A Tale Of Two Allentowns

The photo shown above appeared on a local nostalgia group.  Someone asked, with a Pennsylvania Dutch name no less, where the photo was taken, nothing looked familiar to them. As a local historian and critic of the new Allentown, I found the question very disturbing.

The photo for the most part shows the previous buildings going up from Linden toward Hamilton. They have been replaced by the Strata apartments. Across Linden Street, those buildings have been replaced by the Hive apartments. Whole blocks in the NIZ district contain very few of the buildings there until recently. The whole square arena block only has two original buildings.

If this wholesale demolition of the former mercantile district is a positive or negative depends on your point of view. To my aesthetics, we now have a new urban office park pretty much devoid of architectural merit. Others see old decrepit buildings replaced with new and useful potential.

Tuerk's Junket To Puerto Rico

Students of this blog know that I beat up Mayor Tuerk at the beginning of his term because of his trip to the Dominican Republic. Matt has packed his bag again, and this time he's off to Puerto Rico.

Supposedly he's there to find out what business exchanges might occur between the island and Allentown. That of course is nonsense. Puerto Ricans are now Allentown's minority majority because of the lack of  economic opportunity and work on the island. Tuerk is there in Puerto Rico for the votes and political support here in Allentown. 

With Puerto Ricans being such a large percentage of Allentown's population, and with the island's close proximity, I have no problem with the visit per se. The trip shows respect to the largest population in Allentown. I wish the real motive wasn't cloaked in excuses.

This blog post will probably offend Tuerk, in this case some Puerto Ricans, and others who don't appreciate my frankness in such delicate matters. They can find the official city version in the Morning Call and WFMZ, but that's not the mission of this blog.

A Window On Pawlowski

By now most followers of Allentown politics know that Ed Pawlowski was found guilty of almost all charges late Thursday afternoon.  Although I'm very mindful of my privacy,  today I will reveal a personal experience with Ed Pawlowski. I make this revelation not to dwell on my reputation, but as a window on his character. Although his sycophants and others may think that his only fault was his political  ambition,  they are mistaken.  Over the years numerous people were bullied by Pawlowski.  Most of them didn't have the voice to speak out.

In 2005, as an independent and the third candidate on the ballot for mayor, I debated Pawlowski and Heydt at the WFMZ studio. After the debate,  an audience member told me that Lisa Pawlowski was telling audience members that I was a slumlord.  Not hearing it myself, I let it drop.  In the beginning of 2008, I conducted a series of SPEAK OUT meetings at an intercity church.  A Morning Call reporter told me after the meeting that when she called Pawlowski for comment,  he told her that I was just a slumlord.  The reality was that I operated buildings between 4th and 12th Streets for decades, without one code violation or tenant complaint. There was absolutely no basis for the untrue slander by Pawlowski, other than a flaw in his character.  At the end of 2008 he repeated the falsehood, but this time in front of me and others outside the city council chamber.  I asked him how he would feel if I told people that he was a corrupt politician?

Over the years this blog has not concerned itself explicitly with the  contributions and corresponding favors which convicted Pawlowski yesterday.  My concern has been the consequences and policies, which have compromised our assets, such as the park system.  My concern is with the unlevel playing field for small business owners.  A comment last night stated that Bernie(O'Hare) and I have been vindicated.  Pawlowski will be gone soon,  but many people who cooperated with him remain, along with the policies they implemented. 

reprinted from March 2, 2018 

ADDENDUM AUGUST 3, 2023:During the three plus terms that Pawlowski was in office, his corruption permeated city hall. I won't mention names, but several people escaped city hall just before the FBI got to town. As I reported over the years, he weaponized the code department. Even after his departure,I defended a woman being victimized by that department. Unfortunately, remnants of his bullying still linger on in city hall. I would like to tell you that his current defenders are righteous in their effort to free their former mentor, but I can't. They themselves know fully well how he and his brigade stepped on people.

WFMZ Swallows Pawlowski Bait

WFMZ is running a series of articles on Ed Pawlowski, where he maintains his innocence.  He was convicted because the FBI proved over and over that city contracts were given out not on their benefit to the city, but rather the vendor's contributions to Pawlowski. 

One of the reasons that Pawlowski was able to get away with his crimes for so long was his ability to play the local media... They were more interested in sound bites and access than investigative journalism. 

For a few years this blog provided the only scrutiny that the Pawlowski administration received. Fellow blogger Bernie O'Hare then partnered with me for a few more years, until the FBI arrived.

Most of Pawlowski's political career in Allentown was covered and boosted by one reporter at the Morning Call. When Pawlowski bagman Mike Fleck was arrested, that former reporter was in Fleck's employ, writing copy for Pawlowski's senate campaign.

Pawlowski came from Chicago and was a master of gifting.  Small people of possible future use were appointed to boards and commissions. Larger people were given grants or possibly even contracts. This skill enabled him to be elected four times, the last time even after being indicted.

The reporter from WFMZ television spent over eight hours driving to and from to interview Pawlowski, and she couldn't even film or tape him. He and his previous beneficiaries apparently can still cast a good line and hook.

In the second installment of WFMZ's Pawlowski Song, his supporters lament that his sentence was too long, and that it should be commuted. Even blogger O'Hare joins in the mercy plea, originally started by Alan Jennings. Over the years I saw lots of people of no use to Pawlowski abused by him. None of them will be signing that clemency petition.

The Diminishing Tracks Of Allentown

I have been intrigued with the trolley freight, although I have no personal memory of the service. This photo from March of 1952 shows the end of that era, with a freight trolley being loaded on a flatbed rail car, for a short run to Bethlehem Steel to be scrapped. Within a year there would be no more trolley service of any kind in Allentown. Within two decades many of the businesses serviced by the trolley freight would be gone. In another decade most of the railroad tracks would also have vanished.

reprinted from December of 2013

A Store From Allentown's Past

In 1934 Clyde Minich and his bride opened a jewelry store on the side of the elegant Americus Hotel. The post depression years weren't that easy for a merchant in luxury goods, but they had faith in Allentown. They were rewarded by Allentown's boom years during the 50's . In 1981 a robber entered the store, pushed Mrs. Minich to the floor, then shot and killed her. The Minich family carried on with their Allentown business. Their nephew, who witnessed the tragedy, took over the store.

One by one, in Scranton, Easton, and Wilkes-Barre, hotels of the Americus vintage, closed and were boarded up. The Americus, a white elephant, although a dollar short and a day late, stayed open. Enter new Mayor Ed Pawlowski, self-designated real estate expert. He decided because the hotel owner was controversial, and had been demonized in regard to other properties, he could execute a forced sale. In 2007 Pawlowski erected a scaffold around the building, declared it unsafe, and ordered the existing merchants to vacate.

photocredit:molovinsky

reprinted from April of 2008

ADDENDUM JULY 31, 2023:In 2009 Albert Abdouche secured the building by tax sale.  He has preservered and the landmark is up and running, both as apartments and a hotel. While new merchants now occupy the old 6th St. storefronts, there are those of us who remember a jewelry store from Allentown's past.

Local NAACP Falters

The Morning Call had to alter its headline about Mayor Tuerk and the local NAACP several times.  It evolved from the NAACP accusing Tuerk of racism, to him tolerating it at city hall, to the leadership of the chapter disavowing knowledge of the accusatory letter. 

Chapter president Walt Felton, and VP Dan Bosket, promise to look into both the letter itself and the procedure employed in sending it, apparently done by other board members.

I confess to some hesitation about writing this blog post. However, as a local political blogger, I cannot shy away from thorny issues. Even Tuerk himself, while knowing early that it was less than an authorized letter, set city hall on a discrimination alert. I find the accusation more of an indictment against the local chapter's organizational procedures, rather than being inappropriate behavior by the mayor or administration. In these times the word racism has the ability to cling and falsely accuse. It is a weapon which should never be wielded with such causal abandonment.

King Of The Gypsies

According to my mother, a Gypsy king was buried in Allentown in around 1960, she knew about such things. She was born in Galgo, Hungary, an area of Transylvania, now part of Romania, near present day Gilgau. In Galgo, the Jews and Gypsies lived on the edge of town. In the early 20's, my grandparents, along with their Gypsy neighbors, came to Bethlehem to work at the Steel. On weekends, to make extra money, my grandparents would open their house and show Hungarian movies. None of their relatives, Jew or Gypsy, save one cousin, survived the nazi's; even the cemeteries were desecrated. As you can see from the document above, my grandfather earned his citizenship the hard way.

REPRINTED FROM DEC. 23, 2007

UPDATE: My post above is from 2007. The Morning Call had a story about the Gypsies coming to Allentown. Apparently, a Gypsy prince drowned, and a memorial service was held in Allentown. I suspect my mother had the details correct, and my memory was at fault.