Category: default || By jt3y

Anybody want a free "Shop-Vac"? There's one sitting on the roof of the Central Station post office, down at the corner of Sinclair Street and Lysle Boulevard, and it's been there for weeks.

In fact, the Central Station post office itself has been closed for weeks. Boxholders are retrieving their mail uptown, at the main post office on Walnut Street.

A little birdie told the Almanac that the problem is a roof leak that sends water cascading into an electrical cabinet in the building.

County tax records show that the building is owned by Valley Real Estate of Clarksdale, Miss.

Valley Real Estate is part of the The Magdovitz Group, which owns a controlling interest in more than 400 post office buildings around the country --- making it, according to its website, the second-largest owner of post office buildings in the U.S., after the Postal Service itself.

Larry Magdovitz told me via email on Monday that the building needs a new roof. "The problem is being addressed and we hope to have the building re-open as soon as the roof is repaired," he says.

. . .

In other business: You may remember my quixotic campaign to get the River Road grade crossing in Port Vue repaired.

Perhaps in response to inquiries by various parties, including the Almanac, CSX has patched part of the crossing, but it's not much of an improvement --- southbound cars are still forced to swerve out of traffic to avoid going off the edge of the pavement.

A state PUC spokesman tells me that PennDOT, the railroad and that agency are scheduled to meet and discuss that crossing and another one in a few weeks. Stay tuned.

. . .

In Washington, Pa. (aka "Little Worshington"), the city fathers are talking tough with downtown property owners, writes Christie Campbell in the Observer-Reporter.

The mayor and the code enforcement officer say that landlords who have not paid taxes or who have let maintenance of their buildings lapse face legal action, including --- possibly --- losing their properties via eminent domain proceedings.

The last thing that any city needs is ownership of vacant property --- then the white elephants become the problems of the taxpayers --- but on the other hand, you can certainly understand the frustration in Washington.

The decline of one building in a business district has a ripple effect --- it not only reduces the value of the surrounding properties, it creates a disincentive to investment. If you own an existing nearby building, you're not going to put money into it, and if you are thinking about moving into the neighborhood, a dilapidated structure is liable to chase you away.

That's why vacant buildings are so problematic in Our Fair City; they are wrecking many neighborhoods and crippling efforts to bring business downtown.

I'm wondering if Washington's efforts to "get tough" by writing more code enforcement citations is just a talk, or if they're serious.

If they're serious, then the results would bear watching by residents of McKeesport, Duquesne, Homestead and other communities where abandoned or decaying structures are a problem.

. . .

Finally: Oliver Stone's new movie World Trade Center tells the story of two transit police officers who were rescued from the rubble of the Twin Towers after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

In Sunday's Tribune-Review, Karen Roebuck told the real-life story of the Mon-Yough area people who were instrumental in the rescue.

One of the volunteers who was searching the rubble of the Twin Towers that day, David Karnes, found the two police officers and --- in the chaos --- couldn't reach the New York City police on his cell phone. So he called his sister, Joy Karnes, in Munhall.

She called Allegheny County 911, where a dispatcher from Elizabeth Township, Randy Tedesco, took the information.

Then, Mike Lupinacci, the assistant communications manager of the county's 911 center (who helped get the Mon Valley 911 center in McKeesport started years ago), contacted New York authorities.

Joy Karnes has passed away, and the movie mentions her only in passing (one character refers to the David Karnes character calling "his sister in Pittsburgh"), but she and the local 911 personnel involved received commendations from New York authorities, thanking them for their help and clear thinking.

They also received personal thank-you notes from the two police officers who were rescued.

Read Roebuck's story, and remember that the real heroes aren't practicing up at Latrobe --- they're all around you every day.