Facing Allentown's Problems

Although the recent shootings have certainly been distressful for Allentown, if you're a candidate running for office, or a youth program director, there is no shortage of talking points to be made about the violence.

Hasshan Batts from Promise Neighborhood took advantage of the chaos, addressing a rally, and with an editorial in the paper. He said and wrote that "This is a proven, tested framework that has decreased violence by up to 80% across the world in neighborhoods that boldly implemented these strategies with generous, long-term funding." 

I don't doubt that Hasshan is as qualified and experienced as any director in any city. But since the Hell's Kitchen movies of 1930 with James Cagney, youth gangs, almost by definition, resist the Father O'Brians and Hasshan Batts'. Large cities like Chicago and Los Angelos have no shortage of experienced youth directors, yet the problems persist. Our elected leaders should support programs such as Promise, but let's be realistic before going boldly with generous, long-term taxpayer funding. 

photocredit:Jane Therese/The Morning Call

A People's Candidate

On Friday morning I was at Tim Ramos' well attended press conference. His speech mainly had to do with the recent shootings, and that as mayor he would do better than the current administration. He stressed restoring community policing,  a temporary curfew for young people, and city sponsored youth activities.

I've known of the Ramos family for years. since his brother Steve ran for Harrisburg a number years ago.  Tim, as was Steve, is on the Republican ticket. While most of the local Latinos are affiliated with the Democratic Party, Tim's earnestness transcends party considerations.

Although I took pictures showing the crowd, I use this picture with Ramos' back to the camera, taken after the press conference, to illustrate his ability to reach out and relate on a one to one basis.

Greg Weaver Art Scene

For about ten years, mid 70's to 80's, Allentown was graced with a one man art machine. Greg Weaver studied at Carnegie Mellon and then returned to the Valley to become artist, promoter and inspiration to dozens of local artists. His large studios, which moved from one low rent location to another over the years, became hubs for innovation and social activity. He was very prolific with his work, and generous with his encouragement. A typical monthly bash involved perhaps a poster by Mark Beyer( now an internationally known underground comic) performance by a jazz group such as Gary Hassey,(Greg also had a band) and perhaps a new showing by a local artist, such as Barnaby Ruhe. The loft parties were always mobbed, by many of the same people who now attend the Museum social events. This art "scene" cost the taxpayers nothing, it was done by artists, and it was real. Greg suffered from diabetes, and eventually lost his sight. Although blind he continued to produce art and inspire people until his death. Several of his works are in the Allentown Museums' permanent collection and his memory is in the hearts of his friends.

This post, which goes back to the early days of this blog, renewed interest in Greg's art scene and work.  It is still my hope that his art and inspiration be given more prominence by the Allentown Museum.

Tough Look At A Bad Time In Allentown

On Tuesday evening as a group of concerned citizens were meeting at a church on Ridge Avenue to discuss the recent spate of 24 shootings, another one took place. On facebook there is talk that the city needs better leadership, at both city hall and the police department. I do not subscribe to those theories. In larger urban centers, shootings are a daily occurrence. Although Allentown is still a small city, the poverty ratio now defies the normal socioeconomic bell curve. Many people consider associating poverty and crime as racist. I'm not a sociologist, nor prepared to provide qualifying data, but observation and crime reports certainly suggest a strong relationship between poverty and crime.

In 2005, as an independent candidate for mayor, I claimed that Allentown was becoming a poverty magnet. I saw thousands of people on entitlements being staked to move-in money by several well meaning but misguided agencies. For my observation, I was inappropriately accused of racism. My contentions were based on the apparent connections between poverty and crime, regardless of people's race and ethnicity. I certainly realize that not all poor people are criminals, but poverty does seem to generate desperation. Here we are 15 years later, and people are wringing their hands about what can be done.  In reality, if anything easy could be done, the shooting deaths in Baltimore and Chicago wouldn't be going up every year.

Despite my bluntness, I do believe that things can be made better in Allentown. Obviously a zero tolerance crackdown is in order. Hopefully our leaders will have the fortitude not to be intimidated by  accusations based on political correctness, whether they be of profiling or even of racism.

photocredit: Rick Kintzel/The Morning Call

Treasures Lost On Hamilton Street

                                                   click photograph to enlarge

The merchants who built Hamilton Street counted on architecture to attract shoppers into their emporiums. Large neon signs wouldn't appear for another fifty years. The soffit and fascia shown above, halfway between 7th and 8th on Hamilton, is one of the most elaborate facades in Allentown. One thing you can say about Allentown City Hall, they never let culture, art, or history get into the way of their plans. As successful cities come to value and profit from their history more and more, Allentown keeps using the standard catalog of proven failures. I know from other projects on Hamilton Street that Pawlowski isn't big on history. The Cityline Building in the 800 Block was permitted to stucco over beautiful brickwork. Sad that the puppies, who are directors at the Art Museum and Historical Society, remain silent on the planned destruction. It's hard to describe the magnificence of the skylight shown below, also in the targeted block. It's very large in three sections, in pristine condition. Should be quite a snack for Pawlowski's bulldozer.
The bulldozer prevailed, and the former architectural treasures of our mercantile history were not preserved, save for this blog's archives. Above is reprinted from May 2011

ADDENDUM:   This past weekend, a member of Old Allentown Preservation Association, and an active local Democrat, bragged on facebook about how he had recycled an old second floor office door from the demolished buildings in the arena zone. In truth, Old Allentown also turned a self serving, callous eye to the destruction noted in the above post. Although I'm glad the door was recycled, allow this post to note the irony and hypocrisy of the Association.

reprinted from January of 2015


UPDATE NOVEMBER 16, 2017: Although there's always some group bestowing some award on any new development, the Allentown NIZ is certainly no architectural destination.  Although I've taken hundreds of photographs in Allentown, including the ones shown here,  I have yet to buy film for any new building in the NIZ.

NIZ And Our Tax Dollars

All citizens of Pennsylvania subsidize the NIZ in Allentown. While state taxes are used for the developer's debt service,  those taxes must be made up to maintain Pennsylvania services. The NIZ is administered by an oversight board called ANIZDA.  That is the official description in a nutshell.

Students of this blog know that my description of the district is much more realistic.  It is a legal real estate deal worked out by state senator Pat Browne and his friend, J.B. Reilly.  Reilly owns most of the developable property in the 128 acre district, and is by far the biggest developer. With a couple exceptions, all the new buildings belong to him.  He is now even landlord to the Morning Call.  Over the years I have documented many of the backroom shenanigans,  including the explusion of the former merchants and property owners.

A recent article outlined new board member Adrian Shanker's attempt to make the NIZ more diversity conscious. He slowed down approval of an eventual $250,000 advertising contract promoting the NIZ. In reality, the advertising agency is a Reilly tenant, and the contract insures the rent stream to Reilly, and hopefully more tenants for his buildings.

Vibrant Downtown Living

On Saturday at 2:00pm, on a clear sunny afternoon, I drove down Hamilton Street. Between 10th and 7th Streets there were only four people.  Two of them were not a asset to center city, under any criterion.  The other two were almost at 7th, and carrying bags.  I suspect they may have been shopping at Villa, on 8th and Hamilton.  Although downtown apologists and cheerleaders will say that my report isn't true, unfortunately, it is all too true...especially on Saturdays.

J. B. Reilly's financially attainable apartments in the former Holiday Inn are just the beginning of his entry into the prevailing rental market.  There is no way that he will even attempt for the Strata rents in his new apartments on S. 8th Street, when they are completed.  Although he and the Morning Call refer to center city as vibrant, it is in fact a dead zone.  The paper and cheerleaders on local social media have bragged that these new apartment units are being financed without the NIZ. Actually, the NIZ was never to include residential. Offices and stores on the first floor of these residential buildings does allow Reilly to tap some NIZ benefits. Furthermore, there is no scrutiny of the prorations by the ANIZDA board.  Adrian Shanker,  head of the local gay and lesbian organization, is a recent appointee to the board. He managed to see that the guidelines were changed to include gays with other minority contractors,  that should be hired by the developers. Expect to see steel workers singing and dancing on the high beams.*

When Reilly is done building his new attainable rate apartments,  Allentown may become worse than it is now.  Allentown's problem isn't a lack of affordable housing, but rather a surplus of it. In that sense, Reilly is only contributing to the problem. Likewise, so are the new units in former converted factories.

* I'm not a fan of rewarding contracts based on minority ownership. The practice is not merit based, and has been exploited. While this blog does not adhere to political correctness standards,  Shanker has introduced some new thinking into the Good Old Boy Club called ANIZDA.  More on that in a future post.

New Park Plans All Wet

Allentown has announced plans for  new parks on the distressed parcels purchased during the Pawlowski regime. Pawlowski purchased these brownfields from a developer who had no other possible offers. Furthermore, he paid triple the appraised value. Cedar Beach swimming pool, after finally opening last summer, is again closed because of another leaking pipe. I believe that if the FBI didn't have more than enough shady deals to charge Pawlowski with, both the land purchase and swimming pool contract may also have been scrutinized.

Budget wise, Allentown Park Department already has far too many deficits to justify expanding its burden even farther. Although I support both the mayor and the park director, they are misguided to pursue this expansion. While grants may be found for new parks, the future ongoing maintenance will only increase the strain on the annual park budget. Instead, they should concentrate on restoring the existing parks to peak condition.