Ev Bickford Not Running

Yesterday, the Morning Call had a conventional article on the conventional candidates for Allentown City Council.  This post is unconventional.

There was almost another Democratic candidate for mayor;  Everett/ Erika Bickford. Bickford is a unique grassroots person, who has been politically active in Allentown for decades. She has been particularly active in issues of social justice. Yesterday, she told me that she has decided not to run for mayor, because the field is already overcrowded. Ev was born Everett Bickford, but in recent years has presented herself as a woman more often than not. I will not elaborate on her gender identity, for I have no grasp of such subject matter. I will tell you that she is very knowledgeable on the workings and problems of Allentown. She has appeared at city council often, and is certainly a courageous person. We share a common opinion that the crowded field plays to Pawlowski's advantage. Please limit any comments to only political issues in Allentown.

Flash From Past

Occasionally, some of the older boys in Lehigh Parkway would get saddled with taking me along to a Saturday matinee in downtown Allentown. We would get the trolley, in later years a bus, from in front of the basement church on Jefferson Street. It would take that congregation many years to afford completing the church building there today. The trolley or bus would go across the 8th Street Bridge, which was built to accommodate the trolleys operated by Lehigh Valley Transit Company. Downtown then sported no less than five movie theaters at any one time. Particularly matinee friendly was the Midway, in the 600 Block of Hamilton. Three cartoons and episode or two of Flash Gordon entertained our entourage, which ranged in age from five to eleven years old. We younger kids, although delighted by the likes of Bugs Bunny, were confused how the Clay People would emerge from the walls in the caves on Mars to capture Captain Gordon, but our chaperones couldn't wait till the next week to learn Flash's fate. Next on the itinerary was usually a banana split at Woolworth's. Hamilton Street had three 5 and 10's, with a million things for boys to marvel at. The price of the sundae was a game of chance, with the customer picking a balloon. Inside the balloon was your price, anywhere from a penny to the full price of fifty cents. The store had a full selection of Allentown souvenirs. Pictures of West Park on a plate, the Center Square Monument on a glass, pennants to hang on your wall, and picture postcards of all the attractions. Hamilton Street was mobbed, and even the side streets were crowded with busy stores. Taking younger kids along was a responsibility for the older brothers, the streets and stores were crowded, but predators were limited to the Clay People on the silver screen.

reprinted from April of 2014

Pawlowski's Hole

Allentown doesn't have much of a political memory. The Morning Call changes out its reporters about every 6 months, and most political activists eventually have lobotomies out of frustration. Never the less, some of you may remember Heydt's hole. After he torn down Hess's, the hole sat there for 18 months while a group of investors failed to find financing for a amateur hockey arena. (The one built later in Bethlehem folded and now is for sale) Now, eight years later, Pawlowski has a hole. Announced with great fanfare, a local developer would build the Cosmopolitan on the site of Sal's Spaghetti House. It makes me nervous when they name a restaurant before they built it. Anyway, Pawlowski bought Sal's, and the city paid for the demolition.(Through one of its Authorities) Then the city gave the Cosmopolitan a $50,000 restaurant grant. Yes, we gave a brick-less name $50,000. I think some of the city puff bloggers were even making reservations for dinner. Back to the hole; as a sidewalk supervisor I was surprised to see the excavators dig under the adjoining Sovereign Building and pour pylons under its footers. Perhaps they were mining, mining for grants. Those pylons have enabled the developer to remove his equipment. and let that hole sit there now for over two months, with no danger to the adjoining building. I'd say about $50,000 worth of work has been done. Last month the city applied for a low cost Liquor License for the Cosmopolitan. Last week, after the Pawlowski Administration had an embarrassing "no comment" in regard to Johnny Manana's, a backhoe was moved back to outside the Cosmopolitan site. Is that backhoe a Pawlowski Prop? Does the developer sense the time is ripe for renewed grants? Does Pawlowski need a new ribbon to cut? *

* There could be legitimate reasons why construction has halted on the Cosmopolitan. However, last month the developer's attorney declined to comment on an explanation.

reprinted from August of 2008 

UPDATE: The developer(s) would go on to build the high end restaurant with their own capital. It was built pre-NIZ, and represented more faith in Allentown than many others shared at that time, including this blogger.

Signs Of The Time

As Allentown eagerly awaits the opening of the Cosmopolitan Restaurant and banquet facility on 6th Street, lets go back in time. Before the former Sal's Spaghetti House was demolished on that parcel, preservationists from Bucks County saved the historic sign. Had the couple been somewhat more familiar with Allentown's history, they may have realized that the sign was neither very historic or iconic.

Before Hamilton Street was bi-sected architecturally by the now gone canopy, the street was lined with large neon signs, many of which were much more elaborate than Sal's; That sign became historic by default. Interestingly, the Sal's sign for most of it's


business days, said Pat's. Pat's and the sign go back to the mid 1950's. In the late 70's, the business was taken over by Sal, and the P and T were simply changed to an S and L. But time goes on; Sal's family is now in the sauce business and have a most interesting website. Congratulations to Mayor Pawlowski and Myron Haydt for bringing the Cosmopolitan to 6th Street; May they have the success that both Pat's and Sal's enjoyed.

1963 Pat's advertisement courtesy of Larry P
Hamilton Steet watercolor by Karoline Schaub-Peeler

reprinted from July of 2010

White Supremacist Arrested

White supremacist Juan Thompson has been arrested for threats against various Jewish institutions. Early press releases indicate that his hatred of Jews was fanned by his devotion to Donald Trump.

Molovinsky, The Morning Call and News

The article about Hooks Seafood restaurant closing states that this type of failure isn't unusual in an urban renewal area, according to experts. So says the Morning Call.  The article also states that The $6 million renovation of the long-closed Sal's Spaghetti House included a crystal chandelier from Hess's department store.... As you can see from my photograph above, Sal's wasn't renovated. The long closed former spaghetti house was demolished, and a new building was constructed in its place.  Now, I can understand the paper not knowing this, after all, the building is over a quarter block away from the newspaper building.  Assuming that people at the Morning Call read the paper, apparently nobody caught the error, twice. This was the second time in about a week that this misinformation was printed. However, this post is about the important part of the story, not covered by the paper.

The restaurant was built pre-NIZ. Save for a $50,000 city grant, the entire cost was borne by the owner. It happens that the owner and his wife were retired from a very lucrative business, and always wanted to own a high end restaurant. Opened as the Cosmopolitan, it was high end indeed.  When that failed to attract enough well heeled, it was transformed into the more price friendly Hook Seafood. However, with the NIZ and Reilly's hospitality group of eateries, the market was now over-saturated.

The owner of the restaurant when asked about lack of foot traffic downtown stated, "I'm not going to get judgmental or say anything negative." Those are traits that nobody accuses this blogger of having.

photocredit:molovinsky- site of the former Sal's Spaghetti House being prepared for new foundation

Shine Off Allentown

Only a couple years ago City Center was claiming that there was a waiting list for it's storefronts. There was no need to promote, the Morning Call was doing that for them. Now, we see the NIZ's prime developer looking for merchants. Truth to be told, some of their remaining merchants are on life support. A $Billion dollars of taxpayer money later, Hamilton Street has less foot traffic than before the NIZ, certainly in the previously busy 700 block.

Nothing about this change of commercial fortune surprises me. Beyond eating lunch, the office workers have no time for shopping. After work their only interest is exiting Dodge as fast as they can. Although, too many vacancies have occurred to still claim store or restaurant demand, the apartment myth is still being sung by Reilly and his Morning Call. Unless they learned how to clone millennials, the reality of that situation will also be apparent soon enough.

Despite my on going critical analysis, I have become a supporter of the NIZ and other such incentives, provided that they used in an equitable fashion.   The marketplace has imposed its own restrictions on City Center LLC.  The massive twin tower projects are on hold. Besides the City Center portfolio,  my concern rests with the existing prior building owners. The NIZ will not succeed surrounded by idle buildings.  I would hope that after the current new projects are completed,  City Center and the other vested interests work on rising the tide for all owners.

Antisemitism In The Trump Era

A facebook friend wrote; There has always been antisemitism in the US, but I've never seen this level in my lifetime until Trump was elected. Trump himself is no antisemite, but it's clear enough that his election has emboldened the antisemites to crawl out from under the rocks.

It is not at all "clear enough" to me. I read about the "resistance" and other absurdities of the disappointed left. I think that it's plausible that some of the acts are being orchestrated to make Trump look guilty by contrived association.  I think that the connection between Trump and the neo-nazi types was fabricated nonsense. Although, it's easier to fabricate such a connection between conservatives and right wing fringe groups, it doesn't make it so. I also likewise believe that Steve Bannon was wrongly smeared by such accusation.  I saw no such concern about Obama's affiliation with Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan.  Whatever the authenticity of these hate acts, associating them to Trump is just part of the hysteria by those so distressed by Trump's win.