Articles for Investigative Post staff

Aug 16

2024

Infographic: Wealth and poverty in our communities

Poverty remains a problem in upstate New York cities. Latest Census Bureau estimates show poverty is twice the state rate in the largest upstate cities and median household incomes are barely half of statewide earnings in some of the urban centers. Median is defined as half are above and half are below. Highest median household incomes — all upwards of $100,000 — in Erie County, according to 2022 estimates, are in Clarence, Grand Island, and Orchard Park. The lowest — all in the mid to low $40,000 range — are in Buffalo and Lackawanna as well as the Cattaraugus Reservation,[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Aug 9

2024

Infographic: Fatal crashes in Buffalo-Niagara

For a while, traffic fatalies were dropping – locally and nationally. Then came the pandemic. Traffic deaths went up. In some communities, including Erie and Niagara counties, they stayed up, even once COVID cooled down. Motor vehicle crashes in Erie and Niagara counties killed 683 people in the 10-year period from 2013 to 2022, with victims including motorists, passengers, bicyclists and pedestrians. In 2022, the most recent year finalized data is available, there were 78 fatal accidents, killing 88 people in Erie and Niagara counties. (Preliminary data indicates fatal accidents remained high in Erie County in 2023, but dropped in[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Jul 30

2024

Help wanted: administrative assistant

Investigative Post, a nonprofit investigative reporting center based in downtown Buffalo, is hiring for a part-time administrative assistant. Job entails 15 to 20 hours a week, with a flexible schedule. Pay is about $20 an hour. Key responsibilities include managing our donor database and stewarding donors, working with accountants regarding financial matters, managing human resources matters, office management, and otherwise assisting the executive director. To apply, send your resume and three references to Jim Heaney at jheaney@investigativepost.org. Write “Administrative Assistant” in the subject line.

Posted 1 year ago

Jun 14

2024

Buffalo getting safer — but keep an eye on your car

Despite a spike in homicides during the Covid pandemic, violent crime in Buffalo has been trending down. That's also true for a post-pandemic spike in car thefts. But even with those numbers dropping in recent months, there's still plenty of vehicles being stolen. For those who haven't been following the social-media-inspired crime surge, car theft began spiking nationally after videos posted on TikTok a few years ago showed how a design flaw made it relatively easy to steal Kias and Hyundais. Thus was born the "Kia challenge," encouraging young people to joy-ride in a stolen car. Buffalo experienced the full[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Jun 7

2024

Buffalo-areas schools spending about $28,000 per student

Thirty-nine school budgets totaling $4 billion were recently approved in Erie and Niagara counties for the upcoming school year. The money will educate some 138,000 public school students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The individual budgets range from a low of $17.7 million in North Collins, the smallest school district, with just 564 students, to a high of almost $1 billion in the largest district, Buffalo public schools, with some 30,000 students. (Charter schools in the Buffalo area, with some 12,000 students, are not included in this analysis.) We looked at per pupil spending - total budget divided by enrollment.[...]

Posted 1 year ago

May 31

2024

Buff State has rock bottom graduation rates

We pulled graduation rates for SUNY's 20 universities and four-year comprehensive colleges with campuses, using full-time students who entered as freshmen in 2013. (We wanted to avoid the pandemic years.) The average four-year graduation rate was 55 percent. By six years, the average graduation rate was 68 percent. Buffalo State had the lowest four-year graduation rate, 28 percent. It also had the lowest five-year and six-year rates. UB 's four-year graduation rate was in the mid-range, and a few points higher in the five and six-year categories. Geneseo had one of the highest graduation rates among the 20 SUNY schools.[...]

Posted 1 year ago

May 29

2024

NYC migrants may be exiting Buffalo area hotels

State Sen. Sean Ryan. Photo provided. New York City is developing a new program to help migrants it is housing in Buffalo-area hotels move into apartments, reports the Gothamist. The news organization said New York City hopes to work with Jewish Family Services of Western New York to assist over 500 migrants find more permanent — and less expensive — housing. The nonprofit agency would also help the migrants find jobs and to seek asylum, Gothamist reports. The arrangement is similar to one previously suggested by state Sen. Sean Ryan of Buffalo, who has been involved in talks leading to[...]

Posted 1 year ago

May 24

2024

Buffalo back on top in race with Amherst

Back in 2000, the value of taxable property in Amherst eclipsed that of Buffalo. It was believed to be the first time that had happened and raised questions about the city’s fiscal health. By 2015, Amherst growth was slowing as Buffalo’s picked up. In 2021, fueled in part by rising housing prices, as well as downtown and waterfront investment, Buffalo’s tax base edged ahead. The most recent figures peg the 2023 value of Buffalo’s taxable property at $15.3 billion, compared to Amherst’s $14.5 billion. We should note, however, that Amherst inches closer each year.

Posted 1 year ago