fixBuffalo: July 2007

7/31/2007

BAVPA Reconstruction - End Week 61

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July 29, 2007 - Day 400

Seems as though the pace picked up with only five weeks before BAVPA's new doors open for students. Additional site work for landscaping, installing the new stairs on the Ferry Street entrance and out door lighting.

Here a few pix from the walk around on Sunday evening. Crews were there most of the day bringing in boxes of books and classroom supplies.

click image to enlarge

See BAVPA Reconstruction Archive for additional details and updates.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Tour d'Neglect - 2007 • Woodlawn Row Houses • faq • my flickr
the creativity exchange • CEOs for Cities

7/30/2007

Well, Water?

Spotted water running down Northampton Street right across from the rear entrance to Artspace.

Water has been running for more than 10 days. On Saturday I pulled the plastic drain pipe out of the hole to see just how deep it was. Almost slipped in and quickly realized that the pipe is 10' long!!! Imagine if this hole was a few blocks over, perhaps somewhere on Elmwood.

Let's see how long it takes...

Rise of the Blogosphere

New book about what some of us do on-line, Rise of the Blogosphere [amazon] by Aaron Barlow. Great review from Firedoglake...

The Rise of the Blogosphere is a serious work of research, outlining the historical context for the emergence of blogs and citizen based journalism as part of the contemporary national conversation. Perhaps primarily targeted to students of journalism in formal training programs, it’s lessons nevertheless are relevant and interesting in their own right to anyone engaged in this blog world, either as a writer or as a reader and participant.

Rather than provide a more complete review or summary of such a meaty and engaging piece of work, I’d like to offer some snap summaries, impressions and questions for Aaron, especially with this particular community at Firedoglake in mind. But first, let me offer a quick sense of the sweep of... read the rest...

Check out Aaron's blog - One Flew East. He writes about his own book in this post, from May. Special thanks to Cynthia who writes that Barlow's book is now in the Central Library. Thanks Cynthia.

Saturdays at Artspace

Saturday's Artspace Backyard Neighborhood tour found us checking out a City owned house here at 115 Northampton Street.

First wrote about this spot, just two blocks from Artspace, last September - right here. Aside from Coe Place, these two blocks of Northampton have some of the most interesting architecture and solid street scapes in the Midtown area. 94 Northampton is amazing and this house at 91 is beginning to get lots of love, too...

Tours every Saturday beginning at 11am and leaving from the Sonic Café across from Artspace.

7/27/2007

Saturday's - Tour d'Neglect

Saturday we begin stage two of this year's Tour d'Neglect. Stops include various Catholic complexes including the German Roman Catholic Orphan Home down on Dodge Street.

Here's a video of the GRCO from Sean in Toronto. Sean is the creative impulse behind DK Photogroup. You'll remember their exhibit Orphaned that opened in Toronto last October. Buffalo's Artvoice covered the show - An Orphan of History.

Here's an archive of posts from this forgotten spot - GRCO Archive

Ellicott District Councilman, Brian Davis is the president of the Community Action Organization's board. They've owned this place for four years. It remains wide open...and falling apart. Nathan Hare is the Executive Director of the CAO.

Last time I checked, there was no housing court file for this property. Wonder why?

7/26/2007

Urban Prairie...this week...

While visiting St. Ann's Tuesday evening, found these places on the urban prairie right across the street.

Imagine a utility pole like this, broken on Allen, Elmwood or Hertel. Yet just 50' from Broadway here it is...

Detroit, again...

New nyc based fixBuffalo fan just passed along this video from MOCAD and Cranbrook's Shrinking Cities show earlier this year. The video is posted here on Model D Media, great site about things Detroit.

First posted about Shrinking Cities in Detroit - Emerging Patterns - in February. Lots to learn from our friends on the other side of the lake.

7/25/2007

The Bells of St. Ann's

I got the call early Tuesday morning. "David, Martin Ederer needs some help with bells this evening, are you available?" Ever since hearing Dr. Ederer's story about setting the clock in the steeple and ringing the bells for St. Ann’s Tridium, that he told on last year's Tour de Neglect, I'd been hooked. Here's that post from last summer when he described the narrow intricacies of the clock tower.

Tuesday night, I went inside and climbed a dozen stair cases that reminded me of previous explorations in Aachen, Cologne and Paris. While I waited for the rest of the evening's bell ringers I had 20 minutes to myself, 200 feet above Broadway. I was mesmerized. I could hear the sounds of children on the street. I thought of the countless artisans and workers who built the structure that surrounded me. I sent pics to NYC and started to catch sight of the bells and clock works that were marking the passage of decades. Here's a small set of pics.

Here's St. Ann's official site and a recent post comparing St. Ann's to how others worship - here.

I told MJ about the St. Ann's Tridium and invited him to ring the bells tonite. Here's some truly exceptional pix - St. Ann's slide show.

Yes, Bishop Kmiec plans to close St. Ann's next year.

Vinyl vs. Brick...

Last evening had an opportunity to walk the St. Ann's neighborhood with Jeff Brennen, local green contractor and newest board member of PresCo - down Emslie, across Peckham and back up Watson Street to Broadway. On Watson, Jeff spotted this...

...brick house, shrouded in vinyl! Here's the proof below.

If you're still not convinced check out the brick - right here - with the lintel stones. Couldn't believe what Jeff was telling me, 'till I looked closer myself. I've seen painted vinyl, never vinyl covering brick....

More about some of Jeff's observations soon...stay tuned....

Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. Mcguire: Plastics.

See My Vinyl Collection for additional inspiration.

Old House...New Blog...

Checking out the daily stats, see that I've just gotten a few hits from - This old, old house.

We're Whitney and Steve, two early-twenties homeowners living in the city of Buffalo, New York. Read about our home-buying and house-renovating experience here. We also blog about things going on in our neighborhood, housing issues in Buffalo, and the general roller coaster of home ownership. To find out a little more about us and our situation: click here.

New material all the time on their blog...

No Show...

Reverend Stenhouse and his attorney didn't show this morning.

Ben Upshaw represented Bethel CDC. Judge Nowak adjourned proceedings 'till next week and reminded Ben that Reverend Stenhouse must show with an attorney as he's a named defendent in the four cases.

I spoke on behalf of the block club and area residents. I asked Judge Nowak to order Bethel CDC to immediately board and secure the property. After looking at the pix I shared with the court and realizing that there's been no progress on the properties since the initial inspection report, he directed the Mayor's Impact Team to board the four properties, cut the grass and issued an "Order to Vacate" for each property.

Will be staying with this story as it unfolds....

Just heard from "exiled" housing activist Dick Kern that 7 News WKBW picked up the story last night - right here.

7/24/2007

In the News and in Court...

In today's Buffalo News...

click for larger image

This isn't news to fixBuffalo readers. I've been reporting on Rev. Stenhouse's properties that surround the newly renovated Performing Arts HS for the past year. They continue to be in deplorable condition, wide open and rat infested. On my way down town this morning a number of neighbors said they were planning to tell Judge Nowak just how bad the houses really are...

In another development just heard that Rev. Stenhouse's Bethel CDC has just applied for City loans to re-hab 121 Woodlawn Avenue. It was rehabbed less than five years ago and for the past three years has been stripped and left wide open. Wrote about it recently - right here. It's what students at the newly renovated Performing Arts HS see when they look out the window.

Here's the link to additional information about Rev. Stenhouse's properties and a video from earlier this year.

Aside from the obvious problems with the building code violations and the deep irony that a control board member controls the largest collection of blighted property surrounding the City's newest school - the other issue of course surrounding Bethels's lack of stewardship include the possible conflict of interest where a control board member is seeking funds from an entity he actually controls. Not to mention the fact that the "rental registry" fees have not been paid and at least one of these four properties is on the October auction list.

7/23/2007

Clean Up...Queen City Farm...

Just in from Rod McCallum....

Whistle While You Work...
We have spent some time behind the scenes for the last few weeks but we are ready to get our hands a little dirty. This Friday, July 27th we will be working on the farm site from 3-5 pm. We will pickup trash, clear some overgrowth and finish with some pizza. Meet at 194 E Utica Street at 3 pm. RSVP by sending an email. Please include the number of people and a list of landscaping tools (trimmers, saws, chipper, etc.) you will bring. See you there!
rod@queencityfarm.org
www.queencityfarm.org

If you haven't seen the Queen City Farm film by John Paget, check it out!
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Artspace • BAVPA • Tour d'Neglect - 2007 • Woodlawn Row Houses • faq • my flickr
the creativity exchange • CEOs for Cities

7/21/2007

BAVPA ReConstruction - End Week 60

July 20, 2007 - Day 391

The construcition trailers are gone and the pavement across the street has been removed. Have heard conflicting reports regarding the installation of the tennis courts. I'll be talking with Paul McDonnell, architect for the BOE, again this week for the latest.

Also noticed that the new front steps along East Ferry Street were installed this past week, too.

Board of Education trucks were on location last weekend and today, too. Desks, books and all sorts of other supplies are arriving. Wonder who's in charge of logistics.

See BAVPA Reconstruction Archive for additional details and updates.

Moving in.... Artspace

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On my way to the Sonic Café this morning noticed lots of activity in front of Artspace. Everyone was waiting for the guy with the key...including one person who moved in last night and couldn't get out!

Midtown's newest residents...making Artspace their home...

Met up with Lukia Costello and was quickly invited to help carry a few things in. Here's a peek inside her 5th floor studio.

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Place still looks like a construction site and imagine there will be a few stories about this in the days or weeks ahead...

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Seems like the projected August 1st move in date for the new units behind the Main Street building will be pushed back. Heard from a few sources that windows don't fit the openings. Here's two of the six new buildings. One person moving in mentioned that Artspace had recently opened up the list to non-artists...trying to track some additional sources about this.

Hope to have some additional interior views soon. Amazing development for Buffalo and this part of the City's near East side. My first Artspace post, in December 2004 - here, seems like decades ago. Check out the pix/Artspace to see the site's development on a weekly basis since June 2006.

Artspace C onstruction Updates • Artspace Buffalo • pix/Artspace

7/19/2007

Deconstructing Buffalo - House by House...

While chatting with Michael Gainer yesterday he gave me the heads-up about the feature piece in this week's Artvoice. Really amazing level of activity here in Bringing Down the House.

Michael Gainer doesn’t sleep, he waits…and thinks. He’s simply too busy to sleep, and besides, recently he’s got a whole lot to think about—soliciting foundations, screening employment applications, honing his business plan, getting various permits from the city, networking with related organizations and...read the rest...

From a recent press conference...

Been a huge fan of what I've called deconstructing Buffalo for years. First wrote about it in June, 2005 - DeConstructing Buffalo and Part II from last September.

Also visited ReNew last winter in Brattleboro, VT see - ReNewing Buffalo. I remember tipping Michael off to the spot, he found time to visit the place a few days later. Recently Michael and the gang had a press event at the Central Terminal, was the only blogger there - see the post.

Love what Michael has to say about the ever increasingly expanding urban prairie...

“There’s a little dead end street, and there are train tracks back here,” he says, indicating an abandoned right-of-way. He says there are only three houses on the street, the final one completely abandoned. “I wrote the property down, because I want to live there!” he says, his eyes lighting up. It’s buffered from a major road by a big warehouse directly in front of it, and a huge cemetery stretches into the distance behind the house. Next to it, away from the other houses, “this whole corner is a big field with three enormous trees, and it’s quiet back there. You could just…live on the urban prairie,” he finishes, his voice rising in a pseudo-Midwestern timbre.

I've been keeping tabs on the warehouse next to the Washington Market and catch up with the crew on occasion during lunch time. Make time soon some Sunday to check it out...amazing finds!

Smart City...

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Smart City is a weekly, hour-long public radio talk show that takes an in-depth look at urban life, the people, places, ideas and trends shaping cities. Host Carol Coletta talks with national and international public policy experts, elected officials, economists, business leaders, artists, developers, planners and others for a penetrating discussion of urban issues.

This weekend...

What would you be willing to do to put 2.6 billion extra dollars into your local economy each year? Would you be willing to drive 4 fewer miles a day?

That's what Portlanders are doing, and it's paying big dividends for their city. Joe Cortright, economist with Impresa Consulting, will tell us about the calculations he's made that produce Portland's Green Dividend.

We'll also find out from Jon Herrmann and Josh Sevin about Philadelphia's comprehensive program to attract top college students...introduce them to the city while in school and hang on to them once they graduate. Jon heads Campus Philly, an organization that promotes active involvement of students with the city's social, civic, and professional communities. Josh is the Manager of Knowledge Industry Initiatives for Philadelphia's Department of Commerce.

Our subjects are Portland's Green Dividend and strategies to build Philadelphia's talent pool this week on Smart City.

Listen to host Carol Colletta - list of additional stations/times - 7pm Sunday on WNED - 970 in Buffalo, NY. Past Shows are archived and the newsletter is published regularly.

7/18/2007

Transfiguration Update...

On Sunday I walked around Transfiguration, again...

Quickly noticed that the cyclone fencing now blocks the sidewalk along Mills Street. This is a very good thing as the slate roof has been sliding into the sidewalk for months. Here's a pic showing the decaying Mills Street side in January of 2006. The front door is now boarded, again.

Quick check with the permits people at City Hall. No sidewalk closing permit was issued for blocking the pedestrian right of way here along Mills.

And in related developments, seems like Judge Nowak has now agreed to hear the case agains Paul Francis Associates Inc. Local attorney Bill Trezevant - the man hiding behind the corporate veil - went to UB law school with Hank Nowak. Two months ago, Judge Nowak recused himself from hearing the matter and said, "Bill's a good friend and was president of the law school glass while I was vice president."

Here's the latest from the Housing Court site...
County: Erie
Case: 409/2007
Tracy Krug Building Insp. vs. Assoc, Inc Paul Francis

Appearance Date/Time	Calendar Category	Judge Part	Calendar Marking
Sep 12, 2007 9:30 a.m.	Adjourned Housing Part	Part 16
Jul 11, 2007 9:30 a.m.	Adjourned Housing Part	Henry Nowak Part 16	Adjourned
Jun 13, 2007 9:30 a.m.	Adjourned Housing Part	Henry Nowak Part 16	Further Proceedings - Case Adjourned
May 30, 2007 9:30 a.m.	Adjourned Housing Part	Henry Nowak Part 16	Adjourned
Apr 27, 2007 9:30 a.m.	Adjourned Housing Part	E. Jeannette Ogden Part 16	Adjourned
Apr 13, 2007 9:30 a.m.	Housing Part	Henry Nowak City Of Buffalo Housing Violations	Case Transferred To Another Part

While checking the site, I quickly noticed that information relating to the case against Bill Trezevant personally, has gone missing.

7/17/2007

Smaller is Better...

Regular fixBuffalo reader just gave me the heads-up about the following story on NPR this morning - Smaller is Better for Youngstown.

I've been following the Youngstown story for the past few months and the inspiring work of Mayor Jay Williams, recently here - Visiting Youngstown - with links to a May 3rd Wall Street Journal front page story. __________________________________________________________________________

Artspace • BAVPA • Tour d'Neglect - 2007 • Woodlawn Row Houses • faq • my flickr
the creativity exchange • CEOs for Cities

7/15/2007

Artspace(d)?

Just chatting with a local artist who was all set to move into Artspace over the weekend. She was told by Brian Day - Belmont Shelter Rental agent - that the building didn't receive the necessary certificate of occupancy from the City of Buffalo, despite the fact that her rental agreement says she could move in on Saturday, July 14th.

According to her..

...he [Brian Day] kept telling us there was no way we wouldn't be able to move in this weekend that it was a sure bet...then he tells us a day before we were supposed to move in that we couldn't and moved the date back to this coming saturday...

She's rather pissed. The woman she is sharing the space with had to pay for a moving company, that didn't move her. And then there's an issue with floors, that don't seem to up to spec. Something with the a huge concrete patch slapped into the middle of a wooden floor.

A Certificate of Occupancy is required before people move in. Wonder what Artspace, Savarino and Belmont Shelter were ever thinking...

Yikes...anyone else out there with a similar experience?

Do tell...

Artspace C onstruction Updates • Artspace Buffalo • pix/Artspace

City of Buffalo vs. Reverend Richard Stenhouse

Spent some time on City's Halls third floor on Friday. Learned that Rev. Richard Stenhouse and Bethel CDC are scheduled to appear in front of Housing Court Judge Henry Nowak at 930am next Wednesday July 25th.

You can track Housing Court cases, here. After a sign-in, simply enter "Stenhouse" and you will quickly see that all four properties on Michigan Avenue 1518, 1516, 1512 and 1504 which are located directly across the street from new home of Performing Arts HS are in court.

That's right the Treasurer of Buffalo's Control Board is a named defendant in Housing Court along with the Community Development Corporation he represents as Executive Director, Bethel CDC.

Also learned that the Rental Registration fees have not been paid for these four properties as required by a new local ordinance.

I'll be covering this story...click through the background - Boarding Control - and don't forget to check out the video from this past January, right here!

Here's what the four places looked like last week - Spot the Violations!

A Desert of Blight...

Once upon a time...I thought the Joint School Reconstruction Project, the largest construction project in the City's history, was supposed to help eleviate the sort of devestation that we see around newly renovated schools here in Buffalo.

Grabbed this shot on my way to Beth Jacob Cemetery this afternoon. That's the recently renovated Harvey Austin Middle School in the background.

Here's another shot, one short block away. Remember Eyes Wide Open? - the blighted neighborhood surrounding the recently renovated East High School on Northampton Street.

Then there's Rev. Richard Stenhouse and Bethel CDC, the single largest owner of blighted property surrounding the new home of Performing Arts HS. Here's those posts/links...

Love this pic on the front lawn of the Harvey Austin School. Despite the lack of academic achievment in City schools, seems that this subtle message is taken to heart.

Oh...here's the Board of Education Summer 2007 Reading Program...

Dead and Still Forgotten...

While the Diocese and critics debate the "ethnic cleansing" language in a recent Common Council resolution - which was passed unaminously, btw - another religous organization appeared in the Buffalo News this week...

The Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo plans to build a smaller facility in the Northtowns more in line with the needs of today’s aging, shrinking Jewish community.
Competing synagogues that once recruited members from one another are talking about ways to combine programs and operations and collectively reach out to unaffiliated Jews.

At the end of June, the American Jewish Committee stopped providing professional staff for its Western New York chapter, citing the need to redeploy those resources to cities with much larger Jewish populations.
The local Jewish community is adjusting to dramatically reduced numbers read the rest...

So, this afternoon I went deep into the City's East side and visited Beth Jacob Cemetery on Landsdale Street, again. Here's the map.

fixBuffalo readers may recall that I first visited Beth Jacob two years ago - right here. Last fall I compared Beth Jacob to Rich View Memorial Cemetery lost somewhere in Toronto, here.

click image to enlarge

I'd counted the grave stones in July, 2005 - Counting Stones - and 74 of the 276 graves appeared to be in decent shape. This afternoon, it appeared as though the same number of graves remain desecrated. Some of the crime tape that had been fluttering in the wind was still there, yet the same unsettled feeling passed through me again that I'd experienced the first time I visited Beth Jacob.

So, the Catholic Church turns its head on the built envrionment and declares, ad nauseum, "the church is about people and not buildings." Jesus of Suburbia. Nice.

Imagine if Beth Jacob were closer to Hertel or Elmwood. Landsdale is a dead end street, right off Koons. Remember Shock and Awe on Koons Avenue? And yes, today it's way worse.

While it may be difficult to forget Grandma's house, as it's now commonplace to ship her house off to a landfill, what about Grandma? Will someone please explain to me why it's now so easy to forget?

Shame on the local Jewish community for not remembering and honoring those who made the path to the suburbs possible.

Transit road has no memory.

10 Years Ago...

While waiting for my tour to start and settling into my first peanut stick and medium double/double Saturday morning at the Sonic Café, I read through the weekend WSJ piece on blogging - Happy Blogiversary - by one of my favorite feature writers at the journal, Tunku Varadarajan.

Notwithstanding the words of Tom Wolfe, who puts an elegant boot, below, into the corpus of bloggers, there are many more people today who would read blogs than disparage them.
The consumption of blogs is often avid and occasionally obsessive. But more commonly, it is utterly natural, as if turning to them were no stranger than (dare one say this here?) picking one's way through the morning's newspapers. The daily reading of virtually everyone under 40 -- and a fair few folk over that age -- now includes a blog or two, and this reflects as much the quality of today's bloggers as it does a techno-psychological revolution among readers of news and opinion.
We are approaching a decade since the first blogger read the rest...

If you're interested in pushing things further consider Blog World in Vegas, November 7-9, 2007. There's a recent report about the Israeli Blogging Conference, called Blogference held earlier this month in Herzliya, Israel. Amazing line-up, right here that included Pittsburgh based freelance video producer, Justin Kownacki. His Something to be Desired, is way worth checking out.

Still love Alex Halavis, former Dean of the Buffalo Blogosphere, when he discusses the claim...

...the average blogger was a 14-year old girl blogging about her cats...

Post and links to that discussion about a Pew Internet report - right here, from last July.

Saturday...Behind Artspace...

Regular Saturday Artspace Backyard Neighborhood tours are still happening...

Every Saturday - Meetup at 11am inside the Sonic Café and explore the architecture and urban scene behind Buffalo's newest location for the arts.

Here's a few views from previous weeks - Saturday's behind Artspace and last weekend had the opportunity to learn more about the neighborhood from George Thomas who was in town for Buffalo Old Home Week. Pic of George and his friend Theressa very close to where he was raised on Ellicott Street, right here.

7/13/2007

Tick, tick...

Robert Coles, a Buffalo architect had a short opinion piece in this week's Buffalo News - Census Clock is ticking down. Same guy who designed the newest library in the County's system, the Merriweather - here's Coles at the library with author and Buffalo critic Diana Dillaway.

Recent population statistics on the decline of cities in the Northeast should give us pause for concern. With a population of 580,000 in 1950 as the 15th largest city in the nation, Buffalo had a population of 276,000 people in 2005, dropping to the 66th largest city in the nation.
In 1900, with 350,000 population, it was the eighth largest city. Some recent statistics indicate that the city’s population is now below 250,000.

We are about to lose the critical mass that makes a city viable, and our major cultural and recreational activities are truly at risk. It is already evident that the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Historical Society, the Science Museum, the Studio Museum, the Buffalo Zoo and the African-American Cultural Institution are facing severe financial shortages. There also has been recent talk about the fate of the Buffalo Bills, and the Buffalo Sabres may also be threatened.
The flight to the suburbs has left the city with masses of poor and underprivileged people...read the rest...

Wanted to know more about this startling 250,000 figure. Emailed a local urbanist and number cruncher who passed along the following...

Coles is a little off in his statement that it was 276,000 in 2005, it is actually the 2006 estimate. And while that may be splitting hairs, the 250,000 count is definitely an underestimate. The Census Bureau's most recent American Community Survey (ACS), based on 2005 data, puts the population at 256,492 with a deviation of +/- 9,824. This may be what Coles is referring to...

Yikes!

fixBuffalo readers have been reading additional news about Buffalo as a shrinking city. Shuffling Away from Buffalo, a post from last month with numerous links to other posts about the story NO politician is talking about in Buffalo.

Anybody wonder why?

Moving to Artspace...

Hearing from a number of artist friends that Saturday July 14th is the big day. They're moving in to Artspace.

Went by early this evening and for the first time the sidewalk was passable for pedestrians and saw that six locust trees were planted at some point during the day in front of Buffalo's newest destination for the arts.

The new units, behind this recently renovated building are scheduled to open next month...windows are going in and the concrete block areas will be finished with a stainless steel product...pix soon.

Regular Saturday at 11 Artspace Backyard Neighborhood tours leaving from the Sonic Café. Hope to arrange the occasional interior tour, too.

update...

Just heard that a workplace fatality was narrowly avoided on Tuesday at Artspace. Seems like the crew working inside the elevator car forgot there was someone working in the pit. OSHA was called and spent Wednesday and Thursday on site. OSHA found at least one other safety concern as someone working the man lift - things with the 80' booms and wheels - exited the lift through a window rather than lowering himself to the ground.

This comes as at least one sub-contractor has repeatedly told me of the worsening safety concerns on site. Learned that subs are now more than two full months behind in getting paid by the general contrator, Savarino which may have prompted the departure of a site supervisor earlier in the year.

Remember, just after construction began - late last June, right here - the safety issues were all ready on the radar as the construction gates were routinely left open. Again here, this March as we had to deal with falling brick.

Artspace C onstruction Updates • Artspace Buffalo • pix/Artspace