Buffalo Rising Online

Sep 23rd 2008, 8:17am By buffalorising

Joy McDuffie is employed by the Western New York Law Center. She has a Master's in urban planning, and is on the Mayor's Anti-Flipping Task Force. Perhaps closest to her heart is her work with the Joint Schools Construction Board zones. She's done diligent work in mapping out neighborhoods in the area, and addressing the issue of abandoned housing in a study she's named Neighborhoods of Choice.

One would think that would be enough for one woman to take on, but now McDuffie is setting her sights on the school dropout rates and she has the ear of all the powers that be. As you'll see from her final answers, all of these projects interconnect. It is with great honor that Buffalo Rising introduces this Rising Star, giving her some respite from the nitty-gritty with the lighter fare of the BR questionnaire.

Q: Best thing to happen in Buffalo in past 20 years?
A: The Joint Schools Construction Board Project—1.1 billion dollars to improve the Buffalo Public Schools infrastructure-wow, what an opportunity to make a difference in the education of our children!


Q: Worst thing to happen in Buffalo in past 20 years?
A: The city neglecting its core city neighborhoods, with the exception of the Pratt-Willert neighborhood redevelopment project (spearheaded by UB professor Alfred D. Price), and allowing prime locations, neighborhoods adjacent to the downtown business area to rot.


Q: Would you rather have the power to fly or the power to make yourself invisible?
A: That's an easy choice, the power to make myself invisible. You know like the fly on the wall theory.


Q: You're on death row ordering your final meal, what Buffalo restaurant and meal do you pick?
A: Although my first preference would be a place with good barbecued pork ribs, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, and peach cobbler (yes, I am a soul food woman), there is no place like that in Buffalo so I would have to choose E.B. Greens as my last meal restaurant.


Q: What was the last thing you Googled?
A: Mosher Health Center—I am looking for a new primary physician within the city limits.


Q: Which animal most matches your personality?
A: The Great horned owl—a symbol of wisdom and a natural enemy of bats (you had to have been there to understand the bat part).


Q: Hot, Medium or Mild?
A: Medium


Q: Favorite Buffalo event?
A: Taste of Buffalo


Q: What's the most frustrating part of Buffalo?
A: The way we don't work together. Imagine what we could do to turn this city around if we all could just get along—nonprofits, city government, churches, and corporations!

Q: Favorite Buffalo sports figure of all time?
A: Bob Lanier


Q: What's your favorite spot in the city?
A: True Bethel


Q: In regard to your current projects:
Cause:
A: Dropout Prevention Leadership Summit—America's Promise Alliance's movement to reverse the negative trajectory of high school graduation rates. I am the project coordinato rfor the City of Buffalo summit, scheduled for April 2009.
Cure:
A: Developing the distressed neighborhoods adjacent to the Joint Schools Construction Board zones. Studies have shown that the quality of a child’s education is affected by the quality of the child environment. A starting point is to develop the distressed neighborhoods around the JSCB schools
Prevention:
A: Western New York Law Center Mortgage Foreclosure Program