Allentown's Historic Syrian Community

When my grandfather first arrived in Allentown he lived in the Ward, on 2nd. Street. It was around 1895 and the neighborhood was full of immigrants. Some groups came from the same area in the old country, most noticeably the Syrians, from the village of Amar*. They were Antiochian Orthodox, a minority in a Muslim country. The congregation of St. George's Church on Catasauqua Ave., largely is descended from those immigrants. Well known names in Allentown, such as Atiyeh, Haddad, Hanna, Makoul, Koury and Joseph are among their members. They were among one of the first groups to organize, and those organizations still exist. The photo above was organized by the Syrian American Organization in 1944. Note that Jewish, on the left, is treated as a nationality.

* hopefully my Syrian friends will correct any historical errors I have made.

click on photo to enlarge

UPDATE: The above post is reprinted from March of 2010. I have repeated the post several times since over the years, and have written other posts concerning Allentown's historic Syrian Community as well. Although I didn't grow up in the Ward, I grew up with their children, who had by then also lived in other sections of town. Throughout the 1950's and 60's, the organized Syrian community wielded considerable strength in local Democratic politics. I assure you that Pawlowski went hat in hand to their leadership even in 2005. This week at least a portion of the community came to City Council, hat in hand; Pawlowski had denied their request for a Syrian Flag ceremony at City Hall. The Syrian political influence in Allentown has been somewhat weakened by a large migration of that community to Whitehall. I will also concede on Pawlowski's part that the current politics of Syria is indeed very complicated. That reality aside, the large local Syrian community deserves some public recognition of it's historic role and roots.

Jerusalem

In the city of awe-inspiring sites, the most imposing is The Dome of the Rock. The Dome covers the Rock from which Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to Heaven to receive a message from Allah. The Jews believe the rock is the Foundation Stone, from which the world was created. On it, Abraham was prepared to sacrifice Isaac and the Ark of the Covenant stood when the Temple occupied the Mount. The Mount and Temple was enlarged by Herod, during the lifetime of Jesus.

Jews pray at the retaining wall, The Western Wall, which survived the Temple's destruction by the Romans in 70 A.D. The bottom four rows of stones date from Herod, below current street level, there are 17 more layers.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is west of the Temple Mount. The first church was built on the site in the 4th century. Christians believe the church encompasses both the sites; where Jesus was crucified, and also buried and rose from the dead.
reprinted from July of 2013

Lehigh Valley Replay and Repay, The Study Of The Studies

Yesterday, The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission announced a new traffic study for Lehigh Valley. In that article they mentioned how much traffic there currently is, how much is expected, and which routes it will be using. With that information already in hand, what do they expect to learn from the new study? Last night, a symposium on the Valley again discussed our future. This blog in the past discussed Renew Lehigh Valley, the $3.4 million dollar study completed last year, which defined our present and future. Has our future changed that much in the last four months? What we really have is a cottage industry of recycled public bureaucrats, who conduct endless studies on the public's dime. Unfortunately, they're not really cottage, but fully funded organizations, costing the taxpayer extra, for those redundant reports. They in turn hire professional journalists, mostly former reporters, to publicize and legitimize their function. It's not easy for Pennsylvania to have a $30 Billion dollar budget and still be broke. That takes many Commissions, which study nothing new, but recommend another study.

Suspicions and Aspersions

In the past when I've done a speculative post on two or more subjects, I strove for a cute title, like Bits and Pieces From The Rumor Mill. Those days are past me, this baby now gets the cheap diapers.

Rumor has it that when Pawlowski recruited yes woman Candida Afif to run for City Council, she hesitated because she enjoys much time out of state at a vocation home. Pawlowski assured her that she can continue her lifestyle, and cast votes by telephone. The telephone option has been used in the past by several members over the years,  but only for important votes.

I've written numerous posts about the plans for upscale apartments in downtown, and the realities of that market. I use a dated term, yuppies, for the target demographic. Shown above is Reilly's Plywood Plaza at 7th and Linden Street. I've been informed that the previously hyped P&P Mill Luxury Apartments at 3th and Linden, has turned to Section 8 to fill their vacancies.

Lehigh County's Good Old Boys Part 2

In yesterday's post, we discuss David Jaindl being nominated to the Regional Planning Board, despite having some history of circumventing local zoning. As the largest land owner in the valley, he is essentially being invited to write the rules which will govern him. We are also watching Allentown's NIZ Baron, J.B. Reilly, write his own rules. Reillytown was created by Pat Browne, with a unique scheme allowing public state taxes to pay for Reilly's privately owned building. Any loose end was exploited by Reilly, such as even the cigarette tax going to his debt service. All along, the enablers were saying that although it's a golden goose for Reilly, the public will benefit from the increased tax base. We now learn that Reilly is appealing his assessments, greatly reducing the public benefit. His brand new buildings, paid for by the public, will pay less tax because that scheme allows him to charge less rent and show less income. Missing from that argument is that the public must make up that state tax shortfall through higher taxes and fees, and other municipalities have lost the tenants and taxes now occupying Reilly's buildings. Meanwhile, back at this circus of public exploitation, our local leaders have a cat eating mouse grin, explaining these calamities to the public. Pawlowski says that Allentown will benefit from a settlement with Reilly. There was never any mention of assessment settlements two years ago, when Pawlowski was cutting the ribbons and running for governor. County Executive Tom Muller supports Jaindl's nomination. There was nothing about that in his State Of The County report.

There really is nothing  new with these shenanigans. Today, we worship Harry Trexler and call him General. Back in his day, he was the largest land owner and developer by far. Cedar Park was actually created to enhance his west end real estate developments, on both sides of Hamilton Street. Although there was no scrutiny back then by local bloggers, I suppose that there was some dissent. Will our great grandchildren call Reilly and Jaindl generals, and picnic by their statues?

Lehigh County's Good Old Boys

When it comes to politics, I have to admit some naiveté, after all I ran as an independent. Speaking of that effort, several times when I was putting up signs last fall, I was told that Mr. Jaindl doesn't allow signs on his land. I had that experience north to the Blue Mountain, and east to Danielsville. David Jaindl's nomination to the Lehigh County Planning Commission is causing some controversy, because he is by far the largest land owner in both Lehigh and Northampton Counties. To some people, like Commissioner Percy Dougherty, the conflict is self-apparent. Ron Beitler, a Commissioner in Lower Macungie, points out that Mr. Jaindl has a record of development proposals contrary to local development guidelines. I'm curious about the people who nominated him. Sometimes the good old boys are women. After nominating him, LVPC's director Becky Bradley, has no comment other than, We're neutral. We're Switzerland. Isn't that the land of hidden bank accounts? Actually, the other paid development bureaucrats in Lehigh County government pushing for Jaindl, Rick Molchany and Frank Kane, prefer to paint him as experienced, as opposed to conflicted.