Buffalo News

BuffNews Editorials Helped Enable Cuomo and Albany’s Corrupt Environment

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on August 17, 2021
Posted in: Andrew Cuomo, Buffalo News, Political Corruption, Zephyr Teachout. Leave a comment

Within days of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement that he would resign his post as New York State’s chief executive, the Buffalo News ran an editorial describing the atmosphere in our state’s capital as “an environment long drenched in corruption and entitlement.”  As I read the opinion piece, I was struck by its hypocrisy, and crafted a letter-to-the-editor in response. 

Not surprisingly, my 300-word submission has not seen the light of day, and will almost certainly not be published in the newspaper’s “Everybody’s Column.”  I’d like to share my thoughts with the readers of this blog.  Here’s my L-T-E.  to which I’ve added links to the editorials referenced in it, and an image or two:

August 12, 2021

Dear Editor,

This newspaper’s August 11, 2021 editorial – with its August 12th print-version headline, “Fixing Albany” – states that a change in Albany’s culture will come “by virtue of the ethics and good sense of its elected leaders.”  Ironically, the positions expressed by the editorial board and staff of the Buffalo News during Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tenure in office have contributed to our state’s environment of corruption.

[Gov. Cuomo’s ironic slogan, “Restoring Public Trust”]

In July 2014, an editorial characterized the Governor’s efforts to hinder the activities of the Moreland Commission – an entity he established to investigate corruption in Albany – as “not just disappointing,” but “shameful.”   A mere three months later, the editorial staff endorsed Cuomo’s re-election, calling him “surely the best friend Western New York has ever had in the governor’s office.”  While sheepishly admitting, “we wish he had handled the Moreland Commission issue better,” such transgressions were forgiven given the Governor’s “remarkable focus” on rebuilding WNY’s economy through the Buffalo Billion.

Both the 2014 and 2021 editorials recognize that merely “swimming” in Albany’s “polluted waters” encourages unethical and self-serving behavior.  Nonetheless, in August 2014 the editorial page set aside its customary practice of not making endorsements in primary elections to urge voters to choose Cuomo over Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout.  While Teachout – one of our nation’s leading experts on corruption – was described as thoughtful, energetic, and interesting, she was dismissed by the editorial staff as “a political novice.”   

[Zephyr Teachout at 2014 fundraiser in East Aurora]

In July 2018, the editorial board attempted to distance the Governor from the “Buffalo Billion scandal” following the conviction of two Cuomo allies, Louis Ciminelli and Alain Kaloyeros.  Acknowledging that the convictions “will become fair game” for gubernatorial candidates later that year, the opinion piece proclaimed:  “But it’s important to draw a distinction between valuable economic development and the corruption that may come to play.

I strongly disagree.  Economic ends never justify a politician’s unethical means.

Sincerely,

Arthur J. Giacalone

Thanks for reading my piece.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

Buffalo News’ flawed and biased journalism – who is watching the “watchdog”?

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on July 26, 2021
Posted in: Buffalo News, Byron Brown, City of Buffalo, India Walton. Leave a comment

The Buffalo News displayed its flawed and biased journalism – and willingness to engage in junkyard-dog politics – with its July 19 through 21 articles aimed at undermining India Walton’s mayoral campaign.

Under the ironic caption, “Buffalo News Watchdog,” the newspaper splashed across the top of its June 20, 2021 front page the following headline:

Drug complaint probed at Walton’s apartment in ’18 – Man who stayed at house did time for selling coke

Not only does the ambiguous subheading imply a non-existent link between the 2018 “drug complaint” at the mayoral candidate’s former apartment and the cocaine conviction, it is not until the third paragraph of the article that readers are told that the police found no evidence of drugs being sold at Walton’s house, and that neither India Walton, nor the “man who stayed at [her] house,” were charged with any crime.  [The on-line version of the article, was published July 19, 2021 under the tamer headline, “Mayoral candidate Walton left rental in ’18 after landlord accused friend of dealing drugs from house.“]

This sensationalized “story” was based on the allegations of a landlord “who did not want his name used,” who admits that he never saw drugs or drug activities at the house, and who based his concerns on the word of an unnamed “lady next door.”  Most significantly, as noted above, the police reports obtained by the Buffalo News “do not indicate that police had proof of drugs being sold in Walton’s home.”

In a nutshell, proof of any wrongdoing by India Walton is totally absent.  And, the public has no way of knowing what if any connections may exist between the anonymous landlord and Byron Brown.  In such a situation, an unbiased and responsible news organization would not have published the original article.

But, irresponsible accusations and innuendo have a life of their own.  Equivocation by Erie Democratic Party Chairman Jeremy J. Zellner, regarding the Democratic party’s continued support of Ms. Walton’s campaign, provided the Buffalo News the opportunity to print a second story on July 21, 2021.  This time the headline adorned the top of its local section:  “Dems mull questions over Walton friend – Zellner to weigh input on party’s ‘concerns’.”  The article that followed began in an intentionally eye-catching fashion:  “An allegation of drug activity at a house rented by Democratic mayoral nominee India B. Walton three years ago cast new perspective on her campaign…”

Zellner, as Democratic Party chairman, should have expressed outrage at the Buffalo News for its irresponsible front page accusations against the winner of the Democratic primary for the Mayor of Buffalo.  City of Buffalo residents deserve stronger and more forceful leadership than what the chairman exhibited this past week.

The biggest problem we have in Western New York, however – if we wish to see a fair and honest mayoral campaign – is the reality that our region’s self-appointed “watchdog” needs a watchdog of its own.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

India Walton’s values will open City Hall to its residents

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on July 12, 2021
Posted in: B-N Medical Campus, Buffalo News, Byron Brown, City of Buffalo, Fruit Belt, Gentrification, Green Code, Nadine Marrero, TM Montante Development. Leave a comment

[The Buffalo News published this article in its “Another Voice” column on-line on July 12, 2021, and in the July 13, 2021 print version of the newspaper.  The two versions are not identical, with each eliminating portions of my original submission.  I will provide the full version of my piece below, using burnt orange text for the portion missing from the on-line version in the BN, and green for the sentences eliminated in the print version.  I will also add a few supporting links below.]

https://buffalonews.com/opinion/another-voice-india-walton-s-values-will-open-city-hall-to-its-residents/article_5c215b70-e31d-11eb-a037-d71562707eb9.html

Another Voice: India Walton’s values will open City Hall to its residents  

  • Arthur J. Giacalone

Mayor Byron Brown recently told the Buffalo News editorial board of his desire “to make Buffalo one of the best post-pandemic places to live, work, raise a family and invest.” His write-in campaign speaks of “the incredible momentum and progress his administration has achieved.”

The numbers don’t support such a rosy assessment of the four-term mayor’s accomplishments.

For most Americans, homeownership is the primary form of investment. Nationwide, nearly 64% of residents own their homes. The percentage of homeowners in Buffalo has decreased steadily from an already-low 45% in 2010, to 40.7% in 2019. In other words, nearly three of five residents in the city where Brown has been mayor since 2006 are renters.  

In 2019, 30.1% of Buffalonians were living in what the federal government defines as poverty, a rate nearly three times that of our nation as a whole. White, non-Hispanics constitute more than a quarter of Buffalo’s poor.

Most troubling, Buffalo has the second highest percentage of childhood poverty of all major American cities, 43.4%. Only Cleveland’s rate is higher. In 2005, the year prior to Brown becoming the city’s chief executive, the child poverty rate was “only” 37.5%. In 2016, six cities had a higher percentage of their youth living in poverty than Buffalo. Five of those six mayors found ways to improve their standing.

These disturbing trends have occurred during Brown’s tenure despite – or, perhaps, as a result of – his administration’s stridently pro-developer perspective.

India Walton’s platform is centered on people, and a belief that housing, health care, healthy food and a quality education are basic human rights. Her energies will not be spent concocting ways to provide tens of millions of dollars of tax abatements to politically connected developers, as the Brown administration did when it attempted to bail out a distressed private developer by declaring the Gates Circle area “blighted.”

Economic development under Walton will focus on neighborhood-driven projects. She will not ignore the harmful aspects of gentrification that have burdened the residential streets adjoining the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Her administration will not encourage project sponsors to circumvent the standards established in Buffalo’s Green Code.

Most importantly, Buffalo’s iconic City Hall will no longer be hostile toward its residents. Communities will be provided tools to help establish ground-up neighborhood planning efforts. Affordable housing will be championed, and Walton will not be dissuaded by the corporate elite from proposing mandatory inclusionary housing laws that require developers to set aside a set percent of units in new or refurbished buildings for lower-rent apartments.

Lastly, the 60% of Buffalonians who rent their homes will no longer be left out of the zoning and planning process. Working with the Common Council, the Walton administration will amend the provision in Brown’s Green Code that mails public hearing notices to absentee landlords, but not to tenants.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

I’m no Red Jacket, but…

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on May 29, 2021
Posted in: Buffalo News, Native American, South Buffalo, White Privilege. 1 Comment

The May 29, 2021 print version of the Buffalo News includes an article that I had sent to them for its “first-person column” it calls MY VIEW.  Here’s a link to the on-line version.  I like the heading they chose to use, “Red Jacket’s values still resonate today,” and I am truly grateful to the newspapers for printing my piece.   But, I have one major disappointment.  The printed newspaper – the column seen by the most eyes – omits the following sentence:  “…The media vilified us, showing little regard for the protection of cultural artifacts and Native American beliefs….”  I had chosen those words carefully, purposely not identifying the source of the condemnation.  What follows is an annotated version of my article, with some images added.  When you arrive at the deleted sentence, you will find a link to the primary “media” attack.  I think you can guess the source.

Red Jacket’s values still resonate today

No one would mistake this Italian-American lawyer with the famous Seneca, Red Jacket.

I can’t speak of ancestors whose knowledge and respect for this land extend back millennia.  [See my maternal grandparents’ 1920 marriage certificate.]

I’m no orator.  A judge once exclaimed that I wasn’t eloquent enough to change his mind.

No U.S. president has ever bestowed a peace medal on me, although a local publication named me Western New York’s “Best Gadfly.”

Red Jacket and I were, nonetheless, both born along the Genesee River (although two centuries apart).  And, we both chose to spend our later years near what the City of Buffalo now calls the Seneca Indian Park on Buffum Street in South Buffalo.  It is the latter coincidence that creates a connection between me and the Seneca spokesman.

The “Seneca Indian Park” – 1.6 acres of serenity, mature trees and gently sloping lawn – is an ancient burial ground, and part of a Seneca village that served as the heart of the Buffalo Creek reservation.  Red Jacket adamantly proclaimed that he never wanted to leave the village – not even upon his death.  Keeping with his final wishes, he was buried in 1830 beneath a large walnut tree at the west end of the current park.

Saturday Morning Shadows at Seneca Indian Park 04-24-21

Red Jacket was an ardent traditionalist and protector of Seneca culture, skeptical of both Christian missionaries and land speculators.  I share his views.  When I discovered in 2018 that a Buffalo developer and local charter school wanted to build a high school and gymnasium on Buffum Street, a hundred yards from the park, I investigated the project.  The State’s historic preservation office had classified the land “archeologically sensitive” due to its proximity to the old burial grounds and Seneca village.  [See SHPO 06-19-18 letter re 102 Buffum]  The city officials and developer didn’t care, and approved the project without investigating the adverse impacts on cultural and archeological resources.

Two neighbors and I challenged the expansion in court.  [See Giacalone v. WNYMCS – Petition] The media vilified us, showing little regard for the protection of cultural artifacts and Native American beliefs. [E.g., see BuffNews 08-17-2018 editorial.] Fortunately, the charter school’s administration decided to hire an archeological firm to study the issues we had raised.  The consultants agreed that the project area is “very sensitive for archaeological resources,” and the charter school located its high school elsewhere.

Red Jacket would not be surprised that this positive result required a fight.  His skepticism was justified and prophetic.  Despite his final wishes, his remains were removed from the Buffum Street site and reinterred near a monument at Forest Lawn Cemetery.  Ironically, the following words of the great orator are memorialized there:

“When I am gone and my warnings are no longer heeded, the craft and avarice of the white man shall prevail.  My heart fails me when I think of my people, who are soon to be scattered and forgotten.”

Red Jacket's When I Am Gone quote

His people were scattered 12 years after his death by the “Treaty of 1842.”  But, as highlighted by the  May 17th ceremony in Salamanca honoring the return of Red Jacket’s Peace Medal to the Seneca Nation, his people have not been forgotten.  They continue their fight for the sovereignty reflected in the 1792 symbol of peace.

Red Jacket medal - front sni IMG_8088

A hopeful note.  On the day after the repatriation celebration, a group of the charter school’s students were visiting the Seneca Indian Park.  Their teacher proudly assured me that this multi-racial group had been taught the history of the site, and the importance of respecting the culture and beliefs of all peoples.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

Common Council should forgo appeal of Justice Montour’s Order annulling its “blighted Gates Circle” resolution

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on December 30, 2020
Posted in: Buffalo News, Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency, Byron Brown, City of Buffalo, Corporate Welfare, Development. 1 Comment

I am posting below my op-ed published in the Buffalo News’ Another Voice column – online on 12/29/20, and in print 12/30/20 – under the headline, “Common Council needs to apply common sense to Gates Circle.”  I greatly appreciate its publication.  This posting will add some links and images not possible in the Another Voice column.

Another Voice: Common Council needs to apply common sense to Gates Circle –

By Arthur J. Giacalone

For the second time in just over a year, State Supreme Court Justice Mark A. Montour has told Buffalo’s Common Council that it acted contrary to law, and in an arbitrary and capricious manner, when it voted to create a special economic zone – the “Linwood Lafayette Urban Development Action Area” [LLUDAA] – at the former Millard Fillmore Hospital’s Gates Circle site.

The goal of Buffalo’s legislative body is to provide enhanced tax abatements and financial assistance to TM Montante Development LLC, so the Tonawanda company can proceed with its long-stalled plans to develop the former hospital site. But the judge twice has made it clear, in November 2019 and on Dec. 17, 2020, that the obscure state law the City Hall officials are attempting to use, General Municipal Law Section 691, has a narrow purpose: to provide an extra incentive to private developers to correct or prevent blight and deterioration of city-owned property that is “appropriate for urban development.” It is not meant as a handout to a private developer in over its head.  [Click here for Justice Montour’s Nov. 16, 2019 Decision; and the Court’s ORDER granted 12-17-2020.]

The News’ editorial board called Montour’s 2019 decision “a victory for common sense.” To designate the Gates Circle site an “Urban Development Action Area,” the Common Council had to declare that the Gates Circle location is at significant risk of deterioration and blight and will continue to be substandard, unsanitary, deteriorated or deteriorating without the UDAA.

Montour exercised judicial restraint when characterizing as “curious” the legislators’ branding of this prominent area a slum. This newspaper’s editorial was equally understated when suggesting that “it takes a vivid imagination to see devastation in that corner of the city,” which sits in the midst of such a vibrant and affluent neighborhood.

A-3 NW corner Delaware-Lancaster 04-03-19

A-7 Canterbury Woods at Gates Circle 04-03-19

Equally “creative” were the gymnastics used by Buffalo’s elected officials to meet the state law’s requirement that 60% of the land included within the special district be deteriorated city-owned property appropriate for redevelopment. To reach the 60% threshold, the legislators placed portions of Delaware and Lafayette avenues and Gates Circle itself in the UDAA, treating the public rights of way as land that could be appropriately redeveloped for non-public use.

Linwood Lafayette UDAA map LLUDAA Map – Pink area is land owned by City of Buffalo; Blue area land owned by TM Montante

A-5 Gates Circle viewed from S. 04-03-19

The city and developer have now had two opportunities to convince the court that the LLUDAA is legal. They have failed. Before making its decision to appeal the recent ruling (and, it is their decision, not the mayor’s or department of law’s), the Common Council must objectively reassess the legality – and common sense – of pursuing the UDAA designation.

Admittedly, there are two potential barriers to the Common Council taking the sensible path. The default mode for human beings is to avoid admitting when a mistake has been made. It may also be difficult to receive an objective assessment from the city’s law department. The city’s lawyers serve at the pleasure of a mayor who wants TM Montante to receive the enhanced assistance.

Nonetheless, the integrity of our legislative body is at stake.

Arthur J. Giacalone is the attorney who represented the resident who challenged the LLUDAA designation, Daniel R. Sack.

**Please contact your Common Council member and ask him to not appeal Justice Montour’s December 17, 2020 annulment of the LLUDAA resolution.**

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

“Frequent Critics” Needed at Buffalo City Hall

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on October 3, 2020
Posted in: B-N Medical Campus, Buffalo News, City of Buffalo, Development, Environmental Justice, Fruit Belt, Gentrification, Green Code, Jonathan D. Epstein, Zoning Law. 2 Comments

Foolish me.

I actually was optimistic on September 19 when I emailed the letter inserted below to the “Everybody’s Column” at the Buffalo News – the publication’s letter-to-the-editor (LTE) section. Despite expression of pessimism by a number of friends and fellow advocates, I believed that the editorial staff would publish my concerns about the chilling effect the newspaper’s approach to reporting zoning matters has on citizen’s willingness to voice their opinions at public hearings. My friends were correct.

So the only way “the world” will get to read my LTE is by publishing it on this humble platform. Here it is:

“September 19, 2020

Re:  Chilling effect on public’s expression of concerns

Dear Everybody’s Column,

The Buffalo News is a staunch advocate of the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of the press.  For that I am grateful.  I only wish they were as vigilant in protecting and encouraging two other freedoms assured in the same constitutional provision:  freedom of speech and the right of the people to petition their government.

When business reporter Jonathan Epstein writes about proposed development projects at Buffalo city hall, he never tells the public that the developers’ attorneys  – such as Marc Romanowski, Adam Walters, and Sean Hopkins – are repeatedly asking the zoning board for variances from the zoning code to allow their clients to build projects significantly out-of-scale and character from the structures allowed under the Green Code.  Their constant repetition of the same one note goes unmentioned.

In sharp contrast, Mr. Epstein finds it noteworthy to advise this newspaper’s readers that members of the public – such as Dan Sack, Lorna Peterson, and myself – who appear at public hearings and raise concerns about the proposals before the zoning or planning board, or Common Council, are “frequent critics” of development projects.  Those words are not meant as a compliment.

And it’s not just a reporter using this characterization.

The Buffalo News editorial board published an opinion piece two years ago in support of plans by a Buffum Street charter school to construct a high school building and gymnasium on land considered sacred by Native American tribes.  That editorial attempted to disparage the concerns that I was raising on behalf of two neighbors by describing me as “a frequent critic of development projects.”

This newspaper’s approach has a chilling effect on the willingness of residents and taxpayers to stand up in public to voice their opinions to their government officials.   It should be championing such action.

Sincerely, Arthur Giacalone“

It has been an exhausting week or two, so I’ll keep the remainder of this post short (at least, for me), hoping that a picture or two really is better than a thousand words.

Here’s the first picture:

A Site model – to scale – of The Lawrence facing Maple St., and the 8 residences on Maple.

And here’s a short version of the story.

On June 17, 2020, the Zoning Board of the City of Buffalo [ZBA] – despite strong opposition voiced by the three “frequent critics” mentioned in my unpublished LTE – approved 14 variances for “The Lawrence.” That development – proposed by Symphony Property Management LLC and Michigan Re-Dev LL – is a 133-unit, 4- to 5-story tall, 254-foot long, 129,072-square foot apartment “building” (I’m using quotation marks because it doesn’t look like a single building to my weary eyes).

Plans are to cram the The Lawrence onto what had been 15 parcels of land straddling Michigan Avenue (across the road from the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus) and Maple Street, a small-scale residential street in the predominantly low-income, African American “Fruit Belt” neighborhood.

Map of Fruit Belt/Medical Campus area. “The Lawrence” site is proposed for the block north of Carlton and south of High Street.

Too lazy (or, perhaps, too embarrassed) to vote for each deviation from the “Green Code” separately, the variances – many of them indisputably substantial – were adopted on one motion. A majority of the ZBA [kudos to the two dissenting members, Bernice Radle and Thomas Dearing] convinced themselves that the project was not out-of-scale or character with the adjoining residential neighborhood, and that any potential harm had been mitigated by changes by the developer’s architectural team to the Maple Street facade. Here’s the developer’s rendering of what I think of as “lipstick” being applied to the proverbial “hog”:

I happen to think that the ZBA should pay more attention to the concerns of the “frequent critics.” Do you agree?

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

Living the high life at Buchheit Village

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on February 22, 2020
Posted in: Buffalo News, City of Buffalo, Development, Gerald A. Buchheit Jr., Jonathan D. Epstein, South Buffalo, Waterfront. Leave a comment

Gerald Buchheit is the “main man” at Queen City Landing. [It’s a limited liability company, so we don’t know who he is or isn’t partnering with these days.]

It was less than three months ago that Buchheit’s spokesperson, Phil Pantano, was quoted in the Buffalo News claiming that “Jerry” had used the two years since the city’s 2016/2017 approvals for his 23-story tower “… to really review and refine his vision and plan for the project.” Then, a couple weeks later, on December 4, 2019, Buffalo’s Common Council was sent a Letter of Intent [LOI] by Mr. Buchheit’s counsel, Adam Walters, admitting that (despite two years of reviewing and refining his vision) Queen City Landing had zero plans for the rear 12-acres of the 20-acre Fuhrmann Boulevard site:

“… Any future redevelopment of the remaining approximately 12 acres of the site will be designed and progressed on market demand in a way that furthers QCL’s overall redevelopment goals consistent with the PUD.  However, at this time, no further redevelopment plans for the site have been developed.”  [Emphasis added.]

The same admissions were made on behalf of QCL/Buchheit at January 2020 proceedings – in furtherance of Queen City Landing’s flawed PUD application – before the City Planning Board and the Common Council’s Legislation Committee.

But now – just a month or so later – we all are asked to believe that Mr. Buchheit and his team have a sincere, carefully crafted, and doable “master plan” for the entire 20-acre QCL site. Why, we have even been provided a rendering of what Jim Fink and Business First Buffalo say is Buchheit’s intention “to create a village” (with a $180M price tag):

QCL's rendering total new proposal                              [a/k/a “Buchheit Village”]

The Buffalo News recently reported on this latest iteration of Mr. Buchheit’s “vision” for the former Freezer Queen site. Here’s how the BN’s business reporter, Jonathan D. Epstein, describes Mr. Buchheit and his plans:

The developer behind the controversial Queen City Landing residential tower on the Outer Harbor is doubling-down on his bet, proposing two more six-story apartment buildings and a cluster of 32 townhouses on the rest of the peninsula that juts into the water.

Gerald Buchheit, whose pending proposal for a 20-story building is still mired in controversy, now says he wants to add two more phases to the project, located at 975 Fuhrmann Blvd.

His concept would ultimately add another 178 apartments – on top of the 206 he already plans in the first phase – along with additional restaurants, terraces and parking, according to documents that Buchheit has submitted to the city.                                                             …

But I really don’t think the Buffalo News, or the Queen City Landing website, provides anyone who might be curious about the proposed project the full picture.  So I wrote a letter to the editor, and my tongue-in-cheek musings were included in the February 22, 2020 print version of our region’s largest newspaper under the headline, “Queen City Landing is not the gem it seems.”

If you’re interested n reading my “Everybody’s column” submission, I’m inserting it below – with the title I had proposed – and adding links to various assertions that I make.

Living the high life at Buchheit Village

Dear Editor,

WANTED: 384 adventurous renters and condominium owners to live in “Buchheit Village” on Buffalo’s Outer Harbor. The views are great, and you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of extras:

First, impress your friends by pointing to your home on FEMA’s flood plain maps and bragging about the “Special Flood Hazard Area” designation.  See. FEMA FIRMETTE QCL-Small Boat Harbor Area Site_Specific[22528] (You might refrain from telling them about the sky-high annual premium for your mandatory flood insurance policy.)

Second, when the meteorologists warn that a wind-driven, 8- 12- or 15-foot wall of water or seiche will be crushing the Lake Erie shoreline, invite your friends over to hunker down with you and experience the awesome power of nature.

[Here’s how Our Outer Harbor‘s website describes the recent “seiche” activity along Buffalo’s Outer Harbor:

Lake Erie Seiche

A seiche is like a tsunami, except that it is not caused by an earthquake. Lake Erie is shaped like a bathtub. Storms from the west push the water toward the east (Buffalo) and this causes a rise in water levels at the eastern end of Lake Erie. Seiches occur frequently on Lake Erie, but they are generally small, and unless you are on the water a lot you may not even notice. We have about 50 seiches a year most of them under 2 feet. Lake water tends to slosh back and forth between the east and west ends of Lake Erie. Currently Great Lakes water levels including Lake Erie’s are at record highs.  Last spring the Outer Harbor experienced a powerful storm that pushed a seiche onto the shoreline and inland.  This storm surge was characterized by huge ice flows and jams that wreaked havoc in places like Times Beach Nature Preserve and Canalside. The October 28-29 2019 seiche appeared to be about 10 feet at the Outer Harbor on top of historic high water in Lake Erie.  The 2nd seiche on October 31- November 1 2019 included high wind gusts of over 70 mph. It created enormous damage along the entire outer harbor, at Fort Erie and along the Niagara River shoreline. Canalside was also and flooded.

Third, if you enjoy using your car every time you need groceries, when it’s time to refill a prescription, or your clothes need dry-cleaning, you’ll be in heaven living in a development that QCL’s traffic consultant describes as “Car-Dependent” with a “Walk Score” of 1 (on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being most walkable).

IMG_4557 (2) IMG_4558 (2)

Fourth, if you enjoy a constant parade of cars and the unpleasant smell of exhaust fumes, you can pack a picnic basket, sit on a park bench near the site’s entrance, and watch your neighbors and the public pulling in and out of the development’s 777 parking spaces.

Fifth, if you’re a bit morbid, you can entertain yourself most mornings counting the carcasses of migrating birds who got disoriented by the lights of the 20-story tower the previous evening.  [See, for example, HuffPost article re Galveston bird kill May 2017.]

You better hurry. This perfect place to live will fill up fast.

Sincerely,

Arthur J. Giacalone

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

[Note: QCL’s 2018 Brownfield cleanup of the site only involved the front 8 acres, where the 20-story tower and 222-vehicle parking lot are proposed. Neither the City of Buffalo, nor the public, has adequate information to determine what type of development the DEC will consider appropriate for the rear 12 acres.]

Queen City Landing “PUD” is as ludicrous as Common Council’s “blighted” Gates Circle

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on January 27, 2020
Posted in: Buffalo News, City of Buffalo, Development, Gerald A. Buchheit Jr., South Buffalo, Waterfront. Leave a comment

The Buffalo News editorial staff recently expressed support for Gerry Buchheit’s efforts to have his 20-acre Outer Harbor parcel designated a “Planned Unit Development” [PUD]zoning district by Buffalo’s Common Council.  Apparently, no one at One News Plaza took time to educate themselves on the purpose and criteria for creating a PUD district.  In fact, it seems as if the opinion writers at our region’s largest newspaper (despite the importance of their role) are caught in a silo where they don’t bother to go beyond the myopic words of the paper’s business reporters when reaching a position on important development matters.

My effort to share a different perspective with BN’s readership (and, the editorial staff) – by way of a letter-to-the-editor – appears not to have been deemed worthy of print.  [Although the Sunday Buffalo News did find room for a letter from an individual who refers to opponents of the 20-story Queen City Landing tower as “narrow-minded, blind and ‘my way or no way’ fanatics,” as well as “hypocrites.”]

So, I’m sharing my letter-to-the-editor with the readers of this blog:

January 23, 2019

Outer Harbor “PUD” as ludicrous as “blighted” Gates Circle

Dear Editor,

Migratory birds are disoriented by the bright lights of a stand-alone tower, especially in inclement weather. Perhaps that’s what happened to the Buffalo News editorial staff when Queen City Landing’s proposed 20-story Outer Harbor project found itself in the midst of a seiche of opposition at a recent hearing.

It was last November when a Buffalo News editorial perceived the illogic in designating a portion of Gates Circle, one of Buffalo’s finest neighborhoods. “blighted.” It viewed with 20-20 vision the problem of a city “pushing legal boundaries” to make huge tax breaks available to a financially-strapped developer. And, it called City Hall’s maneuver a “sham” – noting that “words matter,” and praising a court ruling, which had declared the designation as contrary to the law’s intent, “a victory for common sense.”

Three months later, a News editorial appears blind to a similar display of City Hall’s arrogance and willingness to distort the law to help out a developer, Queen City Landing’s proposed “Planned Unit Development” adjacent to Lake Erie’s Small Boat Harbor.

Prior uses of the PUD zoning device in Buffalo involve multiple buildings, on multiple parcels, with a variety of identified uses and architectural styling. They represented, at least arguably, “planned” and “unified” development, as required by Buffalo’s Green Code.

In contrast, Mr. Buchheit is masquerading one mixed-use tower standing on the front 8 acres of a 20-acre parcel, and zero plans for the rear 12 acres, as a PUD. This illogical proposal was not born of creativity and innovation, the objective of a Planned Unit Development, but of Buchheit’s desperate need to circumvent the Green Code’s six-story, 90-foot height limits for his Fuhrmann Blvd. property.

As with Gates Circle, words matter, and common sense and the law’s intent must prevail.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

Jonathan Epstein perfects press-release journalism with Buchheit article

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on January 12, 2020
Posted in: Buffalo News, City of Buffalo, Development, Gerald A. Buchheit Jr., Jonathan D. Epstein, Waterfront, Zoning Law. Leave a comment

[Disclosure:  I represented a group of environmentalists and Outer Harbor activists in 2016-2018 challenging Gerald Buchheit’s 23-story version of the Queen City Landing project, and continue to express my opposition to QCL’s plans for 975-1005 Fuhrmann Blvd.  See, for example, Giacalone Letter to Common Council 01-02-20.]

What does Western New York’s biggest newspaper do two days before a public hearing on the controversial Queen City Landing project on Buffalo’s Outer Harbor?

Does it present an objective piece reflecting the pros and cons of the project?  No.

Does it explain what a “Planned Unit Development” [PUD] is, and explore the reasons that the request by Gerald Buchheit, QCL’s owner, to create a PUD at the Fuhrmann Blvd. site is considered a distortion of the PUD concept by a variety of Buffalonians?  [See for example, Sam Magavern’s Queen City Landing letter 01-09-20]  Absolutely not.

Of course, taking one of these approaches would actually be considered journalism.

Instead, we, the public, are subjected to excruciatingly one-dimensional piece by Jonathan D. Epstein, the Buffalo News business reporter.  His “reporting” is little more than a propaganda piece for the developer. While Jonathan may not have literally inserted his name on a Queen City Landing press release, he may as well have.  [Here’s the article.]

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[Note: Mr. Epstein has even stopped calling the proposed 20-story tower a tower, and is following QCL’s lead and just referring to it as a building.  He’s certainly well trained.]

QCL 2019 rendering

If a Pulitzer Prize were given for “press-release journalism,” I would not hesitate to nominate Jonathan’s January 12, 2020 article.

By the way, the only opportunity for the public to speak to the decision-makers regarding Buchheit’s proposed PUD will be the public hearing before the Common Council’s Legislative Committee on Tuesday, January 14, 2020 at 1:00 P.M. in the 13th-floor Common Council Chambers, Buffalo City Hall.  If you’re interested, please be there.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

 

Queen City Landing facts Jonathan D. Epstein – Buffalo News business reporter – hasn’t told you

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on December 12, 2019
Posted in: Buffalo News, City of Buffalo, Development, Gerald A. Buchheit Jr., Jonathan D. Epstein, South Buffalo, Waterfront. Leave a comment

I’ve been amazed over the years on the content of development-related articles written by Buffalo News business reporter Jonathan D. Epstein.  The reports are often so one-sided that I can’t help but wonder how closely they track the developer’s press release or the friendly conversation Jonathan may have had with a project’s sponsor.

While the “article as press release” phenomena is not new, I’ve also been witnessing something even more damaging to the public’s right to know:  development-related articles with half-truths, omissions, and misleading characterizations that put developers in a sympathetic light, and portray a project’s opponents as sinister.

Here are several examples from two recent articles written by Mr. Epstein concerning developer Gerald Buchheit’s latest proposal to construct a mixed-use tower on the Outer Harbor at the site of the former Freezer Queen facility – one published November 18, 2019  under the heading, “Queen City Landing project revised with 20 floors at Outer Harbor,” and one on December 9, 2019 headlined, “Queen City Landing opponent warns city about approvals and process“:

QCL 2019 rendering

Delays in constructing Buchheit’s 23-story tower (approved in 2016/early 2017):

According to Epstein:  His first article states, “Construction has been delayed as lawsuits over the project’s approvals moved through the court system.”  It also provides the following quote from Buchheit’s spokesperson, Phil Pantano:  “For the past two years, Jerry [Buchheit] was handcuffed with a project that he couldn’t build.  He couldn’t move forward because of outside influences,  He utilized that time, aside from completing the remediation at the site, to really review and refine his vision and plan for the project.”

Unmentioned facts: All litigation challenging the approvals given by the City of Buffalo for the Queen City Landing project ended nearly a year-and-a-half ago, on June 29, 2018,  when the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, entered its order dismissing the appeal in Wooster et al. v. Queen City Landing, LLC.  [AD4 Dismisses Wooster Appeal 06-29-18] Also, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation issued its “Certificate of Completion” for Queen City’ Landing’s Brownfield Cleanup Program to remediate the site one year ago, on December 14, 2018.

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Size and footprint of the newly proposed tower:

According to Epstein:  The Nov. 18th article tells of a proposed 470,444-square-foot tower, reduced from 23 to 20 stories, with 206 residential units,  a restaurant and 9,455-square-feet of retail space and galleria on the ground floor, and an 18,426-square-foot event and banquet facility on the sixth floor.  It also references 350 covered parking spaces built into the tower, and an additional 220 surface parking spaces.  According to Epstein, “The complex would now occupy 30% less land.”

Unmentioned facts:   The reader is not told whether the 20-story tower is, in fact, shorter in height than the previously-approved tower.  Nor does the Epstein article advise the public that:

(a) the proposed 470,444 square foot, 20-story tower has a substantially larger footprint and mass than the previously approved 23-story tower, with a total gross floor area that is 67,444-square-feet larger than the 23-story tower;

(b) the 570 proposed parking spaces equals 52% more spaces than the 375 total parking spaces approved in 2016/2017 (apparently, additional parking would be needed to accommodate the expected traffic generated by the proposed 18,426-square-foot event and banquet facility, a use not included in the prior plan);

(c) if the “complex” does, in fact, occupy 30% less land (we don’t know, for example, if this figure includes the surface parking area), it reduction is due to one fact: under the previously approved project, the majority of the “occupied” land consisted of the 3-story parking garage, not the most controversial aspect of the project, the 23-story tower.

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Content of the December 9, 2019 letter submitted to City’s Zoning Administrator:

[Full disclosure:  I am the person who wrote and delivered the 12/09/19 letter on behalf of myself and Margaret Wooster, Jay Burney, Jim Carr, and Lynda Stephens.] [Giacalone Letter to Zoning Administrator 12-09-19]

According to Epstein: “Giacalone says Buchheit has to start from scratch with a new municipal review – this time, under the city’s new Green Code – because the earlier approval from January 2017 under the old code was no longer valid after more than a year. Also, he said, the new zoning for the property doesn’t allow a “tower” as one of the four building type options, and caps new building height at six stories.  So variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals will also be necessary.”

The full story:

(a) Although Jonathan takes the liberty of stating as fact, “Giacalone says Buchheit has to start from scratch with a new municipal review…,” my December 9th letter never addresses the issue of whether the review must “start from scratch.”  I intentionally avoided that legal issue until I have had a chance to closely review the entire application.  [As mentioned in the 12/09/19 correspondence, I was not allowed access to any of QCL’s application when I visited City’s Office of Strategic Planning on November 25, 2019 with one of my clients.]  Mr. Epstein’s attribution of the “start from scratch” command to me is false and a liberty that he, as a reporter, should not be allowed to take.

Note:  My request that the Buffalo News print a correction regarding that attribution, and/or provide the public with an on-line link to the actual letter, has been rejected by Jonathan’s boss, David Robinson. [Email exchange 12-11-19 requesting correction]

(b) Epstein’s December 9, 2019 article fails to indicate that the letter filed with the Zoning Administrator, Nadine Marrero, provides specific support for the claims that the City Planning Board’s January 3, 2017 application for its 23-story tower is no longer valid, and that the Green Code’s 6-story limit and prohibition of “towers” at the former Freezer Queen site now apply to Buchheit’s project(s).  That support includes verbatim quotes of the pertinent provisions in both Buffalo’s former zoning ordinance and current “Green Code”.

The Buffalo News fails to serve its readership and the public in the manner they deserve when its reporters write articles concerning major (and, controversial) development projects that do little more than provide the developer’s spin, attempt to paint opponents in a negative light, fail to substantively detail the opponents’ position, and/or take liberties with what an opponent has actually stated.  Western New York’s largest newspaper must do better.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone