). The result today is a large tree covered fill to the west of Cedar Crest Boulevard. John G Frantz

The Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad began in the mid 1850's, to haul iron ore from western Lehigh County to the furnaces along the Lehigh River near Catasauqua. Remnants of the line exist from Seiple to Alburtis, where it connects with the East Penn Line. Active spurs of today's C&F, operated by Norfolk Southern, serve the warehouses west on Tilghman Street, and Route 78. Until 1935, a passenger train operated on the line between Alburtis and West Catasauqua.

19th Street Pride

The merchants of the 19th Street area, aka West End Theater District, have refurbished the WW2 Monument on the corner of 19th and Allen Streets. The tarnished brass plates shown here have been removed, professionally polished, and reinstalled. The background has been painted a dark battle ship gray, providing more contrast to the bottom dedication plaque. New landscaping had been completed earlier in the summer. How this monument came to be placed on private property was still a mystery last month. While West Park houses several war memorials, other scattered site memorials also exist. My West End is a blog dedicated to news and plans for that neighborhood.
photo from My West End blog

Stairway To Shame

In the mid 1930's, Allentown, and especially it's park system, was endowed with magnificent stone edifices, courtesy of the WPA; Works Progress Administration. This was a New Deal program designed to provide employment during the aftermath of the depression. Stone masons from all over the country converged on this city and built structures which are irreplaceable. The walls and step structures in Lehigh Parkway, as the Union Terrace amphitheater, are legacies which must be protected. Pictured above is the grand stairway from Lawrence Street (Martin Luther King Drive) up to Union Street, built in 1936. The steps are in a state of disrepair. They lead to the great Union Street Retaining Wall, fifty feet high and two blocks long, which was completed in 1937. I call upon the Trexler Trust and Allentownians of memory, to insist these steps are re-pointed and preserved. The current Administration knows nothing of our past, and really has no commitment to our future. Save the things in Allentown that matter.

UPDATE: This Post first appeared September 18th, 2008. Although $Millions of dollars have been spent on the Park System since then, and new attractions have been built, the WPA monumental stone structures go unattended.

Thursday July 21, 2011

Looking at today's Morning Call, I thought of the Crocodile Dundee movie. He's in a hotel room and looks at a television for one second, seeing I Love Lucy. He says yep, saw that before. What he meant was last time he saw a television, I Love Lucy was also on. He thought the machine only shows I Love Lucy. Back to today's paper. Headline was someone charged with murder in Allentown. Alan Jennings was crying that he may have to lay off a few people from his Poverty Is A Business programs, and grants and city employees were helping Fegley's Brew Pub reduce their garbage fees. I didn't even know that Allentown has a Sustainability Coordinator. Needless to say that not everyone will read these stories the way I do, but we didn't turn into the Allentown we are today by accident.

comments will appear tomorrow, best one wins a burger at the BrewWorks.

UPDATE: Bernie O'Hare reports that Northampton County taxpayers will fund Jenning's Only Suckers Make Their Own Mortgage Payment Program

Supermarket Comes To Boom Town

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 Black and Decker 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 14, 2009

The Sunday Drive by Cedar Beach

The Sunday ride took us past SportsFest at Cedar Beach. Although the event is very successful this year, it's been a rough summer on the park. Mayfair, Stellar and Sportsfest turn the grass into a virtual parking lot. The Rose and Old Fashion Gardens looked well tended, but with less flower beds and variety. The return of the paddle boats indicate no will to remove the land bridge, which helps stagnate Muhlenberg Lake. Although some homage has been paid to environmental concerns by allowing the stream banks to grow al naturale, recreation is now clearly king.

Saving the Queen City Airport

When I grew up on Liberator Ave., I would walk up Catalina Ave. toward school, which was at the end of Coronado. The streets were named for the Vultee-Consolidated WW2 planes, and the neighborhood was next to the airport built as part of the war effort. Vultee Street was built to connect the hangers with the Mack 5C plant, which was given over to Vultee-Consolidated for plane part manufacturing. Today this small airport is known as Queen City, and is threatened by Mayor Ed Pawlowski.

1944 was the first full year of the operation for the company's Allentown, Pennsylvania factory. Consolidated Vultee handled over $100M in wartime contracts at their Allentown plant where they produced TBY-2 Sea Wolves, components parts for B-24 Liberator bombers and other essential armaments and products for the war effort.

Pawlowski covets this unique part of our history to expand the tax base. What he doesn't understand is that more housing or commercial space is not in Allentown's best long term interest. Unfortunately, long term interest is not a term understood by our current leadership. There is a whole development of started houses off S. 12th St. and Mack Blvd. which were never completed. There are filled in foundations on 8th Street, also never completed. More housing is the last thing both the real estate market and school system need. Likewise, the existing commercial sector has been struggling to maintain an acceptable occupancy rate. Queen City airport is an unique asset to Allentown. If LVIA does successfully expand, a separate airport for small planes is very desirable for safety. Considering Pawlowski's predetermined objective, I question whether he should have been appointed to the LVIA Board.

Dennis Pearson, long time community activist from the East Side Rittersville area, reports last night(Sept. 23, 2010) that a portion of the State Hospital grounds had been given to the Allentown Commercial and Industrial Development Corporation. Just last week, Dennis requested that the City inform him of any plans concerning that land. Although representatives of the Administration were present, nobody had the consideration to response to Pearson's statement. These open spaces in Allentown, both Queen City and the State Hospital, are too important to let Pawlowski and Cunningham squander them for a short term, politically expedient, tax fix.

Malcolm Gross, an associate of Pawlowski, was just appointed by the court to overseer the $16million dollar payment due to the Fuller family by the Lehigh Valley Airport. The Airport Authority should sell the Fuller land that it never used, and retain Queen City.

portions reprinted from September 23, 2010

Slow Learning in the Valley

We're slow learners here in Lehigh Valley. When you read what they call a paper, the local news needs no date. We decided to make our airport even less competitive, by charging more for parking and flights. They need the money to pay for the land they never needed or used. They are once again remodeling the airport to make it nicer for people who don't use it. Over in Easton, Sal Panto marches ahead with his Al Bundy Museum of High School Sports. He also is still pushing his brew pub idea. If he combines them, we'll have the real Bundy experience. On the other side of the Valley, Allentown picked it's official bird as part of becoming a Bird City. There was a time when Allentown was full of robins; Now we have robbers. Just remember, we're just one project and speech away from turning everything around. Time to increase parking meter fees in Allentown.

Under Construction, Temporary Inconvenience, Permanent Improvement

Allentown's Double Standard

I've always maintained that the City Planners couldn't organize a children's birthday party, much less real urban planning. I have evidence to make my point. Take 7th Street for example. Those familiar with that venue know how many times the city has changed the bricks, sidewalks and street lights. The Hispanic business district that developed there was in spite of the city, not because of it. When I attended a meeting with Allentown's new Community Development Director, Sarah Hailstone, and the affected merchants of the hockey arena, I snickered when she said that the city would help the merchants. I actually uttered my birthday party line. Olgie Moreno-Prosper, of New Generation Learning Center, is finding out exactly how helpful the City can be. She has 13 years invested in her current location. Her application to move her daycare center to another location has been denied by city zoning. Allentown's a small place. The zoning board member who spoke against her center, because of traffic concerns, is well connected with the city. His wife is on the Allentown Parking Authority. The Authority is allowed to rent space for a daycare center in the bottom of their parking deck on Linden Street (the old Hess Brothers Deck), with an entrance on the corner of the alley which runs under the deck. Between the traffic and fumes, what could be a worse location than that? Gotta love Allentown.

A comment placed on The Morning Call website, about the article, pretty much sums up the mentality of both the City and many citizens against the displaced merchants.

FutureDowntownArenaAttendee at 1:09 AM July 14, 2011
"So they're telling us 'Take your little day care and move it out of the city of Allentown because we don't want it,' " she said Wednesday. "That's the message I got." (day care owner)
HEY HEY GOODBYE.

link to Morning Call article by Elizabeth Murphy, photograph by Kevin Mingora

Turning Out The Light

The train tower on Union Street was demolished in 1971. It survived years beyond need because the gates were never automated, and the remaining track was used for switching freight cars. The junction yard behind the State Hospital property, near the border with Bethlehem, is still active. The freight trains travel south Allentown toward Emmaus several times a day. In the quiet of early morning, you can still hear that whistle almost everywhere in the city.

photograph by Dave Latshaw is part of the Mark Rabenold Collection

Union Street Slowdown

By the early 1960's, things had slowed for Allentown's manufacturing base and the rail freight cars that served them. Train lines had consolidated, and tracks and spurs had been removed. Remaining plants were supplied by trucks, and people traveled by bus and car. The remaining train station would soon close, but the term rustbelt had not yet entered the vocabulary. Western Electric (AT&T) on Union Blvd. was now making transistors, and there was still confidence in the new economy. Allentown was the All American City.

The Union Street Train Tower

The Union Street crossing was a busy place. It was located between the Jordan Creek and south 3th Street. Virtually all the train lines serving Allentown converged here. The Lehigh Valley Railroad's old main line also crossed Union Street further east, toward the Lehigh River. Allentown was at this time served by two train stations, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Station which was built over the Jordan Creek, and the New Jersey Central, which still stands as a closed restaurant and bar. This photograph, from 1930, is first in a series which will chronicle both the demise of our railroad era, and manufacturing base. Today, the tower is long gone and only one track survives. It is used by a private short line operator.

photograph from the Collection of Mark Rabenold

The World of Mirth

Allentown at one time had two very productive railroad branch lines; The West End, and the Barber Quarry. The Barber Quarry, for the most part, ran along the Little Lehigh Creek. It serviced the Mack Truck plants on South 10th, and continued west until it turned north along Union Terrace, ending at Wenz's tombstone at 20th and Hamilton Streets. The West End, for the most part, ran along Sumner Avenue, turning south and looping past 17th and Liberty Streets.

The Allentown Economic and Development Corporation has received a $1.8 million grant, toward a $4 million dollar project, to restore a portion of the Barber Quarry branch to service it's industrial building on South 10th Street. This building housed Traylor Engineering, which was a giant back in the day. Recently it housed a fabricator who President Obama visited on his Allentown photo opportunity mission. The business has since closed, but let's not have that reality stand in the way of grants. Last summer, I fought against Allentown's Trail Network Plan, which catered to the spandex cyclist crowd. The new trail was to be built on the Barber Quarry track line. Not only didn't the AEDC oppose the plan, it's director was an advocate. Now they will be funded to develop that which they wanted to destroy. Where do I begin in Allentown's World of Mirth?

The wonderful photograph above shows the World of Mirth train at 17th and Liberty. World of Mirth was the midway operator at the Allentown Fair during the 40's and 50's. In the background is Trexler Lumber Yard, which burnt down in the early 1970's. The B'nai B'rith Apartment houses now occupy the location.
photograph from the collection of Mark Rabenold

UPDATE: The Barber Quarry branch was not the primary railroad access to the Mack plants on South 10th Street. The branch only provided service to Mack Plant #2 on South 10th and Mack Plant #1 on 7th and Mill Streets which both closed for manufacturing in 1924 in favor of Mack #3,3A,4 and 4A on South 10th. These were served by the Reading Railroad Mack Branch. There was a switchback that connected the Barber Quarry to the Reading west of Traylor Engineering and Manufacturing Co. Yet, that was built by the Reading to serve Traylor and did not provide access for the LVRR to Mack #3,3A, 4 and 4A.

Also the western terminus was not wenz's on Hamliton Street. The branch crossed Hamilton and served several businesses including Yeager Fuel on North St Elmo, several silk mills and Pepsi Bottling at 2100 Linden Street. The bottling plant closed in 1963 which then became a city parks department building. The LVRR sold and removed the track north of Hamilton street in 1969. Accordingly, in 1970, the Wenz company became the western most shipper and receiver on the branch. update information from anonymous comment in November of 2010

reprinted from November 29, 2010

Boxing Eggs

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

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

Raw Cookie Dough

I had told City Council that the Arena plan was half baked, it's actually more like raw dough. Yesterday, board members of the Allentown Parking Authority wrote one of the most unconvincing letters I have ever read. Referring to the parking deck by City Hall; They can choose to leisurely walk the three blocks to their destination or, perhaps, jump on a trolley that could be traversing the city's business district ferrying customers from one end of town to the other...Visitors from northern suburbs can park in our lot located between Turner and Chew Streets on North Ninth.... Numerous other such examples exist of ample, convenient off-street parking... Would you believe the title of this letter was Parking, traffic no problem for arena.

Elsewhere, in yesterday's paper, we learned that viewers trying to exit the fireworks from Bethlehem's Steelstacks caused a massive traffic jam. Here in Allentown our plan is to attract a 1.5million people a year to one way streets in center city, with parking conveniently four blocks away. Some Old Allentown people think that this project will be their saving grace, good luck with that.

My Missing Chip

There seems to be much outrage over the jury verdict concerning the Florida murder case. I may know less about it than anybody else in America. I know that a young mother was accused of killing her daughter; that's all I know. I haven't watched or listened to one minute of the case, or one minute of the other tragic cases that have dominated our media for the last decade. I don't understand our preoccupation with these tragedies; I'm missing the chip. Today, and in the next month, that jury decision will be the topic of endless speculation. Television is dominated by crime shows, especially with autopsies. I can only hope that those fascinated by all those things, never have it visit upon their real life. For this post, I choose no photograph. Please restrict comments to the psychology of the public fascination, not particulars of this tragedy.

Israel Must Defend

The world loves to read about a Jew bashing Israel. Al Jazeera routinely uses Jewish writers for that purpose. They're not that hard to find, the far left and Jews go together, like pastrami and rye bread. Recently, The Morning Call dug up a good one for their Another View Column. A former Marine, whose mother's relatives died in the Holocaust, was joining a new flotilla to Gaza. Although the writer, Ken Meyers, draped himself in a partial Jewish heritage and military service, he left out a few details about himself. He parted with the Marines in opposition to United States military policies. He believes any attack against Iran should be an impeachable offense. Meyer's editorial is full of adverbs of distortion. The Israeli blockage of Gaza is not illegal. Nor is Gaza a killing field or Ghetto. Everyday, hundreds of truckloads of food enter Gaza from Israel. Many of the thousands of missiles fired at Israel by Hamas came aboard ships to Gaza. That is the purpose of the blockade, and numerous weapons have been seized from boarded ships. In Meyer's portrayal, Israel attacked the previous flotilla and killed nine peace activists. According to international law, Israel legally boarded a ship, and nine provocateurs were killed by Israeli soldiers defending themselves.

Mr. Meyers is welcome to try and break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. However, he should remember, unlike himself, Israeli Marines support their government, and will do what is necessary to defend their fellow citizens.

UPDATE:Meanwhile in Haiti and Sudan for example, the people are desperate for need and for such "Humanitarian Flotillas" that never seem to come. Where are these so-called "Humanitarians" when people actually need them?

photo of Gaza City

Growing up Parkway

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




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

compilation of two posts from June 2008

reproduced and retitled from Dec. 21, 2009

The Stumble Bum called Allentown

Allentown wakes up today to more mediocrity by our unimaginative leaders. Although the school budget passed, and less teachers were laid off than feared, Zahorchak's Pathway to Failure is evident. Teacher Union leader Debbie Tretter was amazed by the final figure of 112 furloughs. Her union would have actually granted wage concessions if Zahorchak would have agreed to less than 120 layoffs. Positions restored in art and social studies demonstrate how his plan only caused unnecessary anguish, as illustrated by a 10th grade student, Holli Bossons, in an editorial today. In another editorial we learn that the Fegley family looks forward to the arena. Isn't that grand, after they received 99.9% of all incentives and grants given in Allentown. Wonder how the pizza guy feels in the 700 Block, he's getting the boot after building up his lunch trade for a decade. Yesterday, was a full day here in Allentown. Mitt Romney visited the closed Metal shop, which Obama had touted as a symbol of hope. Mayor Pawlowski called Romney's visit a cheap shot, while he gushed gratitude to Obama two years ago for honoring us. I heard a rumor that the Fegley's are going to get another grant, for a pizza oven....

under construction, links and lies to be added.

Zahorchak's Politics Compromise School District

Back in February I wrote an OP-ED piece in The Morning Call questioning Zahorchak's endorsement of Pawlowski's revitalization plans. Somehow, the superintendent's support seemed to me to be potentially in conflict with his job. Allentown never stops asking for KOZ's and other business perks which deprive the school system of needed taxes.

When I read the recent column by Allentown's new superintendent of schools, Dr. Gerald Zahorchak, I thought perhaps the first few paragraphs were written by Mayor Pawlowski. The new restaurants on Hamilton Street were referred to as a renaissance. I hope nobody tells the good doctor that the restaurants were enticed there by massive grants and tax abatement, yielding nothing to the school district. Michael Molovinsky,The Morning Call, Feb.19, 2011

For several months this blog has concentrated on two major themes; The arena and the school system. Those issues now seem to be converging. Yesterday, school board member David Zimmerman used this blog's comment section, to outline Zahorchak's stonewalling of the issue.

Dr. Zahorchak responded, the next day, stating he would look into it. I spoke to him about a week or ten days later and reminded him again. He told me, the next day, he was meeting with Pawlowski and would let me know. I never heard anything. Another email on June 20, 2011 to which there was no response was sent inquiring as to the status of my original request. David Zimmerman, molovinsky on allentown, June 28, 2011

Although Zahorchak expects the school board to approve his budget tomorrow evening, Zimmerman's questions from May remain unanswered. Zahorchak should be putting the interests of the students and their taxpaying parents first and foremost, way ahead of any revitalization scheme by the Mayor.


UPDATE: There is an excellent article in today's Morning Call by reporter Steve Esack, on all the complications caused by Zahorchak's overly ambitious plans. The article ends with an introspective comment by David Zimmerman, But if anything fails, Zimmerman said, ultimate blame lies with the school board for signing off on all of Zahorchak's changes in one school year.

Arena Shell Game

Back on May 22, this blog ran a guest post by School Board member David Zimmerman, titled Our School Tax for Hockey Arena. Today, the Morning Call catches up with an article explaining how the arena will be financed. Anybody who fully understands the article, please phone me, I need help with my tax return. Although the article states which entity may get some money back, it doesn't address the 64 thousand dollar question. (reference to television show from the 1960's, when that was a lot of money) You do not make payments on a $100million dollar loan, and get anything back from a minor league hockey team. The Arena Authority will need to use every possible legal steal allowed, including holding you upside down and shaking the coins from your pocket. In short, this will indeed cost the school system, at least indirectly. The Pawlowski Palace of Sport doesn't come cheap.

Temporary Inconvenience, Permanent Degradation

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

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

Hardball on Penn Street

When I addressed the School Board at the end of March, I already knew that they made a mistake last spring hiring Zahorchak. I asked them if they were capable of moving beyond that poor choice, or would they circle the wagons and blindly endorse his endless ideas, in order to justify their previous decision. Today's Morning Call headlines the tension between the Administration and the teacher's union leader. Although I read the story three times, beyond the headline and bold print, it says very little. We know that the Superintendent attempted to intimidate the union leader. Nobody wants to comment, and the School Board postponed the vote approving the layoffs and budget. There is also tension between some School Board members and the Administration, and between two camps in the school board. A few members realize that they were elected to represent the parents and students, not just support the Superintendent. Intimidation has also been used against those board members who question Zahorchak's tactics, and his Pathway to Success plan.

Penn Street is where the Administration Building is located.

Pawlowskitown

Guest Post from Mike Schware
The other day I was driving through my neighborhood and came across a small section of roadway that was being resurfaced. Near the barricade was a half-sheet of plywood, painted blue, with the following message painted on it:
Allentown Alive
Public Works Project
Ed Pawlowski, Mayor
I had seen these signs a few years ago during Ed’s first term, but thought they had long-since been retired. Apparently not. They certainly conjured up the same feelings within me that they did a few years ago, when I viewed them as the cheesy invention of a small-minded politician.
It takes a lot of nerve to claim credit for even the most basic city services, such as road resurfacing. These projects – funded with our tax dollars – go on no matter who is in office. Maybe Mayor Ed would like to put his name across city police cars and fire trucks as well. I don’t think he’s gotten around to that - yet.
Ed certainly has no problem with self-promotion. His name has been added at city entryways. His photo is emblazoned across countless city publications and the city website. We even get a self-serving video message from the Mayor before the feature
film when we attend Movies in the Parks with our families. Of course all this is also funded with our tax dollars, but adds nothing to the service received. We also somehow even hear of the Mayor’s “private” works of charity, such as his current trip to Haiti.
I then thought of the plaque that sat on President Reagan’s desk that said “There is no limit what a man can do or where he can go as long as he doesn’t mind who gets the credit”. What a contrast between a great President and our Mayor. Maybe the Mayor’s never-ending need for recognition and publicity is part of the reason that so little has actually improved in our city.
If the Mayor feels the need to post a sign on public works projects, might I suggest that he replaces his name with the following:

Thank You Allentown Taxpayers

I know that might be asking a lot, but I can always dream.

Mike Schware

Shenanigans Continue

Although City Council has a short memory, I do not.


According to an article by Jarrett Renshaw in today's Morning Call, the long term (more than ten years) operator of the restaurant at the golf course has been out maneuvered by Mayor Pawlowski. Although his bid was identical to the successful bidder, the winner provided better answers to a questionnaire; so much for the concept of respecting an existing tenant and his track record. The new tenant, Allentown Brew Works, also has a track record with the city and taxpayers. Jarrett Renshaw writes, "The awarding of the Brew Works contract continues a long line of public support to the Allentown Brew Works, which has enjoyed more than $4.5 million in local, state and federal loans and grants to renovation and construction. The public support includes more than $90,000 in direct taxpayers support from the city of Allentown for design and facade improvements. In addition, the Allentown restaurant sits in a Keystone Opportunity Zone, which means it's exempt from most state and local taxes until 2011."
The decision was not officially made by Pawlowski, but by his five-person committee of city officials. Rumor of this shenanigan has been circulating town for several weeks.
reprinted from December 24, 2008

Since I wrote about the golf course in 2008, grants to the BrewWorks continue. We have reached over $7million dollars.*In 2009, City Council continued the KOZ tax free zone by deciding that the upper floors never benefited, and somehow it became a separate location, resetting the clock for ten more years. Anybody concerned that the BrewWork may have received preferential treatment can be reassured by our city government. On Wednesday evening, in regard to a new money for the upper floors, Councilman Julio Guridy said,* "We need to make sure people in the community know how to get that money," City Business Development Manager Ted Collins said*the city is trying to improve its outreach, but that its resources are limited. "It's my aim and interest to continue to grow this. I am six months into this position and I have already identified, along with you, that our outreach needs to improve," he said.

I'm reassured, are you?

*Scott Kraus, The Morning Call, June 20, 2010

City Hall Insults The Neighborhood

This is a post which I spend a week trying not to write. It is a story of favoritism and abuse of power. About four years ago a homeowner, in a quiet south side neighborhood, moved out and rented the house to his brother. Under Allentown regulations this property hence became a rental property, and subject to license and inspection procedures. As it turns out, these brothers are childhood friends with an Allentown inspector. The second brother, the tenant, has been disruptive in the neighborhood by every criterion relevant to code enforcement. The property became unkempt and subject of numerous police calls, including the SWAT team. All calls for relief from surrounding properties seemed to end up with the family's inspector friend, and brought no relief from the problems. Allentown has been very pro-active with problem properties. In the first eight months of 2010, 342 properties received orange tags, forcing the property to be vacated. Most tags were issued for problems significantly more minor than those occurring in the subject of this post. This past October, the bank foreclosed on the property. The tenant legally became a squatter. A neighbor's complaint resulted in another inspector discovering that the bank owned property was an unregistered rental, and he issued a 30 day to vacate tag for illegal occupancy. It appeared that finally the neighbors would get relief from the trash, noise and police calls. The childhood friend inspector intervened, and the 30 day notice was never enforced. My efforts with the inspector on behalf of the other property owners (including myself) were to no avail. I have spent the week documenting the problem up the chain of command, right to the Mayor's office. Although the property is in gross violation of code, the illegal tenant is allowed to remain. Although in the last eight months police have surrounded the property several times in complete violation of the disruptive tenant ordinance, the occupant remains. In typical City Hall fashion, they have circled the wagons around the inspector, around their own. They are now actually trying to work with the bank and make him the homeowner. The top photo is the back yard on May 9, 2011, with years worth of garbage. You will be happy to know that a city contractor has now been hired to clean the property and cut the grass, at your expense. The City's course of action is a total insult to the neighbors. I did see some inspectors today, they were walking around my property.

UPDATE: I understand that the occupant is a disabled US Veteran so that may have played into the equation. City Official June 16, 2:02pm

Mr. XXXX, I understand that he is a disabled veteran. I don't know if you have received all my emails, first to the inspector, then XXXX, then XXXX. Two years ago I had to treat his unattended green swimming pool with bleach, (because the city complaint was repressed) last year I had to paint his totally peeled porch.... He has no legal basis in that house whatsoever..... Frankly, the situation is an outrage. You may want to check the police reports. Twice police have surrounded the house in the last 8 months alone... Is this social work or code enforcement? Michael Molovinsky
p.s.. he is not physically disabled, and I don't know if his mental health issues are military related, nor is it relevant to code
enforcement. I do know that he is family friends with an inspector who has put myself and other neighbors off for years. He is the same inspector who has issued hundreds of orange tags to other properties in the same period for much less problems.

Being a disabled veteran is not the reason for this favoritism, but the excuse now being used. I have no doubt that at least some of the hundreds and hundreds of units vacated by the same inspector, also housed a few disabled veterans.

Step Right Up, Prize Every Time

Years ago, a popular feature at carnivals and fairs was the weight guesser. For a mere few quarters he would guess your weight within a few pounds. His success didn't matter so much, because the prize cost less than they charged to play the game. The Administration has offered up phenomenal numbers of expected arena attendance. Although Pawlowski once said 2.5 million, for the City Council Eminent Domain vote, he used 1.5 million. To achieve that number, the hockey team would have to play 365 home games a year, to over 4,000 people each night. Yesterday, another shill for the arena boosters wrote another opinion piece. This gentleman used the figure of one million. The hockey team will play forty home games, and even if they achieve 5,000 viewers each game, the arena must still draw 2,500 people each remaining night of the year to reach the one million mark. The Sovereign Center in Reading works very hard to reach their declared yearly total attendance of 500,000. I suppose this arena is like the old weight game; The advocates are not using their own money. How far the guess is off has no consequence to them, they still win.

The weight and age booth at Dorney Park in 1948

Resetting the Demographic

The bill and resolution for another grant to the BrewWorks has become routine at Allentown City Council Meetings. Since Pawlowski was Director of Community Development, that location, 812-814, has received over $6 million dollars in grants and loans. How much of that must be repaid, or will be forgiven, is a subject for forensic accounting. Last night's request ($360,000) was small potatoes in comparison. What was interesting were the crib notes given to council.
Priority status/Deadlines, if any
Immediate. Please arrange to have this resolution reviewed and voted on in the same night.
Why should Council unanimously support this bill?
Council should unanimously support this bill because it promotes development in the central business district, moves a KOZ project forward, and offers opportunity for new office space on Hamilton.

The approval came one meeting after endorsing the forced expulsion of the merchants in the 700 block. I suppose it was considered better form to separate the victims from the benefactors. There appears to be no limit on what the Administration will do or spend to reset the demographic. They keep thinking success is just one more project away.

Asians Offered Rickshaw Concession

The Asian merchants being displaced by Allentown's new arena, have been offered the rickshaw concession on Hamilton Street. Mayor Pawlowski said that when fans exit the games and events, there will be an enormous opportunity to ferry them to and from the many restaurants planned for Hamilton Street. I first learned of this plan on Jon Geeting's blog, Lehigh Valley Independent. Jon, although he's only 26 and lives in New York City, knows everything about Allentown. In a comment on his post taking me to task for using the G word, he stated " Nobody is saying that the Hamilton St merchants' businesses are unwanted in general - just not on Hamilton Street." So, I asked Pawlowski if there was any way that this set of hardworking merchants could remain on Hamilton Street, and he suggested the rickshaws. The rickshaws would be inspected and regulated by the Allentown Arena Authority. Applications are currently available at the Allentown Parking Authority. Jon Geeting contributed to this post.

TC Salon Clips Allentown

Channel 69, WFMZ reports that Technicolor Salon on 19th Street is closing today. Mayor Pawlowski hyped this business about two years ago, and we invested at least a quarter $million.

BILL6TC SALON.DOC
Refer to CEDC

Amending the 2009 General Fund to provide for a supplemental
appropriation of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand ($250,000) Dollars; to
provide for the grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and
Economic Development to rehabilitate 617 N. 19th Street to become TC Salon

Although the small beauty parlors in the neighborhood had to fight the subsidized giant, they continue on, paying their own way. Wasting taxpayer money on grants is a lesson this Administration refuses to learn.

UPDATE: The Morning Call today reports that the business also received a $907,000 loan from the LVEDC. Although the report says that renovations including a crystal chandelier from Hess's Allentown department store were made, that chandelier was there from the previous business, the Shanty Restaurant. Readers may find my post about this grant over two years ago interesting, especially the comments at that time.

Molovinsky Launches New Blog

This weekend I launched a new blog, The Morning Chronicle. The Chronicle will concentrate on topics beyond the Lehigh Valley. The initial post deals with a growing problem; newspapers helping themselves to idea's harvested from the blogosphere. Information from this blog has been the basis for several stories in The Morning Call, with no attribution given. Although local reporters seemingly cannot type Molovinsky, in the future their names will be noted here. The Chronicle will host some of the articles which appeared here, such as Shrines in the Middle East, and boxing's golden era.
Bernie O'Hare will be an occasional contributor.
sputnik takes off, October 4, 1957

Molovinsky Plays Race Card

Mike, your moving the gooks remark is not cool and uncalled for. Not sure how you can justify when anyone and I mean everyone is being recruited for clustering businesses on 7th. I'm not saying there is wisdom in the current effort to develop hamilton street, but feel your drawing the race card is not right.
A comment received on Moving the Gooks post.

The comment suggests that because some second tier merchants, many Hispanic, have been given grants for 7th Street, that Allentown isn't racist. I do not accuse Allentown of racism, I accuse them of classism. He doesn't really mean everybody; the City has not recruited Butz or Fegley to 7th Street, but apparently a Koreatown would be welcome. A Koreatown on 7th Street would leave valuable space on Hamilton, for the coming wave of mixed income retail, which they fantasize will follow the arena.

UPDATE: Provided by David Zimmerman
Curious over recent discussions of classism (bias based on social or economic class.) I undertook a small project to understand exactly who the customers of the Hamilton St shopping area (The Market Area) are.
Using software and data provided by ScanUSA I calculated a variety of demographic data based on what I assumed to be The Market Area.
Specifically, given a moderate walk rate of 3 miles / hour, a fifteen minute walking time would extend about 3/4 of a mile in this area. I looked to the census designation of block groups, in this area, to gather this data.
The total population is estimated to be 26,146 individuals; 59.8% white, 20.7% black, Other - multiracial 16%. This differs significantly from Allentown ("All of Allentown") with an estimated 2010 population of 110,456 individuals; 73.8% white, 12.6% black, Other - multiracial 9.5%. Significant differences.

With respect to the Hispanic population The Market Area is 69.6% while "All of Allentown" is 40.6%, another significant difference. Subtract The Market Area from the rest of Allentown and the percentage of Hispanics living outside of The Market Area drops to 31.6%.
Relative to income; per capita in The Market Area is $15,591 and "All of Allentown" is$21,207. Median family income is a similar proportion with The Market Area at $33,206 and "All of Allentown" at $45,056. Family size in The Market Area is 3.60 while that in "All of Allentown" is 3.28 about 9% less.
More profound is the aggregate income of The Market Area; $377 million. "All of Allentown" is $2.246 Billion. The Market Area represents 23.7% of the population of "All of Allentown" while the aggregate income of $377 million represents only 16.8% of "All of Allentown", proportionately less But then the unemployment rate in The Market Area is estimated to be 12.5% with "All of Allentown" at 8.6%
Another interesting variable is housing; 51.3% of "All of Allentown" is either rental or vacant. In The Market Area this rate is 68.7%. In The Market Areas 31.2% of housing units are owner occupied. In "All of Allentown" this jumps to 48.7%.

So is there bias on social or economic class? You decide. I'd say there are significant differences that could easily be classified with this term.
David Zimmerman

Molovinsky Takes Aim

Moving the Gooks

I support the downtown location of the proposed hockey arena. ...While I could care less about hockey, I have several reasons for supporting the downtown location:
•The investment and financial risk involve private investors who are typically wiser than government figures in assessing parking, traffic routes and ticket demand.
•Downtown needs a large footprint anchor to reset the Hamilton Street demographic. The arena will draw mixed-income, retail customers downtown and is our best bet for a downtown revival.
•We will get new faces downtown with continued growth in our restaurant and night spot usage.
•The arena has the potential to expand demand for true mixed-income rentals and home ownership in the city.
... I attended the first baseball game of my adult life at Coca-Cola Park; likewise, I hope to attend my first hockey game a short walk from my front door.
Charles Versaggi letter in today's Morning Call

Just when I was complaining about Old Allentown being silent on the hockey arena, long time cheerleader Charlie Versaggi chimes in. Seems like the vanguard of Old Allentown sees this as their last hope for mixed income. Charlie, in the future, drop that private investor line, it makes Ed Pawlowski's eminent domain plans illegal. That fascism is suppose to be used for public projects and public good. Well, I suppose moving those gooks and their brown customers off Hamilton Street is for the public good. I don't know if you're going to get those new stores and white faces, excuse me, mixed income faces, but good luck with that. Enjoy your first hockey game!

The Idea Man

...Allentown School District is introducing the concept of a Newcomer Academy which will be housed at the Midway Manor building and will serve as a first-year high school experience for students new to the United States. Newcomer Academies have been successful in cities throughout the U.S., but the ASD program will be the first comprehensive academic program for immigrant students in the Lehigh Valley...
Our new framework, Pathways to Success, aims to increase the achievement of all of our students...Kindergarten students will be assigned to other buildings ... Newcomer students will take a bus to the Academy and back to their home high school each day... Courses will be taught by experienced and innovative ASD teachers.

As the school year winds down, my wallet and I were hoping that The Idea Man would give us a vacation from his national harvest of educational ideas. Not to be. Zahorchak has introduced yet another program. In this age of $4 gasoline, we will bus new immigrant students back and forth from Dieruff and Allen every day to another new academy. We will also disperse the current kindergarden kids to other elementary schools to accommodate the new academy. What's with this guy and academies? He wanted to bus the honor students to a special academy at 4th and Allen. Here's my innovative ideas. Why not teach the newcomers English at Dieruff and Allen and save both the time and gas? Why doesn't the School Board tell Zahorchak to sit down, shut up and just run the school system.

A Tailor from North Street

The Allentown Housing and Development Corp. recently purchased a home at 421 North St. That block of North Street was destroyed by fire, and the agency has built a block of new houses on the street's south side; it will next develop the other side of the street. The deed transfer caught my attention because Morris Wolf lived in the house in 1903. Wolf signed up with the Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry on July 18, 1861, in Philadelphia, when he was 22 years old. He was a private in Company A, of the 3rd Cavalry. This unit was also known as the 60th Regiment and was later called Young's Kentucky Light Cavalry.It defended Washington, D.C., until March 1862, then participated in many of the war's most famous battles: Williamsburg, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. Wolf had signed up for three years and was mustered out Aug. 24,1864.

Recently, to commemorate Memorial Day, the local veterans group placed more than 500 flags at Fairview Cemetery. If that wasn't enough of a good deed, the group also set upright more than 300 toppled grave markers. Visiting Fairview recently, I saw they had not overlooked the graves of either Mr. Wolf, or another veteran, Joseph Levine. I have concerned myself with Allentown's Fairview Cemetery for the last few years. I first became interested in the small Jewish section, called Mt. Sinai. This was the first organized Jewish cemetery in Allentown. Currently, all the synagogues have their own cemeteries, and Mt. Sinai has been mostly unused for many decades.

Mr. Wolf lies next to his wife, Julia, who died in 1907. Morris would live on for 30 more years, passing away in 1937, at age 98.
Mr. Levine, a World War II veteran, and his wife, Ethel, were the first and last people to be buried there after almost 25 years of inactivity. When Ethel died at age 93 in 2000, it was the first burial at Mt. Sinai since 1976. Joseph was 103 years old when he passed away in 2006.

The Housing and Development Corp. and North Street are now part of Allentown's new neighborhood initiative called Jordan Heights.Although soon there will be a new house at 421 North St., there is a history that will remain with the parcel. Once a tailor lived there who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg.

reprinted from July 4, 2010

Syrian Commotion

This weekend there was a disruption in the Syrian community. When the protests first began in Syria, there was a demonstration of support for Assad and the Syrian government here in Allentown. Allentown's Syrian community dates back to the 1900 era, when many families migrated from Amar, in the valley of the Christians. The Syrians, Jews and other ethnic groups lived and worked together in the 6th Ward. Second Street was almost exclusively home to the Jews and Syrians. In 1903 practically every house in the 600 block was Jewish, including my grandparents. Although the Jews migrated up town to 6th Street, there still is a Syrian presence in the Ward. Hafez Assad, father of the current president, supposedly had a Christian nanny, and an affinity for the minority. Ties between Second Street and the homeland have existed for many decades, including Syrian Ambassadors speaking at local events. In more recent years, newer immigrants have a more personal experience with the realities of the current regime. Tensions between the two groups, newer immigrants and the community here for a hundred years, erupted at a protest this weekend in center city. I invite my friends of Syrian descent to elaborate on this post.

Open Letter to Lee Butz

In today's Morning Call there were seven letters against the arena, and one for it. The seven against, all stated well thought out reasons, while the eighth, by Lee Butz, was more smiles and giggles.

On the morning of May 24, I had the pleasure of attending a Lehigh Valley IronPigs game at Coca-Cola Park. It was attended by thousands of school kids, and seeing (and hearing) them was a real delight. I couldn't help but think of how it would look and sound when those kids attend an event in the new hockey arena in downtown Allentown. We have something very exciting to look forward to.
Lee Butz

Lee, I wished you had attended the recent City Council meeting, there was another sight; Grown men and women, the merchants facing eminent domain, actually sobbing. Sorry you missed that, but it's not too late. Walk down to the next block, and stop in a few stores. Ask for the owner.
Michael Molovinsky

Klavan on the Culture