Spanish Radio In The Lehigh Valley

Victor Martinez has an amplified voice in the Valley, it actually comes over the radio! Martinez is owner and host of MEGA 101.7FM Spanish Radio. I tuned in to Victor recently over his support for Carol Obando for the 7th Congressional District.

Martinez is now behind Ana Tiburcio for the 22nd state district. While being Latino scores some points with him, he finds Ce-Ce too far to the left.

Ce-Ce is a tough candidate, who knocks on many more doors than any of her competitors. However, Tiburcio having Martinez's voice behind her is BIG. I believe it will be a contest.

ADDENDUM: News broke Tuesday afternoon that the Voter Registration office sent out incorrect mail ballots for the primary. With tightly contested races in the 7th and 22nd, we now have another wrinkle!

Allentown's Orange Car

While the Orange Car, on Union St. near the Lehigh River, went out of business over twenty years ago, the building sat there vacant, fading away.  Although recently demolished, there's a story behind the slow demise.

When the Lehigh Valley Railroad went bankrupt in 1976, its rolling stock and track went to Conrail. However its other assets, such as real estate, were tied up in bankruptcy.  The Orange Car building was owned by LVRR.  Many years ago there was a small six track rail yard between the Orange Car and the meat packing business to its east.  Carloads of fresh citrus fruit would arrive weekly from Florida. After the rail service ended, the lessee continued operating the fruit stand for another twenty years. 

I labeled this post Allentown's Orange Car, because there was an identical looking sister store in Reading.  That location also had a major event in 1976,  a flood from which it never recovered. 

photocredit:molovinsky

above reprinted from April of 2021

No Apple For The Teachers Union

Like Queen For A Day, Ana Tiburcio has been a state representative for ten minutes. When Josh Siegel moved from rep to county executive, Ms. Tiburcio ended up representing District 22, only after Julian Guridy had to drop out because he really didn't live in the district. Sound confusing, it is, but then our teachers union state mothership sends a card implying that she is tried and true?

I don't blame Tiburcio, but the union. They are so potty trained to support party endorsed candidates, that they will put their name to a misrepresentation. In the real nitty gritty, Tiburcio is running against Ce-Ce Gerlach in the primary. While Tiburcio is currently on the school board, Ce-Ce served previously. 

If I was a teacher at Allen, I would likely be in trouble speaking out against the union's deception. Come to think of it, when I was at Allen one hundred years ago, I was always in trouble. No wonder I ended up being a local blogger.

Turkiye Thanks Trump

Istanbul is teeming.  Construction and people are everywhere, working, shopping and enjoying a surge at the expense of Dubai and other Gulf States, impacted by the United States & Israeli war with Iran. All day and night long the Bosphorus is plied by freighters and tankers, unaffected by blockades and threats.

Turkiye is looking to position itself as the safe place for investment in the Moslem world, relatively free of the threats impacting the eastern Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, as Trump uses blockades and sanctions in the Middle East, his extended family is using their influence and connection to profit from real estate development there. Conflict of interest is a term unknown to the Trump family.

Hurricane Diane, 1955

Hurricane Diane hit the Lehigh Valley in August of 1955. Living in Little Lehigh Manor, I remember huddling in the house, while the metal garbage cans of the era flew around the neighborhood. My father, whose meat market was on Union Street by the Lehigh River, worked throughout the night. Fortunately for him, his market had an second floor backup cooler, and a small freight elevator. While the retail business district on Hamilton Street is elevated enough to be unaffected from flooding, center city Easton was devastated by the Delaware. The next morning was rather surreal for a nine year old boy. A large willow tree on the corner of Lehigh Parkway South and Catalina Ave. was lying on its side. Although the Little Lehigh receded quickly, the park road and basin had been flooded. Diane remains a record in flooding and damage. Let us hope it remains that way.

photo from August 1955. Lehigh River rising by former A&B Meats. The row of houses shown were demolished to make way for a new bridge approach several years later.

reprinted from August of 2011

OLD ALLENTOWN AND CULTURE WARS

Old Allentown has been involved in two culture wars. First when it began, Emma Tropiano and others were opposed to the gentrification of the neighborhood. After it got established, I felt that the district was too large for its own good, spreading out like minded people too far. The District runs from 7th to 12th, Linden to Liberty.

With the changes in Allentown, especially concerning cultural norms about litter and noise, living center city can be challenging. Affordability is the. new hot button issue, and gentrification is becoming a dirtier term. Even Reilly's NIZ gave a nod to affordability at the former Morning Call parcel

I suspect that those still invested in the District will have to assume a Fort Apache attitude, not only in regard to neighbors, but with the progressive city administration.