Remembrance

Yesterday, elderly survivors of Auschwitz gathered there to commemorate their liberation 65 years earlier, on January 27, 1945. The memory of the Holocaust must remain a Jewish obsession, as those who can give testimony will soon be gone, while the deniers thrive. The gate sign shown above was stolen and chopped up several months ago.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Confusion In Blogosphere

Today's local blogosphere has some confusion and misinformation. Since I have recently been referred to as Mr. Misinformation and a naysayer, who better to bring some clarity to this clouded crystal ball?

Bernie O'Hare has used two recent posts from Scott Armstrong, and Jeff Pooley takes exception with one. In the first instance, Scott accuses Ernie Atiyeh, newly elected President of the neighborhood associations, of not being a fair broker for that position. Long time neighborhood leaders see the problem not in the politics, but in the election process itself. Apparently the rules were suspended, and they feel the election was highjacked by attendees with a scant history of attendance.

The second piece of red meat thrown out for the anonymous commentators to chew on, is that the annual rental inspection fee was raised from $16 to $75 dollars. So what, serves those absentee slumlords right, raise it to $1000! Well, it's not the inspection fee, it is the annual City Rental Unit Registration/License Fee, which was authorized by the Rental Inspection Program. The 2009 fee for apartments, which had been previously inspected, was $11. The previous fee for uninspected units was $16. At this point in time, all units in Allentown have been inspected at least once; so in practicality, the fee rose from $11 to $75. In 2009 City Council agreed to raise the fee to $30, then agreed again to increase the increase to $75 before the first increase went into effect. The fee is paid annually, independent of actual inspections, which are projected on a five year schedule. It is my understanding that some of the larger projects with fixed income seniors, such as Episcopal House, are impaired by this increase.

In response to The Morning Call's request for information from the City of Allentown, under the Freedom of Information Act, the City has sued The Morning Call. Here in the blogosphere we give you information and misinformation, if you want it or not, absolutely free.

Disclaimer: I do not believe that any person mentioned intentionally disseminates misinformation.

CastleRock

CastleRock took place in the cavernous Dorney Park dance-hall, Castle Garden. The "Garden" was built in the early 20's and hosted all the famous big bands of that era. By the late fifties it was called CastleRock. The Philadelphia recording stars, such as Frankie Avalon and Freddy Cannon would routinely perform. By my teenage era, in the early mid 60's, it was mostly disc jockeys. The Park was free, no admission. Pay to park, and maybe a buck or so for the dance-hall.







By then the nightclub tables shown in the photograph were gone, and sitting was around the sides. There were no shootings, and rowdiness was restricted to sneaking on a ride without buying a ticket. The dance-hall overlooked the lake, it was destroyed by a fire on Thanksgiving in 1985.

Reprinted from Sept. 10, 2008

Business Doesn't Matter

Tony Iannelli, Director of the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, would like a share of the local hotel tax. Hotel taxes are a scheme local municipalities came up with about 20 years ago to penalize visitors to the region. Tony wants a share to fund his own version of a Main Street Program. Scott Armstrong, writing on the Lehigh Valley Conservative Voice, responds;

Has the chamber raised the white flag on the notion that commerce is their business and taxing and spending is the state’s? Or is it that the leadership of the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce sees their organization as just another development bureaucracy deserving of tax payer support? Either way the idea that the “voice for business” now wants your tax dollars speaks to an unsettling reliance on public funding rather than private initiative for economic development. Hasn’t the chamber just undercut their own raison d’être with this request? Aren’t they supposed to be the voice and engine of the private business sector? Can they deny the obvious, that by their own action they appear to be merely another redundant and useless government development entity?

Scott Armstrong


The local Chamber has indeed been a curious hybrid, business/public wise, for many years. Iannelli's weekly show on WFMZ, Business Doesn't Matter, seldom deals with business. Iannelli teamed up with Pawlowski in 2006 giving Lou Belleterri the famous Mystery Job. Like Lanta, they have had no dialogue with the majority of local merchants for many years, while remaining closely aligned with the Parking Authority. Both the Asian and Hispanic merchants have formed their own groups. Many of the Chamber's personnel have been active with the more progressive elements of the local Democratic Party. Although I have never attended one of his network meetings, I must assume Tony throws a good mixer.

King Levinsky

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

Reprinted from Feb. 22, 2009

Pawlowski's Bunnyhop

In the late 50's there was a song and dance called the bunnyhop. You essentially took one step backwards, and two forward, slow progress for sure.

In 1934 Perry Minich and his bride opened a jewelry store on the side of the elegant Americus Hotel. The post depression years weren't that easy for a merchant in luxury goods, but they had faith in Allentown. They were rewarded by Allentown's boom years during the 50's . In 1981 a robber entered the store, pushed Mrs. Minich to the floor, then shot and killed her. The Minich family carried on with their Allentown business. Their nephew, who witnessed the tragedy, took over the store. One by one, in Scranton, Easton, and Wilkes-Barre, hotels of the Americus vintage, closed and were boarded up. The Americus, a white elephant, although a dollar short and a day late, stayed open. Enter new Mayor Ed Pawlowski, self-designated real estate expert. In early 2008 He erected a scaffold around the building, declared it unsafe, and ordered the existing merchants to vacate because he was going to have the electricity shut off.

For those really familiar with the situation, the irony abounds. One week after the scaffold was erected at the Americus, a window fell out the Schoen building, which is across and up the street. Owned by the city for many years, the falling window narrowly missed several pedestrians. The three merchants of the Americus received no compensation. Besides Minich, Kerrigan's Shoe Repair had operated for many years. Pawlowski ended what had endured over seventy years, through good and bad times, including tragedy.

The electricity never was cut off. Minich, Kerrigan and a clothing store were put out of business for nothing, but now it's going to cost us. This past Wednesday, City Council approved submitting a grant application to Harrisburg for $1.5 million to help the new hotel owner remodel and rent the storefronts. Total grants required for the Americus Project are estimated to run from $10 to $25million dollars. We will never again attract a merchant of Minich's caliber, or a craftsman like Kerrigan. Its seems with Pawlowski's bunnyhop, it cost many $millions for every step forward.

Portions of this post reprinted from April 21,2008
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