Downhill on Lehigh Street

During the early 1970's, Allentown demolished the entire neighborhood between Union and Lawrence Streets. It was, in a large part, home to the black community. How ironic that we destroyed the cohesion of a neighborhood, but renamed Lawrence Street after Martin Luther King. The only remnant of the neighborhood is the St. James A.M.E. Church. Going up the hill today we now have a vacant bank call center on the east, and the Housing Authority Project on the west. A whole neighborhood existed in from both sides of Lehigh Street, including black owned shops. The houses were old and humble, but people owned them, many for generations. Some blacks at the time wondered if the project was Urban Renewal or Negro Removal?

reprinted from May 2011

Bahá'í Gardens

The Bahá'í Faith World Headquarters is on the slope of Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. It was near there, in Acre, that Bahá'a'lláh, the most recent messenger of
G-d, was exiled during the Ottoman Empire Period. There, for his remaining years, he would produce the doctrines of the faith, The oneness of humankind. All His other social teachings are means of achieving and sustaining the practical unity of humanity so that people may fulfill the purpose of their creation, to peacefully carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. The faith began in present day Iran in the mid 1800's, and believes that G-d's word comes through a succession of messengers. Today, there are over five million followers, with Bahá'í Temples throughout the world.

Governor Pawlowski

With three posts written since yesterday, this blog was about to turn off the presses until at least Saturday night, when The Morning Call broke a new story. Seems as if Mayor Pawlowski has visions of himself in the Governor's Mansion. When asked for clarification by reporter Scott Kraus, he indicated that another run for mayor would come first in 2013. The next opportunity for Governor isn't until 2014. Just when you thought things couldn't get better.

No Shopping Zone

Ed Pawlowski and Company have officially declared Hamilton Street a No Shopping Zone. Many years ago I was prohibited from operating a business near 16th and Walnut Streets. I was told that if I wanted to conduct business, I should have opened up in the Business District. The merchants of Hamilton Street learned last year that they were in the Hockey District. Today, Black Friday, Hamilton Street will be closed from 7th to 6th Street, to accommodate the demolition of the former 1st National Bank Building.

watercolor by Karoline Schaub-Peeler

Open Thanksgiving Letter to Charlie Dent

Congressman Dent,
Today I learned from Scott Kraus's informative article in The Morning Call, that you have joined the Cranberry Caucus. Although I thank you for your attentive attitude toward local business, I would like to add a few points of information not discussed in the article. Most of Ocean Spray's employees will follow the company from New Jersey, not providing many new local jobs. New Jersey didn't fight the relocation with much vigor, because the discharge from the juice process is particularly potent, providing an unwanted challenge to their waste water systems. On the other hand, bottling companies have been coming to the Lehigh Valley, because of Allentown's abundant supply of water, and capacity to treat sewage, as distributed through the Lehigh County Authority. As you know, Mayor Pawlowski is eager to lease these systems for fifty years, despite widespread public opposition. In this regard, Ocean Spray is but one more customer for a private water company. Will such a company safeguard both the supply of water, and it's waste treatment, with as much scrutiny and concern as the current public oversight? In the past few years the bottling industry has become a concern to those advocates concerned with the quantity of our drinking water. The Mayor's plan is beyond an Allentown issue; It affects the entire region, which should be involved in the deliberation.
My best wishes for your holiday,
  Michael Molovinsky

The Pension Surprise

When Ed Pawlowski ran for Mayor in 2005, he bored listeners with a long power point presentation, showing that Allentown would be hit with a huge pension shortfall. He had a plan, and would make all necessary adjustments to avoid the calamity. Here we are in 2012, and the sky is falling; Sell the water and layoff the firemen! He brags that there has not been a tax increase under his administrations; There should have been. There should have been both cutbacks in redundant supervisory personnel, and measured increases in taxes. In fairness to Pawlowski, other mayors also buried their head in the sand in the same manner, but I never had to suffer through their power points. Also in fairness, the market crash of 2008 contributed to the shortfall, but that was four years ago. What happen to that supposed steering skill to avoid the calamity? The administration now claims that those calamities are opportunities. He dragged a former mayor from New Jersey to Allentown to explain how wonderful private water companies can be. He now has the Fire Chief saying that we really don't need more than two men on a fire engine. We are a town that can build a $277 million dollar arena, but can't afford proper fire protection.