fixBuffalo

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

Too bad that two of the 1499 properties that Geoff writes about are in Artspace's backyard - 28 and 39 Coe Place.

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

Jessie Schnell's vision and Charles Burchfield's sketch, same place.

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

I remember having lunch with Rob Palano, 12 maybe 13 years ago at Just Pasta. Really engaging guy who knows more about real estate than most. I remember him saying, "It's like monoply. Be prepared. You might just end up in jail." Most of Rob's real estate was here on Buffalo's East side.

The Buffalo News, carried the article this week about Rob's sentencing - Predatory Landlord Gets Jail. Seems like New York State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer has had Rob in his sites for some time. Here's a 2001 piece about the sentencing in an earlier case. Also try this [google search - Rob Palano Fraud].

If you are reading this because you are one of the dozens of people that Rob helped, I'd like to hear about your personal experience in dealing with him and especially how he may have helped you buy your first home. Does anyone know how many of these Palano houses are now demolished?

Adding another dimension to this prosecution, and never mentioned by the Buffalo News is the role that former BMHA attorney James Longa may have played in Rob's version of Monopoly. Dick Kern writes...

Incredibly, a major player in the Palano scams, but never named in the prosecution, is longtime #2 BMHA Atty, James Lagona, who served as Palano’s personal attorney during the entire engineering of the latest scams.

As if to underline his role, Lagona “purchased” 43 Palano houses simultaneous to Palano’s abandoning the 100 mortgages to”retire” to Florida (the whereabouts of Palano’s wealthy partner, sister Janet Bryant, also never-charged, are not known to me).

See the list of the Lagona (& wife) houses below.

BMHA (or HUD, who paid his BMHA salary of about $70K), of course, has no ethical rules forbidding stealing from the poor while working for City Hall’s major “welfare” agency. Lagona retired as the latest Palano scandal was breaking, so he now has a taxpayer-funded pension ($40,000 annually?) . . similar to former BMHA ED Sharon West when she “retired” to Fla with a $50,000 NYS pension, and with a new $90,000 job.

Lagona supplements his pension with rents from the poor living in his 43 Palano houses. At merely $1000 net rent per house per year, Lagona is likely getting (well over) $43,000 annually, plus the estimated $40,000 pension . . likely far exceeding $83,000 annually, all for “servicing the poor”.

It will be interesting to see how the Buffalo News reports this latest of a long series of inner-city Bflo housing scams.

Word is that Rob will most probably serve only 8 months of his one year sentence. Then back to Florida.

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

Met-up with Amy Kedron at the café this afternoon. She brought me up to date on a new venture, Buffalo First.

The future of Buffalo rests upon our ability to develop a strong economy, where employment opportunities are ample and wages high enough for people to adequately meet their needs.

While national companies can (and do) generate additional jobs, the benefits they bring to a community are easily negated if local businesses are hurt in the process. As local businesses shut their doors, individuals are forced to clamor for the few (typically lower paying) jobs available locally, or leave town altogether. Either way, Buffalo’s tax base shrinks and the entire region suffers as a consequence.

Amy told me that one of their members is located around the corner on Jefferson Avenue. That's Bart William's PrintEFX. It's located in the new Jefferson Marketplace. Checkout the rest of the members, right here.

I first met Amy last year and gave her one of my first Artspace backyard home and investment tours. We'll be doing that again, soon.

Developing business and keeping money here in Buffalo. Good things.

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

Another book talk. October 17th at Chef's. Click pic on right for details.

Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

Two days left - Historic Buffalo on eBay.

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

Buffalo's Catholic heritage remains visible from nearly every street corner on Buffalo's East side - steeples and buildings everywhere you go. Much of this is now ''hollowed out" and slipping further and further from our grasp. Yet, never were the numbers so great as during the centennial celebrations 59 years ago this week. The series of photographs below are from a book that I recently found and just finished reading, Buffalo's Centennial Eucharistic Congress - September 22-25, 1947. Many of the shots - include images of buildings that are still around and some that have slipped away.
According to John Boccio of the Buffalo News -

Nearly 40,000 parochial school children and Catholic youth, the greatest throng ever ot attend a religious event in Buffalo, to-day jammed the Civic Stadium for the second pontifical Mass of the Buffalo Centennial Eucharistic Congress.

Later that afternoon another report describes how 10,000 catholic students marched to Memorial Auditorium from Civic Stadium - the rock pile. And not to be out done, the next day's events brought this report from James R. Cleary in the Buffalo Courier-Express,

The largest Crowd ever assembled in the history of Buffalo, approximately 200,000, thronged the meadow of Delaware Park yesterday afternoon to offer final adoration to the Holy Eucharist and bring to a close the Buffalo Eucharistic Congress.

Some church buildings have become mosques, others are no longer with us and some - if Bishop Kmiec stays the course, will close forever in the second round of Church closings scheduled to begin early next year. And like magic and despite a slew of empty buildings, new ones - like this McChurch, get built. I've been covering various aspects of this story, here in Annals of Neglect.

Dalai, next time you're around I'd like to show you the meadow in Delaware Park. Holds more people than that spot out in Amherst. I think you'd like it. It's in the middle of our City. Beautiful, too.

Here's the same photo's arranged in a slideshow - Catholic Buffalo, 1947.

Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

As I was saying last week - Meeting Bradley - the buildings here at 85 and 91 Genesee Street are a complete and total mess, presenting a long list of public health and safety hazards.
I met-up with Greg Heeb, lead attorney from the City on matters impacting these sorts of issues, yesterday. He informed me that in the last few days, the Dept. of Inspections has submitted an affidavit requesting permission for a demolition of 85 Genesee Street. It's in Judge Nowak's hands.

My initial research indicates that Triangle Development, LLC is the owner and responsible party for this building and that Jessie Schnell, President of Forever Elmwood, is Triangle Development's representative. I stopped in at the office today desiring to speak with Jessie. Left a message. I hope to have a statement from her regarding her plans for the building, their tenant and the place next door at 91 Genesee Street. I'll post it. In case you missed it, here's the 85 & 91 Genesee slide show from last week. This should be interesting. Stay tuned.

Oh, and that's Bradly, huddled-up behind the board. He was there again, last night.

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

If you haven't already done so, make sure to check out some of the amazing photography by Toronto's DK PhotoGroup that I've featured recently - Orphaned in Buffalo and this past weekend's focus on the Sattler Theatre.

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

Located at 134 Masten Avenue at the corner of Dodge, this house was recently built by Burke Homes (aka Rocco Termini) for Belmont Shelter. This is the view from the sidewalk on Dodge Street looking north.

It's part of a 30+ home 'Vinyl Village' that's been photoshopped into our City this past year. As of Monday afternoon the house was vacant, big piece of plywood on the front door.

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

A new fixBuffalo fan, tipped me off to the beauty of this place at 204 High Street this week. Had time this afternoon to check it out.
One neighbor to told me that 204 was last a doctor's office that closed in 1979. No one has lived or worked here since, according to another neighbor who has lived close by since 1959. This building is rather uniquely shaped. It wraps in "L" fashion around a vacant lot with a big chestnut tree at the corner of High and Maple. There are two separate entrances. It appears as though the section in the middle, with the three windows, is a connecting structure. This google satellite image reveals the building's unique shape and proximity to Buffalo General Hospital and Roswell Park, one block away. The pic on the left is the Maple Street entrance and on the right is the High Street.
Here's the 204 High Street slideshow. The entrances are well secured, for a change. Oh, the owner - City of Buffalo.

Really wish we could be better at managing our City's decline. A simple inventory of City owned property - proximity to new investment as in Medical Corridor, Artspace and Joint School Reconstruction Project schools - would be a good first step.

Suggestions? Anyone...please. The demolition paper work is stapled to the door. Imagine, a doctor's office next to a major medical center.

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

click image to enlarge

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr

This house at 11 Holland Place is steps from Artspace [google map]. I placed it on my radar in May of 2005 when the current owner Dana Upcher and her husband Venere Hutchinson were picked up in Tennessee on outstanding Housing Court warrants. Here's that story from May and later in June. According to City records the house is still owned by Dana Upcher. There's no longer a Housing Court case for this property. It's vacant and no one lives here.
I'm not sure how to reach Dana. Perhaps through Housing Court as her husband is on the installment program for the record $79,000 fines that were imposed at sentencing. I can't imagine she wants much to do with this place. I walked around the property the other day. It appears structurally sound, the roof is newer and with the exception of the porch post on the left, the house is in reasonably good condition.

If you are interested in buying this house, let me know. I'll do my best to help locate the owner.

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006 • faq • my flickr