According to State Comptroller Thomas Napoli’s 2022 report – New Yorkers in Need: A Look at Poverty Trends in New York State for the Last Decade | Office of the New York State Comptroller (ny.gov) – 40% of the children residing in the City of Buffalo live in poverty. That means that four out of every ten children in Buffalo lack adequate resources to meet basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter.

But Buffalo’s youth are not the only residents suffering. In 2019, 30.1% of the population of the “City of Good Neighbors,” or approximately 75,000 human beings, lived below the poverty line. [See U.S. Poverty Rate By City In 2021 (forbes.com.]

Only six other large U.S. cities have a higher poverty rate, including Rochester, NY. While the share of our neighboring city’s population living in poverty, 31.3%, is slightly higher than Buffalo’s, Rochester has been more successful at lowering its residents’ poverty rate. In the five-year period between 2014 and 2019, when Buffalo’s numbers barely budged from 30.9 to 30.1 percent, Rochester saw a meaningful 2.5% drop in its poverty rate, from 33.8 to 31.3%.   

Given these dismal statistics, it is disturbing to read Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s response to his selection as the next head of Western Regional Off-Track Betting.  As reported in the Buffalo News, Brown says he appreciates “the vote of confidence in me and my record of success as mayor of Buffalo.” [See Byron Brown selected as next head of Western Regional OTB (buffalonews.com).]

That sentiment is echoed in the mayor’s statement at the city’s website where Brown takes credit for Buffalo’s “renaissance” and calls Buffalo “a model for urban transformation” and “a city of opportunity for all residents.” [See Office of the Mayor | Buffalo, NY (buffalony.gov).]

It takes some chutzpah to boast of economic prosperity and opportunity for all given Buffalo’s poverty rate, which stood at 30.2% in 2010, the fourth year of Brown’s 18 years as the head of the city’s executive branch, and today continues to hover around 30 percent.

Of course, the city’s legislative body, the Common Council, must also take responsibility. It has rubberstamped virtually all of Brown’s policies, helping to perpetuate an economic environment where 75,000 Buffalonians live in poverty. 

The absence of legislative leadership is troubling given the City Charter’s mandate – at Chapter C, Article 4-5 – that the president of the Common Council be elevated to the position of acting mayor when a vacancy in the mayor’s office occurs. The current Council President, Christopher P. Scanlon, has been a staunch ally of Brown and appears equally oblivious to Buffalo’s persistently high poverty rate. 

Scanlon’s biography speaks vaguely of “passing legislation that supports and strengthens public safety and economic opportunity, with an emphasis on equity and inclusions.” His lack of vision is reflected in his boast that, “he has ensured that our City’s vulnerable populations are served through his sponsorship of free sports and reading camps.” [See Christopher P. Scanlon | Buffalo, NY (buffalony.gov).]

Buffalonians deserve new leadership that goes beyond the mediocrity of the Brown/Scanlon years and truly seeks to create prosperity for all its residents.