To Whom Is Tuerk Speaking Spanish

This week I took Matt to task twice, allow me to end the week with a trilogy. I question what is really behind his bi-lingual jogging posts? Are there that many Latinos in Allentown who do not understand English, or is the explanation for those bi-lingual posts political pandering?

I'm sure that there are those in the Latino community who will broadcast that Tuerk's Spanish videos show respect. Tuerk self describes as Allentown's first Latino mayor.

Tuerk being bi-lingual could benefit the city, but he would have to deliver much tougher messages than we have heard so far. Being in year five at city hall, he could take the opportunity to put some shine on a rust belt city. Pawlowski tried to ride the NIZ development to Harrisburg or Washington, but got detoured. While I see no such detour for Tuerk, I do see a missed opportunity.

Uncle Matt Wants The Teenagers To Call Him

I hope that Matt's plea for teenagers to contact him isn't the whole game plan against violence in Allentown. If so, we better button down the hatches very tightly. I watched kids in Reading doing burnouts around the Pagoda on WFMZ.  I remember when it was Reading's pride and joy. WFMZ covers commotion in both Allentown and Reading. The news stories have a short shelf life. Likewise, the Morning Call vacillates with their stories, either not at all, or for months on end. Either one, either way, there is much more commotion than we hear about.

Over the weekend there was a rescue at Canal Park. Some female was pulled from the middle of the Lehigh River. If she was homegrown or from New Jersey, I don't know...the story only appeared very briefly.

Of course the big problem with Matt's call-in plan is who will be calling? The junior achievers will be calling in with good suggestions, but they're not the shooters. The shooters wouldn't be caught dead calling in, or they might end up that way.

Mayor Says We Have To Do Better

Contacted in Los Angeles at another conference, Mayor Matt Tuerk said that We Have To Do Better in response to the recent shooting. Actually, he has to do better. Needless to say, enough with the conferences already. I was just complaining about him going to one in Madrid, Spain. Give us a break!

As for the police chief, if he's standing down on quality of life issues under the mayor's direction, maybe he's OK. If he's standing down on his own, time for a new chief. On my weekly cruise down Tilghman to Front, I noticed the usual disregard for traffic rules. A large group of motorcycles and motorized bikes pulled out of an alley onto Tilghman. 

I understand that the city has a Latino majority, and Tuerk has played that card well. But unless he hopes to be mayor forever, he has to also play the other cards. He should remind himself that even Victor Martinez couldn't get his preferred candidate elected in the 22nd District. 

There is more violence than is being reported. Recently there was a drive-by shooting in deep Hamilton Park. It's past time to think that Promise Neighborhoods, or any other profitable non-profit, can control the deteriorating situation. It is time for a beefed up police department. Who should lead it, and the city itself for that matter, are the questions?

A Community Loss

Back in 2010/2011, when I was conducting meetings on the WPA at the Allentown Library,  they were documented by Imantrek, aka Sydney McKenzie. With my tricky name spelled wrong, I was on the cover of his Grounzero magazine. Over the years we have stayed in touch.

In addition to Imantrek, he also went by the handle Red Bokeh(Society). In more recent years, he turned his camera to fashion and entertainment. He identified as an underdog, and with some reason. He resented being passed over for photography jobs by some local organizations, despite his long time involvement in local issues.

With Sydney's premature passing last week, the community suffered a grassroots loss. I was notified by a diverse group of people, who as far as I know had nothing in common, except an appreciation of Allentown and Sydney Imantrek McKenzie.

Allentown Baby Boomer Memories

Allentown Chronicles is a collection of thirty-six posts from Molovinsky On Allentown. It is not the usual sepia toned photographs from 1900. It contains none of the canned wikipedia summations found in other Allentown history books. 

It is mostly my memories from the 1950's. Early summer mornings sitting in my father's old station wagon on the way to his meat market, waiting for long freight trains to pass by Union Street. Many of the posts mention those rail tracks, which tied Allentown's post war prosperity together.

Allentown certainly isn't the same. The car radios are much louder now with a different music. There's litter in the streets, but I still remember times past.. My hope is that a few of these posts remind you of your childhood in Allentown.

Link to paperback at Amazon

The Mexican General and Canal Park

In the 1960's, if you snuck into a park at night with a girl and a bottle of beer, you were sure to encounter an officer we called the Mexican General. It didn't matter which park, what time or how remote of a spot you found, he would find you. How he could patrol all the parks at the same time was beyond comprehension. 

I do not know his true heritage, except that he resembled the Mexican officer in the 1950's TV series Zorro. On the topic of heritage, the Lehigh Valley Railroad train engine heading into Canal Park above in October of 2020, is four decades beyond its real time. In 2012, Norfolk Southern painted Heritage engines in the colors of the different former lines absorbed into the current east coast carrier.

If the officer mentioned above really was Mexican and Spanish speaking, he would certainly have his hands full today in Allentown parks, especially Canal Park on the weekends. Hundreds of people from New Jersey have made the park a destination. The time has come for Allentown to close the parks past a certain time of day. An alternative would be to hire 500 more police officers.  

Mayor Tuerk has scheduled a news conference today on the parks....Tomorrow I'll tell you what he got wrong.

reprinted from July of 2025

ADDENDUM JUNE 5, 2026: It is my understanding that the mayor is away on another conference. It is also my understanding that we're in for a warm weekend, and I suppose a busy Canal Park.

Dr. Oz Praises The Wizard

I watched the recent White House press conference hosted by Dr. Oz. While he addressed all the medical related questions, he punted on others. Repeated questions about Bill Pulte being qualified were deflected with Oz stating that the issue was out of his lane.

One reporter was standing and rather noticeable in a red dress. At the end of the conference she raised her hand and was called on. She asked about medical treatment for TDS, and Oz replied that it was a difficult condition to treat, because it's hard to treat stupid.

I have little doubt that the exchange was staged with celebrity MAGA reporter Cara Castronuova. Other surprising answers for a physician was that Trump had some repeated medical tests because he likes hearing good results. I was disappointed when Fetterman beat Oz, but after watching the press conference, I think that I voted for the wrong person.

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.

above reprinted from 2016

ADDENDUM JUNE3,2026:I'm producing a small book on Allentown, without the usual Wikipedia type history, but with excerpts from the archives of this blog. This post is included.

Confessions Of A Less Political Blogger

I'll take credit for the check-in desk at City Hall, it was originally installed to keep me out. With news of Ed Pawlowski's upcoming release, I'm reminded of how much less I scrutinize city government.

I recently visited a city council committee meeting to congratulate Ce-Ce Gerlach, and commented on the long neglected WPA stairwell in Lehigh Parkway while I was there. I only know a few people in current city hall, and sadly we have lost one of them.

I do not know who the current city planner is, but I do know that he is superfluous. City planning is being done by J.B. Reilly's City Center R.E..  While Pawlowski enriched his campaign funds at our expense with city contracts, Reilly is enhancing his real estate portfolio at the expense of city planning. While a new art museum may make his holdings near 10th and Hamilton appear more classy in a news release, it won't change the needle in reality. But what concerns me is the downgrade to 5th Street, the Baum School and the Art Park. It also greatly reduces future prospects for the Post Office, the most architecturally signifiant building remaining in Allentown.

The above 1934 photograph of the art deco post office 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

No One Coming To Allentown's $2Billion Potemkin Village

Downtown Allentown, aka J.B. Reilly's NIZ, is a dead zone. While Bethlehem and Easton have a day and night life, Allentown remains devoid of life. The only reason I care, and you should, is that it isn't Reilly's money, but ours. Reilly's privately owned buildings are financed with diverted state taxes, our taxes, which must otherwise be made up, by who again, but us.

I have been writing about this since day one. The list of the complicit silent has grown to now include the blue blood Allentown Art Museum board. They have agreed to move the art museum to Reilly's proposed cultural corner at 10th and Linden. Meanwhile in reality, Reilly is reduced to staging local boxing matches in his new Archer Theater. The Museum move leaves the Baum School and the art park artless.

Meanwhile, those same blue bloods dine at night in Bethlehem and Easton. Those two cities prospered from organic growth, not some contrived real estate scheme. There is some new moronic plan where ambassadors will confront anybody more prosperous than a street person who parks downtown, and ask how they can help? How reassuringly pathetic can we get?

End Of The Line In Allentown

Shown above is the former Wentz Tombstone shop at 20th and Hamilton Streets. Shown leading up to the workshop were tracks of the former Quarry Barber train spur.  Many years earlier, the line crossed Hamilton and served a former soda bottling plant on Linden Street, behind the stadium.  That building eventually was taken over by the park department, which allowed it to deteriorate, rather than replace the roof. The park department still believes in neglect, rather than maintenance.  

Before the flatcar with granite reached the tombstone plant, it traveled between the stage and pond at Union Terrace. Two small bridges crossed the waterway behind the pond, one for the train and one for pedestrians coming to the park from Walnut Street.

I have been campaigning to get the park department to replace the pedestrian bridge it had removed, rather than repair it about eight years ago. There is nobody in the administration that remembers the bridge, they're all newcomers to town. But I remember, and I don't mind reminding them.

reprint

Bob Brooks' Lemonade Stand

Fellow blogger Bernie O'Hare wondered why Lamont McClure lost? He lost because he never had a chance:) But the real question is why did Ryan Crosswell lose? The answer is Bernie O' Hare. Bernie led the pack in disclosing that Brooks stiffed his ex-mother-in-law on a house loan after she became an ex.

I jest at putting the blame at Bernie's door, but talk about making lemonade! Late in the campaign, too late to respond, Brooks' camp put out a video with him saying he was just an everyman, who had to decide between the mortgage and the medical bills, and he chose to pay his medical bills.

Now certainly the party endorsement didn't hurt Brooks, especially with Shapiro chiming in. I doubt that come November I'll cast any vote in that election. I'm not much for party sycophants, regardless of their label pin.

Foreign Policy

Readers of this blog know that I'm recently accused on moving to the left. By my vision, the conservative movement has moved right, clinging on to Trump's victory in November 2024. By my markers, between Trump's unqualified appointments, and the actions of those people, one either has to be in the MAGA or be a Republican partisan lacking in greater values to remain on board.

While the above paragraph explains my current American dilemma, this post is about my issues with current Israel. Up to about mid 2024, I had been a long time admirer of Netanyahu. Although the angst of October 7 cannot be fully understood by those other than Israelis, I thought the destruction of Gaza was approaching domicide. Now, two years later, I'm seeing the same attitude on the West Bank.

I have been looking for an Israeli-American group that reflects my values. They all seem to be either too much on board with the current Israel administration, or too progressive for my DNA. Ironically, J-Street would now be closest to my current perception of the situation in Israel. If I was a joiner, which I have never been, that is where I would be parked.

Talk about wandering, one must wonder more and more about Trump's motives. Attacking Iran on Monday during negotiations seems to have become a Trump/Hegseth formula. Adding demands to join the Abraham Accords to the negotiation is likewise incomprehensible.

Showing Up With Matt Tuerk On WDIY88.1

I listened to a softball interview on local public radio with Mayor Matt.  I'm being kind calling it softball, it was a foamball, as used with very young children. Matt talked about how just showing up is such an important part of his job.

Last year I  met up with Alfonso Todd for a podcast. While I call the project Radio Molovinsky, he calls it Prolifick Radio2.0. Either way, I invite Matt to sit down for an interview with Alfonso and myself.  Over the years I have mellowed, and my questions won't be iceballs, but we're all too old for foamballs.

Assuming Matt agrees to the adult interview, I'll publish a link to the podcast here on the blog after it is recorded.

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 2010 

ADDENDUM MAY 25, 2026: In 2015 there was a subsequent burial at Mt. Sinai.

Trees, Trailways and Neglect

 

Every several years I visit City Council to make a pitch for a neglected WPA structure. The Double Stairway in Lehigh Parkway was the kingpin of the Parkway's construction. Commissioned by Harry Trexler in 1928, it was constructed in 1935 as part of the park's entrance road.

When part of the wall fell from neglect, I was optimistic that the stairwell landings would be repaired. I have been lobbying for that restoration for the last fifteen years. In that time the landings have begun to sag, and the steps crumble. What would have been an easy flagstone repair is now a rebuild.

Last night the current park director outlined the $millions that would be spent this year on trees and trails. In response to my pesky question, she told me that within a year they will have recommendations from an expert on how to proceed with the steps. In reality, it is not Mt. Vernon nor the Washington Monument. It is a WPA project, like hundreds of others around the country, constructed during the depression. The problem is priorities. As a student and advocate of the park system for many years, I can tell her the repair is two decades overdue.

None And Slim Won On Tuesday Night

Bob Smith thinks that he and Ryan Mackenzie won Tuesday night. In reality they got passes, because they were unopposed in the primary. 

Their chance to win won't come to November, and I'd put it at slim to none. None for Bob Smith, because Ce-Ce prevailed against a Latina in a Latino district. Last time I checked, Bob was way too white and red for the 22nd state district. Mackenzie on the other hand has a better chance, which I would put at slim. 

Mackenzie's chance is slim because he is docile in regard to an increasingly unpopular president. Bob Brooks pulled off the primary against Ryan Crosswell by pretending to be a blue collar guy. There will be a lot of money spent in the coming months polishing the myths about both Mackenzie and Brooks.

Coffee With Emma and Ce-Ce

This blog did not take any overt positions on the recent primary election. Instead of profiling any candidate, I reprinted my piece on Emma Tropiano, The People's Candidate. I believe that Emma has a kindred spirit in Ce-Ce Gerlach. Now, I understand that a lot of people will take exception to my comparison, maybe even Ce-Ce herself.

Because of inaccurate media reports, Emma was falsely portrayed as bigoted. Her memory now unjustly bears that misconception. Most people today who repeat that slander never knew her. Emma was immensely popular, and easily won reelection to city council, election after election. Ce-Ce Gerlach was the top vote getter this primary, receiving almost double the votes of her fellow candidates.

As someone who knew both women, there are many similarities... Both being extremely accessible, down to earth, and making people comfortable.

Emma was energized to work hard for Allentown, as is Ce-Ce. Emma was passionate about the issues she championed, so is Ce-Ce.

I sat in diners having coffee with both of them, many years apart. I think that they would have understood and liked each other.

reprinted from previous years

ADDENDUM MAY 19, 2026: Ce-Ce had a tough primary today. Although enormously more qualified than her opponent, Tiburcio had party and Latino influencer support. As I pen this Tuesday eve, I don't know the outcome, but I expect Ce-Ce to be the next District 22 representative come November.

photo/The Morning Call

 

ADDENDUM MAY 20, 12:30AM: While I'm glad that Ce-Ce has apparently prevailed, I was disappointed that Bob Brooks won the 7th. It reminded me to back when Jenn Mann won her first primary over Emma. Mann's father was a union boss, who used his influence to bring out enough votes. Brooks will be a straight party voter, while we had the opportunity for an informed and independent voice with Ryan Crosswell.

Shapiro Compromises Himself

I was disappointed to see Josh Shapiro endorse Ana Tiburcio. While I thought that it was inappropriate for him to endorse Bob Brooks, I took Shapiro at his word that he knew Brooks, and that his support had some basis beyond party politics.

However, Shapiro certainly doesn't know Tiburcio, she has been a state representative for 10 minutes, filling Josh Siegel's slot. 

The other day I noticed that some Ryan Crosswell signs were replaced by Bob Brooks signs. When governors endorse people they don't know, and campaign workers discard competitors' signs, it's a poor reflection on both the endorser and the candidate.

Latino Super Sunday

Back in older days, before the Latinization of the city, Allentown celebrated Super Sunday, from 1974 to 1999. An oldster like me coming back to town wouldn't recognize Hamilton Street. None of the department stores, 5 & 10's or small independents remain. NONE as in NONE. 

None of the eateries of the older era remain. While the Brass Rail has been recently reincarnated at the Farmer's Market, its Hamilton Street location closed decades ago. Even the center city Yocco's is just a memory. 

Many of the people celebrating Fiesta on Hamilton yesterday have no memory of the places mentioned above. New memories are being formed. Perhaps a blogger down the road, perhaps writing in Spanish, will recall yesterday's event as back in the older days.