Categories for News

Dec 30

2022

Buffalo doesn’t track actual evictions

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Landlords in Erie County, especially in Buffalo, are more aggressive in obtaining warrants to evict tenants than almost anywhere in the state. But no one tracks how many of those warrants result in tenants being put out in the street. Why not? The city doesn’t keep tabs, said Herbert Bellamy Jr, the city’s chief marshal. “We simply do not have the resources to compile that information,” Bellamy told Investigative Post in an email. Read our original report, voted top story of 2022 The risk of eviction was a problem in the city before the COVID-19 pandemic and the numbers show[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Dec 26

2022

Tracking the plows in Buffalo

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  Updated: Wednesday, 1:15 p.m. This post has received a lot of traffic over the past couple of days, primarily, I suspect, because of the link to the city-affiliated map showing what streets in Buffalo have been plowed. The map might have been useful at some point, but no longer. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz disclosed at a press conference earlier Wednesday that county and state crews have taken on responsibility for plowing streets. Poloncarz termed the city’s effort “embarrassing .” The Buffalo Police Department tweeted that there are more than 450 pieces of snow fighting equipment clearing city streets,[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Dec 8

2022

Lawmakers indicate no review for Bills stadium

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Updated: 5:05 p.m. The Buffalo Bills new stadium is now set to win approval from the Erie County Legislature without completing a full environmental review that’s been required of similar projects around the state. Legislators on Thursday signaled that they would issue a “negative declaration” next week under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, forgoing an Environmental Impact Statement. That would allow the Bills to skip a full environmental assessment.  After more than an hour of testimony and discussion, legislators said they felt comfortable moving forward without an EIS, something that was required for all major league sports venues built[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Dec 2

2022

Cop accused of racist rant is suspended

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A Buffalo police captain accused of delivering a racist rant at police headquarters in May has been suspended without pay. Two Buffalo police officers and a mental health specialist filed a lawsuit in federal court on Nov. 21, alleging Captain Amber Beyer — head of the department’s Behavioral Health Team — made a series of offensive remarks in the team’s offices at police headquarters. Among the things she is alleged to have said: Black officers are more likely to be unfaithful to their spouses than white officers. All the male Black officers she knew cheated on their wives. White police[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Dec 1

2022

Erie IDA eyes largest subsidy package in years

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Updated: 2:50 p.m. The Erie County Industrial Development Agency is entertaining a request for the largest package of tax breaks it has awarded in the past five years.  The $11.8 million in tax breaks for Sonwil Distribution work out to $621,000 per new job. In addition to hiring 19 new workers, the company would relocate 22 of its current employees.   But Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, a member of the IDA board of directors, has raised “serious concerns” about the size of the subsidy package, according to a spokesperson. “There is no way I am in favor of $11 million[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 30

2022

Councilman recalls racism as a cop

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Add Niagara District Councilman David Rivera to the list of Buffalo police officers who have described a racist “culture” within the city’s police department. In an interview with Investigative Post two years ago, Rivera — who chairs the Common Council’s Police Oversight Committee — remembered the thrill of joining the Buffalo Police Department 30 years ago. “When I came on from the Academy, I was excited,” he said. “I wanted to hit the street running. I wanted to get in the police car, I wanted to patrol, I wanted to answer calls. I wanted to stay busy.” He was quickly[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 22

2022

Lawsuit: Police captain went on racist ‘rant’

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A Buffalo police captain told officers she supervised that Black cops were more likely to cheat on their wives than white cops. The captain said she’d be suspicious if she saw a Black man in her neighborhood. She claimed white police officers suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from working in Black neighborhoods, but Black officers did not, because they were more accustomed to violent crime. The captain told Black officers they should try to understand how the criminality of Black people justified some racism. These claims are detailed in a lawsuit filed Monday evening in federal court by two Buffalo police[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 17

2022

Thanks to WNY, Amazon subsidies hit $5 billion

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A $124 million subsidy package given to Amazon by the Niagara County Industrial Development agency this summer helped the e-commerce giant reach a milestone: $5 billion in total government subsidies. That total came from 309 subsidies in 38 states since 2000, according to data compiled by Good Jobs First, a nonprofit that tracks corporate tax breaks. Washington, the state where Amazon is headquartered, gave the company the most subsidies, a total of $824 million. Illinois ranked second with $732 million, followed by New York at $671 million. Those subsidies went towards facilities ranging from warehouses to offices to film and[...]

Posted 1 year ago
Investigative Post

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