Molovinsky Opposes Dog Park

I'm opposed to Allentown creating a Dog Park. As someone who visits one Allentown park or another every day, I can tell you that every park is a dog park. At least half the people in any given park are there with their dog(s). So, while there is no reason for a separate dog park, there are reasons why we shouldn't create one. Pawlowski has already suggested that it be placed in one of the two unneeded parcels that he purchased, to help justify that controversial deal, which may be under investigation. Instead, both those parcels should be sold, because the current park system is underfunded.

Now, as far as the park system being currently short funded; The Cedar Beach Pool project is dead in the water, or I should say, without water. Since our Mayor In Limbo announced the project on his facebook page, no work has occurred.  Although the bottom of the pool was removed,  the project has come to a standstill.  Apparently, it is yet another project that has no budget led way or time frame, which is becoming an Allentown tradition.

Although City Council Park Committee Chair Cynthia Mota knows nothing about the parks, Council still has never responded to my offer to be a citizen liaison on park matters.

molovinsky on allentown would like to concentrate on historical posts this spring. Let us hope that the administration's shenanigans slow down,  permitting time for some history lessons.

photo: I'm explaining the spring pond and its neglect, while giving a tour of the WPA structures in Lehigh Parkway.

When 6th Street Was West Allentown

In 1903, the 600 block of 2nd Street housed one Russian Jewish family after another. They built a small synagogue there, which was kept open until about twenty years ago. My grandfather, who then worked at a cigar factory, had just saved enough to bring his parents over from the old country. They lived in an old house at 617 N. 2nd. The current house at that location was built in 1920. By the time my father was born in 1917, the youngest of five children, they had moved to the suburbs just across the Jordan Creek.

My grandfather lived on the corner of Chew and Jordan Streets. He butchered in a barn behind the house. The house is still there, 301 Jordan, the barn is gone. He would deliver the meat with a horse and wagon. On the weekends, when the family wanted to visit friends, the horse insisted on doing the meat market route first. Only after he stopped in front of the last market on the route, would he permit my grandfather to direct him. excerpt from My grandfather's Horse, May 13, 2008

Allentown has just designated the neighborhood west of the Jordan to 7th Street, and between Linden and Tilghman Streets, as Jordan Heights. The area encompasses the Old Fairgrounds Historic District. Allentown's old fairground, in the years between 1852-1888, was in the vicinity of 6th and Liberty. It was an open space, as is the current fairground at 17th and Chew Streets. When my grandparents moved to Jordan Street it was a modern house, just built in 1895. Many of the Jewish families moved to the suburbs between Jordan and 7th. The Jewish Community Center was built on the corner of 6th and Chew, today known as Alliance Hall.
I wish the Jordan Heights initiative well. There's a lot of history in those 24 square blocks, and hopefully much future.

reprinted and retitled from 2014

photo: Opening of Jewish Community Center, 1928, 6th and Chew Streets.  Now Alliance Hall

Vince's Cheesy Opening

Yesterday, Vince's Cheesesteak Shop opened in the same space as the now gone Tony Luke's Cheesesteaks. The Morning Call gave that former cheesesteak business so much press that I blogged about it several times. Although, I wish the Cocca family and Vince's nothing but success, I'm so cheesed off about another fuss at the same spot, that I used the Tony Luke's photo for Vince's. Talking about cheesy, I think that Peter Schweyer was at both openings. I'll be sure to patronize Vince's, along with Zandy's and the Brass Rail.

Julio Guridy On Julio

First, I congratulate Mr. Molovinsky for maintaining his blog. I would had preferred that he would had contacted me to get the true and correct story of what he wrote about me. However, I will try to set the records straight and address some of Mr. Molovinsky's pedantic, condescending and accusatory statements. Here are the facts: In the 14 plus years I have been serving the public in Allentown City Council, I have been chosen by my colleagues in council as their president for 3 years, and vice president for 5 years (4 years in early 2000s and in 2015). In 2009, I was again nominated by the late Councilman Michael Donovan (may he RIP) and seconded for VP of Council and I declined it as a good gesture to give the position to newly appointed Tony Phillips, the first African American councilman who unsuccessfully ran for mayor as the Republican candidate against Mayor Pawlowsky.

Mr. Molovinsky, please know that before being appointed by Gov. Rendell to the DRJTBC position as director of Compact Authorized Investment (now I am Director of Contract Compliance), I was Vice President of Bank of America. I started banking as a Management Trainee for First Valley Bank and rose to become Assistant Branch Manager to an Assistant Vice President and from there to Vice President and worked in the Community and Economic Development Department in Summit Bank, Fleet Bank and Bank of America. I worked in the banking industry for over 11 years. Simultaneously, I opened a Travel Agency with my wife which we had for 13 years and employed 3 full-time and 4 part-timers people. During the same time, in 2001, I ran for City Council and with the support of the great voters of Allentown (Republicans, Democrats and Independents) I won and have been reelected ever since.
 I am always mindful that God has blessed me as I came to the this beautiful country at the age of 15 years old not speaking a word in English and have been fortunate enough to be elected as a councilman to serve ALL people. In my tenure in council, I have sponsored and supported hundreds of legislations to make Allentown a better place for ALL.
 Mr. Molovisky, I am sure you can remember that since the early 1980s decades there were hardly any new economic development projects in Allentown coupled with an immense amount of corporate flights from the city as well a significant number of homeowners moving out of Allentown to the suburbs. As you can see, now there has been over 1 billion dollars of investment in the city and a great number of middle class and upper class coming back, as well as millenniums buying and renting properties in Allentown. I don’t think you would deny that thousands of people are coming to Allentown’s restaurants, stores, and entertainments at the PPL Center, AAM, AOWM, and others venues! For more information please go to www.allentownpa.gov. Yes, I understand that we still have a lot to do and we are trying to make the city a better place for all citizens. I know there are a lot more good people in our city than bad ones. Hence, many of us will continue volunteering our time to make our city a better place to live for all of us.
 Lastly, please speak with me and I will gladly share with you what we do at the DRJTBC. I wish you the best and hope that we can productively work together for the benefit of our citizens. I know that some tend to feebly fall into the abysmal of negative criticism of those whom they don’t like or agree with, but it is a lot more fruitful if we all work together for the benefit of our city, state, country and the world, regardless of the populists demagogue harangued by a few. I believe that we the people who truly care will continue working to make our city a better place for all. God bless you, and God bless our city.

The above was submitted as a comment by Mr. Guridy to the post, Julio Guridy's Confession.  Because the post goes back to January 22, 2016, I know that very few people saw Julio's reply, submitted on March 18th.    Julio writes that he would had preferred that he would had contacted me to get the true and correct story of what he wrote about me.  This is something that I tend not to do, I prefer not to be spun. On the other hand, I have known Julio since he was elected the first time,  and have observed him at countless council meetings.  I bill this blog as informed commentary, and that certainly pertains in the case with Julio.  I will not analyze Julio's comment line by line, but do take exception with his statement about a great number of middle class and upper class coming back.  I think that the actual public return on a $billion dollars has been very small.  We couldn't afford too many programs like this one.  I'm glad to host Julio's reply,  and will always do so for anybody mentioned in a blog post.

Allentown Tenant Association

The Tenant Association was started and is run by two well intentioned young men, Julian Kern and Ken Heffentrager. They believe that there are far too many problem landlords in Allentown, and that the city is lax in dealing with the situation. They routinely display photographs of buildings they consider deficient on their facebook page. They have become regulars at Allentown City Council, where they present their documentation. They are now asking the city to establish a tenant/landlord court, because they believe that the district court system is too lenient on landlords.

Before I was a blogger, and before I was an advocate for the Park System and WPA, I was a landlord. A couple of years ago I explained to Julian and Ken that I don't believe that anybody buys a building with the intention of depreciating their asset. Generally speaking, the current available tenant pool in center city isn't an easy one to deal with. Although, I'm not known to shy away from controversy, I have remained somewhere between neutral and supportive of their efforts. However, I believe now something needs to be addressed, and that is simply that overstated blight designations can actually cause more blight.

Looking at the map above, who would want to invest in that neighborhood? A tenant moves out, leaves an apartment full of furniture and trash. The landlord can't really clean and paint without putting it somewhere, usually outside. The city garbage carrier will only take away a few bags at a time, and only a couple pieces of furniture on a designated night. It's easy to take an unflattering photograph of a property, but is it indicative of its normal condition?

Despite the paint commercials on television, I can tell you that paint now a days starts to fade and peel about ten minutes after it's applied. Nothing in this post is meant to imply that there is no basis to the good work that Julian and Ken are doing. There are certainly deficient landlords and properties, however, there's far too many flags on that map to be in the city's best interest.

ADDENDUM: The Tenant Association,  in addition to calling for a Housing Court,  would also like to see Allentown enforce more state statutes on blight. They apparently don't have the historical perspective to realize that in the recent past Allentown has used blight designations as a backdoor to eminent domain.  The designation was used against the 5th Street residents for the benefit of Sacred Heart Hospital's expansion.  It was used to take the Neuweiler Brewery, although the city has done nothing responsible with the property since.  It was also even used against the former property owners of the arena block.  Any expansion of law requires an ethical government for fair implementation.  The current ethics of city hall are too questionable to encourage them with more legalized weapons.

Pawlowski's Magic Hat

Saturday's Morning Call, presented a story* outling a grant program designed "to help people at least give you a second look", according to Mayor Pawlowski. The truth is Pawlowski uses our money as the gift that keeps on giving. Two of the seven are restaurants which have received substantial aid from other city programs. Three are small startups which occupy space which appears to be owned or handled by the same realtor. One recipient, New York Urban, was a successful clothes retailer who opened a second shop. The city claims if the businesses stay open less than five years, they will try to recoup the money through liens; but only one of the seven is not a tenant, so that claim is baseless. Three of the shops have recently had their facade redone in an identical finish. Did we pay to remodel the building with facade grants and then provide tenants with these business grants? Coincidence or shenanigan? Talking of shenanigans, I must mention Pawlowski's peek-a-boo and hide-a-fund system**. One receiver of these new grants is Johnny Manana's. Yes, it's the same place that has been receiving grants since before Pawlowski was mayor. This joke is located in a KOZ and already pays no taxes. It was given a special low cost city sponsored liquor license. It appears this latest grant, $50,000, was virtually blackmail to open up, so our agency leaders could crow about how wonderful are their accomplishments. Another $50,000 went to the Cosmopolitan, not yet built, but named. The owner received the location for one dollar, the previous building was torn down at our expense, and of course he received the customary city discounted liquor license. I could say a few more things,but I will be polite. Some of the small shops, the ones with the redwood fronts, you better visit quickly. When the grant for their rent is up, so will they.
GRANT RECIPIENTS
Vickey's Sweet Spot 621 Hamilton St. $11,190
New York Urban 740 Hamilton St. $19,366
Total Office Solutions 915 Hamilton St. $20,000
Wireless & Beyond 965 Hamilton St. $20,000
Ileanette's Beauty Salon 913 Hamilton St. $20,000
Johnny Manana's 835 Hamilton St. $50,000
Cosmopolitan 18 N. Sixth St. $50,000

UPDATE:" Pawlowski said some of the remaining money ($155,000) could be used to promote existing restaurants"

*http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_5grants-r.6390799may10,0,6273080.story

**Allentown Economic and Development Corporation,Allentown Commercial and Industrial Development Authority, Allentown Redevelopment Authority

reprinted from May 11, 2008

ADDENDUM 2010: Since I wrote this post two years ago, both Vickey's Sweet Spot and Johnny Manana's have gone out of business. The Morning Call now reports that Pawlowski hopes to set up another recipient, a sports bar, in the Manana spot.

ADDENDUM 2016: Photograph and post originally published in 2008, and then reprinted in 2010. Now in 2016, apparently the NIZ isn't enough for Mayor In Limbo Pawlowski, who is still spending tax dollars to provide chosen property owners with commercial tenants, via the Retail Mosaic program.

The Apologists of Allentown

I've been sparring on and off with a young apologist for the administration and the NIZ at facebook. While he's been active in some civic activities for a few months, he actually asked me what I have done for Allentown? Yesterday morning, another facebook friend relayed the tale of an 82 year old woman working at a local dollar store to make ends meet. The young apologist suggested that she should apply for one the small business grants being touted in a shark tank type contest by the administration, called Retail Mosaic. This program is in lieu of meaningful community benefit from the NIZ, but being partially financed by the ones who have profited the most, such as City Center Development and National Penn Bankshares.  It should be called what the sponsors really think of it; Crumbs For The Little Bums, and those involved should be ashamed of themselves.  The Retail Mosaic article mentions ready available  storefronts.  I should trust that they're not going to steer the Little Bums into certain storefronts for the advantage of certain property owners, but there is a basis for such speculation.  In a previous grant program run by the Pawlowski Administration, all the grants seemed to go businesses operating out of storefronts operated by one local real estate partnership.

Other readers informed the young apologist that at 82,  the elderly woman should be at home on a porch, watching her grandchildren play. The apologists are in a rough position. Although they defend the NIZ, they must restrain themselves from demonstrative support of Pawlowski, in order to maintain some credibility. However, at the same time, the Mayor In Limbo continues to wield power and make appointments.

Social Security Disability, Allentown's Growth Industry

Yesterday I went to the Social Security Office, across from the prison, to discuss my retirement options. I was given number 199. In addition to retirement, Social Security also dispenses money for disability. I would say from the gray hair, there were about three of us contemplating retirement, all the others were for disability. A few middle age men were carrying their fake canes. The canes aren't fake, it's the disabilities. I saw one such gentleman walk in from the parking lot, clearly the cane bore no weight, and was merely a prop. Most of the people waiting were quite young, in their twenties. Disability has been expanded to include mental conditions such as depression, anxiety, additive personality and anger management. I will say many of them did look angry to me. It was hard finding a parking space. Business also looked good at the prison. If Johnny Manana's had gotten these crowds....

reprinted from 2008

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