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a view from recently demolished 669 Genesee Street


A New City Park? - Part 4



I talked with Tom Trathen at length Friday afternoon about various issues relating to “the deal,” local government and the competitiveness of our WNY economy. Did you know the Trathen Group had a booth at the Convention Center in Buffalo during the World University Games in 1993? Reasonable guy loves Buffalo….and wonders about all the “clear-cutting” that’s gone on over in the Fillmore District. I tried to explain to him how well intended HUD and BMHA have been here in Buffalo. He didn't buy it...

Get the full story beginning with either of the part 1's...
...don't miss the pictures!

The current stuff... Part 1, 2 , 3 & 3+
The early Buffalo history...Part 1 & Part 2
cool pictures, too

Other JN Adam related items which happened Friday…

  • Don Esmonde cited a Brookings Institute report in his Friday column correlating the size of city government with economic prosperity. I think the folks in Perrysburg understand this.
  • Council member Davis – Chair of finance committee – called Friday afternoon and assured me that the matter has been placed on the agenda for next Tuesday 1/25 for reconsideration.
  • And an aid to Common Council President David Franczyk called this afternoon. He told me he had just found a copy of the deed over at the historical society which he has just dusted off. It clearly shows, according to him, that the JN Adam site belongs to the city of Buffalo. He was excited and thought the whole place would make a great city park . I think he means county park.
  • David Franczyk told me on the phone I should stop writing about things I don’t know anything about. I think he was referring to the Trathen deal and not the Woodlawn Row Houses, though I’m not sure as he didn’t want to go into specifics.

Something tells me that if we really are the "city of Good Neighbors" and do the right thing Tom Trathen might invite city residents to the site. Picnics, hiking or xc-skiing….

If no one really knew that the JN Adam site belonged to the city of Buffalo all these years and that it might be handed back to us – makes you wonder what how many other "surprises" might be lurking slightly off-stage ready to emerge from behind the curtains.. Does anyone really know?

I mean I can understand that the city might misplace a deed for a house here in the ‘hood and then rush to correct the matter. Small things, you know. Yet the issues here is 650+ acre site in Perrysburg and dozens of very large buildings. See the pictures.

No planning and a complete lack of focus on core issues. My Economics students at Turner-Carroll did a better job of paying attention to their interests than our elected officials have done here in Buffalo with ours.

Nice piece by Brett Lefford from the Trathen Group in today’s Buffett News.

Please sign the petition to save the Woodlawn Row Houses.

btw...some people have asked me what's the deal with JN Adam Site and why all the interest.
The common denominator between the JN Adam site and the Woodlawn Row Houses? Glad you asked. Both places have been forgotten, neglected and desecrated, on the city's watch. That's all.

Now, please sign the petition. Thanks.

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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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