Buffalo demolishes the ‘House from Hell’

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An excavator sits at the former site of 149 Arkansas St. following its demolition. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel

The troubled house at 149 Arkansas St. that plagued an West Side neighborhood for years has finally been torn down.

The property, a symbol of failures on the parts of police, city court and government officials, was razed by excavators Tuesday morning, following a demolition order that then Housing Court Judge Patrick Carney issued last August.

This was the third demolition order that Carney issued for the vacant house, which has been a nuisance and safety concern to neighbors since November 2022, when a maintenance worker found an unconscious squatter on the second floor of the house.

It took an entire week – and the stench of the deceased squatter’s rotting corpse – for officers to return. Days later, another squatter broke in and was found dead shortly after. Both deaths were believed to be overdoses.

Neighbor Wilmer Peralta spent years calling 311, local politicians and police in an attempt to stop activity at the house, which he said was frequently inhabited by squatters who he suspected were using drugs.

“It seems like it’s impossible to get the courts or to get judges to put an end to these abandoned homes in the city,” Peralta told Investigative Post in 2022.

Niagara Common Council Member David Rivera, who made appearances in Housing Court to advocate for neighbors, said he would’ve liked to see the demolition happen sooner.

“It’s frustrating for the neighbors. It’s frustrating for the people that have to go to court and especially the people living adjacent to the properties,” he said.

Kwayo Ithe Bonkuka, an African immigrant living in France, bought the property in March 2020 for $45,000. Under his ownership, the house accumulated 36 code violations, $7,853 in unpaid summonses issued by the city’s Bureau of Administrative Adjudication between 2013 and 2020, and a $10,500 Housing Court fine issued by Carney last year.

Bonkuka owned five other Buffalo properties that also had been in Housing Court. Four were sold and one was demolished after sustaining damage in two fires that occurred within 60 days of each other.

To date, Bonkuka hasn’t paid his fines to the city nor to Housing Court, and never appeared before a judge in any of the court appearances for his properties. 

I'Jaz Ja'ciel