An Atlantic City Memory

The picture above by the Associated Press appeared on Facebook yesterday, in regard to the death of Jerry Lewis, the famed comedian. If the picture doesn't look like funny Jerry, there's a reason.

When I was about ten years old, my cousin and I stayed with our aunt, who had rented a house for the summer at the shore. Walking on the boardwalk, my consin and I were delighted to see on the marquee that Jerry Lewis was entertaining on Steel Pier. We both ponied up our week's money and went in to see the funny man. A rather gaunt man came out onto the stage and sat at a piano. When he started singing Great Balls Of Fire, we were confused. When he started pounding the piano with his feet, and his hair started unraveling, we were shocked.

Apparently, the young person at the Associated Press also confused Jerry Lewis with Jerry Lee Lewis, whose picture appears above.

reprinted from August of 2017

ADDENDUM OCTOBER 31, 2022: Jerry Lee Lewis passed away on Friday.  When I saw the announcement, I remembered my childhood experience and this post. The obituary said that Lewis was 87, only a decade or so older than me. At the time, sitting there as a boy on Steel Pier, the man on stage seemed so much older than me... age has shortened that distance.

Fetterman Wins Debate

Supposedly a man walked up to Oz at a rally and said  If not for you, I'd be dead. The heart device you invented saved my life, but I'm voting for Fetterman anyway. That pretty much sums up these polarized times in which we live. 

I believe that the Oz/Fetterman debate did not change one vote.  I believe that the undecided in today's world is a myth, propagated by the polling companies for the purpose of keeping their business relevant. I haven't spoken to one person who changed their mind because of the debate, as lopsided as it may have been.

There are, however, the unmotivated...Those who, for one reason or another, were not intending to vote. A small percentage of them will now be motivated by the underdog....Fetterman will pick up the empathy vote.

In politics it doesn't matter who won the debate, it only matters who gained a few votes because of it.

Too Quick To Judge Superintendent

The recent Morning Call report on the firing of the Allentown superintendent was rather startling! 

The dismissal of the superintendent wasn't racist, but his hiring was!  

At the time of his hire, and that of his predecessor, school board members were saying that the superintendent should look like the students,  i.e., someone of color.... that was their main criterion.

Besides knowing that the dismissal was not racist, I have no insight on that actual decision. I do know that it is a tough job in a difficult district. I do know that discipline problems come in contact with the principal and his/her assistant. In my time, I was sent there so often that my shoes could find the way on their own. Despite all those trips, I never met or even knew who the superintendent was.

I would hope that the next hire is based solely on ability, and that the person is given enough time to prove their worth.

NIZ Injuries To Allentown

The NIZ has fostered various injuries on the city and it's citizens.  Reilly's dashed hopes for a mega project, encompassing an entire block, 7th to 8th and Hamilton to Walnut, resulted in the displacement of numerous  businesses and residents.  Furthermore, we lost rich history, such as the Elks Club.  Yesterday afternoon the paper ran its second story of the day promoting Reilly's much smaller, substituted office condo project. The article is called  Five Things To Know about the new project.  There's actually six, and the sixth is that the paper never stops promoting Reilly's interests. This morning the paper continues with its third piece on the new building, within two days.  Putting aside this endless cheerleading by The Morning Call,  the NIZ has surely peaked. Although a number of tenants were poached from different locations,  there was no net gain for the region.  A responsible Harrisburg would be analyzing  the consequences inflicted on the area.  However,  responsibility and Harrisburg have never been acquainted.

As I commented yesterday, Talen workers will be isolated down at the river, almost punished, if you  will.  The surrounding 6th Ward certainly doesn't provide much ambience.  Expect our local and state taxes to be expended there, to embellish Jaindl's position. The tearing out of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Old Main tracks through that parcel is another history victim of the NIZ.

photo of former Elks Club on S. 8th St., prepared for demolition, to make way for now cancelled mega-project by J.B. Reilly

above reprinted from May of 2016 

 

UPDATE FEBRUARY 10, 2021: Four years later from writing the above piece, an update is in order.  Reilly did build out the square block with more offices and apartments. He also did so at 6th and Walnut. It all looks the same, devoid of architecture and any feeling of community.  He also secured Talen as a tenant, slowing down Jaindl's waterfront plans. Jaindl is now just starting his first building. The Morning Call continues their promotion of Reilly's City Center Real Estate, and Reilly now owns the Morning Call building. While resented for it, I continue to speak out against the loss of the town's identity.

UPDATE OCTOBER 26, 2022: Reilly continues to build on Hamilton Street, with his debt obligations serviced with our diverted state taxes. With a Hail Mary pass, departing state senator Pat Browne gives  Reilly the State Hospital site, endorsed by State Rep. Mike Schlossberg. The Morning Call continues to promote Reilly, yesterday on cue with a story about new vendors. I remain outspoken.

Morning Call as A Madam

The Morning Call is featuring, for the umpteenth time, another new store on the Arts Walk.  A real headline would be Another Failure On The Artwork Being Replaced.  I have been complaining about the Morning Call promoting the NIZ since before it began. When I saw that their former newspaper building, on the wrong side of Linden Street, was being included in the NIZ map anyway, I knew that their reporting would be less than objective. However, I never expected them to be an outright madam.  I use the M word, instead of the W word, because of search engines. Last time I used the W word, I got too many inquiries from the weirdo crowd. 

Students of this blog know that I also maintain that there is something weird about the supposed occupancy of the apartment buildings, Strata This, That and Whatever. Why can't all these supposed people keep any of these stores in business?

I don't know the answers to these questions, but I do know that you won't find them in the Morning Call.

A Bitter Pill For Allentown

On Saturday night, while the pale skinned from Catasauqua, Northampton, Fullerton and other points out of Allentown, wearing their orange Phantoms sweatshirts, were being directed by the Allentown Police Department to the various parking decks along Linden Street for the season's first game, chaos was raging down in the ward.

A large pack of dirt bikes, at least 100 in number, were wheeling through the stoplights and stop signs, with no police to be seen.  I suppose that for now, despite a pledged crackdown by Mayor Tuerk and Police Chief Roca, as long as the pack stays on the wrong side of the tracks, it's OK. But what's going to happen when the NIZ financed new riverfront projects come on line?  Will the chaos still be tolerated? 

One must wonder if Tuerk and Roca realize that for now they're sending the wrong message to the pack. Meanwhile, those too young for motor bikes practice their wheelies on Hamilton and Tilghman Street, looking forward to joining the pack in a few years.

Needless to say, this post is neither politically correct, nor culturally sensitive. However, I think that there must remain at least one place in Allentown where hard truth, even if it's a bitter pill, is still dispensed.

photocredit:Noah Rabinowitz/12 O'Clock Boys/Baltimore

Allentown Taxpayers Pay A Premium

For years under Mayor Pawlowski, Allentown taxpayers paid a premium for services rendered to the city. Rather than best value, contracts were given on the basis of contributions to the mayor's campaign chest.  

Allentown has now passed a new ordinance giving minority businesses a special scorecard in awarding contracts. While no previous discrimination was alleged,  the new ordinance is a fix to a problem which didn't exist. However, a crystal ball isn't necessary to see what problems such latitude and exceptions may foster in bid evaluations.

Pawlowski is now incarcerated for his cost to the taxpayers.  This new contract system will legally short-change the taxpayers.

ADDENDUM: Bill 72 was presented simply as one line on the Agenda, with a link to a stock disparity study, which was not Allentown centric. As it was passed, it allows the city Contract Preferences for identified Business Enterprises. Council members stated that they will fine tune it with amendments after its passage.                                                                                                                                

UPDATE 11:00AM: The above addendum earlier erroneously stated that there was no previous notice that the item was on the agenda.

Rising and Falling Stars in the Tuerk Administration

Lucinda Wright occupies Karen El-Chaar's former office space in the Park Department building.  El Chaar was asked to relinquish the space already a couple of months ago, and moved into another space in the building. She has since been terminated. 

Wright, currently Marketing and Special Events Manager, graduated Muhlenberg College this past weekend. Attending the ceremony was Mayor Matt Tuerk. 

Wright is heading up the Halloween festivities scheduled for October 29th, including sponsorship opportunities.

These festivities replace the traditional parade, which was considered one of the oldest in the country, starting in 1905. Although tradition doesn't seem to have much cachet with the new administration, it is on this blog a highly valued commodity.  I write for a dwindling population, which both remembers and appreciated those parades.  While I note the changes taking place in Allentown, it is not apparent to me that they are improvements.  Regardless, I hope that they provide memories for today's kids that are as fond as those provided by the parades of the past.

photocredit:Glenn Koch Collection