Tag: City Hall

Apr 11

2023

Judge gives City Hall an edict

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Last week a judge ordered the City of Buffalo to tell John Mahar — yes or no, one way or another — whether the city would give him the $131,ooo in profit it made by selling his house at a tax foreclosure auction almost three years ago. He’s been waiting for an answer for 10 months, but has been greeted by what a state Supreme Court Justice Donna Siwek called “radio silence” from the city. Mahar laid claim to the money last June, using an application process the city posted on its website in November 2021, instructing former property owners[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Mar 30

2023

Podcast: Buffalo’s Common Council candidates

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One thing is certain: Buffalo’s Common Council will soon change. Two members of the current Council — Council President Darius G. Pridgen of the Ellicott District and Masten District’s Ulysees O. Wingo — will not seek re-election. Several candidates are looking to fill those seats, gathering signatures to earn a spot in the June Democratic primary election. There are other candidates looking to challenge Council incumbents, as well. Investigative Post’s Geoff Kelly took a closer look at the candidates and how Buffalo’s Common Council may change. Kelly sat down with Garrett Looker, host of Reporter’s Notebook, to dive into who[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Mar 29

2023

Subsidizing a downtown grocery store … again

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In 2019, Buffalo’s plans for a downtown city block seemed to be the platonic ideal of urban redevelopment: turn an old parking lot into hundreds of units of affordable housing and place a grocery store directly next door. And you could say that’s exactly what the city accomplished. Today, the corner of Ellicott and Clinton Streets — right across the street from the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library — features 201 affordable housing units on one-half of the 2.52-acre lot, and Braymiller Market on the other half, downtown’s only full-service grocery store. But completing that project has come at[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Mar 22

2023

Not much change afoot for Common Council

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There will be a pair of new faces on Buffalo’s Common Council next year, the result of two incumbents declining to run for reelection. That’s probably as much change as Buffalonians will be permitted — or choose — to vote for. In five of the nine Council districts, the incumbents appear to face no challengers in the June Democratic primary, which generally determines the victor in this one-party town. In the two districts where incumbents face opposition, the challengers face steep odds.  The last time an incumbent lost reelection to Buffalo’s Common Council was 20 years ago. That was when[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Mar 2

2023

No permits for work that might have sparked deadly fire

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The fire that killed a Buffalo firefighter Wednesday might have been sparked by crews working on the Main Street building without permits. A review of city records by Investigative Post found no active permits for work at 743 Main St., which was recently purchased by a company owned by former Congressman Chris Jacobs. Michael DeGeorge, spokesman for Mayor Byron Brown, confirmed that the city’s Department of Permits and Inspection Services had “no active or valid permits” on file. The most recent work permit the city issued for 743 Main Street was last April, for emergency repairs to the three-storey building’s[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Feb 28

2023

City keeping $3.6M of other people’s money

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In 2019, the City of Buffalo sold 103 properties seized for nonpayment of taxes and fees.  The annual auction yielded $4.3 million that year, far more than the $700,000 the former owners of those properties owed the city. Those former owners were supposed to be able to apply for their share of the surplus $3.6 million — which represents their remaining equity in those properties — through a program developed by the city’s law department and published on the city’s website in late 2021.  Many former property owners filed claims. None received any money, as Investigative Post reported in October. [...]

Posted 1 year ago

Feb 22

2023

Buffalo’s abysmal reading scores

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 Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series. Our second installment: Poor reading skills are a problem nationwide, including in many of Buffalo’s suburbs.  Only two of the 48 tested fourth graders at Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy on the city’s West Side read at proficient levels in 2022. Likewise, just two fifth graders at School 53 on the East Side read at grade level. That’s out of 62 pupils tested. Not a single fifth grader at Martin Luther King Jr. School, in the shadow of the Fruit Belt neighborhood, tested at a proficient reading level in 2022.[...]

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
Investigative Post

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