Mayor Brown Steps Up to Oppose Busti Avenue Demolitions

Yesterday, Byron Brown came out publicly to oppose the pending demolitions on Busti Avenue by sending a letter to Governor Cuomo asking for his intervention to halt the demolitions. Below is the letter that Brown's office issued as it was written to Governor Cuomo.

Dear Governor Cuomo:

I am writing to request that you join me in appealing to the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority (PBA) to delay the planned demolitions of properties on Busti Avenue in the City of Buffalo scheduled to occur later this month.

As you know, I partnered with your administration in forming a working group, which includes residents, community stakeholders, the District Councilmember, and members of our respective administrations to review the PBA's proposed expansion of the Peace Bridge Plaza. The PBA has also been invited to participate, however they have indicated that they will no longer attend working group meetings.

Although I believe some progress has been made through the working group process to this point, the community has raised a number of valid concerns and many unanswered questions remain. Most important, the PBA has yet to make public its current proposal, nor has it formally provided to it to the City of Buffalo or the community working group. Given the significant community concern related to the proposed plaza expansion project, I find the PBA's lack of transparency to be troubling.

As the proposed plans have yet to be made public, and the community working group continues to meet to discuss the proposal, I believe it would be premature to demolish the Busti Avenue properties. I also believe that the premature demolition of property will create unnecessary public conflict.

Therefore, I am respectfully requesting that you join me in calling upon the PBA to hold off the demolition of the Busti Avenue properties to allow the working group we have partnered in assembling to continue to meet and work through the issues raised through this process. I also request that you join me in appealing to the PBA to make its expansion plans public and fully participate in the working group process.

I am available to discuss this matter with you or your staff. Thank you for your consideration

Sincerely,

Byron W. Brown

Mayor

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