Categories for Investigations

May 31

2023

IDA tax breaks cost schools millions

Published by

 Editor’s note: This is the first of two stories on industrial development agencies. Tomorrow, we report on “perverse incentives” and other shortcomings in IDA programs. Any time Susan McGee’s children want to join an activity outside of the classroom — be it sports, music or other extracurriculars — it means one thing: a fundraiser. Raising money for extracurriculars may seem routine for a small, struggling Rust Belt city like Dunkirk, where McGee’s children attend school. But there’s another factor at play: The Dunkirk City School District loses out on an average of $5 million in revenue every year thanks[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Feb 21

2023

Allegations of racism at Tesla plant

Published by

Black employees at Tesla’s Gigafactory in South Buffalo have alleged they’re routinely subjected to racist treatment by managers, problems they say have persisted since the plant opened five years ago. Seven current and former Tesla employees, all of whom are Black, told Investigative Post the treatment they’ve experienced has ranged from offensive remarks to being repeatedly passed over for promotions. In one case, five employees recounted instances where groups of Black men were having conversations on the factory floor, only to be told by management they weren’t allowed to do that because “the optics looked bad” and they looked “like[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Jan 24

2023

Buffalo’s firefighting fleet is a mess

Published by

Firefighters who spoke to Investigative Post described arriving at an East Side house fire earlier this month, only to find the lead truck couldn’t pump water. Several told stories about trucks breaking down on the way to a call. Last month’s blizzard has trained a spotlight on the deplorable condition of the Buffalo’s firefighting fleet. What’s illuminated is not pretty. A quarter the fleet — seven of 28 vehicles — is older than recommended industry standards. Another 13 are within two to three years of that mark. Many trucks are plagued by serious issues — cracked frames, unreliable pumps, engine[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Jan 11

2023

Tesla’s solar factory in Buffalo fizzles

Published by

When Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans in 2013 for what is now Tesla’s factory in South Buffalo, he pitched it as a cornerstone of the “clean energy revolution” and a new high-tech industrial sector for Western New York. The project would create not only more than 1,400 direct jobs, but spin-off development that would provide a supply chain employing thousands of additional workers. Cuomo proclaimed the project a “game-changer.” Fast-forward to today. Less than one-quarter of the workforce at the Tesla factory is engaged in solar-related manufacturing. That work was suspended altogether for at least six months last year.  Podcast:[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Dec 14

2022

City Hall and the House from Hell

Published by

The boarded-up house on Arkansas Street stands as a testament to City Hall’s ineptitude in dealing with urban blight. Not one, but two people — suspected drug users — have died inside the abandoned house since Sept. 26. That followed years of housing code violations and frequent complaints from neighbors about drug use and other quality of life issues. A maintenance man alerted police when the first man overdosed, but officers didn’t go inside to check on him, according to neighbors and police reports. That didn’t happen until eight days later, when neighbors called police again because of the stench[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Sep 2

2022

Inside Amazon’s massive subsidy in Niagara

Published by

Robert Taylor, a lifelong Niagara County resident, is thinking about moving south. Probably Florida. But Taylor isn’t chasing the warm weather and low property taxes that have drawn tens of thousands of other Northerners to the South. Rather, he’s running away from something.  Amazon.  The online retail giant plans to open a 3-million-square-foot warehouse less than a mile from his Packard Road home in the Town of Niagara. Amazon plans to employ 1,000 people at the warehouse and hundreds of cars and trucks will travel to and from the facility daily. The warehouse will be a “first mile” distribution center[...]

Posted 2 years ago

May 11

2022

Yet another failing Niagara Falls project

Published by

A lot of big ideas have been floated for revitalizing the City of Niagara Falls and most of them have ended the same way: in disappointment.  Residents are still waiting for Niagara Falls Redevelopment — a company owned by New York City real estate developer Howard Milstein — to do something with the 140 acres it acquired downtown as part of a 1997 Master Redevelopment Agreement with the city.  The most-recent effort to renovate and reopen the Hotel Niagara, an iconic 1920s-era building on Rainbow Boulevard that has been vacant for more than a decade, stalled last year amid financing[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 27

2022

School violence not limited to McKinley

Published by

District officials have taken steps to address violence in Buffalo schools since a February  shooting and stabbing at McKinley High School left a student hospitalized. Violence in and around schools isn’t limited to fights between students. There have been reports in the news of students attacking their teachers and administrators. Parents have been involved, too, administrators told Investigative Post, attacking school staff, including security guards.   An Investigative Post analysis of four years of 911 data found calls to Buffalo school locations have increased by nearly 20 percent since the 2018-19 school year, the last full year before the pandemic.[...]

Posted 2 years ago
Investigative Post

Get our newsletters delivered to your inbox * indicates required

Newsletters *