A Bastard Blogger And Christmas Lights In Parkway

As dusk falls, cars start entering Lehigh Parkway to enjoy the annual Christmas light display.  In the darkness they drive past the top of the Double Stairwell, built by the WPA in 1935. It was designed as the signature structure in the park. In daylight they would see that the top landing is breaking up, and the subsequent landings down the double stairs are even in worse condition. These cracked landings allow seeping water to undermine the steps below them,  jeopardizing the entire structure.  I have been reporting these deteriorating conditions to the Park Department for six years. While nothing has been done to rehab this irreplaceable structure, the department is actively seeking grants to build another new park, near the old incinerator plant off Basin Street.

As a long time public critic of the former Pawlowski administration,  his park directors may have dismissed my criticism of park policy as political discontent. However, with the current mayor and park director I have a long time rapport, but to no apparent avail.

When I drive through the park I don't see the pretty lights, but a sad situation. I see crumbling WPA structures. I see neglect and misplaced priorities.

photo/The Morning Call

The Devil Of Ocean Paradise

The resort town's boardwalk is partially open during the cold winter months for the hardy of spirit.  The stores that remain open were purchased mostly by middle eastern immigrants, who overpaid for their piece of the American dream in the dying resort.  Their mortgage demands every nickel they can muster,  and their large families are eager to practice their broken English on the few customers willing to brave the boardwalk's cold winter wind.

All their stores sell the same things...  brightly colored candy, souvenirs and small toys designed to make children nag and beg.  Along with the stores there is a strip of game stands, where during the warm summer breezes,  fathers and boyfriends hope to win a stuffed animal.  During the winter, the steel garage doors are closed on all these stands, except for one.  The immigrants with their broken English cannot lure in players, but the Devil can.

Oversized brightly colored stuffed animals adorn the stand. Music from the 70's pulses from one loud speaker,  while the Devil commands the occasional passing man to "show her that you care by winning a bear."  Please don't misunderstand me, he is not Satan himself, but a minor devil.  He can give you a cold, or ruin a first date,  but he has no power over life and death.  Even those he afflicts can purchase redemption.... Inside the stores there are chocolate wafers for sale,  covered with white candy sprinkles.  For a mere $26 a pound, the bad omen can be eaten away.

This minor devil came from Coney Island a decade ago.  Brooklyn's Brighton Beach area started gentrifying in the late 90's, and the dress up spread to adjoining Coney.  Doc, the minor devil, thrived on hearty spirits, but not heady minds.  His move to Ocean Paradise was a win-win.  While the owning immigrant gets to keep almost all the money the stand takes in,  Doc gets to dispense a headache or two each weekend.  He has a room at a nearby old motel owned by the same family, and enjoys the middle eastern food that he has eaten since time immemorial.

If you walk on the boardwalk during the winter, you better dress warm, and not be tempted to show her that you care.

reprinted from November of 2018

Pennsylvania's Plum System

Julio Guridy, Allentown's current longest standing council member, lost the vice presidency of council last night. Last year he lost the presidency, which is the current backdoor to being mayor. With Pawlowski's pending baggage, this could well be the year that a council president moves up, via resignation. However, don't cry for Julio, once Allentown's rising star. About a decade ago, the power brokers in Philadelphia got Julio appointed to the Joint Toll Bridge Commission, with which he has earned close to $100 grand a year ever since, for an unnecessary position, involving very little time.  These positions are political plums, and have existed in Pennsylvania forever.

above excerpted from January 2016

UPDATE NOVEMBER 28, 2019: The 2016 post above was not intended to disparage Julio Guridy, but rather the commission system in Pennsylvania.  A woman in Easton was just appointed to a commission by Governor Wolf, and is receiving congratulations by numerous political types, from both parties. Likewise, as with Julio,  this post is not meant to disparage the woman. Such appointments represent what is so wrong about this state. The congratulations represent what is so pervasive about the system. Wolf ran as a reformer for his first term, but quickly put aside any such notions.  One thing's for sure, nobody will be offering this blogger a no-show commission job for being a good boy.

Another Report At Taxpayer Expense

Allentown received the organizational recommendations from Novak Consulting, a day late and a dollar short. O'Connell's administration had already submitted their proposed budget to city council before the delayed report was completed. Among the gems the report contained was a recommendation that perhaps Allentown should use an outsider negotiator for union contracts. We could have used one of them when Afflerbach gave the store away to the police union.

The report praised the decision to lease the water and sewage department, ignoring the astronomical increase to the homeowners by the recent change to monthly billing. Actually, there were other recommendations out of touch with the local realities. Who could imagine that an outside analysis by a Ohio firm might miss some local flavor?

Perhaps the most inappropriate idea was essentially doing away the Park and Recreation Department, and having public works take care of park maintenance. The Ohio pencil pusher probably didn't know that most of the park budget comes from the Trexler Trust, and that the recommendation would actually cost Allentown several $million in lost revenue.

The report cost $125,000, which would have paid for a city position. City Council virtually snickered at it, suggesting that perhaps a committee be formed to study it. I suppose its best value was providing  material for a blog post.

post card from golden era of park system

The World Of Mirth

Allentown at one time had two very productive railroad branch lines; The West End, and the Barber Quarry. The Barber Quarry, for the most part, ran along the Little Lehigh Creek. It serviced the Mack Truck plants on South 10th, and continued west until it turned north along Union Terrace, ending at Wenz's tombstone at 20th and Hamilton Streets. The West End, for the most part, ran along Sumner Avenue, turning south and looping past 17th and Liberty Streets.

The Allentown Economic and Development Corporation has received a $1.8 million grant, toward a $4 million dollar project, to restore a portion of the Barber Quarry branch to service it's industrial building on South 10th Street. This building housed Traylor Engineering, which was a giant back in the day. Recently it housed a fabricator who President Obama visited on his Allentown photo opportunity mission. The business has since closed, but let's not have that reality stand in the way of grants. Last summer, I fought against Allentown's Trail Network Plan, which catered to the spandex cyclist crowd. The new trail was to be built on the Barber Quarry track line. Not only didn't the AEDC oppose the plan, it's director was an advocate. Now they will be funded to develop that which they wanted to destroy. Where do I begin in Allentown's World of Mirth?

The wonderful photograph above shows the World of Mirth train at 17th and Liberty. World of Mirth was the midway operator at the Allentown Fair during the 40's and 50's. In the background is Trexler Lumber Yard, which burnt down in the early 1970's. The B'nai B'rith Apartment houses now occupy the location.
photograph from the collection of Mark Rabenold

UPDATE: The Barber Quarry branch was not the primary railroad access to the Mack plants on South 10th Street. The branch only provided service to Mack Plant #2 on South 10th and Mack Plant #1 on 7th and Mill Streets which both closed for manufacturing in 1924 in favor of Mack #3,3A,4 and 4A on South 10th. These were served by the Reading Railroad Mack Branch. There was a switchback that connected the Barber Quarry to the Reading west of Traylor Engineering and Manufacturing Co. Yet, that was built by the Reading to serve Traylor and did not provide access for the LVRR to Mack #3,3A, 4 and 4A.

Also the western terminus was not wenz's on Hamliton Street. The branch crossed Hamilton and served several businesses including Yeager Fuel on North St Elmo, several silk mills and Pepsi Bottling at 2100 Linden Street. The bottling plant closed in 1963 which then became a city parks department building. The LVRR sold and removed the track north of Hamilton street in 1969. Accordingly, in 1970, the Wenz company became the western most shipper and receiver on the branch. update information from anonymous comment in November of 2010

reprinted from September of 2017

Newspaper Demise And The Morning Call

Former Morning Call columnist Bill White,  on his facebook page,  linked to a piece in the New York Times lamenting the closing of local papers and its consequences for local news coverage. There was also another column in the Washington Post on the same topic. The Post's column mentioned a couple big stories broken by local papers. The Morning Call was never guilty of that, on the contrary.

The Morning Call, while never breaking a big story, actually was the culprit of several unreported ones, save for this blog. In recent memory, the big missed story by the MC was Pawlowski's corruption. Only after the FBI raided city hall, did the local paper start reporting on the saga. This blog started out in 2007 revealing that Pawlowski really couldn't walk on water, and soon afterwards O'Hare's blog joined the fray, with his considerable skills.

Now, about the Call being the culprit, let me elaborate.  During downtown's heydays, the Call's then local private owner and publisher, partnered with several prominent business owners to operate Park&Shop. When the suburban malls made center city shopping passé,  these owners prevailed upon the city to start a parking authority, buying out their parking lots. Needless to say, the paper never analyzed the public money windfall to connected private owners.

For another example, move ahead forty years and corporate Morning Call, now owned by Tribune's latest incarnation,  had their building included in the NIZ,  even though it was across the street. The corporation sold the building to NIZ King J.B. Reilly,  and outsourced the actual paper printing to Jersey City.  While the NIZ is promoted by the Morning Call, it is never scrutinized by them.

Bill White is correct that those interested in the local news, while a dwindling demographic, would be underserved by the paper's closure.  However, there would no loss of breaking exposés,  if there ever were any from the Morning Call.

photocredit: historic pictures from the Morning Call

South Whitehall Retains Enemy Of The Dam

Public wise, there are not many happy campers in South Whitehall this week. Passage of the large Ridge Farm housing project, at the corner of Walbert and Cedar Crest, has angered many objectors.

Come January, with one exception, there will be a brand new board of commissioners. Unfortunately, the one remaining, Tori Morgan, is IMO Wehr's dam's biggest enemy... Put another way, she is the Wildands Conservancy's best friend.  As an advocate for Wehr's Dam, I had no doubts that it was she who assured the Wildlands Conservancy that their plan to demolish the dam would be pushed through by the commissioners back in 2014.  As I outlined in previous posts, the township is now essentially conspiring with the Wildlands to undue the will of the voters, who had approved a referendum to save the dam.

I'm not very appreciated at municipal meetings. Although I would prefer to be diplomatic,  usually whatever brought me there has me agitated before I stand up.  South Whitehall has a special treat for those who wish to be heard, their courtesy of the floor is at the end of the meeting. By then I must wipe the foam off my mouth before I speak.

The newly elected commissioners (and one appointed) may be having second thoughts.

Journalism In The Valley Of Sacred Cows

Alan Jennings has announced his new program which is facade grants to rental properties in the 200 block of N. 10th Street. The program has also targeted a second unannounced block for rehab. Alan apparently still has his bank arm bending skills in tact, as TD Bank will be supplementing the grants. The big question is what happened to that tide rising NIZ?  When the state tax funded NIZ was approved, it was promoted as promising an improved center city, beyond its 125 acre confines. If this benefit never materialized, what do taxpayers get for our money? Alan was on the original board of the NIZ. If he started this non-NIZ improvement program, he must have little faith in the NIZ's real ability to raise the tide.

The local media, especially the Morning Call,  has a history of sheltering their pet politicians and projects. Ed Pawlowski was kept on a pedestal until the FBI raided city hall.  Articles about the NIZ have been limited to soft promotion, rather than hard analysis.

With the continuing consolidation of the newspaper industry, the Morning Call editors worry about their pensions, not truth, justice and the American way.

shown above the editor's office at the Daily Planet, with Clark Kent in background


UPDATE: The Parkland Press has printed my letter concerning Wehr's Dam. The Morning Call, protecting the Wildlands Conservancy, has ignored my concerns about the township not respecting the voter's referendum in regard to the dam.