Categories for In-Depth

Oct 22

2024

City loan has not stabilized Braymiller Market

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Story updated 10:34 a.m. Oct. 24. A year after the City of Buffalo threw Braymiller Market a half-million dollar lifeline, the downtown grocery store continues to struggle financially. For a third year in a row, records show that owner Stuart Green is months behind on his city tax payments.  That failure to pay $8,119 in taxes, half the annual bill, prompted the Erie County Industrial Development Agency to warn him Sept. 10 and again last week that the property tax abatement it granted him in 2019 could be revoked. On Wednesday, IDA leaders said they were prepared to begin the[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Oct 8

2024

Buffalo cops rarely disciplined

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The officers “pulled up in a black Taurus” and started “beating and whipping people,” according to one of several witnesses to a May 2011 altercation between Buffalo cops and a crowd of people outside an East Ferry corner store. The cops used homophobic slurs, were “beating the shit out of people” and “kicking this boy in the face,” another witness said. A third witness said “a white male who works for housing” — later identified as Buffalo Police Officer Michael Acquino — “took his [phone] and deleted personal pictures and a video that he had recorded of the officers beating[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Sep 24

2024

Brown poised to be the state’s top-paid OTB exec

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Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown. Photo by Garrett Looker. This story was updated Sept. 25 at 4:07 p.m. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown stands to be the highest-paid OTB executive in New York should he accept the offer to be Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp.’s new president and CEO. OTB’s personnel committee approved the terms of a contract during a two-hour closed-door session Wednesday afternoon. Board members would not disclose the terms of the offer, including salary and start date. The full board is expected to vote on the contract offer to Brown on Thursday, at which time officials said they would[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Sep 19

2024

Developer Doug Jemal, back in the news

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An advertisement featuring Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen hangs on the side of the Statler Hotel. Photo by Garrett Looker. Developer Doug Jemal is in the news this week over his company’s installation of a huge ad posted on the side of the Statler Hotel in the heart of downtown Buffalo. Jemal’s company didn’t obtain the necessary permit for the 11-story ad, featuring the likeness of Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Jemal is unapologetic, telling The Buffalo News that installing the ad was the “right thing to do.” Jemal, known for sometimes playing by his own rules, was the subject of[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Sep 10

2024

Jail deaths substantially higher than reported

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At least 57 Erie County jail inmates have died since 2005, a much higher number than previously reported. The death rate has barely budged in nearly a quarter century. Indeed, it has ticked up since Sheriff John Garcia took office, taking over from a predecessor widely criticized for the number of jail deaths on his watch. Forty-four prisoners, or one inmate every 4½ months, died under former Sheriff Timothy Howard, who became sheriff in June 2005, after five inmates had already died earlier that year under the previous sheriff, Patrick Gallivan. With eight deaths since Garcia took office in January[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Jul 18

2024

Mayor’s staff growing in numbers and cost

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When Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown prepared his first city budget, he allowed for eight employees in his office, including himself. He had a communications staff of one.  Those jobs were scheduled to cost taxpayers $571,806, not including healthcare and retirement benefits. The actual cost was less — just under $500,000 — because he didn’t fill all the positions. This budget year, which began July 1, the mayor’s budget allows for 19 staffers. The Office of Communications and Intergovernmental Affairs has grown to seven budgeted positions.  Combined, the salaries for those 26 jobs add up to $2,453,665. That’s nearly three times[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Jul 2

2024

Buffalo daycare center has history of complaints

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Mary’s Little Lambs Child Care Center. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel.  This story was updated July 2t 12:53 pm. An East Side daycare center whose owner was recently arrested and charged with shoving an employee has been cited for 20 violations in the past 2-1/2 years, a few referencing allegations of possible maltreatment or inadequate supervision of children. State inspectors since 2022 were called to investigate complaints at Mary’s Little Lambs Child Care Center eight times prior to the June 11 incident, when owner Mary Goodwill was charged after allegations she used physical force against a teenage staff member. Another employee[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jun 27

2024

Hochul, Schumer pressured regulators over STAMP

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Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part package. Our second story is here. In the drive to build a massive industrial park in rural Genesee County, the offices of Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer pressured regulators to issue approvals for the project that ran afoul of environmental laws and policies, ignoring an indigenous nation’s legal rights along the way. Investigative Post found that: Aides to Hochul pushed top officials at the state Department of Environmental Conservation to work more quickly. Schumer aides intervened with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And a string of state[...]

Posted 10 months ago
Investigative Post