April 2017 – The Buffalo Chronicle

Brown, Garner expected to smear Betty Jean Grant

April 29, 2017

Political operatives close to Maurice Garner, the former President of Grassroots Inc. who is widely thought to control Mayor Byron Brown, say that he “is deeply worried” about County Legislator Betty Jean Grant’s campaign for Mayor. Operatives say that Garner is already designing a smear

Owners of slain dog pursue charges against neighbor

April 28, 2017

Raffaele Forte, the owner of Keeno, a three-year-old Dalmatian mix that was killed by a neighbor on Hutchings Road in the Town of Ogden last Saturday, has hired an attorney and is looking to pursue both criminal and civil charges

A citywide policy on community benefit agreements will be central to Mayoral primary

April 27, 2017

Critics of Mayor Byron W. Brown say that the administration has been much too focused on the interests of real estate developers in adopting a form based zoning code, which voids decades of community planning documents and replaces them with a code that says absolutely nothing about equity

Investigators rumored to be ‘probing’ top Cuomo aide, Melissa DeRosa

April 26, 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

Pay to play culture at city hall could be Mayor Brown’s undoing

April 24, 2017

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

Grant tells WBEN she will announce her candidacy for Mayor this week

April 23, 2017

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

Pushing for Paladino’s ouster, activists renew calls for boycotts

April 22, 2017

Activists are renewing calls for mass boycotts against school board member and real estate developer Carl Paladino, following racist comments he made about Barack and Michelle Obama in Artvoice last December. Paladino has refused continued calls that he resign his office, even

Grant: “A few days in jail won’t kill me”

April 22, 2017

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

Terrence Robinson to be Green Party nominee for Mayor

April 21, 2017

Mayoral candidate Terrence Robinson is expected to receive the nomination of the Green Party in this year’s Mayoral contest. The Green Party rules prevent endorsed candidates from appearing on another party’s line. Robinson is a registered Democrat and had been considering

Brown skips Dingus Day, campaigns in Amherst, and betrays the East Side

April 21, 2017

Mayor Byron W. Brown was campaigning at Amherst’s Crosspointe Business Park at the offices of GEICO, the car insurance company owned by Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway and lured to Western New York with a hefty package of public subsidies. The Mayor stopped

Backing train station at Canalside, Brown puts Mayor’s office in jeopardy

April 20, 2017

Mayor Byron W. Brown wants to locate a proposed Amtrak station near Canalside, rather than locating it at the Old Central Terminal in the heart of the city’s East Side. That preference has viscerally angered activists across the city and has thrown his

AG files felony election charges against Pigeon; Kennedy not charged

April 19, 2017

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,

Assemblywoman Peoples-Stokes announces funding for electrical updates at Central Terminal

April 18, 2017

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

If Rob Porter runs for Governor, Western New York would benefit

April 17, 2017

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

Seaman is considering a run for Mayor, post-Brown

April 17, 2017

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

Ortt’s silence on Wheatfeild’s Love Canal Dump angers his NT base

April 16, 2017

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

Preserving the Albright Knox is as important as expanding it

April 16, 2017

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

Cuomo is planning to shift control of Senate chamber to the Democratic caucus, say operatives

April 15, 2017

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

Following governance crisis, Nevergold begins to stabilize Buffalo schools

April 14, 2017

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

Hertel Avenue business owners are still sour over Mayor Brown’s parking policies

April 14, 2017

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