Categories for In-Depth

Dec 9

2015

Audit: Urban League bilked taxpayers

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An audit by the Erie County Comptroller has confirmed allegations leveled a year ago by social workers at the Buffalo Urban League that their employer charged the county tens of thousands of dollars for work never performed. Among the abuses: bills claiming some employees worked as many as 170 hours in a single day. The audit also found the Urban League tried to stonewall investigators and retaliated against the whistleblowers who brought the problems to the comptroller’s attention. All eight have now left the agency – either fired or effectively forced out of their jobs. The Department of Social Services,[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Dec 9

2015

Our Battaglia Demolition report on WBFO

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Dan Telvock reports on how state and city officials have failed to follow through on promises made over a year ago to clean up operations of a construction and demolition debris facility that’s the subject of a decade-long dustup with residents of the Seneca-Babcock neighborhood.

Posted 9 years ago

Dec 8

2015

No action in Battaglia Demolition dust up

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State and city officials have failed to follow through on promises made over a year ago to clean up operations of a construction and demolition debris facility that’s the subject of a decade-long dustup with neighbors. As a result, Seneca-Babcock residents said they endured yet another summer of dust, noise and diesel truck fumes from Battaglia Demolition’s operation off Seneca Street. Battaglia Demolition collects concrete, bricks and other construction and demolition debris. The facility also crushes concrete and brick, which residents say stirs up clouds of dust that settle on their properties. In addition, up to 200 trucks a day[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Nov 25

2015

Our diversity report on WBFO

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Charlotte Keith reports on hiring of construction workers at SolarCity project. While contractors and unions are meeting 15 percent affirmative action hiring goals, African Americans account for only about one-third of those workers. Some African American leaders maintain the pipeline of unionized workers needs to be more diversified. Web and television story can be found here.

Posted 9 years ago

Nov 25

2015

Of job growth and mojo

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Not to rain on the parade, but despite talk from politicians about Buffalo’s resurgence, job growth in Erie and Niagara counties continues to lag behind the nation and state. Sounds like this might make for a good discussion.

Posted 9 years ago

Nov 24

2015

Diversity, but few jobs for African Americans

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Diversity hiring goals set for the construction of the SolarCity plant in South Buffalo have not translated into a lot of jobs for African-American workers. While African Americans make up an increasing share of the project’s workforce, they accounted for only 5.7 percent of those on the job for the quarter ending this September, an Investigative Post analysis found. That’s in a city that’s almost 40 percent African-American and a county with a workforce that’s 11 percent black, according to the state Department of Labor. The project is nevertheless meeting its minority workforce goal of 15 percent, largely through the[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Nov 12

2015

Greenleaf garners support despite complaints

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Greenleaf & Company has a history that includes numerous tenant complaints, prosecutions in Housing Court and unpaid bills and taxes. Yet officials have lined up in support of the firm’s proposal to build off-campus student housing adjacent to Buffalo State College. College officials acknowledge they did not perform a background check on the company before they started collaborating on the project. Mayor Byron Brown said Greenleaf’s difficulties should not disqualify the company from the project. Meanwhile, community members said Housing Court Judge Patrick Carney voiced support for the project at a community meeting this summer even though Greenleaf had pending cases[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Nov 11

2015

Housing firm has checkered history

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A landlord working with Buffalo State College to build off-campus student housing has a history of renting apartments with leaky ceilings, electrical hazards and insufficient heat. Take 353 Bird Ave., for example. The ceiling in the downstairs dining room has been stained for a couple of years from a leak that tenants believe comes from an upstairs toilet. The ceiling has collapsed on at least two tenants during that time, including Elizabeth Coffie. “It looked like colored rain and the smell was awful,” she said. Rather than fixing the problem, she said, the landlord simply replaced the ceiling tile. The[...]

Posted 9 years ago
Investigative Post