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May 22

2025

ICE raids immigration court in Buffalo

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In a rare, perhaps unprecedented move, armed ICE agents raided the federal immigration court in downtown Buffalo Wednesday, seizing four people who had showed up for scheduled hearings. Two people present in the court building on Delaware Avenue told Investigative Post they saw between six and 12 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers — many in plainclothes, some armed — present in common areas and at least one courtroom. “I’ve never heard of it, I’ve never seen it,” said Jennifer Connor, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Justice for Migrant Families. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen ICE[...]

Posted 1 month ago

May 21

2025

Buffalo mayoral candidates hit the airwaves

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 State Sen. Sean Ryan, who’s running for Buffalo mayor in the June 24 Democratic primary, released his first TV commercial two weeks ago. The ad hits the talking points Ryan has been using since he announced his candidacy in November:  He’s the son of a Lackawanna teacher and a Buffalo firefighter.  He became a successful housing rights attorney, then a state legislator who brought home money and projects for his districts. The city’s infrastructure and delivery of basic services have gone to pot, and he’s got the experience to put things right. State Senator Sean Ryan’s first TV ad. The[...]

Posted 1 month ago

May 20

2025

Local DAs don’t prosecute wage theft cases

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Wage theft — the practice of an employer withholding pay or benefits from a worker — has been considered a felony crime in New York since September 2023. Yet in the 20 months since, not a single prosecutor in the eight counties of Western New York has brought a single case under the statute. It’s not for a lack of offenders. Data from state and federal labor investigators shows that at least a dozen cases have met the $1,000 threshold of felony larceny since the law changed. Cases from October, November and December 2023 show eight employers were found to[...]

Posted 1 month ago

May 19

2025

‘Hostile takeover’ of union by Granville supporters

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Members of the union that represents Erie County Sheriff’s officers last Tuesday voted to provide $25,000 toward paying the lawyers representing D.J. Granville, the narcotics chief who last April plowed his county-owned pickup truck into seven parked cars on Buffalo’s West Side. But some union members are crying foul on the decision and petitioning for a second meeting to reconsider the matter. “This was an attempted hostile takeover of our PBA’s democratic process by D.J. Granville and a small group of his supporters,” said one union member, who spoke to Investigative Post on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution.[...]

Posted 1 month ago

May 18

2025

Sheriff John Garcia’s disdain for the law

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Erie County Sheriff John Garcia has gotten himself sued by The New York Times for stonewalling a Freedom of Information request from the newspaper. The Times filed an FOI request last August 12 seeking assorted police disciplinary records. For example, the Times asked for what are called “Brady-Giglio” lists, named for court decisions that require prosecutors to provide defense attorneys with information about officers that might impugn their credibility with judges and jurors.  By law, the sheriff’s office had five business days to acknowledge receipt of the request. It failed to do so until Jan. 23 of this year, when[...]

Posted 1 month ago

May 16

2025

I’Jaz Ja’ciel discusses food injustice on ‘What’s Next?’

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Investigative Post reporter I’Jaz Ja’ciel this week hosted a segment of Buffalo Toronto Public Media NPR’s What’s Next dedicated to food injustice. She sat down with Nnennna Ferguson, chair of the Buffalo Food Equity Network Advisory Board, to discuss food inequities in the Black community and how community-based solutions may help meet the needs of residents. The episode originally aired Wednesday, May 14 to commemorate the third anniversary of the Tops Supermarket Massacre.  Ja’ciel and Ferguson discussed how the definition of food injustice has changed since the tragedy that saw the closure of the Jefferson Avenue grocer for a month,[...]

Posted 2 months ago

May 15

2025

In legal hot water again

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  Brent Manor Apartments at 366 Elmwood Avenue, owned by APL Property Group. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel The state Attorney General last week filed a lawsuit accusing a former judge-turned-developer and his property management company of misappropriating tenants’ security deposits. Anthony LoRusso and employees of APL Property Group used security deposits to fund the company’s payroll and other operations, according to the company’s former director of accounting, Ann Morelli. LoRusso is a former Erie County Family Court judge who resigned in 1993 amid sexual harassment allegations from several female employees. “The cash deposit was recorded and credited to the tenant.[...]

Posted 2 months ago

May 14

2025

State to take smaller cut of OTB revenue

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Byron Brown speaks to reporters at Batavia Downs. Photo by Garrett Looker. Just six months into his tenure at the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., former Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown netted the agency a major win in Albany. Tucked away in the state’s sprawling $254 billion budget that Gov. Kathy Hochul signed Friday is a provision that could save OTB between $4 million and $5 million per year by reducing the state’s take of revenues.  In exchange for the savings, OTB must submit an annual report to the Legislature and governor’s office outlining how it spent the millions it saved.[...]

Posted 2 months ago
Investigative Post