Allentown, What a Revolting Development

The guy across the top of the post is William Bendix, who played Chester Riley on The Life of Riley. He ended each episode by saying, What a revolting development this turned out to be. That was a television series in the 1950's, but the phrase is appropriate to Allentown today. molovinsky on allentown spends much of it's space on the past, because it was so much better than the present. The Pawlowski Administration and The Morning Call are so focused on the future, because they hope that it's so much better than the present. On Monday afternoon, two teens were apprehended near the high school, waiting for trouble with machetes. Elsewhere, a suspect punched a cop. Our new police chief is driving around getting to know Allentown. Our mayor wanted to use hopeful expectations for this new arena as his ticket out of town. In Chester Riley's world he worked in a booming factory, and his commotions had to do with a neighbor not inviting him to a Sunday picnic. In Allentown, we have never employed people,  smashing your door in. Although this blog shies away from crime stories, we will not sugar coat the revolting development that has become Allentown.

The Second Louis-Simon Fight

$12.50 was pricey in 1942, but it got you ringside at Madison Square Garden for the Heavyweight Championship. Louis was defending his title against Simon, who had gone 13 rounds with the Bomber a year earlier in Detroit. It was the hot ticket that night in New York City.

The Great White Hope

Seventy two years ago this Thursday evening, March 27, 1942, Abe Simon got his rematch with Joe Louis for The Heavyweight Championship of the World. In 1942 that was a big sporting event, on par with the World Series. Millions of people across the country would be listening to the fight on the radio. Jack Johnson was the first black man to hold the World Heavyweight Championship, in an era which did not celebrate such an accomplishment. A former champ, James Jefferies, was induced by $100,000 in 1910 to come out of retirement to challenge Johnson. Jefferies was called The Great White Hope. The story became a movie in 1970, starring James Earl Jones. By the time Joe Louis became champion three decades later, although the resentment was gone, he was still referred to as the Negro Champion and the Brown Bomber. A promo for Abe Simon's first Louis fight even refers to Simon as The White Heavyweight. Simon certainly was no bigot, his trainer for the fight was none other than the great Jack Johnson himself.

reprinted from July 2012

A Lesser Prescription

When the arena office building was first announced about 18 months ago, Lehigh Valley Health Network was going to be opening a Sports Medicine Center in the arena complex. A recent article in the Morning Call now states that the hospital will operate a fitness center and training facilities for their computer network, utilized by the hospital on various campuses. Although the Morning Call reporters have been on board selling the Transformation, they didn't write one sentence on the shift in the hospital's commitment. It's no surprise that they decided against using the 7th and Hamilton location for patients, that would be adding pain to the injury. Although St. Lukes and Lehigh Valley go toe to toe, and side by side, in locations throughout the valley, St. Lukes has decided to let Lehigh Valley have the 7th and Hamilton location without their competition. That was an easy decision.

molovinsky Blog Posts, A Work in Progress

An associate spends hours writing his blog posts. When he's done he has produced an edited, finished piece. Not here at molovinsky on allentown; The posts are usually written very quickly, very early in the morning. Although they have been described as succinct, sometimes the conciseness leads to misinterpretation. Readers who revisit the post later in the day often find slight word changes, and additions, that clarify the meaning. Likewise, our daytime editor may alter the original photograph chosen to illustrate the post. It's with great pride that we announce that we have hired Beatrice to coordinate all aspects of the production. As always, your readership is appreciated.

An UPDATE on the post about updates: With the hiring of Beatrice, nobody will accuse molovinsky on allentown of age discrimination. Beatrice will handle all comment moderation. Although she retires very early in the evening, be assured that your comment will receive every consideration the following morning.

De Eagles, De Eagles

Like our height challenged friend seeing the plane approach Fantasy Island, our local newspaper couldn't contain themselves about the Eagles playing the arena's first date. Let's discuss what this choice was really all about. Michael Donovan, who garnered 40% of the mayoral vote this past November against would be Governor Pawlowski, speculated that it was a strategic choice to attract an older, upscale patron to Allentown. He is correct, that demographic needs to be reintroduced to center city, where they haven't been in decades, if the center city Transformation is to be the success touted by the administration and newspaper. The Eagle audience fits their bill,  it is mostly white and over fifty. Almost all the tickets will sell for over $175 each. Pawlowski and Company are hoping that these suburban ticket buyers have a good first experience in Allentown's new center city. Although they won't enjoy convenient line of sight parking, and for the Little Apple, there will be some traffic congestion after the concert, the hope is that the experience will be positive enough for a return visit. East and south-siders needing police assistance that evening will experience a delay; Every policeman in Allentown will be on display near the arena.

A Voice and Style is Silenced

Patrice Sidoione passed away suddenly earlier this week. When Allentown began the property acquisition program several years ago for the arena, the methods were not nice. Straw buyers were sent into the properties, making offers with threats of eminent domain to those who would not cooperate. Although these tactics were ignored by The Morning Call, this blog reported the process, threat by threat. Patrice, who owned a hair salon on 8th Street, keep me updated on this process and invited me, as did other merchants, to attend their meetings with city officials. Although the administration was hoping that the merchants would go quietly, they didn't know Patrice Sidoione. She championed for her rights, and encouraged the other merchants to stand up for theirs. Those who knew her are saddened by her untimely death. An obituary notice appears in today's paper.

photo of Patrice by Ramy Song