THE SIGN MAN OF MAHANTONGO STREET
While driving down Mahantongo
Street along the eight hundred block I noticed a spark of defiance against the System. I looked over at the rotting buildings that
appear to ooze mold, filth and decay along this once proud and prestigious
street…buildings that will eventually pull their neighbors buildings into its hideous
web of no return. Yes, I saw a spark of
defiance against the System.
Someone dared to place a large
sign on the building with three words “Jail the Owner.” The person who placed the sign probably did
so out of despair; he or she finally realized that the System has no intention of
enforcing its building codes, of helping those property owners nearby who still
have antiquated habits of maintaining their real estate. Some of the rot has been left untouched by
the System for decades.
The System generally tells a complainer
that the slumlord cannot be identified or found.
Pssst….here is a little secret:
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Tax Map
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68-35-0058.000
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Parcel Address
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800 MAHANTONGO STREET POTTSVILLE, PA 17901 |
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School District
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Pottsville
Area
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Municipality
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Pottsville
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Owner Name
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Owner Address
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Deed Bk/PG
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Sale Date
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ARRAKI
RACHID
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2252
FIRST AVE, APT 5D NEW YORK, NY 10029
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2601/1454
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7/25/2017
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“Nope, can’t figure out who
owns the limited liability company, now move along…we have more important
priorities, like planning the next downtown beer party….Don’t you know we spent
about $18 million on Union Station….Don’t you know that 147 plastic clings in
the shapes of squares, circles and triangles were placed on the windows of the
Thompson Building.”
So the rot, decay and mold will
continue and the System will remain in power arranging periodic deals with
quasi-governmental entities to rehabilitate a structure here and there. In ten years, the Thompson Building will still
remain a historic relic similar to the ruins of Pompeii. The majority will not make waves against the
System, the majority will continue to openly applaud the System. They will behave like good sheep and avoid
the downtown, but quietly worry that the falling façade may land on the heads
of tourists mesmerized by the geometric window clings decorating the empty windows.
I would like to meet and thank
the man (or woman) who placed the sign on 800 Mahantongo Street. I compare that
person to the unidentified man at Tiananmen Square who on June 5, 1989 stood in
front of the columns of tanks. The Mahantongo
Street sign is telling everyone who passes by that the System has failed…Blight
is to be the norm. There will be no code
enforcement. In a way the sign is also
telling us that we have all been lied to.
The sign is announcing that there will be no revitalization. The sign is telling us that there will be no renaissance. The sign is telling us that the only millennials
who will be coming to live in Pottsville will be those coming into the prison
or the local crack houses.
Yes the Sign Man of Mahantongo is
our Tank Man of Tianamen. Sign Man is
telling everyone to wake up and realize the System will not help you. Sign Man is telling us to take grassroots
action. Follow Sign Man’s example.
Put up signs on the slums and drug dens.
Take photographs and put them online.
Wake up the System and tell the System that we are mad as hell and we won’t
take it anymore. Tell the System that
the $18 million spent of Union Station did not stop the rot and decay. Take enforcing the code into your own hands. File private complaints at the district
justice office. Tell the System and the
plutocrats to take their geometric window clings and shove them where the sun
don’t shine!
Owners of real estate can be
easily identified by going to the Schuylkill County Parcel Locator on -line. The names and addresses of the owners can be
found there. If the owner is a
Pennsylvania Limited Liability Company or Corporation, then go the Pennsylvania
Department of State website and put in the name of the entity, it will give you
the address of the entity. You may need to send in a few dollars to get more
information such as the name of the owner.
However, you can google that address. It may take a few minutes to
accomplish what City Hall may tell you is impossible. Take matters into your own hands and don’t
listen to lame excuses anymore! Remember the Sign Man of Mahantongo Street!!
“Jail the Owner”
