Buffalo City Hall’s “No Standing Any Time” Policy to Court Challenges

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on August 30, 2019
Posted in: City of Buffalo. Leave a comment

I’ve been trying to muster the energy and focus to write a post equating the City of Buffalo’s approach to fighting Article 78 proceedings and other judicial challenges – to Common Council, Planning Board, and Zoning Board of Appeals determinations – with the parking-related sign in front of City Hall:

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Or, perhaps, pen something pithy about the city’s efforts to erect “an impenetrable barrier to judicial scrutiny”:

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But, blame it on an end-of-summer-malaise, I can’t quite sustain my effort.

Maybe I’ll feel the burn – in a positive or negative fashion – once Justice Mark A. Montour renders his decision in Sack v. City of Buffalo Common Council & TM Montante Development LLC, NYS Supreme Court, Erie County, Index No. I-2019-000073, where, of course, the city joins the developer in asserting the affirmative defense of lack of standing.

[Full disclosure: I represent Elmwood Village resident and activist Daniel Sack, pro bono, in State Supreme Court, asking the court to annul the Buffalo Common Council’s April 16, 2019 creation of the Linwood Lafayette Urban Development Action Area as an unlawful use of Article 16 of the State’s General Municipal Law in order to bail out TM Montante Development LLC.]

Enjoy the long weekend.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

Fruit Belt’s embattled Civil War-era home is ripe for Article 16 tax relief and incentives

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on August 6, 2019
Posted in: City of Buffalo, Fruit Belt. Leave a comment

Forty years ago, New York’s legislature enacted General Municipal Law Article 16 – the “urban development action area act” – with one goal in mind: to provide enhanced tax exemptions to private businesses to encourage redevelopment of blighted and deteriorated city-owned property. [Here’s the statute’s text: GML Article 16 Sections 690-698 .]

Article 16 offers private developers two generous incentives:

(i) a twenty-year exemption from paying city real property taxes, with 100% tax exemption for the first ten years, and negotiable terms for the second decade [see GML Section 696]; and,

(ii) loans that can be automatically reduced to zero payments for up to 30 years if multiple dwellings are rehabilitated or constructed, and the owner complies with the terms of a negotiated regulatory agreement [see GML Section 696-a].

To be eligible for this financial assistance, the follow requirements must be met: the city-owned property must be blighted or deteriorated, or becoming so, and must have been acquired by the city through condemnation, tax foreclosure, or a similar process; the present status of the property must tend to impair or arrest the sound growth and development of the city; and, the enhanced tax incentives available through Article 16 must be necessary to enable a restoration project to be undertaken.

As described in an August 1, 2019 Buffalo News article, “Civil War-era home in Fruit Belt gets one last chance to avoid demolition,” the long-vacant Italianate residence at 204 High Street – known by preservationists and neighborhood activists as the Meidenbauer House – appears to perfectly meet Article 16’s criteria.

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DSCN7079.JPG [by AJG, 01-06-2016]

There is little time to waste. According to BN reporter Caitlin Dewey, “[This] battered, much-debated home in Buffalo’s Fruit Belt will fall to bulldozers this September unless city officials can find a buyer to salvage it.” The fate of this iconic Fruit Belt structure, it seems, depends on the will (whim?) of Common Council President – and Ellicott District Council Member – Darius Pridgen.

In April of this year, the Council President supported what I will charitably characterize as the “creative” use of Article 16 tax incentives to bail out financially-strapped TM Montante Development LLC at Gates Circle. [See my prior post.] During the Gates Circle proceedings, Mr. Pridgen expressly stated that he would like to see Article 16 financial assistance used in the Fruit Belt.

Well, here’s Council President Pridgen’s opportunity, if he has the will.

As reported in the August 1st newspaper article, a high-ranking (but, unidentified) city official told preservation groups that Pridgen “wants [204 High Street] demolished.” That sentiment might explain the tone of the Council President’s comment quoted in the recent Buffalo News article: “I am not shying away from the fact that if the building cannot be sold and cannot be rehabbed … then safety should trump preservation.”

Darius Pridgen is in a position – thanks to the many hats that he wears – to save the Meidenbauer House. To do so, he must place the importance of preserving this significant piece of Fruit Belt history above whatever political benefits he hopes to attain by removing this century-and-a-half old structure to make room for further advancement of the nearby medical campus.

Call on Mr. Pridgen to use his authority – as Council President, as the Councilmember in whose district 204 High Street is located, and as a director of the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency – to begin the process (if it hasn’t already commenced) of designating an “urban development action area” eligible to obtain Article 16 incentives. The UDAA should include, at a minimum, the Meidenbauer House parcel, as well as the two vacant city-owned lots at 206 and 208 High Street immediately adjoining the east property line of 204 High Street.

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Please don’t wait. Darius Pridgen can, theoretically, be reached at: (716) 851-4980; dpridgen@city-buffalo.com.

[Full disclosure: I am currently representing Elmwood Village resident and activist Daniel Sack, pro bono, in State Supreme Court, asking the court to annul the Buffalo Common Council’s April 16, 2019 creation of the Linwood Lafayette Urban Development Action Area as an unlawful use of Article 16 of the State’s General Municipal Law to bail out TM Montante Development LLC.]

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

Buffalo’s City Hall looks great from a distance…

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on July 31, 2019
Posted in: City of Buffalo, Corporate Welfare, Waterfront, WNY Photos. Leave a comment

I wish I could feel as good about City Hall – more specifically, the elected and appointed officials who set policy and directly impact the lives of Buffalo’ residents – as I do about the image of that grand structure from a distance.

Here are some recent photos I’ve taken while strolling the Erie Basin Marina.  Hope you enjoy them.

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With all due respect,

Art Giacalone

Betsy Ross 13-Star Flag at South Buffalo residence confirms Colin Kaepernick’s concerns

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on July 10, 2019
Posted in: South Buffalo. Leave a comment

First things first: The flag-related image that I find most offensive is that of Donald Trump hugging, kissing, and fondling the red-white-and-blue symbol of the USA.

Trump hugging flag detail

That being said, the recent controversy surrounding Nike’s decision to pull a special edition shoe with a 13-star flag on its heel, in response to concerns expressed by activist and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick that the image is offensive and tied to slavery, is both poignant and complex.

Nike's Betsy Ross flag shoe Nike’s Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July shoe

There’s a part of me that would like to push back against the usurpation of historic symbols – by hate groups and bigoted individuals – by obscuring whatever meaning they have imbued in the object by using/wearing/waving it myself. But I realize that such action by one 69-year-old Italian American male in Buffalo, New York would have miniscule impact, and might cause further offense, discomfort, and consternation.

So I won’t be lobbying for Nike to liberate the controversial shoe. But I will address hateful symbolism in my South Buffalo neighborhood.

While there may be doubts about whether Betsy Ross – an 18th-century Philadelphia seamstress – actually designed the 13-star flag, there is no uncertainty regarding Colin Kaepernick’s conclusion that the so-called “Betsy Ross flag” is being waved and worn by a segment of our society as a symbol of white supremacy. I’m confident that I have seen evidence supporting that conclusion a mere three blocks from my humble home.

IMG_1952 40 Indian Church Rd. (taken by AJG 07-08-2019)

For the past four years, I have observed an ever-changing front porch display at 40 Indian Church Road. The house is situated a short walk from Seneca Street and Cazenovia Park at the northwest corner of Parkview Avenue and Indian Church. While the dark brown, well-kept century-old residence may initially appear welcoming, the occupants’ choice of symbols and words reflect – in my opinion – the sentiments of bigots and white supremacists.

A day or so after the initial national coverage of Nike’s decision to pull its “Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July” shoe, the facade at 40 Indian Church suddenly displayed two large flags: the “Stars and Bars”, which sports three broad stripes and is the first national flag of the Confederate States of America, and the 13-star, 13-stripe “Betsy Ross” flag.

If I had not frquently walked by the corner of Indian Church and Parkview, I might have thought that the flag-hanger was trying to highlight the dissimilar aspects of the two flags, and the fact that they couldn’t be easily mistaken for one another. But I’m well aware of the series of flags and signs at 40 Indian Church Road that have defiled the neighborhood for years. And, I could also see the carefully arranged objects resting between the pair of 3’ by 5’ flags. With that information in hand, I do not hesitate to interpret the “Stars and Bars” and “Betsy Ross flag” display at 40 Indian Church as a glorification of an America where slavery was legal and the federal government’s power was insubstantial.

Nestled amongst the flowers and front-yard knick-knacks on July 8th was/is a cluster of three hand-held flags: the well-known Confederate battle flag (with the red field and diagonal dark blue cross and white stars), the German national flag, and the “Gadsden Flag” – a historical American Revolution flag with a yellow field depicting a coiled rattlesnake and the words “DON’T TREAD ON ME.” [The Gadsden flag is often described as an example of a historic symbol co-opted by groups such as the Tea Party and the white supremacists movement.] There also was/is a choo-choo train weather vane sporting a small Confederate battle flag.

Betsy Ross at 40 Indian Church detail

Kalendas 07-08-19 detail (taken by AJG 07-08-2019)

[Note: I first started noticing the DON’T TREAD ON ME proclamations a number of years ago planted in rural front yards in Wyoming County alongside anti-Obama, “Repeal the Safe Act” and anti-Cuomo signs.]

As I wrote here about two years ago [see https://withallduerespectblog.com/2017/08/21/buffalo-must-address-homegrown-bigotry/], 40 Indian Church Road and its pro-Confederacy displays are situated diagonally across the street from BEREA Church of God in Christ (C.O.G.I.C.) and its predominantly non-white attendees.  Although it is no longer in sight, there was a period of time when a sign with an image of cross-hairs unambiguously proclaimed, “WARNING – IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU ARE IN RANGE,” reinforcing the aggressive message of the multiple Confederate and “DON’T TREAD ON ME” flags.

DSCN8742 (taken by AJG Aug. 2017)

As recently as May 2019, 40 Indian Church Road simultaneously flaunted three large Confederate flags: the Confederate battle flag, the “Blood Stained Banner” (the third national flag of the Confederacy), and the “Stars and Bars.”

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A month-and-a-half earlier, a Confederate battle flag and flag of Germany were joined by a banner that frequently is on display at 40 Indian Church Road, a Texas “COME AND TAKE IT” flag with a white field, a black star, and the silhouette of an M4 AR15 machine gun. This defiant proclamation is an updated version of a flag used in 1831, at the first battle of the Texas Revolution against Mexico, which contained the phrase “Come And Take It” and depicted a black star and a small cannon.

IMG_0940 (taken by AJG 03-20-2019)

When not displaying Confederate flags, or co-opting provocative symbols from the past, the residents of 40 Indian Church Road have expressed their support for an individual viewed by many as a racist and white supremacist, Donald J. Trump:

Trump flag at 40 Indian Church (taken by AJG 10-24-2016)

I have chosen not to interact with the residents at 40 Indian Church Road when I walk or bicycle by.  I’m not particularly proud of that fact, but I don’t see myself as the appropriate person to initiate a meaningful discussion. But it would be fascinating to hear a conversation between Colin Kaepernick and the folk who live at 40 Indian Church Road on the issues raised by “the Nike controversy.”  Or, on a more practical level, it might be a useful step forward if a community leader were to reach out and facilitate a discussion between the person or persons who “speak” through the flags displayed at 40 Indian Church Road and the leaders and churchgoers at BEREA C.O.G.I.C.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

P.S. I wonder if this is a topic that could be raised with the organizers of the 100th Year Centennial celebration promoted in the banner currently above the church’s front door:

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Summery Photos of the Outer Harbor’s Southern Half, Really

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on July 1, 2019
Posted in: Christopher Scanlon, City of Buffalo, Gerald A. Buchheit Jr., Green Code, South Buffalo, Waterfront, WNY Photos. Leave a comment

I’ve been trying to write a post about Buffalo’s Common Council for days now.  But focusing on the ways such an uninspiring legislative body functions is, well, depressing.  To boot, summer weather has finally arrived in Western New York.

So, I’m going to embrace the suggestion from a trusted friend and sometime “guardian angel.”  Rather than pen another gloomy post involving Council President Darius Pridgen, South District Council Member Chris Scanlon, or Delaware District’s Joel Feroleto, etc., I will  share some photographs that I took on the sunny and breezy final day of June, 2019 along Buffalo’s shoreline.

But, first, I must split a hair.

My environmental allies, the fishing public, the media, State officials, the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC), and virtually every knowledgeable and sensible WNY’er that I’ve encountered, would agree that the pictures that follow were snapped on my trek around the southern portion of Buffalo’s Outer Harbor.

However, the City of Buffalo’s Common Council, at the recommendation of Mayor Byron Brown’s Office of Strategic Planning, excluded from the definition of the “Outer Harbor” contained in the “Green Code” [officially, Uniform Development Ordinance] everything south of the former Ford complex (Terminal A and Terminal B).  In doing so, our esteemed legislators have excluded, from the protections of criteria intended to protect the Outer Harbor from inappropriate future development, the following:  the former Freezer-Queen parcel (where Gerry Buchheit may or may not still wish to construct a 23-story glass-and-steel tower), the Small Boat Harbor,  Buffalo Harbor State Park, Gallagher Beach, the Tifft Street Pier, etc.  [Note:  Here’s how the city in its proposed LWRP, the ECHDC, and State DEC, interpreted the boundaries of the Outer Harbor prior to Mr. Buchheit’s proposed Queen City Landing tower at the former Freezer-Queen site:  Outer Harbor defined by LWRP-ECHDC-DEC.]

In other words, the enlightened world will think of the following photos as images of Our Outer Harbor.  I hope you’ll enjoy them:

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And, here are my favorite images for what you will not see – the proposed 23-story tower!

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With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone 

P.S.  Please contact Buffalo’s Common Council Members (especially South District Councilman Christopher Scanlon), as well as the Mayor’s office, and insist that the Green Code be amended immediately to include ALL of the Outer Harbor in the “Outer Harbor boundaries” as defined at Section 5.3.3C(1)(a) of the Uniform Development Ordinance.  Thank you.

Half-and-Half’s façade falls on Elmwood Avenue’s Shaken Block

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on June 25, 2019
Posted in: Chason Affinity, Elmwood Village. 1 Comment

[Full disclosure: For nearly a decade, I represented and assisted in various ways residents and property owners on Granger Place and Forest Avenue fighting to preserve the character of their historic Elmwood Village neighborhood, and prevent the demolition of the buildings at the corner of Elmwood and Forest avenues.]

It has been a rough year-and-a-half on the block of Elmwood Avenue between Forest and Bird that developers and the media have often referred to as “The Gateway” to the Elmwood Village.

First, near the end of December 2017, eleven century-old structures at the southeast corner of Elmwood and Forest were demolished to make way for Chason Affinity’s “1111 Elmwood Avenue” mixed-use project.  This destructive dismantling of a highly intact historic neighborhood occurred despite the stern warnings expressed in a December 2016 letter from New York State’s Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).  Notably, the state’s premier preservation agency advised the City of Buffalo that Chason Affinity’s demolition plans would “adversely impact” the Elmwood (East) and (West) Historic Districts, and that the “monumental scale” of the new complex would dwarf the surrounding area, eliminate the rhythm of the existing streetscape, and impose visual impacts that would clearly and demonstrably alter the setting and environment of the Elmwood Village.

Neither Chason Affinity, nor Delaware District Council Member Joel Feroleto, were moved.

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Then, a horrific early-morning fire at 1074 Elmwood Avenue on May 7, 2019 not only destroyed a residential building, but tragically took the life of a 55-year-old tenant, Curtis Brown.

The latest misfortune – while insignificant when compared to the May 7th blaze – occurred around 1:00 PM today, June 25, 2019.  A major portion of the façade at 1086-1088 Elmwood Avenue – home of the Half & Half boutique and Parkway Hair salon – collapsed and tumbled to the sidewalk on a beautiful and sunny summer afternoon.  Fortunately, as reported in the media, no passers-by or individuals inside the commercial and residential structure were injured when the façade suddenly failed.

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I happened to be walking down Elmwood in the direction of Forest Avenue not long after the debris landed on the sidewalk, so I was able to take the photographs inserted above.  Ironically, the purpose of my stroll was to check out the current status of the Chason Affinity project.  I certainly didn’t expect to see another unfortunate event on this gateway block.

As of the 6 PM newscast on WIVB-TV, the cause of the façade collapse was still being investigated.  A woman identified as the owner of the building – Kilby Bronstein – told the reporter that the building’s roof was new, and that she was relieved that no one was hurt.  An April 2017 story on-line refers to Jennifer and Kilby Bronstein as the new owners of Half & Half boutique.

Debra Sidel, the prior owner of Half & Half and the 1086-1088 Elmwood building, was a staunch supporter of Chason Affinity’s demolition plans and massive Elmwood Avenue complex.  She voluntarily provided a sworn affidavit to the developer in support of a lawsuit that extinguished deed restrictions (dating from 1892) which had prohibited construction of any commercial structure at the southeast corner of Elmwood and Forest.  [According to City of Buffalo property information, Ms. Sidel sold 1086-1088 Elmwood Avenue on January 19, 2016 for $575,000.00 to Brockport Land Associates, LLC.]

By the way, Chason Affinity’s project is being constructed diagonally across the street from 1086-1088 Elmwood Avenue and its broken façade.  [Note:  1086-1088 Elmwood was built in 1915.]  I’m certainly not a structural engineer, and it may just be a coincidence, but I can’t help but wonder:  Did any of the substantial demolition, excavation, or construction activities in furtherance of the “1111 Elmwood Avenue” development shake the ground or otherwise adversely impact the structural integrity of the home of Half & Half boutique?  Just asking.

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With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

Maritime Charter appears to have abandoned plans for a Buffum Street high school

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on May 24, 2019
Posted in: Christopher Scanlon, City of Buffalo, Native American, South Buffalo. 2 Comments

It has been a year-long battle.  [See, for example, Giacalone v. WNYMCS – Verified Petition ]   But it looks as if a quiet South Buffalo neighborhood – and ancient indigenous burial grounds – will not be encroached upon by a three-story high school building and 24,000-square-foot athletic facility.

I was told today that Western New York Maritime Charter School has signed a contract to purchase the former Buffalo Public School No. 29 facility at 2219 South Park Avenue from South Buffalo Charter School.  The parties have yet to determine a closing date.

IMG_1441 2219 South Park Ave.

It is not clear whether Maritime plans to use the South Park Avenue building solely as its high school (which is currently located on Genesee Street near downtown Buffalo), or as both its high school and middle school.  The 2219 South Park facility, at 63,795 square feet, has approximately the same gross floor area as the three-story high school building Maritime proposed to construct adjacent to the existing Buffum Street middle school.

For the past two years, Maritime’s middle school has been operating at 102 Buffum Street in South Buffalo, a few blocks from Seneca Street.  The Buffum Street community has not opposed Maritime’s middle school, which comfortably fits the scale and intensity of the building’s historic use as Buffalo Public School No. 70.

  DSCN9653 102 Buffum Street

In contrast, Maritime’s expansion plans for a high school and athletic building have met substantial resistance – by residents at the Common Council’s June 2018 public hearing, in two legal proceedings brought in State Supreme Court, and by various indigenous activists.  The location chosen by Maritime for its expansion plans created two major concerns.

The existing Buffum Street school is surrounded on the south, east and west by one-story and two-story residences (on Buffum and Silverdale Place), and on the north by an undeveloped field which borders the rear yards of single-family homes on Zittel Avenue.  The narrow, quiet residential streets surrounding former School No. 70 were not meant to accommodate the traffic and activities associated with a high school.  Maritime’s planned expansion threatened the character of the existing neighborhood, and the ability of nearby residents to peacefully enjoy their homes.

DSCN9642 Buffum St. homes

Of equal (if not greater) importance, the 102 Buffum Street parcel is located within an area designated “archeologically sensitive” by the State Historic Preservation Office [SHPO].  It played an important role historically as the site of the Buffalo Creek Reservation’s Mission House (school), and is situated within a couple hundred feet of the Seneca Indian Park.  Additionally, the 102 Buffum Street parcel and surrounding area is considered sacred by Seneca and other indigenous peoples as the site of ancient burial grounds.

DSCN9588 Seneca Indian Park

Initially, Maritime and city officials, including, significantly, Councilmember Christopher Scanlon, chose to disregard the potential harm the expansion plans posed to archeological and historic resources.  However, this past September, Maritime hired an archeological firm, Panamerican Consultants, Inc., to conduct what is known as a “Phase 1A” archeological investigation of the project site.

I’m not a mind reader, but it appears that the results of the archeological study may have convinced Maritime to abandon its plans to construct its high school and athletic facility at 102 Buffum Street, and to search for other options.  If my assumption is correct, and Maritime has decided, at a minimum, to move its high school to the South Park Avenue address, I feel it will be a WIN-WIN situation for all involved:

First, human remains will not be desecrated, or archeological resources adversely impacted, by development at the Buffum Street site.

Second, while the 102 Buffum Street site is on a narrow residential street, surrounded by homes, and three blocks from Seneca Street’s commercial strip, 2219 South Park Avenue is located on a major street and bus route with adjoining commercial activities:

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Third, in contrast to 102 Buffum Street (where the undeveloped area is sloped, has substantial drainage problems, and could not be readily used for recreational activities), 2219 South Park is adjacent to a city park with ballfields, basketball courts, and playground facilities:

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I look forward to the official announcement of Maritime charter school’s purchase of the 2219 South Park Avenue facility, and its plans for Buffum Street.  And, I wish them well!

With all due respect,

Art Giacalone