Allentown Bails Out Real Estate Speculator, Again

When the Allentown Park system purchased two distressed brown fields from Abe Atiyeh, this park advocate complained. I know both the parcels well. The land down by Basin and Union Streets had no market value in the real world. In an old industrial area, where no industry remains, it also has no residential appeal. The other parcel, the old fertilizer rendering plant, also in a flood plain, also had no market. When the price got low enough, speculator Abe Atiyeh purchased them. Who knew that Ed Pawlowski, who always put himself ahead of the city, would buy them to expand and connect the park system. In my informed opinion, they can't properly take care of the existing system.

Atiyeh also purchased the nearby former quarry parcel, which later functioned as a cement mixing plant. The Allentown School system is purchasing that parcel from Atiyeh for future expansion of the Union Terrace Elementary School. Last time I checked, the Atiyeh parcel was across Union Street, and behind and beyond the sports fields.

The Allentown School District is distressed, not only in the classrooms, but on the board and in the administration.

Taking One Too Many For The Family

The fight magazines described Abe Simon as the giant from New York. He and my mother were cousins, and that connection sparked my interest in the Joe Louis era of boxing. Abe wanted to go to college, he had a scholarship, but his mother wanted him to fight... that's how tough times were in the late 1930's. Abe won his first thirteen fights, even knocking out Jersey Joe Walcott. 

In the fight shown above, Simon went toe to toe with Louis for thirteen rounds. That toughness earned him another title shot at Madison Square Garden in 1942. The first overhead strobe ring photo was of that fight. Another interest of mine remains B&W photography, and that era of boxing produced some classic shots. Those interested in the Joe Louis era might enjoy my December 2012 archive, which contains many of my boxing posts.

That 1942 title fight with Louis was the last of 47 bouts for Abe, although he had good offers to continue boxing. He had small parts in several films, including On The Waterfront and Requiem For A Heavyweight. He worked as a referee and for a Long Island police department. In his last years, he worked in several capacities at the Roosevelt Racetrack.

Stalingrad In The Ward

The number of new apartments being built in the ward is pretty amazing. While most of the development is greatly benefitting from the NIZ, the building wedged between Immaculate Conception Cemetery and narrow Railroad St. is conventional financing. My snipey headline derives from the location and its current appearance, without the final facade finish. On a Facebook post last fall, some people were upset about its imposition on the cemetery, but that judgement is beyond my pay-grade. 

The Neuweiler apartment project is enormous. All totaled, there will be hundreds of new apartments in that area. While our politicians talk about affordable housing and the need for more units, I have some doubts about the effect on the city. The Hamilton NIZ failed to gentrify that district. Will the new tenants have more effect in the Ward?

Slow Steps To Beauty

It took a long time, but the main steps down to Rose Gardens look beautiful. I speculate that the holdup was the mason waiting for the black slate like tread material. While the steps both here at the garden and Union Terrace were stone, I find the new treads both attractive and more durable.

While I'm complimenting the park system, allow me to confess a previous bad call on my part. When the Parknership announced that their first project would be the basketball court at Stevens Park, I took exception to that plan. I thought that the court would be underused and/or attract a nuisance crowd. I be wrong...every time I go by it is being utilized as they envisioned.

My current wish list for the park system involves Lehigh Parkway. The steps and landings on the Double Stairwell need to be restored. The water seeping through the landings is undermining both sets of steps. The previous dam debris piled around the stone piers of the Robin Hood Bridge needs to be removed. The concrete pieces should be lifted away by hand, so as not to damage the piers. The stairwell and bridge are objects of beauty which would be unaffordable to build in today's dollars, but we can afford to maintain them.

When Tariffs Were Trump's Big Fumble

The tariffs were Trump's first fumble, but nothing compared to the war with Iran. When Colorado Congressman Jeff Hurd voted against the tariffs, Trump supported a primary opponent against him. Now that the midterms are looking more precarious for the White House, he has bribed the opponent off, and is supporting Hurd.

Who could have foreseen that beating up our allies with tariffs could have consequences:) Who could have foreseen that attacking Iran could end up affecting world energy prices:) When a president has surrounded himself with such experienced, seasoned advisors, and is open to push back, what could go wrong:)

Although I believe that the Republicans will lose bigly in the midterms, it doesn't matter that much. Not having had 10cents worth of institutional knowledge in the Trump White House, will cost this country for at least the next decade.

Local Allentown Blogger Goes Underground

Michael Molovinsky was last seen early Friday making his usual morning rounds of the Allentown park system, Speculation is that upon arriving back home, he saw the article about the Russian blogger who criticized Putin, and immediately went into hiding.

Molovinsky has been accused of TDS, and worse, by his readers now for several months. He knows that Trump admires Putin, and has used the FCC and other government agencies to silence critics. 

                                                                     Joanne Silver, copy editor, molovinsky media

ADDENDUM: Mr. Molovinsky will remain underground, but has made provisions to resume posting himself, starting Tuesday morning. js/mm