Articles for J. Dale Shoemaker

Mar 13

2025

Buffalo moves to call in Braymiller Market loan

Inside the now-closed Braymiller Market. Photo by Garrett Looker. Capping off the saga of downtown Buffalo’s failed grocery store, city officials on Thursday took a major step towards calling in the loan issued to Braymiller Market two years ago. In a unanimous decision, the loan committee of the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency voted to issue a letter of default, the legal mechanism for demanding back the $561,000 the city is owed. BURA’s full board is expected to approve the recommendation when it meets March 27. It remains unclear whether the city will recoup the funds. By issuing the default —[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Mar 10

2025

Lawsuit: ICE violating First Amendment in Batavia

The ICE detention facility in Batavia. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stationed at the Batavia detention center are routinely opening, reading and keeping copies of legal mail sent to detainees in violation of the First Amendment, a lawsuit filed Monday alleges. Attorneys with three civil rights groups, including the New York Civil Liberties Union, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York, argue they can’t properly represent their detained clients if their correspondence isn’t confidential. The lawsuit alleges that in November, ICE expanded a previous mail inspection policy to include all legal documents that enter the[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Mar 6

2025

Mega-subsidy deal for data center

With subsidies totaling $3.9 million per job, the Genesee County Economic Development Center gave the green light Thursday to a massive data center project to locate at its STAMP industrial park. The industrial development agency’s board of directors unanimously approved a proposal by STREAM U.S. Data Centers to construct a 900,000 square foot data center at the rural business park north of Batavia. The firm will purchase nearly 60 acres of STAMP’s more than 1,200 acre footprint and build a server farm the size of 16 football fields. The subsidy package totals $472 million, primarily sales tax exemptions on computer[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Mar 5

2025

Reforms, at last, at OTB

OTB boss Byron Brown speaks to reporters at Batavia Downs. Photo by Garrett Looker. After years of scandal and critical audits, the governing board of the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. has agreed in principle to a slate of reforms that address some longstanding criticisms of the agency. The course correction includes capping severance pay and travel expenses, putting more contracts out to bid, and tighter monitoring of promotional giveaways. Also under consideration is whether OTB will purchase a suite at the new Buffalo Bills stadium. Not under consideration is termination of health insurance provided to OTB’s chairman and 23[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Feb 27

2025

ICE’s extensive use of solitary confinement in Batavia

Lansine Sidibe serves a coconut to a child in Sao Paulo, Brazil, prior to his emigration to the United States. Photo via Kathleen Maynard. Like many migrants, Lansine Sidibe came to the United States in 2022 seeking asylum, first fleeing war in his home country Mali and later threats of violence in Brazil. But instead of finding a new home, Sidibe spent every single day of the last 32 months in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, much of that time at the agency’s Batavia facility. For 10 of those months, Sidibe was held in solitary confinement. Such treatment[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Feb 20

2025

ICE abuse of detainees in Batavia facility

Recent federal audits of the ICE detention facility in Batavia have documented instances of inhumane treatment of detainees by guards. The audits, conducted in 2023 and last year, found instances of excessive use of force, the shackling of detainees held in solitary confinement for the little time they were allowed out of their cells, and the use of physician assistants to perform dental work on detainees. Former detainees and their representatives paint an even darker picture of conditions inside the facility. Guards beating up detainees is not uncommon, they said. Solitary confinement is a frequent punishment, sometimes in lengthy durations[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Feb 12

2025

More subsidies for restaurateur accused of wage theft

The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday unanimously approved nearly $247,000 in tax breaks to a fast food operator being investigated on allegations of wage theft and other labor law violations. The IDA board did not discuss the allegations before granting the subsidy to Muhammad Shoaib, whose other fast food operations previously have received subsidies totaling close to a half million dollars. The latest round of assistance for Shoaib’s businesses comes as the state labor department probes allegations of wage theft made by several of his former employees. At least two have submitted complaints to the labor department that[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Feb 6

2025

Fate of Braymiller Market remains in limbo

The now-shuttered Braymiller Market at 225 Ellicott Street. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker The future of the downtown building once home to Braymiller Market remains in limbo. For one, Evans Bank is moving to foreclosure on the property as a way to recoup the multi-million dollar mortgage it granted to owner Stuart Green. The bank has begun “pre-foreclosure” proceedings, according to Common Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope. At the same time, the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency is weighing whether to call in a $561,000 loan the city granted to Braymiller Market in 2023. The money, meant to be a lifeline[...]

Posted 2 months ago