Month: April 2017

A source familiar with investigations initiated under former United States Attorney Preet Bharara has told The Chronicle that there is an “ongoing probe” of Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s top aide and her family. This week, Chief of Staff Melissa DeRosa has been promoted to the

It may be true that donors contributed to Mayor Byron Brown out of an earnest desire for good governance, and it may be true that Brown gave no heed to whether a company or individual donated to his reelection campaigns

In an interview on Hardline with Dave Debo, on WBEN NewsRadio 930 AM, County Legislator Betty Jean Grant said she intends to enter the race for Mayor of Buffalo in a formal announcement later this week. Grant says that conditions of the

BY BETTY JEAN GRANT, County Legislator I have been told by two attorneys that the vote taken yesterday on the new train station may be illegal. Number one, they barred the taxpaying public from a meeting discussing public business even thought

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman‘s Office filed felony election charges against the renowned political operative G. Steven Pigeon — a confidant of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and billionaire B. Thomas Golisano — along with his two longtime associates,

  The Central Terminal Restoration Corporation is pleased to announced this morning that Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes has secured a $250,000 earmark for electrical upgrades at the storied Buffalo Central Terminal. The earmark is the second time that the Assemblywoman has secured capital dollars

THE EDITORIAL BOARD If former Seneca Nation President Robert Odawi Porter decides to run for Governor next year, his campaign and governorship would be likely to benefit Western New York. Porter — a Harvard educated attorney with a renowned international law

A source is telling The Chronicle that the embattled Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority Chairman and City Treasurer Michael Seaman is considering a run for Mayor of Buffalo following Byron Brown’s presumed retirement in 2021. Seaman is close to the powerful political operative and former

The recently indicted Senator Robert Ortt (R-North Tonawanda) owes his political career to his mentor, the former Senator and also recently indicted George Maziarz (R-Newfane), who ruled over Niagara County politics for decades. Maziarz served as the Chairman of the

When it comes to the ongoing planning of the Albright Knox’s high profile expansion project, the prerogative of preserving the facade of the historic turn of the century structure should be among the institution’s top priorities. The neoclassic revival architecture

Freshman State Senator Chris Jacobs (R-Buffalo) did not attend Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s invitation-only rally celebrating the passage of an additional $500 million public investment in the region’s economic revival last Tuesday. Jacobs’ absence has political operatives speculating whether or not the

Board of Education President Dr. Barbara Seals-Nevergold has gracefully managed a series of public relations crisis wrought by fellow board member Carl Paladino‘s deplorable political antics.  In recent months she has asked State Education Commissioner Mary Ellen Elia to remove Paladino from the

In recent years Mayor Byron Brown‘s administration, under the direction of Parking Commissioner Kevin Helfer, has seen parking fines as a source of revenue growth. The administration has increased parking fines and expanded parking fee hours for on street parking along Hertel Avenue, before quickly

County Legislator Betty Jean Grant has sponsored a resolution compelling the appearance of Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard, following his appearance at what many activists called a “Klan-style” rally where prominent White supremacists were in attendance for the purpose of

New York State’s Republican Party is in dire straits: it hasn’t had a competitive candidate for governor in four elections; has an embarrassingly small caucus in the Assembly; and the Senate caucus cannot retain a majority without the help of a breakaway

The attorneys for Louis Ciminelli, Michael Lapple, and Kevin Schuler — the three LP Ciminelli executives indicted on public corruption allegations, including bribery and bid rigging — are petitioning the court to move their case to the Western District of New

THE EDITORIAL BOARD The Commodore Perry Homes is a vast public housing complex that is half abandoned — with 212 apartments vacant and uninhabitable. The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority had pursued a federal grant nearly 10 years ago to redevelop

Senator Tim Kennedy is rumored to be in a precarious legal predicament given his closeness to the indicted former Erie County Democratic Party Chairman G. Steven Pigeon.  Such is why his harsh criticism of Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s budget process is