South Buffalo Blogger

This picture is not an April Fool’s joke. It is real and it’s a problem when talking about the infrastructure in the City of Buffalo. (Seneca Street at Yale Place)

Reporting this, or any pot hole lets the City of Buffalo know it’s out there, but there’s only so much a 48-hour pot hole patrol can guarantee. For every one reported, there are thousands of others all over Buffalo that aren’t. While quick fixes like filling in pot holes are temporary, the infrastructure frustration has yet to be addressed city-wide.

As the second in the series of posts, Councilman Kearns, attending yesterday’s meeting, announced Jason Shell as the newest person working in the City of Buffalo Sewer Department.

Housing, Councilman Kearns said is one of his biggest issues.

“One of the things that I have been trying to work on over the past two years has been a lot of housing issues. Working with different people, one thing I realized is that it was too much for us, for me. I’ve been trying to wear a couple of different hats, and I realized it’s just not going to work.”

Kearns hired a new housing liaison, Matt Fisher, on the level of being proactive in South Buffalo, to go after absentee landlords, which was what Kearns said he campaigned on.

Other interests in the neighborhood, Councilman Kearns said he would be meeting this week to have a timeline of when Seneca Street will be repaved.

“We haven’t gone over the paving yet, that was one of the things we’re talking about. I know it’s in the works; I just have to sit down and go over it. At the time it was supposed to be all of Seneca Street (City line to Bailey) but I’ll refer to the Mayor on that.” Kearns answered.

The first in a series of posts about community involvement & neighborhood attention.

By: Cindy K. Yesterday evening several members of the City of Buffalo met at a community meeting of block club leaders. About 80 in all attendance included mostly block club leaders, listened to topics of interest and asked questions.

Division of Citizen Services, Oswaldo Mestre, Jr. conveyed the importance of using the Mayor’s Call & Resolution hotline for reporting citizen complaints.

Points of interest included the use of the 311 System, which will be an expansion of the Mayor’s Call & resolution Center. 311’s mission is to provide citizens of the City of Buffalo with access to city services, city information and non-emergency police services with the highest possible levels of customer service.

Saying “graffiti is a big emphasis with the Mayor”, Mestre also talked about Buffalo’s Anti-Graffiti and Clean City Programs.

Graffiti prevention improves the quality of life for communities and residents, and Buffalo’s Anti-Graffiti Clean City coordinator was introduced to the public.

“We take that serious. The whole idea of graffiti, that’s a quality of life call, and we want to be able to do something about it.” Mestre stated to block club leaders.

The Save Our Streets Program was another component that was addressed.

“The whole idea here is to make sure you have recourse. We’re your recourse in terms of following up on those particular calls, and that’s a very, very important thing in that respect.” He said.

For additional information contact Oswaldo Mestre, Jr.
Phone Number- (716) 851-4229
Address: 218 City Hall, Buffalo, New York 14202
email: omestre@city-buffalo.com

or use the Call and Resolution Hotline (716) 851-4890
Online form, click here.
*note: to get a tracking number of your complaint, you have to fill out all the contact information.