City

Mascia: “Byron Brown has secretly accepted the Republican endorsement for Mayor”

According to former City Housing Commissioner Joe Mascia, the embattled Mayor Byron Brown — who lost his own party’s nomination to Democrat India Walton earlier this year — has been “secretly endorsed” by the Erie County Republican Party. Mascia has

City

Mascia requests a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on BMHA spending

In a letter this week, former elected housing commissioner Joe Mascia asked United States Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) to conduct an investigation into “pervasive corruption and mismanagement” at the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA), which enjoys a $43

City

Mascia to lead Marine Drive redevelopment at Canalside

Former city housing commissioner Joe Mascia is set to lead a task force comprised of residents of the Marine Drive Apartments to study redevelopment opportunities and new governance models for the sprawling waterfront property. The objective of the effort is

Housing Authority

Mayor Brown is judge, jury, and executioner

BY MATT RICCHIAZZI Attorney Ann E. Evanko, the politically connected managing partner of Hurwitz & Fine, a law firm that contributed to Mayor Byron Brown’s election efforts, will be issuing a legal opinion as to whether Commissioner Joe Mascia’s removal

Housing Authority

Steve Cohen calls on Schroeder to conduct BMHA audit

BY MATTHEW RICCHIAZZI Steven Cohen, prominent civil rights attorney with the firm HoganWillig, who has championed the case of suspended housing commissioner Joe Mascia in recent months, is calling on City Comptroller Mark Schroeder to initiate an audit of the

Housing Authority

Mascia, Schroeder balk at BMHA mismanagement

BY TERRENCE ROBINSON In this chapter of the Mascia Chronicles we will take the reader on a hair-raising spin around the track of BMHA chicanery. Be forewarned, there are perilous curves taken at high speed, the straight aways are heart-stopping and

Housing Authority

Mascia hearing transcripts released

The two weeks of public hearings staged against elected housing commissioner Joe Mascia — behind closed doors with cameras banned — were recorded only by transcript and not available to the public until this week. They tell a tale of political intrigue,

Zeitgeist

The conspiracy to destroy Joe Mascia unfolds

On Monday, the Buffalo Common Council met at their regularly scheduled caucus, where members review agenda items ahead of their Tuesday committee meetings. The meeting discussed the BMHA’s pending request for a $250,000 grant to cover its ongoing operating deficit

Education

Mascia may run for school board

BY C.B. MILLER Housing Commissioner Joe Mascia is considering a run for the Central District seat on Buffalo’s Board of Education. Dwayne Kelly, an activist who once circulated a letter in support of Carl Paladino under the pen name “Herman,” has already announced

Common Council

Mascia blasts Council’s Development Committee

BY TERRENCE ROBINSON Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) Commissioner Joseph Mascia, who is currently suspended from acting in an official capacity by order of Mayor Byron Brown, is outraged that the Development Committee of the City of Buffalo Common Council

Housing Authority

Mascia may base reelection bid on bold proposal

BY T.W. HEWITT The high profile elected Housing Commissioner Joe Masica is likely to seek reelection to his office this May, in a campaign intended to draw a sharp and compelling contrast with the administration of Mayor Byron Brown. At the same time,

Housing Authority

The Mascia transcript and missing witnesses

BY TERRENCE ROBINSON When the public hearing on Mayor Byron Brown’s attempt to remove Joseph Mascia as Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) commissioner concluded December 30, 2015, the City of Buffalo had 60 days to present a transcript of the

Housing Authority

BMHA’s lead paint scandal to explode

T.W. HEWITT The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority has been ignoring complaints from tenants for years about the lead paint that coats the interior of many older units. A source inside the housing authority speculates that as many as 1,200 of

Corruption

Brown, Evanko thick as thieves

Today — at the second full day of the allegedly ‘public’ hearing to remove Joe Mascia as an elected official under New York State Housing Law — hearing officer Anne E. Evanko instructed court officers to detain and search a

Housing Authority

Mascia still working for residents as public hearing approaches

Last Thursday a well respected leader and organizer in the Latino community, Alberto Cappas, reached out to city housing commissioner Joe Mascia. Cappas is helping minority youth find jobs and had two resumes from veterans struggling to find work. He reached

Housing Authority

Mascia recruits top civil rights attorney in fight with BMHA

Commissioner Joe Mascia has retained the Buffalo Niagara region’s top civil rights attorney to fight the Mayor’s politically motivated charges against him. The Mayor and his appointees to BHMA’s board of commissioners made those charges while Mascia was running for Common Council,