The Buffalo Chronicle
Opinion
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Erie County is right to open a 24/7 shelter. It should show the public the bill.
Erie County is right to open a 200-bed winter shelter on South Park Avenue. But it bid a 24/7 program with local money covering warm nights, and it should publish that cost…
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Amtrak should say whether the Depew platform is getting a fix or a patch
Crews are finally sealing cracks on the Buffalo-Depew Amtrak platform, more than two years after Amtrak promised a full accessible rebuild. Amtrak should publish the real replacement schedule, and Rep. Tim Kennedy…
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New research suggests New York’s top earners are already near the tax ceiling, and Albany should take note
A Tax Foundation summary of new research puts the revenue-maximizing top tax rate near 48%, close to what New York’s highest earners already pay in combined federal and state rates. With a…
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Buffalo should publish a plow report card after every storm
Buffalo’s new snow plan promises a plow on every residential street within 24 hours after a storm ends. The Common Council should require the city to publish, district by district, whether it…
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Property tax relief means little unless Buffalo and Erie County say what they will stop paying for
A Reason Foundation commentary warns that property tax cuts without spending cuts only move the cost to other taxes, fees or debt. Buffalo’s 19% levy increase and Erie County’s lower rate on…
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Albany installs a deli-counter ticket machine for its $9 billion surplus, and Western New York pulls No. 4,117
Satire: New York finds $9 billion it didn’t expect, and the line for it runs down State Street. Buffalo, as usual, is near the back.
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Albany should send Hochul the Richardson campus land bill, and she should sign it
A small bill to give the Richardson Olmsted Campus clear title to its own land passed both houses in June and still hasn’t reached the governor’s desk. The Senate should deliver it,…
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Brookings says hospital cybersecurity needs mandates and money together. New York already tried that mix
A Brookings commentary argues Congress should pair hospital cybersecurity mandates with real funding. Buffalo learned the stakes when ECMC spent nearly $10 million recovering from a 2017 ransomware attack, and New York…
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Niagara County’s sewer moratoriums need a repair plan and a hard end date, not open-ended renewals
Pausing big projects while Niagara County’s sewers overflow is defensible. But the pauses should come with a public repair schedule, measurable targets and a firm end date, and the district’s towns should…
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Reason makes a case for a Jones Act economic-need waiver, and Buffalo’s lakers deserve a say in the details
The Reason Foundation says this year’s Jones Act waiver proved pent-up demand for shipping and wants Congress to create an economic-need waiver track. Great Lakes operators see it differently, and the Port…
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Buffalo voters should approve Proposal 8 and make City Hall prove its budget math before it spends
Buffalo’s $103 million structural deficit grew out of budgets built on one-time money and lowball cost estimates. Proposal 8 would give the comptroller an early review and the Council a way to…
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Backyard apartments are catching on, and Western New York’s suburbs should make room for them
A new National Association of Home Builders survey finds about a quarter of remodelers started accessory dwelling units in the past year, led by the Northeast. Buffalo already allows them by right…
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Lewiston slaps six-month moratorium on rain, orders clouds to file downstream capacity analysis
Satire: If the pipes can’t take any more water, Lewiston’s fictional Office of Atmospheric Compliance says the sky will simply have to stop sending it.
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Albany should not hand Erie County the bill for SNAP’s error-rate penalty
Washington is shifting SNAP costs to the states, and New York passes its share to counties. Albany should commit now to absorbing any SNAP benefit penalty and renew Erie County’s sales tax…
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The case for rethinking hospital tax breaks, and why Buffalo should tread carefully
A new Tax Foundation paper lays out ways to tax the country’s largest nonprofit hospital systems. With Kaleida Health’s revenue above the paper’s $1 billion line and Buffalo short on taxable property,…
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Canada is thirsty for a strong father figure. Pierre Poilievre is built for the job
A GTA mom argues the country is aching for confident, masculine leadership, and that the handsome, hard-charging Conservative leader is the dad Canada has been waiting for.
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Want more starter homes in Western New York? Start with the minimum lot size
A new American Enterprise Institute paper argues that minimum lot-size rules quietly block starter homes. Amherst’s zoning code, and a pending North French Road rezoning, show what that looks like in Western…
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Niagara Falls bought back Main Street. Now it should publish a scorecard for every building
Niagara Falls used casino money, a state grant and tax waivers to take back 38 Main Street buildings. Residents deserve a public scorecard showing who promised to build what, by when, and…
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The NFTA should tell Buffalo what the Metro Rail extension costs before it spends more planning it
The NFTA keeps adding money to its Metro Rail extension planning contract without telling the public what the line will cost or who will pay for it. Before another amendment, the authority…
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Hochul should stop vetoing on-time pay for the nonprofits that do New York’s work
New York signs three of every four nonprofit contracts late, by the comptroller’s count. Gov. Kathy Hochul should sign this year’s prompt-pay bills, and lawmakers should be ready to override a third…
