Tag: Subsidies

Aug 16

2013

Buffalo is not Denver. Darn.

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I spent three-and-a-half days in Denver recently while on vacation in Colorado, which is a beautiful state. I couldn’t have come away more impressed with the city. First, what’s there: An inviting, tree-lined downtown pedestrian mall that has block after block of stores, restaurants and people. A second thriving section of downtown, known as LoDo, anchored by a striking baseball stadium and a train station under restoration. (Imagine that.) An ample stock of historic buildings, many of them nifty brick structures. A light rail system that actually goes someplace. More than 200 parks, plus several municipal parks operated outside the[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Jul 11

2013

Critical look at Cuomo’s Start-Up NY

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David Cay Johnston, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of best selling books on tax and economic policy, is no fan of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Start-Up NY program. Or the governor, for that matter. “His new law undermines market economics and promotes corporate socialism, in which profits are privatized and costs are socialized,” Johnston writes in a piece for City Newspaper in Rochester. “Cuomo’s plan redistributes wealth upwards, showing that he is no Democrat in the traditional sense that Democrats care about working people,” Johnston wrote. “Rather, Cuomo is part of the growing cadre of politicians whose success depends on[...]

Posted 11 years ago

May 4

2013

Q&A: Economist Craig Rogers

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Craig Rogers is an associate professor of economics at Canisius College. Beyond his academic credentials, he has a wealth of experience in urban economics thanks to his stints with the college’s Center for Entrepreneurship and  the Office of Urban Initiatives. Rogers, 47, is a native of Niagara Falls. He earned undergraduate degrees in economics and business administration from SUNY Brockport. Rogers earned a masters of business administration and doctorate in geography from the University at Buffalo. Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney interviewed Rogers on April 22. A 4 minute, 29 second video clip featuring the highlights of that interview is posted above. The full[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Apr 8

2013

Q&A: Mark Poloncarz

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  Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz has emerged as a leading critic of local economic development practices. Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney interviewed Poloncarz on April 2, 2013, to discuss his concerns in-depth.  _____________________________________ Heaney: We’re going to do a special focus today on economic development. I’ve been covering economic development in Buffalo for probably 15 years and it’s been a status quo environment. I’ve asked the county executive on it because you’ve really been a voice of reform that I really haven’t heard out of anybody in your position. There’s been some folks that have kind of talked a[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Apr 3

2013

Poloncarz slams “entitlement mentality” among local developers

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Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz decries “multi-multi-millionaires who feel they are entitled to do a project without paying one red cent in tax.” The expanded interview will air Saturday on WGRZ’s Daybreak. The full interview and transcript will post to this website over the weekend.

Posted 11 years ago

Apr 1

2013

Heaney talks subsidies on WBFO

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Investigative Post editor discusses the state of subsidy deals granted to developers, including Yahoo and the Buffalo Sabres, on his monthly installment of Press Pass.

Posted 11 years ago

Feb 15

2013

Details on Cuomo’s first Billion To Buffalo investment

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I’ve been reporting on economic development in this town for more than a decade and the way Andrew Cuomo and Co. plan on spending the first installment of the $1 billion they’ve pledged to revitalize the Buffalo area economy is like nothing I’ve ever seen. I mean this in a good way. Gov. Cuomo in December announced a state investment of $50 million to set up a drug research facility to attract Albany Molecular Research to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. State officials have refused to discuss details since then. Until now. Alain Kaloyeros, architect of the successful effort to[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Jan 27

2013

Q&A: Jordan Levy

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Jordan Levy is one of Western New York’s most successful entrepreneurs in recent times. He might be best known to local residents as the former chairman of the Erie Harbor Canal Development Corp., which is developing Canalside. He served in that capacity for four years before stepping down in 2011. During that time he first supported the controversial plan to construct a Bass Pro store in the inner-harbor then lead the EHCDC  in its embrace of a more popular approach dubbed “lighter, faster, cheaper.” Levy, 57, has enjoyed a long and successful career in the private sector. He is a general partner[...]

Posted 11 years ago
Investigative Post

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