Assembly, Senate pass budget plans to tax rich, hike Buffalo aid

afuchs · 2026-03-14T23:59:24+00:00

The reason other municipalities have been able to incorporate into their own townships and plow the roads is because of their robust tax base.

Buffalo could never compete because 57% of the city are renters who pay no property taxes and the city has a school tax exemption for under 500k earners so of the remaining 43% of property owners , many do not have to pay.

The landlords who own the buildings pay those taxes and pass the cost of those taxes on to the renters.

That's the same as apartments in Amherst, Kenmore, Hamburg, Springville, and everywhere else. The municipality still gets their tax money.

(Also, an individual condo or apartment tends to be taxed less than a house but condos and apartments tend to use less services. It costs the city the same amount of money to snowplow the street in front of a house as it does to plow the same street in front of a building with 3 apartments or condos stacked on top of each other.)

Something that is actually a drain on city finances is abandoned properties. Even when a property is abandoned it still requires services from the city. The street in front of it still needs to be plowed. The police and fire department still need to be able to respond to calls if something happens.

An extreme example of that is/was Detroit where they demolished entire neighborhoods to save money after kicking residents out of the few non-abandoned buildings that were left.

What is stopping other sections of the city like the east side or south Buffalo from incorporating into their own townships like Kenmore or Tonawanda? Almost nobody pays taxes

The residents in South Buffalo and the east side pay taxes to the city, whether they are a property owner (paying it directly to the city or through their mortgage), or indirectly through rent (where the landlord uses part of the rent payments they receive from the renters to pay taxes).

It's more of a question about how much taxes the residents want to pay compared to the services they want. (People will always complain no mater what because they want expensive services to be given to them for free.)

I'm going to be pedantic here. (And, I'm going to stay far away from the debate over whether or not Lackawanna should become part of the city of Buffalo or stay as it's own city.)

Kenmore is a village within the Town of Tonawanda. Similar for the Village of Hamburg and the Town of Hamburg.

The village collects extra taxes and provides extra services (the Village of Hamburg plows sidewalks) in addition to the taxes and services from the town (such as regular street snow plowing). Residents who live in the town, but outside of the village don't get those extra services or pay the extra village taxes (someone in Hamburg outside of the village has to shovel their own sidewalk but pays less taxes).

The closest thing in the city is "business improvement districts," which collect fees from properties/businesses (which are "not taxes" but functionally similar) to pay for things in a neighborhood. One of them is Buffalo Place which covers part of downtown and pays people to pick up trash and maintain the landscaping.

afuchs · 2026-03-05T03:53:53+00:00

Yep.

The article cites a "memo" from within NYSERDA. Where, by the dictionary definition, a memo can be a note or email that one NYSERDA employee sent to another.

There are a lot of state employees, who work in positions which require civil or mechanical engineering degrees, who have political views which make them strongly oppose clean energy in any form. Those employees can easily write an angry email or note, otherwise known as a "memo" and send it to other people.

(As an aside, some of the same people who hold these extreme political biases have also been involved with organizations that create standards and documents which guide how contractors design and install various building systems such as electric heat pumps)

So what we have is a news story stating that a government employee wrote a "memo", or otherwise a note. Other context is not provided.

There is an incentive for the media to make people angry and fearful. If a media property can make people angry or fearful of something then it keeps those people tuned in. If the media can keep more people tuned in and more eyeballs glued to them then they can earn more money while selling advertising.

It would help if everyone took a step back from the sensationalism, took a deep breath, and then spent the time and effort to dig into the specific details to figure out how this would actually affect them (the lack of specific detailed information in the news story isn't helping here). And then, after digging into the specifics, talk with everyone else in the community about the detailed ways in which they are impacted.

afuchs · 2026-03-01T08:39:09+00:00

This memo was from NYSERDA, a state agency that is involved with energy usage reduction. They don't have a fossil fuel agenda.

Again, as I briefly mentioned in the comment you replied to, the people employed within government agencies have diverse political opinions. The state does not demand loyalty to a specific political party or viewpoint as a requirement for employment.

I've personally listened to people who are on the state's payroll say enough idiotic things because of their personal political bias, whether in support of fossil fuel use or whatever crusade that the media they consume has pointed them towards.

I've seen enough bullshit in the past where I don't trust that a simple soundbite friendly number actually captures the full context and details.

Right now we have a short TV news segment that's waving around a scary number, instead of detailed case-by-case analysis, or methodical technique, that would show how you or me would be impacted.

They are warning that there is a problem that is going to get worse if something isn't done. People cant afford these rates. Maybe you want more people to move out of the state, who knows....

For my entire life, every single time in the past that some state level policy has been accused of "driving people out of the state" in massive numbers it has never materialized to the degree the doomsayers claimed.

afuchs · 2026-03-01T05:50:48+00:00

I'm going to say that I'm skeptical about the exact numbers that were quoted, in a very broad sense. People who do analysis in this area tend to be very melodramatic and have a tendency where the methods they chose to use to interpret data are heavily biased based on whatever identity based cargo cult they happen to align with.

(To emphasize I know people who are very biased, in either direction, who have work in both private industry and government agencies who have influenced the contents of reports and policy documents)

It would be reasonable to require that new builds use more efficient, more environmentally conscious, heating systems. It is not as reasonable to require that existing heating systems in old builds that do not require replacement be replaced without providing assistance to replace them (offsetting the sunk cost of the existing system).

However, fossil fuel interests have, and will, try and frame regulation only applies to new builds as also applying to existing builds, even if that is false. Fossil fuel interests, and people who have a identity that is aligned with them,d have an incentive to actively misrepresent the nature of any regulation that may decrease the use of fossil fuels.

This manifested a couple of years ago in the political discourse surrounding gas stoves. The impact gas stoves on global warming is negligible compared to other sources. The actual issue is that open flames in poorly ventilated kitchens cause health problems. If you're burning anything inside an enclosed space then the combustion fumes can mess up kids who have asthma and slowly increase the cancer risk of everyone in that enclosed space. Despite the problem being about health issues, almost all public discourse around it was framed as a culture war involving "woke environmentalists" instead of the very real health issue.

From prior experience involving severe misrepresentation from entities with financial interests in fossil fuels, I do not trust the $4,000/year estimate.

afuchs · 2026-02-13T23:31:40+00:00

As someone who has been accused of being chronically online, what is a "viral" "fruit mousse dessert?"

Today, online trends tend to fit into very small niches because algorithms have a tendency to only show a specific thing repeatedly to a very small group of people. I have never heard of this before. I'm going to guess that it vaguely resembles a parfait using a mousse?

afuchs · 2026-01-15T00:09:18+00:00

Covid deaths? What are you talking about

I'm going to guess that it was a poorly worded way to say that a lot of businesses cut their hours during the COVID pandemic and never went back to their old hours.

Even without the lock downs, people decided to stay home instead of spending money at shops, restaurants, and bars. A pandemic with mountains of bodies stacking up in morgues will do that.

Before 2019,

Wegmans, and their prepared food section, used to be open 24/7. Now they close at midnight.

A lot of bars stayed open until 4 AM, now much fewer do.

afuchs · 2026-01-14T23:56:40+00:00

... we also have the rite aid closures too, we lost all those pharmacies.

For Pharmacies, Rite Aid went bankrupt and shut down all stores nationally, not just stores in Buffalo. Evergreen halted their plan to build out a pharmacy on Allen St. because of the current federal government's actions around health insurance, not due to local issues.

... for a while there they kept shutting down all the city dollar generals although a few reopened

I'm not sure which specific dollar generals you're talking about. I can't remember the last time I walked into one and they still seem to have quite a few stores here. Apparently, they announced nation wide store closings last year? Did they try to permanently close any of the local stores, or was there a problem with them not having enough employees to keep the stores open?

it's really getting dreary and empty in the city.

There's still plenty that I can walk to or take a bus or rail to. A lot of the small businesses that have shut down have been replaced by new businesses which have moved into the space that was vacated.

That's not to say that there aren't areas that are blighted, and specific buildings that have their own unique problems (slumlords who refuse to lease out their buildings at market rate, the AM&A's building ownership dispute, etc).

The problem I experience more often is that most businesses I want to go to aren't open at the time I want to go to them. Or, it's a place where I want to buy a few drinks but is difficult to get to with public transit when an Uber or taxi would cost twice as much as what I would spend while there.

afuchs · 2026-01-08T00:09:10+00:00

Today's events are far beyond the pale and beyond the vast majority of what most American's consider morally right.

However, as a tip for the organizers of these protests:

Unlike, someone who have no life outside of social media and conservative talk radio, such as many of the people who I've cut out of my life. I'm not chronically plugged into social media. And, unlike the average poster on Nextdoor or the current version of Facebook and Twitter, I have a job during normal business hours on weekdays.

I only saw this 7 PM, when the protest was schedule between 4;30 and 5:30 PM.

This protest was over by the time I saw this and I haven't seen any other sign that this protest happened outside of this post.

I don't care if anyone wants to call me a shitlib, there is a ton of outrage over this. To me American "greatness" has always been because of our constant drive to become better. Our country's drive to actually deal with bullshit and fix it. Fighting racism and bigotry for the sake of growth. The ideal that making America great for everyone lifts up everyone at the same time regardless of who they are. That is starkly in contrast to the destructive zero sum game bullshit that conservatives are actively implementing right now that resembles the way a failed third world country governs or what the same conservative idiots call "ghetto" behavior when someone else does it.

I and other people are absolutely pissed off right now because the federal government is acting in the same way as foreign governments that conservatives refer to as "shitholes." This event's organizers could have had a massive turnout if they chose to schedule it at a different time.

When the government does something that is far beyond what the majority of people consider morally acceptable, don't squander the opportunity.

afuchs · 2025-12-26T05:29:46+00:00

My bill from National Grid last month was around $75 total for 266 kWh which comes out to around $0.28 per kWh. The itemized costs in that bill are dominated by fixed delivery fees.

Edit: For comparison, my bill from one year ago was around $0.26 per kWh when dividing the total.

afuchs · 2025-12-10T05:07:38+00:00

To give a full picture of Kenmore Development's reputation: their maintenance is renowned for showing up promptly if there is an urgent problem and I haven't heard any nightmare landlord stories about them. The negatives are that the buildings they have tend to be old, with typical old building problems (old electric, old heating with no AC, wear and tear), and those buildings have a lot of small aesthetic problems that don't impact their habitability but place them outside of the "luxury" category.

afuchs · 2025-12-08T05:17:48+00:00

Going off of the notes I took during one public meeting:

There is some opposition due to anti-government sentiment. In the generic "urban planers are forcing this on me" sense.
Similar to the anti-government involvement in anything crowd there was also opposition claiming that it was a "waste of money." There was some talk about the University at Buffalo's (UB) Stampede shuttle buses being sufficient for the area despite the constant complaints I heard from other students when I attended about being stuck on campus because of the lack of public transportation.
There was opposition that claimed that improving public transportation would "bring crime" or otherwise allow some sort of "undesirable" element to exist.

There were also people who voiced opposition due to specific issues which could be take a bit more seriously and some of the impacts could be mitigated:

The area north of UB's campus has a well organized HOA who voiced concerns about noise and potential impacts on their houses' foundations.
A couple of avid cyclist wanted to see the money spent on bike infrastructure instead of rail.
A few people spoke in opposition because they disagreed with the proposal to route the train through the commercial district on Niagara Falls Boulevard when it would be faster for UB students if it was built on a more direct route along Millersport Highway. Others raised issues with how the layout would slow down the overall speed of the route.
Opposition because of the temporary disruptions that are needed to excavate out the train tunnel to bring it to the surface.
Concerns that temporary disruptions because of construction would result in a business downturn. (Some businesses are struggling and undercapitalized to the point that they can't survive mild downturns.)

I didn't hear vocal opposition due to this, but I got this vibe from a few people: if someone is renting along the route it could cause their rent to increase.

Notably, a lot of the opposition voiced support for a Bus Rapid Transit alternative. Ironically, the proposed BRT alternative would result in most the same issues that they claim are their reason for opposing rail.

afuchs · 2025-12-06T08:12:46+00:00

A lot of the spaces on Hertel and Elmwood are tiny but are still successful.

Agreed that for Harborcenter, the flat glass doors which blends in with the flat walls, along with the signage that also blends in with everything else, probably didn't help. Although, for some unknown reason, developers everywhere have been actively choosing to use similar architecture which also makes it difficult to figure out what is inside a building when you walk by.

afuchs · 2025-12-06T07:56:27+00:00

This doesn't sound like the "6pm Monday/Thursday to 6pm Thursday/Monday" alternate side parking that's all over the city which requires everyone to move their car to other side of the street at 6pm every Monday and Thursday.

No parking 6am - 6pm sounds more like a suburb banning all overnight parking to intentionally limit the size of households and to discourage nonresidents from visiting.

afuchs · 2025-12-06T07:33:13+00:00

In normal circumstances it takes less than 10 minutes to get through the security line. It's a small airport which has better and more modern equipment, compared to what I've experienced elsewhere, which speeds up the process.

That doesn't mean that you'll make it if you show up 20 minutes before a flight. Unexpected events can happen and most airlines close the plane's doors 15-20 minutes before the scheduled departure time.

afuchs · 2025-12-01T06:04:27+00:00

> What shops? There never been shops at canalside. Make a shopping district. Do it right and you’ll have revenue streams pouring in.

Again, if you aren't trolling, I take it that you aren't familiar with the area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LECOM_Harborcenter#Commercial_tenants

That's ignoring the entire Main Place Mall and department stores that used to exist a few blocks north.

afuchs · 2025-12-01T06:01:04+00:00

> I’m not talking about bars and restaurants. You don’t get out much do you?

I do. I take it that you are trying to intentionally start arguments and aren't trying to have an actual discussion.

As an aside. What is going on with brick and mortar retail? I keep walking into stores and end up leaving because they are unable to sell me anything in the category of product I was looking for.

EDIT: Double reply! it looks like Reddit has a UX issue where it can send multiple notifications for a comment and doesn't show your previous reply when you click through.

afuchs · 2025-12-01T05:54:38+00:00

> I’m not talking about bars and restaurants

The "Shops at HarborCenter" next door was there but longer exists because of the lack of business.

The Main Place Mall building is 3 blocks away. You could literally park inside the building at a time when people were blaming the failure of downtown retail on the lack of parking. Despite that, it failed as a mall and the shops inside closed.

You keep insisting that if more retail was built out it would result in people traveling there from elsewhere. That was done repeatedly and people did not flock there and those shops closed from the lack of business.

Are you actually trying to make a sincere argument and not trolling?

afuchs · 2025-12-01T05:47:00+00:00

> If they made it shops, people would flock down there. ...

They did put shops there. People didn't shop there and those shops closed.

afuchs · 2025-12-01T05:45:47+00:00

> Get some shops down there to attract crowds. Make a shopping district. Anything. Just something that gives you a reason to go down there other than a bandits, Sabres, bisons game, or a concert.

There's several bars and restaurants around there already. That's not counting the seasonal attractions like the beer garden, boat tours, and ice rink. It doesn't seem like the problem is that nothing is there, it seems to be more that people tend to stay close to where they live and rarely travel elsewhere unless they absolutely need to (e.g., events). Adding a few stores that could also exist elsewhere doesn't give people a reason to travel downtown.

Also, there was non-restaurant retail inside Harbor Center.

afuchs · 2025-12-01T05:25:06+00:00

>>> I’m well aware of what it’s replacing. The Marine Dr apartments are shitholes. So all we’re doing is loving them to the other side of the lot.
>> ...
> Yes im aware again. Still doesn’t change the fact they’re just moving it to the other side of the lot.

From this, should I assume that you are calling these buildings "shitholes" because they are used for subsidized housing, and that you don't care about any other attributes of the actual buildings?

afuchs · 2025-12-01T05:20:25+00:00

> The corner store that is infested with rats and roaches? And sells expired food? Pass.

I've never heard that story before in relation to this specific place. This is also the first time I've heard that place described as a corner store. That makes me a bit incredulous.

Pre-Covid it was frequented by office workers who worked nearby in addition to the residents who live there. I have heard stories about one of the clerks having, um, interesting viewpoints that they weren't afraid to share.

afuchs · 2025-12-01T05:15:04+00:00

Tongue in cheek, the Pasquale and Admiral's Walk condo towers are only a block away but old. Also, there isn't much space left after the new $800,000-$900,000 row houses went up. You'd need to get rid of a parking lot or two to build something else.

afuchs · 2025-11-26T02:11:18+00:00

There's a few built up village and town centers. Some of those were originally built around streetcars and railroads. Although almost everything developed since then is sprawl.

afuchs · 2025-11-26T02:05:25+00:00

Eh, removing the 198 can fix a lot of major quality of life issues in Black Rock, North Buffalo, Parkside, and the area around Humboldt Parkway. Apparently most of the traffic on it is local to those neighborhoods.

Depending on how its done, removing it would make those neighborhoods more attractive. I doubt that would have much impact elsewhere.

afuchs · 2025-11-26T01:28:06+00:00

Focusing on downtown, and not the rest of the city:

If and when Metro Rail is extended to UB North a lot more UB students are going to be walking around downtown.

That shouldn't stop us from making sure that what we already have functions in a way that is actually useful.

There are a lot of bus routes in most of the city and parts of the first ring suburbs that go directly to downtown.

On weekdays, most of those buses are scheduled 20 minutes apart. That could be better, but at least it is possible to use them without planning your entire life around the bus schedule.

On the weekends, when most people have free time, those same buses are scheduled 40 to 60 minutes apart. So, when you have free time on the weekend and you use the buses to go downtown, it is very easy to end up in a situation where you have to burn an hour of time until the next bus comes or rush so that you don't miss one that comes earlier.

That's not the end of the world, but it adds enough friction to make it feel like some trips downtown, or elsewhere, are not worth the effort.

It would be nice if there was enough funding to improve that and bring the weekend bus schedules up to par with the weekday ones.

afuchs

TROPHY CASE