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a view from recently demolished 669 Genesee Street


50 Otis Place, Gone...Dust...




This morning I was awakened to the sounds of another house demo here in the neighborhood. You’ll recall that 50 Otis Place looked like this in July and had further deteriorated to this condition last Sunday before I started placing pictures on this blog and e-mailing them to the Mayor. Please take a moment to e-mail Lou Petrucci, Chief Building Inspector and thank him for dealing with this very positive solution to the number one problem defining the 21st century’s urban landscape, vacant Houses. Results in less than 100 hours. Victory in the 'hood!

You will recall on Monday when I met Building Inspector Mike Muscarella at the corner of Woodlawn and Otis Place – about fifty feet from Main Street and a short block from East Ferry – I was told the city had no money for these sorts of demolitions. I called downtown to confirm this on Tuesday and learned that the city had no records on 50 Otis Place other than Jacques Remey, of the same address, owns the building.

Well it appears as though someone saw these pics and realized like it’s one block away from a school, what should we do.? It turns out that Lou Petrucci called the Fire Dept. and had 50 Otis Place declared an imminent public health risk. And on Wednesday morning Albert Steele became the successful bidder on the demolition and which will end up costing the city $12,500. Today, it’s dust. Al provided some additional insight into how the entire demo-bidding process gets bogged down in various places and went on at some length about the post demolition site work that restores the no vacant parcel to acceptable conditions. More on this later….

Now, I’m not sure that the (former) building’s owner, Jacques Remey, will ever reimburse the $12,500 the city just shelled out for this work. I spoke with Captain Rozanski from the Erie County Sheriff’s Dept. He’s the guy handling the warrants from Judge Nowak’s bench in Buffalo Housing Court. He was out in the field and will let me know tomorrow whether he’s having any luck finding the owner, Jacques Remey.

I’ll let you know. Of course if anyone knows wheere Jacques Remey might be hiding, please notify me, Captain Rozanski, Antoine Thompson or Judge Nowak.

And yes, wouldn’t it be cool to post the names of people who have outstanding Housing Court warrants. I’ll be following up with Judge Nowak on this. It’s a matter of public record!

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There is a quality even meaner than outright ugliness or disorder, and this meaner quality is the dishonest mask
of pretended order, achieved by ignoring or suppressing the real order that is struggling to exist and to be served.
- Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) from The Death and Life of Great American Cities, 1961.

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