ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Allentown City Council on Wednesday night heard from several downtown residents with complaints against the Allentown Parking Authority and about snow removal following the Jan. 25 snowstorm.
South Jefferson Street resident Enid Santiago criticized the APA for continuing to enforce 72-hour parking limits for on-street parking in the wake of the snowstorm.
“We have snow all over the city right now,” Santiago said. “We already have a parking crisis. I am personally not affected by this because I am lucky and privileged enough that I have a huge driveway where I fit all my vehicles, but there’s no reason why all my neighbors have to deal with this harassment that is happening right now. It is targeted harassment of poverty. If you park for three days in front of your house, your car is getting towed.”
Santiago cited instances of residents moving their cars to go to the grocery store, and upon returning home, parking in their previous parking space, only to be ticketed by APA.
Santiago said parking officials have defended their policy, saying a best practice for residents should be to park in a different parking space when returning from running an errand.
Two residents complained about the city’s lack of empathy when attempting to remove snow in the middle of the night.
Center City resident Milagro Canales said she and her neighbors recently experienced a snow removal effort that she described as looking less like a city service and more like a tactical raid.
“At 12:22 a.m., our streets were filled with blaring sirens, flashing lights, and voices shouting through bullhorns threatening to tow our vehicles without any prior written notice,” Canales said. “Now, while we all want clean streets, the method used by the police department was an unnecessary escalation that caused deep distress across our community. The sound of sirens isn’t a signal of safety; it is a signal of crisis.”
Canales said residents in more affluent areas received digital alerts and flyers that said the city was clearing snow.
“We get bullhorns, and the disparity is glaring,” she said. “A towed car in this neighborhood can be the catalyst for a family’s total financial collapse. By bypassing the courtesy of a notice, you are gambling with our livelihood.”
Allen Street resident Rebecca Ramos also raised an issued about the loud sirens.
Ramos said her street had signs posted, but then on the APA Facebook page, there was an announcement that snow removal was canceled.
“For them to come at 12:22 a.m. on a Saturday morning was a huge shock on everyone,” Ramos said. “Everyone’s running out their houses, trying to move their cars, trying to find parking. The way the cops handled the situation was very rude and not nice at all.”
Other residents said the APA was quick to take advantage in ticketing vehicles for failing to park properly on streets because of the snow issue.
Council President Santo Napoli said he reached out to the APA and is working on putting together a joint meeting of council and the authority on April 8 to answer questions regarding parking enforcement.
“On the issue of snow removal, there is a public works committee meeting on March 11 and we will be discussing the snow removal with our public works team, and learning more about that,” Napoli said.
Mayor Matt Tuerk attended the meeting but did not address any parking or snow removal issues in his report.
Street renaming
In other business, council passed a resolution to rename the 2000 block of Liberty Street to “Rose Kennedy Way” to honor a resident who was a huge supporter of the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade and spearheaded the house decorating and porch parties on the day of the parade.
Tuerk said he was in full support of the renaming.
“It occurred to me that what Rose Kennedy did for this block is emblematic of what we want our entire city to do; to come together as a city for at least one day a year around somethings special,” Tuerk said.