Thursday, February 7, 2008

Black Rock Vacancy Initiative

Unfortunately we seem to have hit a bit of a snag in our Black Rock Vacancy Initiative. The promise that I received from the City to write all of the vacant properties in Black Rock for court has not been followed through on. The City has simply refused to cite these properties and I think they are going to need a not so subtle push from the residents. I have attached an Excel file that lists each of the 54 properties that were supposed to be written for Court. It appears as though the only way to get the City to follow through on their promise is for residents to make at least five complaints for each vacant property. Complaints can be made through the Mayor's Complaint Line. As residents and activists, a coordinated effort to flood the complaint line will make the City understand how important this Initiative is and that it cannot be taken lightly. Getting the block clubs, Good Neighbor's Planning Alliance and community activists involved in this process is going to be essential for the ultimate success of the Initiative. We really appreciate the work that all of you have already contributed to this project and it is unfortunate that more needs to be done. The Mayor's Complaint Line phone number is: 851-4890 The Internet link is: http://www.city-buffalo.com/Applications/ComplaintForm/default.aspx Thank you very much for your assistance on this matter and please feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions. Sincerely, Dan Soleimani

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have already started contacting members of my group, Dearborn Street Community Association, encouraging them to contact the Mayor's office AND calling the Resolution Line. After all the promises, after all the hard work by Judge Nowak's office, after all the support from the community, after all the notice from the media, I cannot believe that the City is throwing up this kind of road block. Mayor Brown has been talking so much about his committment to demolition of blighted properties, but this action seems to offset those pretty speeches. I'm seriously disappointed. Beverly Eagen, President, DSCA

Anonymous said...

I don't see the attached spreadsheet. Am I missing something?

Anonymous said...

When will you good people in Black Rock realize that City Hall is nothing but hot air. We tried to make a difference for almost 25 years and finally just gave up and moved out. Our just rewards were property damage and gossip by those who didn't have a brain cell between their ears.
We'll pray for all of you.

Anonymous said...

Black Rock Riverside GNPA is a joke. The people involved in that group only care about what they can get for themselves such as running for public office or getting patronage jobs in city hall. Wake up, people, this group is not going to help you one bit.

Anonymous said...

We the people of Black Rock should never give up on our neighborhood.
Sure were the only true hope that this area of Buffalo will stay as neighborly as it was . Sure we definetly have our issues .
But were also not the same people that picked up and abandoned Black Rock. The ones that moved to the burbs and gave up will look back and wish they were still here.

Anonymous said...

I have come to realize that no matter what anybody does, there will always be those that come out of the woodwork to criticize. I'm happy to say that all is back on track with the Vacancy Initiative and going as smoothly as the process allows. I'm also very happy to say that there are dozens of concerned, involved citizens that are hard at work to make positive changes in Black Rock instead of giving up and running to the suburbs. To each his own, that's for sure, but I'm staying and putting in the time and work to improve my neighborhood and plan on continuing with the help of my neighbors and friends. BAEagen

Anonymous said...

Taking down blighted housing is certainly a useful step, but the main problem of the neighborhood is being a repository for all the crap from areas that are currently being revitalized.

Strict neighborhood quality of life and general law enforcement is required to keep the neighborhood inhabited by people who care about these issues.

The area needs an influx of capital to revitalize it, commercial and residential developers are reluctant to do so, because of the current perception of the area. Stop the armed holdups, the street dealers, and people being harassed going and coming and the current perception changes.

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Sean Brodfuehrer said...

Good luck, one way to help keep properties from losing value in the first place is to start to reduce the amount of public housing in BR / Riverside. I grew up in Riverside and can tell you that problems from the West Side are nothing compared to the local issues of concentrated poverty in the housing complexes.

I am not anti assistance but projects are not the answer, why many cities have been demolishing them for over 10 years now but we still have all of ours intact

Anonymous said...

Effective neighborhood will come once NEW people move into the area, not from those already there.

And it will begin along the waterfront and work out from there.

- Nostradamus

Anonymous said...

Hey black Rocker Nice pic of the Bridge..No tags lol ur cousin "Loft Apartment"