Residents in the Columbus
Park/Prospect Hill Neighborhood have made repeated attempts to notify officials
that the historic, landmarked Episcopal Church Home is unsecured and being
vandalized. The residents remain frustrated as attempts to have the issue
resolved through housing court, the 311 call center, and a direct appeal to the
owner, Episcopal Church Home Affiliates, have gone unanswered.
Property owners in the adjacent neighborhood have legitimate concerns for the security and safety of the seven-acre site in the shadow of the Peace Bridge, including the beautiful Hutchinson Chapel. The entire property has been slated for demolition in favor of the controversial expansion of the bridge plaza.
Entirely fed up with the lack of response, a group of concerned neighbors will be personally securing the grounds today at 5:00 PM, with hardware and materials purchased by area residents. Two large gates have had the locks clipped and remain totally open, allowing for easy access to the site.
Peterjoe Certo, a dedicated resident, said, "The owners and officials responsible for this property may not care about or even tacitly approve the slow erosion of this important neighborhood anchor. So, if they are unwilling to act to secure the property, we'll do it for them."
Once the residents have secured the gates, the keys to the new locks will be turned over to Judge Carney in housing court who presided over this issue last year.
Why do we put up with so many Buffalo neighborhoods being terrorized by neglectful owners?
I can only guess: those neglectful owners have good legal representation, while the residents that surround their properties don't.
Apparently Buffalo suffers from a rare case of collective self-mutilation . . .
LOL...we?
lady, that raises a question -
Are the collective "we" also putting up with any unpunished vandalism or trespassing that might also be "terrorizing" any neighborhoods near Steel?
(if vandalism or trespassing ever goes unpunished there - maybe it doesn't)
I wonder which ward's alderman are we honorary constituents of?
Maybe we could start a petition or something to show solidarity…
But on a serious note - yeah, it's bad that vandalism and trespassing happens, even in buildings like this which the NYS govt reportedly plans to demolish. With the low punishments so often given for even violent crimes and our DA's office often so hesitant to prosecute even serious crimes except when there's a confession, I'm pessimistic that laws against vandalism or trespassing will be getting much attention from the justice system here.
That said, I'm more bothered by violent crimes not getting enough attention. Ideally, both violent crimes and quality-of-life crimes would receive much better enforcement from courts, prosecutors, legislators voting on jail budgets, etc. … but probably there won't be big improvement in either.
(Weird that the DA's office did prosecute and lose a recent trespass charge against a protestor downtown… so sometimes they're interested, but often they aren't.)
Whatever> "That said, I'm more bothered by violent crimes not getting enough attention. Ideally, both violent crimes and quality-of-life crimes would receive much better enforcement from courts, prosecutors, legislators voting on jail budgets, etc. … but probably there won't be big improvement in either."
Couldn't you apply the "solution" you proposed in for preservation here? All you have to do is band together with others and change the police and courts to something more to your liking.
Oh I know you don't care about the quality of the city's built environment. I did not mean to include you.