Categories for News

Feb 17

2023

Workers dispute Tesla’s version of firings

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Tesla has denied it fired dozens of workers in retaliation for joining a union organizing effort at its plant in South Buffalo. Rather, the dismissals were based on poor job performance reviews, and the timing of the firings was coincidental, the company said in a statement Thursday. But several employees and a former manager challenged Tesla’s representation of the dismissals in interviews with Investigative Post. They noted that the number of employees fired for poor performance — more than 40 — is an unusually large number. They also noted that most of the firings were in Tesla’s Autopilot portion of[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Feb 14

2023

IDA subsidizing more market-rate housing

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Under normal circumstances, market-rate housing is supposed to conform to the forces of the free market: A developer buys a piece of land, builds housing, and sells or rents it for a price that recoups their costs and turns a profit. But in Niagara County, the Industrial Development Agency is poised to subsidize two market-rate apartment complexes — a total of 90 units — to the tune of $3.9 million. In one project, the proposed IDA subsidy would cover 22 percent of the building costs. That project would create zero jobs. In the other, the subsidies would cover 44 percent[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Feb 9

2023

Niagara IDA ups its subsidies for fast food eateries

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The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday doubled down on two projects its leaders claim will convince tourists to spend their vacation dollars in Niagara Falls rather than across the border. Those projects? Two fast food restaurants, a Moe’s Southwest Grill and an A&W. The IDA had previously signaled it would offer tax subsidies to those projects — a total of $172,000 in property and sales tax breaks — and made those offers official at its monthly meeting Wednesday morning. That alone drew the ire of local politicians, namely state Sen. Sean Ryan, who’s pledged to reform IDAs across[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Feb 8

2023

Report: Tax breaks costing schools big money

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Public schools across the state are losing out on close to $2 billion a year — and probably a whole lot more — because of tax breaks given to corporations by economic development agencies. That’s among the conclusions of a study released today by Good Jobs First, a national research group that tracks economic development subsidies. The report said tax breaks affecting schools in New York far outpace those in other states. That lost revenue has prompted state lawmakers, including Sen. Sean Ryan, to propose legislation that would prohibit economic development agencies from abating property and sales taxes that are[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Feb 2

2023

Lawsuit: Aggressive ticketing of Black drivers

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Between 2012 and 2020, one Buffalo police officer, Kelvin Sharpe, wrote nearly 12,000 traffic tickets.  More than two-thirds of those Sharpe ticketed were Black, according to data gathered from Erie County and the City of Buffalo and analyzed by attorneys for the plaintiffs in a federal civil rights lawsuit. Another Buffalo cop, 14-year veteran Michael Acquino, wrote nearly 2,500 tickets for tinted windows in that same time period, 2012-2020.  About 85 percent of the recipients were Black. A third officer, Richard Hy, issued, on average, at least one more ticket per stop to minority drivers compared to white drivers over[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Jan 31

2023

Government meetings are secret – and legal

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State law mandates that local legislative bodies conduct their business in public. But a loophole allows elected officials to caucus in private, and a new report finds that many legislative bodies do. The Erie County Legislature is among those that not only caucus, but discuss public matters, according to a new study released by the New York Coalition for Open Government.  These “secret meetings” held behind closed doors throughout the state’s local governments “completely gut” the Open Meetings Law, leaving the public in the dark, according to the report.  “The public meeting becomes just a show or just a sham.[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Jan 27

2023

Cops suing department speak out

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In November, two Black Buffalo police officers and a mental health clinician sued the department and their commanding officer for creating a “hostile” and “discriminatory” work environment. Now the police department is insisting the officers return to work, while the captain they accused of unleashing a racist rant in the workplace is being paid to stay at home. The two officers — six-year veteran Katelynn Bolden and 15-year veteran Brandon Hawkins —  told Investigative Post in an exclusive interview that they’re not ready to come back.  They want assurances the department will protect them and create “a safe space” for other[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Jan 27

2023

Bills target alleged abuses by IDAs

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State lawmakers plan to introduce legislation this spring that would close a loophole that allows industrial development agencies to grant tax breaks to restaurants and other retail businesses — thanks in part to what they perceive as abuses in Niagara County. The state banned tax breaks for retail projects, including restaurants, a decade ago. But they left in exceptions for tourism projects and retail establishments in so-called “distressed areas” with high poverty and high unemployment. The new proposed legislation is sponsored by Sen. Sean Ryan, the newly-appointed chairman of the Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Business Committee, and Assemblyman Jonathan[...]

Posted 1 year ago
Investigative Post

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