Occupy Allentown Setting Up Second Camp Site in West End

Allentown, Pennsylvania - November 22, 2011 - Occupy Allentown will start a second camp site at the intersection of Hamilton Blvd. and S. Ott St. in Allentown starting Saturday, November 26th.

Occupy Allentown, part of the larger "Occupy Movement", an international social movement which is primarily directed against corporate greed and political corruption has been occupying space at the corner of 7th and Hamilton streets since October 3rd, and has now elected to start a second occupation site on the west end of Allentown.

"The most prominent reason for starting a second location is outreach" said Adam Santo, one of the groups organizers. " We've garnered a lot of support at our current location, but it's a big city, and not everyone knows we're here, or more importantly, why we're here."

The group is also planning to occupy a third location near the Lehigh Valley Mall, but only for one day as they "Occupy Black Friday" on November 25th.  Members also plan to attend the cities upcoming open houses about the Allentown arena project.

When asked how long the group planned to protest, Craig Friebolin, another organizer who helps maintain the groups online presence at OccupyAllentownPA.org,  answered, "Longer than it takes to get a straight answer from most of our politicians", alluding to the groups online campaign to get public responses from local politicians about the Occupy Movement. "So it might be a while", he added. Of the eleven politicians contacted by Occupy Allentown, only two former city council members, who happened to not be seeking reelection had responded thus far. Both responded favorably.

How you can help from home

Be Heard! Demand a response from local politicians.

On Friday October 28th 2011 the members of Occupy Allentown began contacting local officials for their public opinions of the Occupy Movement as well as examples of their personal efforts to aid "the 99%". We also contacted several local media outlets to encourage them to ask our local politicians these same questions.      

If for no other reason than to force our politicians to educate themselves about the issues facing "the 99%" ... we are encouraging YOU to get involved!      

More info: http://occupyallentownpa.org/response.php

Michael D’Amore (Allentown City Council President) Michael D’Amore spoke publicly about "Occupy" durring the Oct. 19th 2011 City Council meeting. A audio recording of his comments can be heard here "Last week I had the occasion to stop by the Occupy Allentown demonstration and speak with some of our fellow citizens who've spent a great deal of time there, in the last few weeks including camping out over night. This is at the corner of Seventh and Hamilton street. My visit was prompted by an article in the Morning Call that indicated that their first amendment rights might possibly be compromised by the city, and I was greatly concerned by that. After speaking personally with the solicitor, Mr. Snyder, and the police chief, Mr. Maclean, I was assured that the first amendment rights of these citizens would be protected by the city, and I want to thank those officials as well as Mayor Pawlowski, for insuring that free speech and free expression continues in the city of Allentown. I applaud the citizens of occupy Allentown and encourage my colleges to stop by and have a dialog with the folks at Seventh and Hamilton street. I found after speaking with many of them, even as we spoke on issues where there is disagreement , such as eminent domain for the arena, that the people I spoke with were very committed to social change and were reflecting a deep seeded concern for the future of our country and that is something that many of us share. So I salute them and support them."        Get involved now at: http://occupyallentownpa.org/response.php Thank you for your support!

A Week In Review

It's been almost 1 month from the day Occupy Allentown went 24/7, and the occupation has grown to become an entity of it's own. Many people in the community thought that the first snow storm would send us packing back to our respective homes. It is my extreme pleasure to say that it did not!
While the Lehigh Valley was socked by 8 inches of wet snow, the occupation continued with business as usual. I believe we may have been better prepaired than the city in some respects. This is primarily due to the benevolent nature of our supporters.

Friday evening we blitzed Social networking sites detailing our need for things like shovels, ice melt, and warm clothing. All of those things arrived quickly! We were able to shovel and brush off tents on a regular basis, and none of the 12 structures at the occupation sustained any dammage. The city on the other hand is stil cleaning up downed limbs, and many people are still without power. This proved to be an exceptional trial run for what we all expect will be a messy winter. Even with all the work we were still able to laugh and play a bit, proving that it will not be ALL hard work and no play.

The weekend also brought some welcome guests. Mitch from; "Pennsylvania from below", an underground publication featuring articles that are pertinant to the lives and wellbeing of the residents of Pennsylvania came out to  bring the Lehigh Valley occupations into his tour of PA. They interviewed a number of us asking what brought us out, what we hoped to accomplish, why we thought we were part of the 99% and other questions. They were great to have around and wonderful to talk to. I am looking forward to seeing their publication of Occupy Pennsylvania. I will keep you all informed of the release!
We also had a few guests arrive in the past week from other occupations. They came from Occupy Dc and Occupy Wall Street, bringing us insite and information as to how things are run on the large scale. We appreciated the fresh energy, and the enthusiasm they brought, and renewed in us!

On a side note, we are still awaiting replies to the letter that was sent out to various members of the chamber of commerce, city council, the mayor, and the local press. We will continue to wait with baited breath to our call asking what they are going to do to help be the change.

Up coming events this weekend:

Saturday at 1 pm we will have a poetry workshop

Sunday we will be occupying the Allentown Halloween Parade. Details at: http://OccupyAllentownPA.org/#parade

Come out and visit!

- M.

Occupy Allentown Needs You

While we have had an overwhelming show of support from the community, there is a small rag-tag bunch that manage to keep the actual occupation of 7th & Hamilton Streets running. We feel that the occupation serves as an important symbol of the movement and without it, it would be increasingly difficult to effect change at home.

As we come up on the 1 month anniversary of #OccupyAllentown the very dedicated group of occupiers need a well-deserved day of rest. With that said, we are asking that you give just-a-little of your time to come down to 7th & Hamilton street, grab a sign, share your ideas, and physically show the community your personal support for the cause. We are a 24/7 occupation. So weather you conscientiously plan to come out for a while or just stop by for 30 minutes on your way home from work; any time that you can give, will be very much appreciated.

Additionally, If you did not already know, the Nov. 6th 2011 Allentown Halloween Parade route ends at 7th & Hamilton streets. Since this is coincidentally the same location as our Occupation, and also the location of the judging station for the parade, it is a great opportunity to come out and show the politicians in attendance as well as your community that you support Occupy Allentown and the Occupy Movement.

Bring a sign ... bring a friend ... and stand with us in peaceful protest to let it be known that the 99% can not be ignored!

Parade info: http://occupyallentownpa.org/#parade

Occupy Allentown Questionnaire

The View at Occupy Allentown

For those that don't know, Occupy Allentown started on October 3rd 2011 in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and similar movements happening throughout the world.  We have occupied the corner of 7th and Hamilton Streets in Allentown.

Just a few yards from our camp sit a row of city parking meters in front of a vacant lot. In spite of the fact that these meters are pretty unnecessary for a vacant lot, the time limit on them is vigorously enforced. If only we could harness the exuberance of the Allentown Parking Authority to go after those responsible for the banking crisis.

Around the corner police are often required to tell citizens that they may not walk their dogs on Hamilton Street. Also, like many other American cities, skateboarding is definitely not allowed. After all what would our city be like if we allowed pets and recreational activity near the fine business establishments that the City of Allentown is currently seeking to demolish to make room for a new Hockey Arena.

From down the street someone appears with a newspaper from The Morning Call offices and begins to read aloud an article entitled "Peeling back the curtain on arena: ACIDA made key decisions about the Allentown complex without public debate" as occupiers shake their heads in disappointment.

Across the street members of the "Carpenters Local 600" stand protesting the non-union business practices of a company that hires workers as "Independent Contractors" to avoid paying taxes, health benefits, living wages, etc. They look frustrated with the fact that "playing by the rules" (paying taxes, etc.) makes their overhead cost uncompetitive when compared to the, probably-won't-file-their-taxes, dangerously-uninsured, do-the-same-work-as-regular-employees,  local handyman that used to build decks around the neighborhood but now builds schools and hospitals as cheap labor.

We see a stream of cars honking their horns in support of our effort while other random strangers stop to drop off supplies to help keep the occupation going and thanking us for putting in the time.

All-in-all we don't have to go very far to see why we are here.  But there is one thing we aren't seeing that we so desperately want to see ... a response from our local politicians.

We at Occupy Allentown would like to see City Council Members, the Mayor, School Board Members and the like, weigh in publicly on "The Occupy Movement" and tell us what they are personally doing to help the "99%" at the local level.

Occupy Allentown
7th & Hamilton Streets
Allentown PA 18101
http://OccupyAllentownPA.org
http://OccupyLehighValleyPA.org