With All Due Respect

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“White Supremacy” symbolism at South Buffalo residence has provided an education

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on May 27, 2022
Posted in: Christopher Scanlon, South Buffalo, White Supremacy. 1 Comment

At first glance, the dark brown, well-kept century-old house on the corner of Indian Church Road and Parkview (a misnomer) Avenue in South Buffalo appears welcoming.  But the ever-changing display of flags and signage in and around its front porch suggests something quite different if you happen tobelieve that all human beings have inherent dignity.  It appears that our humble, primarily working-class, increasingly diverse neighborhood (just steps from Seneca Street and Cazenovia Park) has its own locally-grown white supremacists.

The in-your-face flag waving at 40 Indian Church Road has been a topic of discussion at this blog over the years.  See Buffalo must address homegrown bigotry, Betsy Ross 13-Star Flag at South Buffalo residence confirms Colin Kaepernick’s concerns, and Too Many WNY “Teachable Moments.”  This post will highlight, in no particular order, what I have learned as a result of my observations and curiosity the past 6 or 7 years.

First, in the aftermath of the tragic, racially-motivated mass killings at Buffalo’s Tops supermarket on May 14, 2022, foremost on some minds was a fear of losing their military weaponry:

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Second, Confederate flags come in a variety of designs.  At times, my neighborhood, Buffalo-born “rebels” show off two Confederate battlefield flags, and, when the mood overcomes them, three different symbols of the Confederacy:  the familiar Confederate battle flag, the so-called Blood Stained Banner, and the Stars & Bars:

Kalenda 2 battlefield flags

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Third, the white nationalist movement has embraced a variety of historical symbols to express their longing for a day when slavery was legal and the federal powers insubstantial, such as the “Liberty” flag, the “Don’t Give Up The Ship” banner, the “Gadsden flag” warning “Don’t Tread On Me,” the Bonnie Blue flag, and, of course, the so-called “Betsy Ross flag”:

IMG_0532 (3) [Note: The small, hand-size flag to the left of the “Liberty” flag is the Imperial German flag, used by some German neo-Nazis as a substitute for the Nazi flag.]

Kalenda Don't Give Up The Ship etc.

Kalenda Easter flags - Don't Tread on Me etc. (4)

Betsy Ross at 40 Indian Church detail

Fourth, nothing says “Merry Christmas” like a Nativity-themed flag teamed up with the Confederate battle flag:

Confederate flag and Christmas

Fifth, likewise, there’s no reason not to envision the Easter bunny hop-hop-hopping down the white supremacy trail:

Kalenda Easter flags - Don't Tread on Me etc.

Sixth, if there comes a time when you fear that your “COME AND TAKE IT” banner – with its silhouette of a military-style assault weapon – and “Gadsden flag” – a historical American Revolution flag with a yellow field depicting a coiled rattlesnake and the words “DON’T TREAD ON ME – are, perhaps, too subtle, you can buy and display a sign with an image of cross-hairs proclaiming, “WARNING – IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU ARE IN RANGE”: (see bottom left corner of the photo below)

Kalenda photo with YOU ARE IN RANGE sign

Seventh, it was foolish of me to think that the City of Buffalo Common Council’s South District Member, Christopher P. Scanlon, would acknowledge receipt of my May 18, 2022 email to him.  Perhaps he was embarrassed by my request that he put into action his public statement – two days after the mass shooting on Buffalo’s Jefferson Avenue – that we must all be willing to have “uncomfortable conversations” about racist comments and behavior.  It seemed to me that a discussion with the flag wavers at 40 Indian Church Road would be a good place to start. [See my Email to Chris Scanlon on 05-18-2022.] 

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

The Neighborhood Surrounding Buffalo NY’s Racially-Motivated Mass Shooting Site

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on May 15, 2022
Posted in: City of Buffalo, Fruit Belt, Gentrification, White Supremacy. 4 Comments

UPDATE:  On May 19, 2022, photos I took on May 17, 2022 were added to the original post, as well as an addendum with images of memorials in honor of the victims of the May 14, 2022 tragedy.

UPDATE NO. 2:  On August 14, 2022, This American Life broadcast its “Name. Age. Detail” episode. If you caught it on npr, you already know that producer Ira Glass’ goal was to go beyond the one-sentence descriptions so much of the media used when portraying each of Buffalo’s ten May 14th victims.  Here’s the link to the program: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/777/name-age-detail.

IMG_0430 (2) [Marquee of Apollo Media Center.]

Note:  This blog has never posted a piece written by an author other than myself.  Today I make an exception.  Lorna I. Peterson, PhD, is a retired library science professor with a deep knowledge and love for the community in which the May 14, 2022 mass shooting incident occurred, at the Tops supermarket located at 1275 Jefferson Avenue, Buffalo, New York.  Although I worked at the 1490 Jefferson Avenue office of Prisoners Legal Services of New York when I arrived in Buffalo in 1976 (decades prior to the construction of the Tops), and have had the privilege of working the past eight years or so alongside community members fighting gentrification of the nearby Fruit Belt neighborhood, I cannot begin to provide the informed perspective reflected in Dr. Peterson’s message sent on May 15 to her colleagues at the Black Caucus American Library Association (BCALA).  I thank Lorna for consenting to this posting.

From: Lorna Peterson
Date: Sun, May 15, 2022 at 8:36 AM
Subject: message from Buffalo
To: BCALA Listserv <bcala-listserv@bcala.org>
 
Dear Colleagues,
 
Many of you have no doubt read, heard, or viewed information about the shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo NY.  You might be interested to know that across the street from the small shopping plaza is a branch public library, the Merriweather Library of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. I write this to give our community the sense of the neighborhood that Payton Gendron targeted and chose to drive for three hours from his rural community to kill Black people who live in a city.
 
IMG_0428 [Entrance of Frank E. Merriweather Jr. Branch Library.  Original library building can be seen in the distance across the street.]
 
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The grocery store is in a neighborhood where I have been doing the most of my volunteer activities while in retirement. In fact, a community activist with whom I collaborate, called me shortly before 3 PM Saturday, May 14, to say that there was an active shooter at the Tops Market. She lives across the street from the store and was just walking over to get bread. She is okay.
 
Located in the neighborhood called Cold Spring, and the [city council] district called Masten Park, I live just one mile to the west from the area. I have shopped at that particular Tops Market and I frequent the nearby coffee shop Golden Cup and also the branch public library. I once had an exhibit mounted there about the Fruit Belt neighborhood and a housing development called McCarley Gardens. Nearby is the Apollo Media Center where the press conference was held. During the broadcast, the gleaming, colorful tiles, hand painted by children, provide a backdrop that speaks to the innocence and ordinariness of a peaceful, active community just trying to live their lives.  And across the street from the old theater, now a media center, is one of our Black newspapers, The Challenger.  When the local power elites were pushing for the building of a medical corridor that required the destruction of the Fruit Belt community that I advocate for, I started calling the corner of Jefferson and East Utica “the communication corridor” because it has the public library, a Black newspaper publisher, and the Apollo theater/public access media center.
 
IMG_0422 [Multi-use building at the northeast corner of Jefferson and E. Utica, housing, among others, the Golden Cup coffee shop, The Dance Camp, Open Buffalo, Premier Cigars, Group Ministries Inc., and The Challenger Community News.]
 
IMG_0444 [Entrance to Golden Cup coffee shop at 1323 Jefferson Ave.]
 
IMG_0441 [Entrance to The Dance Camp dance studio, 1325 Jefferson Ave.]
 
IMG_0436 [Entrance to The Challenger community newspaper, 1337 Jefferson Ave.]
 
IMG_0429 [Entrance to Apollo Media Center.]
 
Racial demographics for the area are 80% Black/African American. It is only lately that the area is below 90% Black as gentrification on the West Side of the City of Buffalo has seen a migration of the Hispanic population to the East Side of Buffalo. Buffalo speaks of itself as a quadrant of East Side, West Side, North Buffalo, South Buffalo. These are not suburbs, boroughs, or separate municipalities, they are just folk designations for sections of one city, the City of Buffalo NY.
 
The corner of Jefferson Avenue and East Utica Street is a hub of cultural, commercial, public transit, and residential activity. Disinvestment and population loss are part of the neighborhood as well as the entire Buffalo–Niagara Falls region. But it certainly does not define it.
 
IMG_0447 [The corner of Jefferson Ave. and E. Utica Street, looking south.]
 
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If you are interested and want to know more about this neighborhood and my city, some citizen curated sites are: Buffalo History Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/buffalohistorychannel by Doug Ruffin: https://burchfieldpenney.org/art-and-artists/people/profile:doug-ruffin/   Bartel Miller’s Buffalo, A Toast to the Town https://www.facebook.com/groups/855505714485399//  and  Buffalo and Western New York African American History Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/BuffaloandWesternNewYorkAfricanAmericanHistory/
 
 
Also, for New York State, once people think beyond New York City, the entire state somehow gets called “Upstate.” This diminishes the geographic expanse and geological diversity of the state. Buffalo is in the far western portion of the state– we are closer to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Detroit, than we are to NYC.  Buffalo is just a bridge away from Canada–  the Peace Bridge which takes you to Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada.
 
 
peace,
lp
 
Lorna Peterson, Buffalo
 
ADDENDUM of photos taken on May 17, 2022:
 
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IMG_0414                    
[ I Leave Peaceprints markers remembering each of the ten human beings who lost their life on May 14. Note: “On Good Friday 2006, Sister Karen Klimczak’s life was tragically cut short. Sister Karen’s tragic passing in April 2006, sparked the ‘I Leave Peaceprints’ movement in Buffalo and the surrounding areas. The peace dove has become a message that has been carried on with much love and dedication.]

I wasn’t promising eternal springtime!

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on April 27, 2022
Posted in: Cazenovia Park, Olmsted Parks, South Buffalo, WNY Photos. Leave a comment

Okay.  Perhaps I seemed a bit overly confident with yesterday’s posting, Signs of Spring 2022 in South Buffalo.  And, just maybe, I tempted fate by whimsically suggesting that even the verdant meadow was whispering, “Yes, spring is here.”  [I sincerely apologize for twice saying something that corny.]  Worse of all, it now appears rather unwise to have gently dissed the Buffalo News’ use of the cliche “pretty in pink” (when referencing the cherry blossoms at the Delaware Park Japanese Gardens) by ending my April 26th post with the phrase:  “Wonderful in white.”

I/We paid for all of my April 26th lapses with the wintry reprise that greeted us this morning.  The verdant meadow wasn’t quite as green:

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And the golden bush lost – at least, temporarily – much of its sparkle:

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Nonetheless, I still think that Cazenovia Park looks wonderful in white:

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And, I’m fairly confident that spring (or, as the Italians say, La Primavera) will ultimately prevail in this annual battle of the seasons.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

P.S. When I posted my April 26th photos, I hadn’t yet visited the Japanese Gardens adjacent to Buffalo’s History Museum.  I made a brief visit to see the cherry blossoms (post-Monday’s substantial rains) yesterday evening on my way to my beginners Italian language class at Centro Culturale di Buffalo (at the corner of Delaware and Hertel avenues).  My biggest takeaway was a sense of disappointment – not with the blossoms on display – but with the apparent behavior of many members of my own species.  Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy should not have to plant dozens of the following signs throughout the garden:

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Signs of Spring 2022 in South Buffalo

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on April 26, 2022
Posted in: Cazenovia Park, City of Buffalo, Olmsted Parks, South Buffalo, WNY Photos. 2 Comments

I haven’t yet journeyed to Buffalo’s northern environs in search of springtime blossoms, but two Buffalo News photographers have.  Derek Gee and Mark Mulville share their lush “pretty in pink” photos from Delaware Park’s Japanese Gardens in the April 26th print version of the newspaper.

My “gallery” is predictably a bit less splendid, lacking Messrs. Gee and Mulville’s professional eye and equipment.  But I thought you might enjoy some of the images that caught my eye earlier this week as I walked and bicycled through nearby South Buffalo neighborhoods.

This first beauty (I’ll let you all identify the species) greeted me on Indian Church Road, just steps from my Oschawa Avenue home:

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Minutes later, Cazenovia Park – my favorite Olmsted gem – offered these vividly reassuring signs that winter is behind us:

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And, somehow, even the verdant meadow beyond the leafless branches seemed to whisper, “Yes, spring is here”:

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A day later, my bicycle provided the means to easily check out what was happening a mile or two from home on McKinley Parkway.  I wasn’t disappointed:

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As I pedaled down Lorraine Avenue on my way home, I couldn’t resist taking a photo or two of a symbol a bit less natural, but just as inspiring as spring blossoms.  Adorning the lawn at P.S. 72 (where I substitute taught a few times in 2018), is this monument to the school’s anti-bullying campaign:

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I also lacked the self-control not to stop – at the edge of Cazenovia Street and Caz Park’s Warren Spahn Way – to capture these images:

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Wonderful in white!

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

P.S.  Today is Frederick Law Olmsted’s 200th birthday.  His parks, parkways, and landscapes have done so much to enrich the lives of the inhabitants of our nation’s cities.  What a remarkable legacy!

Springing Cleaning Suggestions for Seneca Street

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on March 31, 2022
Posted in: Cazenovia Park, Christopher Scanlon, City of Buffalo, Native American, South Buffalo. Leave a comment

March 2022 is about to step aside to make room for April.  In my South Buffalo neighborhood – that is, the stretch of Seneca Street and Indian Church Road graced by its proximity to Cazenovia Park – St. Patrick’s Day is finally far enough in the rear view mirror to be a mere glimmer in my neighbors’ twinkling blue eyes.

From my perspective, it’s time for local officials, businesses and property owners to set aside the “happy talk” about community pride.  It is time to actually demonstrate self-esteem and affection for the neighborhood and its residents by addressing the sights and defects that adversely impact its aesthetics and safety.

Here are several suggestions – each found within two blocks of the Seneca Street/Indian Church Road intersection – for immediate spring cleaning, maintenance or repair.  [Unless otherwise noted, the accompanying photos were taken by me on March 31 during my morning walk.]

No. 1.  Fix the broken pedestrian signal at Seneca and Indian Church Road.  For at least a year now, anyone wishing to cross Seneca St. from Indian Church Road (or vice versa) has been forced to navigate this busy, tricky corner without the assistance of the walk/don’t walk signal.  The push button on the west side of Seneca Street dangles uselessly from the pole, and the electronic signal is blank.

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No. 2.  Repair or replace the decorative trash bin next to Shea’s Seneca.  The motto is excellent – “Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.”  [Will Smith’s behavior at this past weekend’s Oscars ceremony is a perfect example]  But its decrepit appearance inspires one to look the other way rather than give these thought-provoking words consideration.

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No. 3.  Attractively address the broken storefront window and facade at Seneca and Cazenovia Streets.  For well over a year now, pedestrians, cars and buses passing by, and nearby residents (including those at the upscale apartments directly across the street), have been forced to look at a markedly haphazard and unprofessional effort to enclose a vandalized storefront window.  The City of Buffalo’s Online Assessment Roll System (OARS) lists the owner of this property as Hook & Ladder Development LLC at 2111 Seneca St., Buffalo, NY 14210. 

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No. 4.  Find a way to restore the vandalized, weathered wooden sculpture of Red Jacket at Cazenovia and Seneca Streets.  The following photos were taken last year and shared with various public officials in hopes of inspiring an effort to show due respect for the Seneca statesman Red Jacket.  The condition of the statue has continued to deteriorate.

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A brief diversion.  My morning observations included more than eyesores.  While walking through Cazenovia Park, I did take the time to admire this naked and gnarly masterpiece:

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No. 5.  Remove or tastefully beautify the rusting, peeling retractable “shield” at 2348 Seneca Street.  If you are unfortunate enough to depart Cazenovia Park at its Seneca Street exit, wait for or disembark an NFTA No. 15 bus, or drive down Seneca Street just blocks from the West Seneca/Buffalo border during or before the morning rush hour, you are assaulted by the image of a rusting, peeling sight.  It has been in this condition for years.  The City of Buffalo’s Online Assessment Roll System (OARS) lists the owner of this property as Donald P. King, 2348 Seneca St. Buffalo, NY 14210.

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I am hoping that the individuals, officials, and businesses in the position to ameliorate the conditions noted above will promptly and thoughtfully take action.  If you agree, reaching out to the following officials may help:

City of Buffalo Council Member Christopher P. Scanlon, 65 Niagara Square, Room 1401, Buffalo, NY 14202; (716) 851-5169; cscanlon@city-buffalo.com.

City of Buffalo Streets Commissioner Michael J. Finn, 65 Niagara Square, Room 502, Buffalo, NY 14202; (716) 851-5636; mfinn@city-buffalo.com.

State Assemblyman Pat Burke, 1074 Union Road, West Seneca, NY 14224; (716) 608-6099; burkep@nyassembly.gov.

State Senator Tim Kennedy, 37 Franklin St., Suite 550, Buffalo, NY 14202; (716) 826-2683; kennedy@nysenate.gov.

Thank you.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

 

Plea to Buffalo Outer Harbor Activists: Refocus, Don’t Appeal!

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on December 30, 2021
Posted in: City of Buffalo, Development, SEQRA, South Buffalo, Waterfront. Leave a comment

I agree wholeheartedly with one point raised in the December 29th email from my longtime friend and former client, Margaret Wooster.  It is time for citizens concerned about the Outer Harbor’s future to “strengthen our resolve and focus for the new year.”  But I am absolutely convinced – after 32 years of representing residents in development and SEQRA cases – that the least effective step that could be taken at this juncture is to expend precious time, energy and money appealing the unfavorable decision rendered on December 9, 2021 by Supreme Court Justice Donna Siwek (see LWVBN v ECHDC – Siwek’s 12-09-21 Decision).

I greatly admire the grit shown by the Petitioners, League of Women Voters of Buffalo/Niagara, Inc., The 21st Century Park In The Outer Harbor, Inc., and The Western New York Environmental Alliance, Inc., in bringing the “Article 78 proceeding.”  But here’s the reality:  Their lawyers took a case that was going to be extremely difficult, at best, to win, and, in my professional opinion, gravely undermined any chance at success by their actions and omissions.   Here are some examples:

First, complying with the four-month statute of limitations for challenging the determinations made by Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) isn’t just a “technicality.”  It is a prerequisite for succeeding in a lawsuit.  Commencing the lawsuit on June 24, 2021 was not only well beyond four months from the November 8, 2020 ECHDC approval of the contested plan and SEQRA “Negative Declaration,” it was more than four months from February 8, 2021, the date the ECHDC reaffirmed their original resolution.  If Petitioners’ team of attorneys had hoped to prevail by making a “creative” legal argument, or by making new law on when the statute of limitations begins to run, they were obligated to fully inform their clients of the riskiness of their approach.

Second, a court challenge to a decision made by the City Planning Board – such as site plan approval, or LWRP consistency determination – must be brought within 30 days of the Planning Board’s action.  The City Planning Board made its determinations relating to the ECHDC’s amphitheater plans on May 17, 2021, more than 30 days prior to the commencement of Petitioners’ lawsuit.  [Note:  On September 13, 2021, the City Planning Board revisited ECHDC’s site plan application, and reapproved it with conditions.  The September 13th determination could have been challenged in court within 30 days of that approval by either filing a motion seeking to supplement the original Petition by adding the new claim(s), or by filing a second Article 78 petition.  It appears that no such steps were taken.]

Third, as New York’s appellate courts have made clear, administrative boards – such as a municipality’s Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals – are separate and independent entities from the municipality itself.  For that reason, when you challenge determinations made by the City of Buffalo Planning Board, the Planning Board is a “necessary party,” and must be expressly named as a Respondent in an Article 78 proceeding.  By only naming the City of Buffalo as a Respondent, and failing to name the City Planning Board as a separate Respondent, Petitioners’ lawyers doomed any claims raised in the lawsuit based on City Planning Board actions or omissions.

Fourth, if a lawyer wishes to prevent construction-related activities – including vegetation removal and grading – during the pendency of a lawsuit, he or she must seek a restraining order or “preliminary relief” in a timely manner  New York’s appellate courts have frequently held that, when no timely and meaningful attempt has been made to preserve the clients’ rights by requesting such relief, and significant construction-related activities occur, an appeal from an unfavorable ruling may be rendered “moot,” and the appeal dismissed.  Here, for whatever reason, Petitioners’ lawyers did not seek a restraining order or preliminary relief in June 2021 when the lawsuit was commenced, despite the fact that the City Planning Board and Common Council had already given their approvals to the project.  Nor did they file a motion seeking preliminary relief – despite four months of adjournments – at the time oral argument was heard in November 2021.  [Note:  Even if the request for preliminary relief had failed, under well-established legal precedent, the ECHDC would have been put on notice that it proceeded with any construction “at its own risk.”]  Not even Justice Siwek’s unfavorable decision on December 9, or the subsequent sight of construction equipment at the site of the proposed amphitheater shortly thereafter, resulted in a prompt filing of papers requesting preliminary injunctive relief.

Because Petitioners’ lawyers have not, in my opinion, done “all they could do to timely safeguard their interests,” an injunction or “stay” at this point to prevent further destruction of our recovering Lake Erie coast is highly unlikely, and would have to be secured by a bond or other sizeable undertaking. [Note:  If the appeal proceeded and was unsuccessful, Petitioners would be held liable for damages to ECHDC resulting from the delays.]  Also, it appears, such injunctive relief at this stage – given the removal of over 100 trees and other vegetation, and the bulldozing and scraping off of soil on 5+ acres of the amphitheater’s “great lawn” – would be, at best, too little, too late.

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I’m not happy to have to write this blog post.  And, I won’t claim to have any great ideas on what steps need to be taken.  But I urge Buffalo Outer Harbor Concerned Citizens to find a new focus for 2022.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

Autumn hangs on despite winter’s intrusion

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on November 14, 2021
Posted in: Cazenovia Park, Olmsted Parks, South Buffalo, WNY Photos. 1 Comment

[Note: Photos from November 15, 2021 have been added to the original posting.]

Buffalo received its first measurable snow fall yesterday, November 13, a few weeks later than the typical year.  The heavy layer of white on leaf-clad branches was a burden some limbs were unable to bear.

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Nonetheless, autumnal hues could still be seen and admired in South Buffalo’s Cazenovia Park this morning, November 14.

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The following Caz Park photos were taken November 15th.

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And, this golden-hued beauty greeted me on Indian Church Road as I headed home for Sunday morning breakfast.

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With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

The “Face of Democracy” Isn’t Always Pretty

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on November 11, 2021
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

[Update:  The Buffalo News published this piece on November 15, 2021 in its “My View” column at: https://buffalonews.com/opinion/my-view-face-of-democracy-isn-t-always-pretty/article_8fb313f6-459d-11ec-97c4-e30c30eb3ceb.html. A print version was included in the following day’s newspaper.]

This election day was unlike any in my past.

On November 2, I worked as an “Election Inspector.”  Preparation included a three-hour training session, and absorbing the contents of the Board of Elections’ 50-page instructions manual.  One point was stressed:  On election day, poll workers are “The Face of Democracy.”

Little did I know that awakening at 4 A.M., and arriving at my assigned polling location by 5:30, would be the easiest task.

Our polling place hosted eight polling districts, each with its own two-digit number.  The room was a bit too small for its intended purpose, and the eight districts were only provided six tables.  Given the physical limitations, cooperation amongst the districts and workers would be essential if the anticipated stream of heavy voting was to flow smoothly. That’s not exactly what happened.

Don’t get me wrong.  Most of the poll workers were welcoming, cooperative, and professional.  But it was immediately apparent that a few of the “Faces of Democracy” were not in a mood to make decisions in a democratic fashion.  Nor were they willing to follow the directions in the BOE manual to “treat your fellow inspectors with respect at all times.”

Here’s one example.  Common sense would dictate that the districts and tables be set up in numerical order, from lowest to highest, to assist the voters in locating their districts. When the doors were unlocked, however, an election inspector from the lowest-numbered district grabbed a table a distance from the entrance door, and adamantly refused to relocate to the front table.  That stubbornness resulted in randomly-located sign-in tables, and numerous puzzled expressions on the faces of the voters as they searched for their polling district.

Perhaps this situation could have been avoided if the BOE had assigned one person the role of making logistical decisions, and resolving disagreements amongst the eight districts.  Without a specific person in charge, eight self-appointed “chairpersons” were left to their own devices.

Thankfully, most – but not all – decisions were made cooperatively. At mid-day, one poll worker suddenly decided to re-position the tables that were being used by voters to privately mark their ballots.  That move led to a visible and public argument between two district “chairs.”  Certainly not an attractive face to show the voters.

Similar tensions and inconveniences occurred occasionally among the four individuals assigned to a specific district.

The BOE manual directs each district chairperson to delegate, and then periodically rotate, the primary responsibilities amongst the four-person team:  operating the poll book, issuing ballots, supervising the privacy area and scanner, and greeting the voters at the door.  This sensible approach was disrupted when an election inspector sat down at the assigned table – with novel, thermos, and other personal items in hand – and announced an unwillingness to change seats during the course of the day.  The chairperson, not wishing to create a scene, was forced to move the election documents – not poll workers – each time tasks were rotated.  The tension was palpable.

I have no doubt that I did or said something to annoy my fellow poll workers during the challenging 16-hour day.  But I consciously tried to work as a member of a team.  While there is a good chance I won’t return as a poll worker next year, I’m glad to have learned what democracy looks like.  It resembles each of us, foibles and all, and relies on cooperation and compromise to function effectively.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

Byron Brown’s “Buffalo renaissance” is a mirage

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on October 20, 2021
Posted in: Byron Brown, City of Buffalo, Corporate Welfare, Development, India Walton. Leave a comment

[The following letter was published in the Buffalo News, on-line on 10/25/2021, and in hard copy the following day, under the heading, “Brown’s renaissance claim is simply another sham.”]

Dear Editor,

You know that Mayor Byron Brown’s claims of  a “Buffalo renaissance” is political hype, and not a reality for most of this city’s residents, when:

– Major developers insist that they cannot make projects financially viable in Buffalo without the larger real property tax breaks made possible through programs such as the controversial “485-a” incentives.

– Neither Mayor Brown, nor Buffalo’s Common Council, has had the courage to do what other New York State cities have done, mandate that a specified percentage of every residential project be set aside for affordable housing to assist the 40% of city residents who live below the poverty level.

– Mayor Brown’s Administration was willing to label the Gates Circle area “blighted” in order to provide tens of millions of dollars of additional tax relief to bail out a distressed private developer, a misguided effort that a State Supreme Justice has twice declared “contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious.”

– Most revealing, Buffalo has the second highest percentage of children living in poverty of all of our nation’s larger cities.

After sixteen years of Byron Brown’s approach to running our city, it certainly is time for a change.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

Sunday Stroll Interrupted (often)

Posted by Arthur J. Giacalone on October 17, 2021
Posted in: Cazenovia Park, Olmsted Parks, South Buffalo, WNY Photos. Leave a comment

My 35 minute walk this morning took me an hour and a quarter.  My septuagenarian legs were working fine, but no matter how hard I resisted the urge, my eye kept finding something interesting, unusual, or just plain beautiful.  So I would stop, slip my smartphone out of my pocket, and snap a picture.

Here are the results (with a bit of a narrative):

My stroll began in its usual direction, heading a block away from my home to the Seneca Indian Park on Buffum Street.  This hundreds-of-years-old black walnut tree is a favorite of mine:

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Directly across from the ancient Indigenous burial ground, set back a distance from Buffum, is the home of a friend of mine, always a welcoming sight.  And, today her front yard was graced by five or six deer (I think one member of this four-legged clan scampered out before I could take the photo):

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As I headed down Buffum towards Seneca Street, I couldn’t help notice the cloud formations beyond the roof lines::

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But houses aren’t required for me to appreciate the clouds enveloping Cazenovia Park:

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As I headed towards the far (south) side of Caz Park, I crossed the Cazenovia Street bridge, and saw a lone fisherman in the distance:

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But my head was soon back in the clouds (including a seemingly angry “mass of particles of condensed vapor”):

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Although autumn colors are taking their time arriving in my neck-of-the-woods, I noticed some hints of fall:

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But here’s my favorite scene from today’s longer-than-expected walk:

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Tomorrow I’ll do my best to walk at a steady pace and, perhaps, work up a sweat.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

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