The Morning Call's Unbashful Cheerleading

The special section in this weekend's Morning Call is called Great Expectation,The Story of Allentown's Renaissance. In this 36-page special section, The Morning Call will take a closer look at the urban renaissance underway in Allentown, the projects that will bring thousands of workers and hundreds of new residents to the city's downtown... Less than 48 hours ago this blogger wrote that molovinsky on allentown was turning the corner on the arena, but I didn't mean that I would condone unfettered cheerleading by the press. In the first of four sections each Morning Call reporter writes an essay referencing Allentown's past, although none of them have any actual memory or experience of that era, beyond the paper's archives. The second section promotes the new businesses arriving and refers to center city as a boomtown. The article omits the reality that taxpayers across the state are subsidizing Allentown's transformation. Section C is about The People Behind the Transformation. Although the paper writes that they are the engine of change, it can also be said that they are the private beneficiaries of public money. The last section may be the worst. It is supposedly essays by civic leaders. Some of them are bystanders, and some of them had absolutely nothing to do with any of it. All four sections are packed with paid advertisements, with the biggest ads coming from those benefitting the most. Yesterday, I reached out to several current and former members of our political establishment, for their opinion of the paper's special edition. They all agreed that it ranged from unbalanced to outright promotion, dressed up as journalism.

 above reprinted from March of 2014

ADDENDUM April 13, 2018: Four years later and the paper is now Reilly's tenant, and pimping the NIZ and his buildings more than ever. Today's paper features that two more tenants are coming to Reilly's new Tower Of Taxpayer Subsidy. The last lines of the article explain that space is still available, and actually provides contact info for Reilly's rental office. Although, The Morning Call has often used Reilly's press releases as news articles, they usually remember to remove the rental contact info.

The Greg Edwards Mission

My introduction to hearing Pastor/Candidate Greg Edwards speak was at the Hip Hop forum last week.  He spoke eloquently, staying on topic within the time allotted him.  To his credit, he did not mention the campaign, even once.  Edwards is running for the new 7th Congressional District, which for the most part is Charlie Dent's old 15th District.

He has built his non-demoninational  Resurrected Life Community Church into a local social/political force for minority empowerment.  He is CEO of the Resurrected Community Development Corporation, which developed from the church's social and educational ministries.   He is also president of the board of directors for Power Northeast  which sought to remove the previous Allentown school superintendent and replace him with one of their liking.  They succeeded in that task.

I don't know if Edwards will succeed in his quest for congress,  but he is certainly becoming a strong voice in the community.

photo from campaign website


ADDENDUM: An earlier version of this post misidentified POWER NORTHEAST as a component of the Resurrected Life Community Development Corporation,  they are affiliated with Alliance For Sustainable Communities.

The Hamilton Street Bridge

The current Hamilton Street Bridge was completed in 1959, replacing the former steel trestle bridge. With the new Hamilton Street entrance ramp aligned further to the south, a small portion of front street and a few houses were vacated. Additionally, an entrance ramp was added from Union Street, which previously ended at Front Street. The photo above shows a portion of the earlier bridge and the former A&B meat packing plant, beyond their office building.  The office building has been incorporated into the America On Wheels Transportation Museum.

lower photo shows entrance to former steel trestle bridge, with entrance ramp skirting A&B Packing House.

above reprinted from May 2013

UPDATE APRIL 11, 2018: My father's meat market was at the end of Union Street, before you went over the bridge. At that time there were still houses, people, luncheonettes and train traffic in that busy neighborhood.  I will take advantage of this time, between the former Pawlowski regime and the new O'Connell administration,  to revisit some of my blog posts about Allentown's industrial era.

Stairway To Shame

In the mid 1930's, Allentown, and especially its park system, was endowed with magnificent stone edifices, courtesy of the WPA; Works Progress Administration. This was a New Deal program designed to provide employment during the aftermath of the depression. Stone masons from all over the country converged on this city and built structures which are irreplaceable. The walls and step structures in Lehigh Parkway, as the Union Terrace amphitheater, are legacies which must be protected. Pictured above is the grand stairway from Lawrence Street (Martin Luther King Drive) up to Jackson Street, built in 1936. The steps are in a state of disrepair. They lead to the great Jackson Street Retaining Wall, thirty feet high and two blocks long, which was completed in 1937. I call upon the Trexler Trust and Allentonians of memory, to insist these steps are re-pointed and preserved. The current Administration knows little of our past.  It's important to save the things in Allentown that matter.

The City of Allentown is embarking upon a $3.8 million dollar capital plan to change the nature of our parks, funded in large part by the Trexler Trust. Although a number of fads will be accommodated, not one dollar is earmarked to preserve the existing WPA treasures. General Trexler envisioned the parks as a reserve for the passive enjoyment of nature. Among the new Disney-World type plans are a wedding pavilion in the Rose Garden, and the largest playground in eastern Pennsylvania to be built in Cedar Park. The trail through Cedar Creek Park will have lights installed, and the picnic areas will be expanded. Anybody driving past Cedar Beach on a Monday morning sees the trash generated currently by only a few picnic tables. How many more park workers will be required to deal with the consequences of these new plans? The playground is being billed as a "Destination Playground", who will pay to keep that clean? Allentown should build and monitor numerous playgrounds throughout center city, within walking distance for children and parents. The Trexler Trust and The City of Allentown have a responsibility to first repair and maintain these iconic stone edifices which are unique to Allentown.

photo info: the dedication stone is on the Union Street wall. The steps shown in the photo here go through a tunnel in the wall and climb up to Spring Garden Street. They are in total disrepair. This posting is a combination of two previous posts, which appeared on this blog last September.

above reprinted from June of 2015 and years earlier

UPDATE APRIL 10, 2018: My campaign to save the WPA structures has been on going  for over a decade. About 10 years ago, I organized meetings at the library to bring attention to the neglect inflicted upon these structures. In the process I tutored Karen El-Chaar, from Friends Of The Parks, on the issues. She then was able to obtain a grant from the Trexler Trust,  and repoint the Fountain Park Steps. I organized efforts to dig out and reveal the WPA Spring Pond and Boat Landing, both of which were discarded decades earlier. Because of the neglect, the Lehigh Parkway wall collapsed, but has since been partially rebuilt, to allow use of the entrance road into the park. In cooperation with Friends Of The Parks,  I conducted tours of Lehigh Parkway, featuring its history and WPA structures. During the Pawlowski regime I offered my advice to City Council on the traditional park system and WPA, but it was rejected.  I again make the same offer to Mayor O'Connell and the new administration.

Another Blackeye For Allentown

The front page of the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer, and three full inside pages, were devoted to numerous women telling how they were sexually exploited by the director of the Allentown based Cadet Drum and Bugle Corps.  The women, spurred on by the current Me Too movement, paint a sordid picture of what was considered a local success story.  It takes enormous courage for a woman to speak out and have her name and photograph end up in the paper.

Although, both he and his attorney deny any criminal wrongdoing, and he resigned on Thursday, this abuser had been band director since 1982.  Some of the victims were teenagers at the time of the alleged assault. Considering how long he was in that position of power,  expect to see more women come forward.

ADDENDUM: Those interested in the sordid details of this story can find such in Sunday's Inquirer.  My interest is the backstory, that the Cadet board was informed back in January of the allegations. That allegation was made anonymously, and demanded that the director resign back then, or the story would be made public.  Furthermore, a comment in the Morning Call suggests that the local newspaper may also have been previously informed of the allegations.

UPDATE: The above post was published at 5:03 this morning.  At 7:05 am,  two hours later, The Morning Call came out with a second apology from the Cadet board,  acknowledging that they could have shown more sensitivity to the victims in their initial statement.  Perhaps, The Morning Call will divulge if the newspaper indeed had prior reports of these abuse allegations?

In The Allentown Trenches Blogging

When you're a non-partisan blogger in Allentown, you end up pissing everyone off, sometimes in the same week.  Such was the case this week.  I started the week by pissing off the liberals disclosing that Cynthia Mota worked for Hasshan Batts, whom she was nominating for Mayor. Although Bill White's column implies that his paper made that revelation,  we know better than that.

My post on the Hip Hop Forum annoyed some conservatives by giving voice to something they consider to have no redeeming value.  Although, the progressives approved of it,  a previous post on the concert itself was vilified by them.

Yesterday's post on the Rescue Mission annoyed everybody.  While the Mission has sacred cow status in Allentown, especially with the liberal Democrats,  Republicans sit on its board of directors.  The bottom line is that they're top heavy,  receiving only a 66 out of 100 rating from Charity Navigator. They spend over $800,000 a year fundraising.

My only safe ground for the week was my post on the threat to the architecturally iconic post office,  which  resulted in no less than two groups starting an effort to preserve it.

This blog has no allegiance to any politician, party or organization.  I call it as my institutional knowledge indicates.  Although I regret when a post offends someone,  I cannot walk on eggshells and produce a meaningful blog at the same time.

Indentured Servants of The Rescue Mission

Long time subscribers to this blog know that I have a problem with the Rescue Mission and other assorted sacred cows.  Fifty years ago the Mission gave a cot and bowl of gruel to forty or so men a night and was run on a shoe string.  Today, they still give the cot and gruel to about 60 men,  but take in over $3 million dollars a year..  Although they fundraise endlessly, they're sitting on almost $6 million in the bank.

While I have blogged about them being overfunded before, I wasn't really tuned into their slavery program.  As Pawlowski's trial began,  City Council awarded them a three year contract to clean Hamilton street for $845,000.  The Mission turns around and uses this contract to solicit more donations, by advertising that they provide employment and job training for the downtrodden.  What they do not reveal is that they deduct for room and board from the wages they pay,  making their workers something between indentured servants and slaves.

These sacred cows in the valley make the donors feel good about themselves.  Gunther looks like a hero making meatballs for an annual spaghetti dinner at a local church.  Those who bid on a meatball feel good about themselves.  Don't let  a cynical blogger like myself ruin your appetite.

Hip Hop At The Library

Last night Cheryl Johnson Watts of the Allentown NAACP was the MC of a free wheeling symposium on Hip Hop at the Allentown Library. A full house was treated to the history, philosophy and business aspects of that genre. While some described hip hop as an urban musical expression rooted in inner city oppression, others saw its cross demographic appeal as an agent of change. Local promoter Mark Hunt, pictured above, promised to bring more hip hop to the PPL Center.

In addition to defining hip hop, the panel was a stage for showcasing local leadership. Pastor James Rivera of Ridge Avenue is a longtime agent of change in the 6th Ward. Rev. Gregory Edwards hopes to represent the community in the 15th Congressional District.

Allentown Police Captain Glenn Granitz explained the challenges of the city providing entertainment and public safety at the same time. John Moser of The Morning Call wrote a detailed report of the meeting. The last speaker, and the only white member of the panel, was activist Robert Trotner. He simply stated that he really knew nothing about hip hop, but learned a lot last night.... I'm in his group.

photo/molovinsky