Ed Zucal Breaks Out Of Pack

On Wednesday evening, Ed Zucal broke ranks with the Democratic City Council and voted against Bill 16. That bill essentially changed zoning to allow homeless shelters anywhere in the city, by striking the phrase seniors only concerning certain community center kitchens. While we all have compassion for the homeless, having a homeless encampment, inside or outside, across from your home can be trying.

Such a shelter was a controversy for the West Park Civic Association at the former church at 16th and Chew. That strong neighborhood has successfully maintained itself, despite dealing with discipline issues outside of the high school.

City Council voted 6 to Zucal for the new ordinance. While Ed lost the Democratic primary, he did secure the Republican write-in vote, and now will be on the ballot for November. As an independent, I appreciate  that there is now an alternative to what I consider an administration preoccupied with a social agenda. Yesterday, as I navigated through double parked cars and blasting car stereos, I longed for a less tolerant Allentown.

Revive Fairview Cemetery

About twelve years ago, I began searching for the grave of a young Jewish woman, who died around 1900. Among several Jewish cemeteries no longer in use, I searched Mt. Sinai, a small section of the sprawling Fairview Cemetery on Lehigh Street, just west of the 8th Street Bridge. The cemetery is the history of Allentown's past, including the graves of Harry Trexler, John Leh, and Jack Mack. As one proceeded deeper into the cemetery, away from sight on Lehigh Street, conditions worsened. As is the case with many old cemeteries, fees paid for perpetual care, 100 years ago, were long gone. Complicating the situation, the current private operator wasn't particularly assessable. In addition to extended family members upset about conditions, the situation was compounded by his refusal, with few exceptions, to allow private upkeep. My early posts on the situation drew response and phone calls from people with no interest in local political blogs; They were just exasperated relatives, with a family member buried long ago at Fairview. After beginning a series of posts, and letters to the editor, I prevailed upon The Morning Call to write a story one year later. The Call's story appeared on August 11, 2008. Within two weeks, the cemetery operator agreed to a public meeting I had organized at a local church. Arrangements were made between the operator and several parties. As with several of Allentown's older cemeteries, the issue of maintenance would be ongoing.

The current operator of Fairview, in addition to operating an on-site crematorium, is actively having new burials in the cemetery. It appears as if some of these new burials might be on old large family plots, which haven't been used or even visited in decades. In other cases, they appear to be along the internal roadways, which were previously not considered proper burial places.

Because of my longtime blogging on Fairview, periodically I would be contacted by someone with a family member buried at the cemetery. They were always frustrated by conditions at the cemetery, and asked where or to whom they could turn.  The photo shown above was taken by a frustrated family member. It occurred to me that a facebook group page could be a common meeting ground for such families.  Recently, after I started the Allentown Chronicles facebook group, local resident Tyler Fatzinger demonstrated strong concern for conditions at Fairview. I suggested that he moderate a new group dedicated to the cemetery. He agreed, and started Revive Fairview Cemetery.

reprinted from June of 2019

UPDATE AUGUST 26, 2020: Tyler Fatzinger has turned out to be a tireless advocate for Fairview, volunteering his free time working and clearing at the cemetery.

ADDENDUM JUNE 19, 2025: Eventually, Tyler would receive a no trespassing notice from Fairview Cemetery, and conditions there remain unsatisfactory. The current city administration, as previous ones, has not intervened in regard to the poor upkeep.

Courtesy Of The Floor

I consider myself a local gonzo type journalist. This blog is in its eighteenth year, and during that time I have immersed myself in numerous issues and have irritated numerous members of the local establishment. Most of these so called accomplishments are self-proclaimed here on the blog, because the local institutions I've offended include the Morning Call.

I am also my staff photographer. Shown above, Eddie Aviles is being restrained by MsPhoebe Harris, Jessica Lee Ortiz, and Chief Charles Roca. Although I don't recall what irritated Eddie that evening, he has been quite vocal recently. I also won't go into the current issues...Those disclosures are better left to him.

However, as a gonzo I follow the stories, and came across his self-proclaimed involvement in the water crisis issue after the hurricane in Puerto Rico. In a fine documentary on water, especially in Flint, Michigan, Aviles is heralded for his activism in Puerto Rico.

Alan Jennings To Train Sharecroppers

Those of you who listened to the podcast of my interview with Alan Jennings know that toward the end of the interview I confessed to snickering about his organization's plan ( Community Action Committer of Lehigh Valley) to take over the farmer training at the Lehigh County owned Seed Farm.  Those who follow this blog know that I oppose Farmland Preservation,  because it is a ridiculous disconnect with the reality of food production in 2018.  It is however politically correct for urban liberals to think that if as much farmland as possible stays available,  there will be an endless banquet of environmental bliss, with organic food no less.  Alan sees it as an extension of food for the poor, sort of another ladder step in the food pantry mission. Low income food issues are because of money, not food production shortfalls. These liberals of course are ignorant of the long hours and hard work which goes into farming. They are also ignorant of the economic reality of competing with large scale agriculture.

Now, unless Alan wants to gift each of his graduates with a farm at our expense,  they will either be a farm hand, or at best a sharecropper.  What is really scary about Alan's plan is that it has the endorsement of the Republican controlled Lehigh County Commission.  They are apparently so vote craven, that they go along with such nonsense.

The only practical program assisting farming is Clean And Green.  Unfortunately, the Morning Call ran an expose on the program featuring photographs of large expensive houses,  surrounded by farmland. While the program limits tax reduction to only the land actively farmed,  the photographs give the impression that the tax breaks are going to people who don't need it.  I suppose the liberal paper thinks that those involved in agriculture are supposed to live in shacks.  Worse yet, the paper thinks that their story is a masterpiece, has has been running it on their website for months.

photocredit: Dorothea Lange, Son of Sharecropper, 1937

above reprinted from July of 2018 

ADDENDUM JUNE 17, 2025:If you use my blog's search engine, over the years you can find dozens of posts about Community Action of Lehigh Valley. I have criticized them for not giving out fishing poles, but rather buying people fish markets. Currently, they are crying the blues over proposed federal cuts under the Trump administration. They have gotten so big over the last couple decades, and so far beyond their original mission of directly helping poor people, they would. have to shrink 75% to get back to their original mission. They are so fat, that in the current Morning Call article they claim that many of their employees could be making more in the private sector...Perhaps now they will have that opportunity.

Non-Profits and The Allentown Parks

On Friday afternoon I saw a young family holding hands and staring longingly through the fence at the empty swimming pool in Jordan Park. At the same time, I saw thugs racing their cars on the large parking lot at Jordan Park. The expensive outdoor prison yard exercise equipment stood there unused. 

They're building full court basketball on the remaining grass at the previous kiddie friendly Stevens Park. The Rider-Pool Foundation is one of the backers of the project. The foundation supports the Wildlands Conservancy, which promotes the weed walls along the creeks. The foundation also supports Promise Neighborhood, which supposedly reduces gun violence. Meanwhile, as the Morning Call compiles and aggregates the press releases from the wealthy non-profits, tension is mounting between the lessor non-profits, which are competing to monitor the thug activity the ill advised full basketball court is sure to foster.

Being an advocate for the traditional park system has become a lonely job. Reporting on the park system realities is not only thankless, but resented. Seeing resources misspent on a naive, woke agenda is  frustrating. Nevertheless, this blog will continue the mission.

shown above the deteriorating Jordan Park Pool

Fountain Pool Of My Youth

While I've been involved in many issues in Allentown over the years, defending the park system of my youth is the one I find the most rewarding. It's not my personal memory lane I care about, but rather an iconic park system that was in itself a designation.

I remember the picture postcard racks in the dime stores on Hamilton Street. They were full of postcards of the Allentown parks, including the rose garden, and along the different creeks. The card shown above is the former Fountain Park Pool, now closed for many years. Although most of my swims took place at Cedar Beach Pool, our gang would visit the other four pools when one of us could borrow the family car.  

Over the years our different pools have been closed for different excuses. The Fountain Park pool shown above was closed because supposedly the filter broke, and it would cost $170K to fix. Allentown is now spending over half a $mil on a cement skateboard bowl at Jordan Park, while the park's swimming pool is shuttered. I understand that the swimming pools are expensive to maintain. I understand that finding lifeguards isn't easy, and that the pools may require more oversight than in previous years. BUT... swimming pools on hot summer days should be a city recreation department 101.