South Buffalo Blogger

By: Cindyk

For all the posts I’ve made and pictures taken about the need of fixing Seneca Street’s poor infrastructure, Councilmember Kearns was informed by the Commissioner of Public Works that the repave project promised for this year (just like last year) has been pushed to late next year. As if Seneca Street in South Buffalo can survive another long and heavily-salted winter.

I, for one, am fed up with the promises made and those same promises broken year after year. I am sick of the LIES our politicians have been telling us over the past 10 year to get themselves, or others elected.

From the top-down, I’d like to take this time to personally thank Congressman Brian Higgins for ignoring the emails I’ve sent begging for his attention to the infrastructure frustration facing his elected area. We could flood Caz Park like it used to be, perhaps maybe the Congressman will see our area is just as important as the waterfront. But I doubt it very much!

I’d like to personally thank Assemblyman Mark J.F. Schroeder for being non-existent in his district, and for the outstanding lie told 4 years ago….. “The money’s in the bank, folks”.

I’d like to thank Legislator Tim Kennedy for making promises that the Erie County Legislature can’t (or refuses) to deliver on. “South Buffalo deserves something better”, huh? Exactly how much of Seneca Street in the City of Buffalo is in the County’s budget? Not one red cent.

I’d like to thank Mayor Byron W. Brown who came to South Buffalo last year and again this year with his entire City of Buffalo staff, and who allowed his Commissioner of Public Works to outright lie to the people in this community.

All of these people elected by our votes have let us down. They play politics over what’s right.

News flash fellas….. it’s called a voting booth, not an ASS-Kissing booth! If you can’t live up to the promises you make in your districts, it’s time for the hard-working taxpayers to swing their votes in another direction, since it’s more than obvious the Congressman, Assemblyman, Legislator, Mayor of Buffalo and Commissioner of Public Works can’t get the job done!

Time’s up boys! We have serious problems with the infrastructure in Buffalo and we need serious people in office will to address those issues and actually make an effort to solving said issues.

Who’s tired of the “heads-they win…. tails-you lose” political game?

By: CindyK. It’s very simple, the City of Buffalo Comissioner of Public Works said in June (2008) that the new streetlights for Seneca Street would come “within” a month. He said this while Mayor Byron Brown paid a visit to the Irish Center in South Buffalo.

July arrived and it was said there was to be a 4-week delay. And here we are, the end of August stilling holding on to the promise Legislator Tim Kennedy made more than a year ago about wanting something a little nicer for South Buffalo.

May 2007:

Now when you talk about $300,000 and you think of light standards, we could have got the typical light standards that you see all over the City, or we could have gotten something a little bit better, a little more unique, and that cost over $300,000. But because of this Mayor’s dedication to this project, and because of the work of Congressman Brian Higgins, Assemblyman Mark Schroeder, and Councilmember Mickey Kearns working together this Mayor saw there was a viable project in the City of Buffalo that demanded attention and demanding commitment from his administration and that came in the form of $300,000.

August 2008:
All of this talk about “commitments” and “working together” led to nothing but waiting, like we have for the past 5 years when the community was told by another politician “the money’s in the bank, folks“.

I suppose the taxpayers of South Buffalo can only assume the dozen or so primed streetlights are mere props for a few primary elections coming up.

From this picture, it’s dated from the City of Buffalo “12/04/07″ today’s date: 08/26/08

BUFFALO, N.Y., August 22, 2008 — KeyBank has significantly enhanced and revitalized its South Buffalo branch at 2157 Seneca Street in Buffalo.

The enhancements, unveiled at a ribbon cutting Tuesday, are part of a multi-year, nationwide branch revitalization program now under way at Key. By the end of 2009, several hundred branches across Key’s markets will have received technology upgrades and other features designed to enhance the overall banking experience for clients.

According to Gary Quenneville, senior vice president and head of Retail Banking for KeyBank’s Western New York District, clients will notice a number of new features at the renovated branch.

Exterior features include:
- new rooflines or facades,
- red awnings over the windows and ATMs,
- enhanced lighting and
- upgraded landscaping.

Interior features include:
- new technology that allows tellers to deliver more timely service to clients, and
- large, flat-panel video screens behind the teller areas featuring images from the local community, as well as general banking information.

Architects for the project were Zaxis and Vocon. RP Oakhill Development was the contractor.

“Our goal was to create a welcoming environment for our clients and guests that reflects the spirit of the community we serve and the solutions we offer,” Quenneville said. “Key’s branch revitalization program is a very tangible and visible _expression of our brand, as well as our broader Community Bank strategy, which includes enhancing our delivery channels and developing our employees.”

Key’s branch revitalization program reflects the continued importance of bank branches to consumers and businesses, who increasingly seek a mix of channels so that they have the flexibility to conduct their banking business when, where and how it is most convenient for them.

The 2,700 square-foot South Buffalo branch has five employees who provide a variety of services ranging from traditional retail banking, investment products and private banking to small business banking and commercial banking. The branch also features four teller stations and three employee workstations, as well as a drive-up ATM and free, onsite parking.

By: Cindyk. For several months we’ve all seen this sign displayed in a vacant lot on Seneca Street in South Buffalo.

Last week I watched as the sign was taken down and hauled away. As of yesterday (8 months to the date), can we assume the plans for the “Future Home of the Chikara Kempo Karate” is now off? I didn’t see anything in the South Buffalo News of when construction is to begin, or if plans had fallen through. Who knows?

Are we to still give “Special Thanks to Legislator Tim Kennedy” anyways?

Compliments of the New York State DOT, Seneca Street in West Seneca is currently undergoing a repave project from the Buffalo cityline outward from the city. I’m sorry to report, the same Seneca Street of South Buffalo still remains untouched. I fear our State representatives saw it a need to fix the suburbs first, while the waiting continues here on this side of the boarder.

Looking in the opposite direction, towards South Buffalo:

By: CindyK.

When a County Legislator becomes a mouth-piece for a Congressman & an Assemblyman, only the obvious can happen, promises made quickly turn into promises unkept set for many years.

Legislator Tim Kennedy: (May 2007, Cazenovia Library)

But for the time being, there was one more step that needed to happen and the funding for Seneca Street development to surpass one million dollars that was $300,000 allocated from the City of Buffalo. That money is going to go to a specific piece of the revitalization of Seneca Street into the light standards on Seneca Street. Now when you talk about $300,000 and you think of light standards, we could have got the typical light standards that you see all over the City, or we could have gotten something a little bit better, a little more unique, and that cost over $300,000. But because of this Mayor’s dedication to this project, and because of the work of Congressman Brian Higgins, Assemblyman Mark Schroeder, and Councilmember Mickey Kearns working together this Mayor saw there was a viable project in the City of Buffalo that demanded attention and demanding commitment from his administration and that came in the form of $300,000.

When that Congressman grandstands on yet another “waterfront” project…..

In 2005 Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) pushed for the creation of a board made up of local people who would be responsible for timely decision making and oversight of developments on Buffalo’s waterfront. Three years later we are making real progress on the inner and outer harbors thanks to the efforts of that board, the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC), in conjunction with those of Congressman Higgins.

Click here to read the full story…

From channel 4 news:

“Finally we are seeing real progress along our waterfront and this is just the beginning,” said Congressman Brian Higgins. “One generation built the canal, another generation buried it and this generation has created a redeveloped Erie Canal slip that pulls together our unique natural and historical identity providing an exciting destination for visitors and unlimited opportunities for associated business and job growth in the immediate future.”

When the Assemblyman is applauding the same event….

“There would be no City of Buffalo if it were not for the Erie Canal Harbor,” said NYS Assemblyman Mark Schroeder. “In 1825, Governor Dewitt Clinton, aboard the Seneca Chief, commemorated the opening of the canal with a ‘Wedding of the Waters.’ It was understood that a new city would rise from the banks of the canal’s western terminus - and that is exactly what happened. Seven years later, the New York State Legislature incorporated the City of Buffalo. Now, 183 years after Governor Clinton’s historic voyage, there is a new ‘Wedding of the Waters.’ And once again, a new city will rise from the Erie Canal Harbor. This new Buffalo will follow in its predecessor’s footsteps by honoring its waterfront heritage and recapturing the canal side environment that cultivated its rise to greatness.”

When it took several times (and in different ways) to ask the head of the City of Buffalo Dept of Public Works (at the Irish Center in South Buffalo, Monday, June 2nd, 2008) when things will begin for Seneca Street, his evasiveness finally led to “late summer” on the repave project, and “within a month” on those new street lights

The same promises from when the Asseblyman was a Legislator. When the Congressman was not but an Assemblyman. Those new “something better” street lights promised for more than a year from the current Legislator…..

Today, more than a month later, the street lights on Seneca St. are still “promises unfulfilled”

It’s been 5 years, the same promises are being made & those same promises are being broken….

yet Congressman Brian Higgins is living the lime-light of a brand new waterfront, Assemblyman Mark Schroeder is riding the congressman’s coat-tails and celebrating in the South Buffalo News on getting passed a law of County funding not being funneled via the control board for yet more County-wide construction projects. County of Erie construction projects that aren’t set to touch Seneca Street.

All this as Seneca Street suffers more & more everyday.

I really wish these people that keep getting re-elected would spend less time trying to save their job with political fundraisers & spend more time just doing their job, living up to the promises made during an election season.

It’s high time for the citizens of South Buffalo to call on our elected officials … and tell them to stop trying to bull-shit us!

Maybe, after all these years, maybe we need people in office dedicated to getting a job done vs. a job kept.

By: Cindyk

Today this stood out:

Look closer:

Now the question: If a bolt wasn’t holding in place, what makes workers for the City of Buffalo think a screw over the bolt would do the trick?

By: Cindyk. Looks like not much has changed in the past 6 months, except the snow is traded for weeds, and the grafitti marks the real sign of what’s coming to this vacant lot on Seneca Street in South Buffalo ….

December 14th, 2007:

June 5th, 2008:

By: Cindyk.

While details are limited, the good news, yesterday evening the City of Buffalo Dept of Public Works announced to South Buffalo residents that installation of new concrete-based street lights would begin within a month.

By: CindyK. “Late summer” is the time frame, according to the City of Buffalo Department of Public Works.

So pictures like this:

Will have to wait a little while longer.