The Blizzard of '10 Passes Through New Hope PA

Table Outside, Senor?

With temperatures soaring into the 70s, restaurants with outdoor seating in New Hope PA were in high demand. This popular destination just north of the Bridge on N. Main Street is running a luncheon special to boot, which is great because I've eaten there and it's the real deal although usually a bit pricey.

It Must Be Fall, the Nuts and Politicians are Out Again in New Hope PA

Well, it must be fall, because leaves are falling and nuts abound as election time nears.

Four incumbents who've banded together claim to be "positive, proven leadership." I guess that's if "positive" and "responsible" means going on a real estate spending spree, including a multimillion dollar church to renovate for their new offices, a nearly half-million dollar forest path to a seldom used parking lot, and some $600,00 for an ugly, unused concrete and rock park that no one likes or uses.

And then there's the devastation of Bridge Street commerce and undermining of the local economy as exemplified by the loss of key players like the Michener Museum and Hot Plates, not to mention the short-sightedness of leaving the Delaware Canal unfilled, eliminating hundreds of parking spaces, and letting real estate developers run amok.

The opposition candidates, rumor has it it, are backed by our very own mayor and deposed Borough Council President, still stinging after the current leader's assumption via reported bloodless coup. All unsubstantiated local chatter, so we eagerly await any commentary or feedback from candidates themselves should they care to clear the record.

More opinion on this year's non-race to come in the weeks ahead.

Below, some achievements of New Hope's current Borough Council: empty Delaware Canal, empty stores:

Leaves Falling On a Drippy, Windy Day in Downtown New Hope PA

The trees of New Hope PA try to hold onto their colorful, leafy coats on a windy, wet weekend in the historic downtown section of Bucks County's most popular tourist destination.

While some bargain shoppers are seen about as the sun peeks out for brief moments here and there, many visitors have sought shelter in lunchtime favorite Karla's Restaurant on West Mechanic Street, or in John and Peter's on Main Street for a quick brew.

New Dead Store on Ney Alley in New Hope PA?

This new store just popped up out of nowhere in New Hope PA, so if anyone has any idea what it is and what they plan to sell, please let us know.

"Enchanting Creations" says it's the home of the "Now & Then"? Does that mean somebody found Max's (may he rest in peace) stash of posters, buttons, and water pipes? A store that's "home" to another store?

Is it me?

Then again, this is New Hope, so well capitalized and planned businesses with clear and informative signage are not overly common.

Painting of Pear Resembling Tuchus Spotted In Lambertville NJ

This painting of a pear shockingly resembling a tuchus was spotted recently in Lambertville NJ in a gallery window on North Union Street.

Around the corner on Bridge Street, another gallery, another tushyesque pear. What's up with this?

Do the gallery owners over in Bungtown (the old name for Lambertville among locals) suddenly decide one crisp morning, "It's fall, move the pears, figs, pomegranates and any other lewd fruit to the front window, gaudy over sized flowers to the rear!"

Lambertville NJ was recently crowned victor by the Times Of Trenton in the age old rivalry between that town and New Hope PA for title of most prominent art burg, at least as measured by number of art galleries. New Hope is still recognized as one of the premier craft destinations in the country.

Sunny Fall Days in New Hope PA

Left over weekend decorations blow like Tibetan prayer flags in the balmy wind of a warm West Mechanic Street day in New Hope, PA.

New Hope PA Store Owner Feels the Heat for Being Honest

The owner of a God Save the Qweens, a punk themed clothing emporium on West Mechanic Street in New Hope PA, had the courage to speak the truth and is taking some heat from local bigwigs who accused her of the apparently unforgivable sin of "being negative."

What store owner Michelle, who has a local reputation for candor (along with a penchant for frequently-changing hair color themes) has been chastised for is having the nerve to poke fun at New Hope's parking problem by creating a humorous t-shirt that is selling at an apparently brisk pace.

It is rumored that complainers include a member of New Hope's Borough Council and another individual associated with the local Chamber of Commerce. Never mind that some of these critics voted recently to spend a rumored $45,000 for a "study" of the very parking problem whose existence they might like to deny.

Meanwhile, Michelle seems above it all, happy to have created something that visitors to New Hope are identifying with, and buying, in a big way.

God Save the Qweens is located at 13 West Mechanic Street in downtown New Hope PA, 215-862-2696.

Upsurge in Bucks County UFO Sightings

A UFO sighting this past Saturday night in Buckingham was the latest in a purported upsurge in recent sightings in Bucks County PA.

A Buckingham man and his wife were walking their dogs in the area around Upper Mountain Road and Forest Grove Road at around 8:00 p.m. when "they looked up and saw a bright light in the sky. The light itself was emitting a conical-shaped beam of light toward the ground," reports the Bucks County Courier Times.

"This thing was stunning. It was scary. My wife wanted to get right in the house," said the Buckingham man.

Full Courier Times story: http://bit.ly/35pufn

Other UFO sources recently have said that the reported Saturday sighting in Buckingham was part of a luminary phenomenon witnessed by numerous individuals on the Eastern seaboard and was caused by a U.S. military missile test.

Another local rumor is that 5 individuals were recently smoking outside in Doylestown and witnessed a glowing rectangular object in the night sky.

Whatever the ultimate truth might be, one fact cannot be denied: reported sightings of UFOs are on the rise these days in Bucks County, PA.

Who's Your Sugar Daddy?

A smiley, bristly Jim mans the counter for a spell at Sugar Daddy's, a candy and ice cream emporium in the Four Seasons Mall, Main Street, New Hope PA.

On his breaks, Jim also runs the Affordable Art gallery just across way. This guy knows how to keep busy and has somehow managed to stay in business over many years....a rarity, especially these days!

Things Not to Do in Lenape ("The Quarry") Park in New Hope PA

An expensive-looking sign tells visitors what not to do in controversial Lenape Park on Ferry Street in New Hope PA.

Along with no pets, smoking, or evening strolls, the treeless, virtually grassless rock pile of a park provides little in the way of family fun. No swings for kids; this is a park made for speeches at the gazebo by local politicos, not recreation or communing with nature.

Estimated cost of this taxpayer-paid boondoggle? Rumor has it in excess of $600,000, but who knows? One local who saw the initial plans said the goldfish pond alone cost more than $32,000.

Money that could have been spent on strengthening the local economy, creating jobs, and helping support local art.

Any guesses on what that overbuilt, tax-wasting sign cost?

Is this Dragon Super Kind? Let's Hope So!

Ricky's Beautiful Garden Along the Canal

New Hope PA Recession Lunch Special

Click on the photo above to enlarge, and you'll see that at the low-end of the lunch price spectrum is a hamburger, sans cheese, for $13.50. There's also a "Kobe Burger" for $18...last I checked, those come from fatty, tortured Japanese calves, but what do I know?

With culinary bargains such as these, small wonder tourists are flocking to the nearby variable $5 -$20 per space parking lot (depends on owner's mood each day).

Think I'll go upriver to Dilly's Corner on Route 32.

The Dead Live On In New Hope PA

Hippie Don recently parked his awesome Deadmobile (quite appropriately) in front of New Hope PA tie dye studio "type b". Pictures speak louder than words.

type b is located at 110A South Main Street in New Hope PA, 215-693-1446, or www.typebnewhope.com.

Road to Nowhere? New Hope PA Spending $468,000 to Guide Visitors Away From Downtown

The Times of Trenton recently reported that Pennsylvania taxpayers will largely be paying for New Hope's $468,000 "Cultural Canal Walk."

According to the Times, "the new walkway would guide visitors from the borough's new parking lot, which accommodates motorists arriving via Route 202, away from the borough's heavily trafficked downtown, where even metered parking is scarce." Full story. http://bit.ly/2YpN0

Several recent trips down New Hope PA's Main Street, however, revealed a multitude of vacant parking spaces and shops as the Borough's economy erodes through non-benign neglect.

"Theoretically, the tourists would park their cars and follow the proposed landscaped 800-foot pathway on the western bank of the Delaware Canal," The Times continued. "It will conclude at the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad Station."

As is widely known, however, New Hope visitors mostly desire to be downtown, because that's where the "action" is. Developer George Michael's non-central, troubled Union Square corporate park does not seem of as much interest to tourists these days with the flight of key attractions Michener Museum, 5th Season, Blue Raccoon, and others.

Why are Borough officials so interested in sending tourists to the local version of Siberia?

The Times reports that "Borough Manager John Burke said, "We are overjoyed at receiving this additional grant. We had a project that was "shovel ready' (in qualifying for funding.)"

That rings true; the Borough seems to be shoveling it on pretty thick with this solution in search of a problem, in this author's opinion.

Maybe it's time Borough officials, three of whom are running for re-election this fall, to focus on bringing visitors back to New Hope's downtown, instead of pushing them away.

Supersize This....

Country Fair Chocolates on Main Street in New Hope PA is famous for its chocolate-covered strawberries, but these new offerings are getting mixed reviews, at least from pedestrians viewing the sign.

Delicious, gross, or simply coronary-inducing, everyone has an opinion. That's New Hope!

Paul's Pretty Flowers on W. Mechanic St., New Hope PA

Running Uphill in 90-Degree Weather & Loving It!

Coach keeps a watchful eye on members of the New Hope - Solebury High School Soccer Team taking a break after a few sprints up steep Oscar Hammerstein Way in New Hope PA this morning.

Even by 11:00 a.m., temperatures and humidity were soaring in the Borough, but these spirited teens were undaunted, laughing, cheering and totally uber-stoked.

If I were playing for another soccer team, think I might take up another sport this fall.

Hussah!

Shopping: Only in New Hope

A typical display at Love Saves the Day on the corner of Main and Bridge streets in New Hope PA.

The store, one of two founded by now deceased retail genius Leslie Herson, still survives and flourishes with help from her husband and staff.

The shop continues Leslie's focus on ironic vintage clothing, games, toys and lunchboxes primarily from the 70s and some 80s and 60s. She was one of the first to see the marketing potential of diverse kitschy items like the Kojak board game, Pez dispensers, Elvis lamps, GI Joe, and Partridge Family lunchboxes.

Leslie also had an eye for vintage clothing, and later adopted much of the humorous Accoutrements novelty line, including the Albert Einstein action figure and the incredible Boxing Rabbi.

She was also influential in the evolution of the East Village/New York City retro idiom, and was an original, trippy, eccentric woman, probably 4'8" in heels, and kind to her workers, many of whom she helped to form their own spin-offs, like the popular "13" 80s-inspired fashion store on W. Mechanic Street, and new-comer God Save the Queens and its passion for punk. She was generous in sharing store fixtures, merchandise and connections, even with competitors, whom she also wouldn't hesitate to imitate.

A lot of us here in town and in the Village miss her.

Leslie Herson and Love Saves the Day. New Hope PA originals.