Categories for Investigations

Apr 28

2017

A threat to Scajaquada Creek – and neighbors

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It’s not the view from Virginia Golden’s front porch of the former General Motors plant that bothers her. It’s the toxic gunk – up to 110,000 gallons of it – that’s underneath the plant. Neighborhood residents have been waiting – and worrying – for a decade since state environmental regulators declared several acres of the plant on East Delavan Avenue a significant threat to public health. The contaminant of concern are PCBs – so toxic that the federal government banned the manufacturing of them in 1979. The residents want the property cleaned up, but have instead endured inaction from state[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Mar 29

2017

Lack of scrutiny for subsidy programs

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This is the final part of a series that began Sunday. The full lineup of stories, columns and radio interviews can be found here » State and local economic development agencies in New York give away billions of dollars in subsidies to businesses every year but do little to assess what taxpayers are getting for their money. “What politician doesn’t want to stand there with a shovel in their hand and a hard hat on their head to announce new jobs coming to their district?” said Ron Deutsch, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a labor-backed think tank. “The[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Mar 29

2017

Lackadasical vetting of subsidy seekers

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This is the third part of a series that began Sunday. The full lineup of stories, columns and radio interviews can be found here » Craig Bernier had only been bagging grain at Harbor Point Minerals in Utica for a few months when the company started sending him inside its silos to “walk down” the grain to help it flow to the bottom. Bernier, 24, was claustrophobic and hated being in the dark, closed structure, but Harbor Point told him he would have to go back in, his father said. “He told his mother, ‘I don’t want to go to[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Mar 27

2017

Corning masters the subsidy game

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This is the second part of a series that runs through Thursday. The full lineup of stories, columns and radio interviews can be found here » Rita McCarthy could finally relax. After months of speculation and negotiation, strategy sessions and late night phone calls, Corning Inc. announced in the spring of 2013 that it would expand its factory in Erwin, New York, where McCarthy serves as town supervisor. Corning is the largest employer in Steuben County, within the economically struggling region of western New York that stretches along the Pennsylvania border, known as the Southern Tier. Assuaging McCarthy’s fears that it would[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Mar 26

2017

State of Subsidies

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This is the first part of a series that runs through Thursday. The full lineup of stories, columns and radio interviews can be found here » Gov. Andrew Cuomo has sunk a lot of taxpayer money – $25 billion by his estimate – into recharging upstate’s moribund economy. The governor has increased spending on subsidy programs to record levels, launched bold policy initiatives and crisscrossed upstate to announced projects he has frequently described as “game-changers.” “Economic success is shared all across the state. It’s not just New York City that’s doing well, it’s the entire state,” the governor declared in his[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Mar 1

2017

Still getting away with murder in Buffalo

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Two years ago, Investigative Post and WGRZ teamed up to examine the Buffalo Police Department’s inability to solve murders. At the time, police were solving only about a quarter of homicides. A follow-up investigation which aired Wednesday on WGRZ found the department still has a low batting average. Police have cleared only 38 percent of murders committed in the past three years, including 25 percent last year. That compares with a national clearance rate of about 60 percent. Investigative Post and WGRZ found that police are clearing about three-quarters of murders involving robberies, domestic disputes, child abuse and the like.[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Feb 21

2017

Buff State’s deal with Greenleaf raises red flags

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Buffalo State College will prohibit seniors from living on its Elmwood Avenue campus starting this fall to benefit a developer with an unsavory track record of renting to students. The college and one of its foundations struck a deal with developer Greenleaf Development and Construction that facilitated the building of dorm-style housing adjacent to campus without competitive proposals or independent review by the state comptroller. These are procedures that typically govern SUNY dealings with private businesses. A Buffalo State official who brokered the deal insisted the college did nothing wrong. “We would follow SUNY procurement rules if they applied in[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Feb 15

2017

Scant oversight of Buffalo police

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It’s a question that has taken on greater urgency in post-Ferguson America: Who polices the police? The answer in Buffalo is no one. The city’s police department is not subject to the type of civilian oversight that takes place in cities such as Rochester, Pittsburgh and, more recently, Chicago. The task of investigating citizen complaints of police misconduct in Buffalo is assigned primarily to the department itself. But its Internal Affairs Division rarely finds officers at fault when it investigates allegations of excessive use of force. Internal Affairs cleared officers of wrongdoing in 58 of the 62 completed investigations into[...]

Posted 8 years ago
Investigative Post