{"id":170754,"date":"2026-04-20T12:21:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/170754\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T12:21:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:21:13","slug":"allentown-approves-pal-building-lease-honors-elias-market-founder-lehigh-valley-regional-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/170754\/","title":{"rendered":"Allentown approves PAL building lease, honors Elias Market founder | Lehigh Valley Regional News"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALLENTOWN., Pa.\u00a0\u2013\u00a0At its bimonthly meeting Wednesday evening, Allentown City Council approved a long-anticipated building lease with the Allentown Police Athletic League<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 20-year lease authorizes the PAL to use the vacant building at 2110 Park Drive for its\u00a0“educational and community recreational center.”\u00a0PAL describes itself as a “501c3 organization that strives to improve the moral, physical, educational and civic standards of the city’s youth.”<\/p>\n

Speaking in favor of the lease, council President Daryl Hendricks said the building was in a “state of disrepair,” so allowing PAL to revitalize it would allow the program to continue fostering young leaders and strengthening ties between the city’s youth and law enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Rehab is sorely needed, and this will benefit the [police] academy and a good portion of our society here,” Hendricks said.\u00a0“These children will grow up with a respect for law enforcement and all the emergency services.”<\/p>\n

Resident Caroline Velazquez \u2014 who has had two children in the PAL program \u2014 also spoke in support of the lease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s definitely a benefit for the kids, especially during the summer where they have that opportunity to be spending [time] instead of being out at home,” Velazquez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elias Market<\/p>\n

Before Wednesday’s meeting, City Council recognized Joseph Elias, a Lebanese immigrant who founded Elias Market \u2014 a produce market at 101 Tilghman St. that has become something of a city landmark.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elias was commended for not only his successful business, but his commitment to the community and willingness to get to know his customers on a personal level.\u00a0According to council Vice President Cynthia Mota, Elias even taught himself some Spanish to\u00a0more effectively connect with those he serves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Elias Market has provided more than just fruits and vegetables for our community,” Mota said. “He (Elias) cares deeply about his community, and he’s willing to go to great lengths to communicate with clients.”<\/p>\n

Halloween festivities<\/p>\n

Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk was not present at Wednesday’s meeting, but a staffer delivering the mayor’s report on his behalf provided details about the city\u2019s upcoming Halloween festivities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the staffer, the city’s annual Halloween parade will be held on Saturday, Oct. 28, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Hamilton Street will be completely closed between Sixth and Ninth streets during the parade, the staffer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Allentown City Council will meet again on Wednesday, Nov. 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALLENTOWN., Pa.\u00a0\u2013\u00a0At its bimonthly meeting Wednesday evening, Allentown City Council approved a long-anticipated building lease with the Allentown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,2748,121,120,76675,76676,14934,2749,76674,76677,2459,48887,28],"class_list":["post-170754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-city-council","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-allentown-police-athletic-league","tag-caroline-velazquez","tag-cynthia-mota","tag-daryl-hendricks","tag-elias-market","tag-joseph-elias","tag-matt-tuerk","tag-pal","tag-pennsylvania"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}