I'm Still Pitching For The WPA

In 2012, over a decade ago, I took our current park director, Karen El-Chaar, on a tour of the Allentown WPA structures. At that time, she was director of Friends of the Allentown Parks.  El-Chaar, a native daughter of the area, seemed to share my interest in seeing these irreplaceable icons preserved. She subsequently secured a grant from the Trexler Trust to repair the stairs by Fountain Park. 

In following years she organized volunteers to clear the overgrown spring pond by Robin Hood. In conjunction with the Friends group, I conducted a couple of tours of the WPA structures in Lehigh Parkway.

When El-Chaar was appointed Park Director by Ray O'Connell, I thought that finally, after so many years, I would have an ally about the WPA in the administration.

As it turns out El-Chaar does care about the WPA, but she hasn't made it a line item priority in the budget. The lower entrance wall of Lehigh Parkway is being repointed, but that is a continuation of the upper wall's replacement, after it collapsed from years of neglect, before El-Chaar's time.

I'm still lobbying to have the landings repaired on the Parkway Double Stairwell. Three years ago, she told me that the Trexler Trust wanted an expert opinion on how the flagstone should be relaid.  She is still waiting for the Trexler Trust to consult an expert, and only then might they issue a grant for that project. I would have preferred that it was already done, within the regular park budget.  Recreation items, such as the skate park, are directly in the city park budget. 

Above is a 1948 photograph of the bridge that went to the WPA man-made island in Lehigh Parkway.  In the 1980's the bridge was removed, and the island allowed to grow wild. When I gave El-Chaar that tour so many years ago, she commented that it would be nice to replace the bridge and restore the island. I replied that I would be satisfied if the remaining WPA structures are maintained....I'm still hoping and waiting for that to happen.

Since I started advocating for the WPA, El-Chaar has been more receptive than the previous directors. However, like the island, once a park feature is gone, we will never get it back. My mission remains to make sure the WPA structures get the timely attention our park history deserves.

photo courtesy of the Price family

City Of Allentown Hires Molovinsky

No, rest assured that they didn't hire me. On the contrary, because of this blog, they would like to drag me in front of an eager district magistrate, and throw the book at me. 

However, they did hire my father's Uncle Harry in about 1935.  At that time, same time that they were building the magnificent WPA structures which the city is now allowing to go to seed, Earl Price was the City Forester, and in charge of maintaining the parks. 

By 1900,  my great grandparents and all their offspring were living in the Ward.  I'm now the last Molovinsky left in Allentown, so this blog cannot embarrass any family members.  It can, however, if I do my job correctly, cause some distress among those who are failing to properly honor the city's history.

Harry Molovinsky is in the back row, fifth from the right, in the light colored jacket.

use of photo courtesy of the Price family

City and Magistrate Court Snicker At Citizens

About a decade ago, I advocated for better conditions at Fairview Cemetery. At the time I was not yet a complete persona non grata at the Morning Call, and they did a story on my efforts. 

About 5 years ago, a much younger man, Tyler Fatzinger, took over the  effort to make the cemetery management more responsive to families of those interred there. Fatzinger campaigned to get the city involved through the weed codes imposed on other property owners. However, it appears to me that the city is not sincere in their effort.

At a recent magistrate hearing, which was postponed way too many times, the cemetery lawyer claimed that the cemetery is a pollinator meadow, and worse, the judge took that nonsense under advisement.  Even worse, the city didn't protest the ruse.

I can assure the district justice that those families who paid for perpetual care weren't told that the cemetery was a pollinator meadow.  I can assure the code officer that those now paying for perpetual care are not told that there will be no mowing because the cemetery is a pollination meadow.

I witnessed another district magistrate bend the law for the city at a citizen's expense. 

It's time for Lehigh County Court to end this abuse of citizens.  The district courts cannot be run with a wink and nod to the city, abusing those that they're supposed to serve.

ADDENDUM 2:47 PM: Fairview Cemetery was found guilty of violating Allentown's Weed Ordinance. However, beyond court costs of $92, no fine was levied. That's a lot cheaper than mowing 55 acres.

Tuerk's Good Deeds Go Punished

If there is one person who cannot rightfully be accused of discrimination, it would have to be Matt Tuerk, but that didn't stop an inane accusation from Dan Bosket, when Tuerk was called on the  carpet* by the local NAACP group.

In reality, Tuerk's main fault, in my opinion, is a preoccupation with diversity and inclusion.  Bosket complained that the two senior level Blacks in the administration left.  One of them, Leonard Lightner, had been elevated to the highest new appointed position in city hall by Tuerk, Chief Operating Officer.  He left for an even higher paying job elsewhere.

Recently, I did a post mentioning Joel Fitzgerald, a former police chief in Allentown. Fitzgerald has been traveling the country,  taking advantage of municipalities preoccupied with hiring minorities. His latest salary is almost half a $mil, as head of the Denver Transit Police.

Bosket's complaints certainly didn't fall on deaf ears with Tuerk. Tuerk wants to push employment opportunities to diverse candidates. Councilperson Ce-Ce Gerlach wants to give minority owned businesses preference in awarding contracts.

Bosket, Tuerk and Gerlach aside, a preoccupation with complexion, rather than competency, can in itself be a problem.

*The Morning Call/September17/Lindsay Weber

Allentown State Hospital Fiasco

State officials, who know much better than the rest of us, decided some years ago to close most state hospitals, including Allentown State Hospital. Residents there would do better in community mental health programs, they said. You've seen the results.  Severely mentally ill people wander the streets.  Instead of being treated in a hospital, they now flood county jails and nursing homes.

In the meantime, Allentown State Hospital's 195-acre campus sat empty and dormant while state officials considered how they could top their initial blunder of closing it down. They came up with a scheme so incredibly stupid that you have to wonder whether they themselves should be committed. 

Our betters in Harrisburg wanted to spend $15 million to tear down the buildings so the tract could be sold to a wheeler-dealer from Doylestown for pocket change. After this scheme was exposed here in Blogistan, our state oligarchs decided to drop the Doylestown developer. But they went ahead and demolished the buildings anyway, with no developer waiting in the wings at all. 

They made sure to brush away multiple attempts by Allentown developer Nat Hyman to save the state the expense of demolishing anything and paying cold, hard cash for the site. He was barred from the site and Browne changed the law when Hyman sued to stop the shenanigans. They also disregarded advice from the state's own Historical and Museum Commission. That state agency concluded that the main state hospital building not only retained its structural integrity, but should be listed with the National Register. 

They probably chuckled when 7,300 people signed on online petition asking that the state hospital be preserved. After all, why on earth should our elected officials ever listen to the people who put them in office? The unwashed masses clearly fail to understand how a representative democracy works. 

Eventually, in 2020, and without a redevelopment plan, the buildings all came tumbling down as though they'd been hit by a Putin cruise missile. The only one deemed worthy to stand was an air monitoring station that could measure the dust from all the pollution created. You can ignore everyone else, but not environmentalists. 

After turning a strategic site between Bethlehem and Allentown into an urban desert, our Harrisburg optimates waited nearly two years before bothering to solicit bids for redevelopment. These were promptly rejected as "nonresponsive" so State Senator Pat Browne could try again with a direct sale.

On his way out the door, following a disgraceful primary loss, Senator Pat Browne's parting gift to J. B. Reilly is right up there with his previous present to Reilly, the Allentown NIZ.  That Bill enabled Reilly to build and own a $Billion dollars of new real estate, paid for with diverted Pennsylvania state taxes. 

Browne's proposed new law now gives the 195 acre State Hospital property to Reilly for $5.5 mil, or just over 28K an acre. The bill, if passed by the general assembly, sells the property to Reilly with no competitive bidding from other developers. Browne's proposal has already been endorsed by the General Services Office, state representative Mike Schlossberg, and most of our so called leaders. 

Browne's gift to Reilly is also the ultimate FU to state taxpayers. 

Because the NIZ already allows land swaps, the taxpayers could end up paying for Reilly's new buildings. Such a swap should be prohibited on the former hospital grounds, as it would be an injustice for all the taxpayers throughout Pennsylvania. 

Other developers and the City of Allentown don't matter.

When asked, Hyman, one of the discarded developers, issued this response:

"I wanted to buy and redevelop the State Hospital site because I believe it is a once in a generation opportunity for Allentown. It is an opportunity to create a new town square for the east side and bolster the finances of the City through desperately needed real estate taxes. City Center is certainly the preeminent developer in Allentown and more than capable of doing a great job with this site. My issue however is with Pat Browne and Mike Schlossberg. Once again, they both are involved in back room dealings shrouded in secrecy and a lack of transparency. The voters have rightly dealt with Pat Browne and this directed sale is another example of his arrogance and his parting shot to the voters as he walks out the door. As far as Schlossberg, you may recall that when I offered $2.3m to buy the site with the buildings intact, he attacked me personally and said that the demolition was necessary to attract a much higher price for the site and a profit for the taxpayers. He claimed to know more about development than I do, despite all of the buildings that I have redeveloped in the City of Allentown. Well, he spent $15m in demolition costs and sold it for $5.5m. He lost the tax payers $10m. He must be held accountable for that.” 

The deal seems in direct conflict with the General Service mission of disposing property in the best interests of the public. With Browne's departure, Schlossberg apparently wants to position himself as the developer's best legislator.

In Allentown government, Mayor Matt Tuerk is actually on board with this absurdity.  A man who supposedly had the inside track on economic development has been relegated to the third wheel of the Browne-Reilly bicycle. Councilperson Ce-Ce Gerlach is expressing concern about gentrification, that is the least of Allentown's problems. State rep wannabe Josh Siegel excuses this breach of fiduciary duty to the taxpayer with the hollow argument that at least the property will return to the tax  rolls, but will it? Given the state's penchant for corporate handouts and the reality of the NIZ, that seems highly unlightly. State Rep Mike Schlossberg thinks you're either stupid or that you have forgotten his previous claim that demolition of the hospital grounds would make them more attractive.

As bloggers during the Pawlowski regime, we were amazed by the former mayor's audacity. However, seeing Browne and Schlossberg in action, we realize what an amateur Pawlowski really was.

above post is a collaboration between Michael Molovinsky and Bernie O'Hare

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER 20, 2022: The Morning Call is currently headlining a column by Paul Muschick, essentially copying the issues above, but with no attribution to this blog post.

Gentrification, A Problem Allentown Needs

It's adorable that people worry that the new development in Allentown, especially that anticipated by the river, will lead to gentrification, and rents rising beyond the reach of existing residents.

Rents have risen in Allentown and everywhere else since the pandemic. However, this increase has nothing to do with gentrification, and has occurred everywhere, even in areas with no new development.

When I go to our new NIZTOWN, formally known as the Allentown business district, one thing I can't find is gentrification. I see endless new publicly financed, privately owned J.C. Reilly buildings, but no new demographic. I suppose that they must be there, hiding in their Strata Lofts, but nobody could confuse or accuse the street scene as gentrified.  

As matter of fact, I find the lack of ambience rather amazing. Who could have imagined that with so many new buildings,  and with over a $Billion of our money given to a private owner, there would be no signs of life, and certainly no signs of an improved new street life.

photocredit:molovinsky/NIZ preparing to destroy Allentown's mercantile history and architecture