D District Findings Released by Mayor’s Office

Mayor Byron Brown today released findings of a final report on air quality and other related environmental issues by Leader Professional Service, Inc. at the Buffalo Police Department’s D District building on Hertel Avenue.

The final report confirmed earlier preliminary findings that there was “…no visible evidence of fungi overgrowth on the readily accessible areas of the main floor building materials. The air sampling results for fungi indicate that the air quality is not being adversely impacted by fungi.”

In addition, the final report found that, “Airborne asbestos was not detected at the Site.”

The final report also contained analyses on:

• Radon (“…below the applicable USEPA action level.”)
• Airborne Volatile Organic Compound concentrations (“…below applicable OSHA Permissible Exposure Levels.”)
• Drinking water quality (“…exhibited concentrations of analytes below the applicable NYS Department of Health MCLs)
• Water samples from the building’s basement (“Fecal coliform was not detected in the sample, indicating that localized groundwater is not likely being influenced by nearby sewage systems.”)
• Women’s Locker Room, Break Room and Men’s Locker Room (“The fungi samples collected …indicate four types of fungi, including Stachybotrys (“black mold”) and Mycelial fragments. However, air sampling results for fungi indicate that the air quality is not being adversely impacted by fungi.”).

“These tests have proved that there has been no adverse health impact to our Police Department personnel and support staff, based on the numerous analyses that have been conducted at D District since early last month,” said Mayor Brown. “Our first and highest priority was for the health and safety for all personnel that worked in D District and that’s why, when it was confirmed on February 12^th that mold was detected underneath indoor ceiling panels, we closed the building immediately and relocated all D District personnel to a temporary location. When preliminary results of Leader’s testing were available we announced those preliminary findings on February 16^th and shared that information with the Police Benevolent Association.”

Mayor Brown added, “I promised that we would share the final report of all testing on that site with the PBA, which we have done, as well give them the opportunity to conduct additional, independent testing of the site. In the meantime, based on this final report and its recommendations, we will have expert vendors provide their recommendations on remediating the D District building, detail the scope of work and then the city’s Department of Public Works will issue formal bid documents for the necessary abatement work in the building.”

The recommendations of the Leader Professional Services, Inc. are:

• Perform routine HVAC maintenance …to maintain acceptable air quality. Intake filters should be maintained and changed regularly.
• Periodic standing water in the basement should be addressed.
• Fungi-affected building materials should be cleaned to remove existing fungi growths, or, if not possible or cost-effective, properly removed.
• Areas above the first floor ceiling should be monitored for roof leakage to alleviate potential moisture sources that may have promoted fungi growth.

In addition to receiving the D District analysis final report, Mayor Brown also announced that the City of Buffalo has reached an agreement with All Saints Roman Catholic Church Society of Buffalo to house all D District personnel on temporary basis. The temporary location for D District will be in the former All Saints Catholic School, which is located at 127 Chadduck Avenue (between Tonawanda and Ontario Streets) in the Riverside section of the city.

“I thank North District Councilmember Joe Golombek who has worked tirelessly to help us find a suitable temporary location for D District operations,” said Mayor Brown. “With his commitment to the residents living within D District, the Councilmember has helped to ensure that all D District operations will take place in a location that is accessible, offers ample parking and will be best suited for the temporary home of D District.”

The space allocated to the temporary D District operations will include the lower level of the school, two offices on the first floor and parish parking lot.

Did Anyone Think to Change the Locks?

Remember that time when Mayor Brown was being all loose with the “keys” to the city? Whoring it around to an athlete who could bring some life back into the Buffalo Bills:

Yeah that wasn’t too fun. Let’s face it, it made Buffalo look pretty pathetic:

Mayor Byron Brown is even giving Owens the key to the city today, despite the fact that the guy has not played a single down in a Bills uniform yet. I guess when your local heroes are all drunks, masturbators, crap rockers, Chloe Sevigny fellatio victims or Jim Kelly, a egomaniac crybaby sounds like a pretty good upgrade.

I think we found an easy quick fix for hizzoner, (besides changing the locks)  that might help Buffalo save face and give us a bit of our pride back. If even just for a moment.

A petition is going around to urge the Mayor to give Ryan Miller a key to the City of Buffalo:

As a long-standing and active member of the Buffalo community, we the undersigned believe Ryan Miller deserves the key to the city of Buffalo. He has represented not only his NHL team, but the city of Buffalo with honor and poise on the international stage during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, bringing home a silver medal and the honor of tournament MVP. Aside from sports, he is an active member in the Buffalo community. Some of his community service includes the Steadfast Foundation and Roswell Park, helping cancer patients and their families. Ryan Miller inspires the Buffalo community to help others and have faith in each other as well as our city. It is for these reasons; we believe Ryan Miller should be given the key to the city.

Sign the petition here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/3039/petition.html

Facebook it:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=338895074181&ref=nf&v=info

Making up for that TO mistake is going to take more than just giving Ryan the key.  So I would urge Mayor Brown to consider giving a key to all of Buffalo’s Olympic medal winners.  As Brian Castner said last week:

There are a little over 300 million Americans, and a little over a million Buffalonians. So, for rough math, one out of every 300 Americans is from Buffalo.

There are 205 athletes on the US Olympic team. Which means, if we’re lucky, we could statistically hope to have one athlete represent our city.

Instead, we have four directly from Buffalo (Matt DePeters, Patty Kane, Steve Mesler and Brooks Orpik), who competed in freestyle skiing, bobsled, and hockey. Between them, they are bringing home a gold and two silvers to Buffalo. Not bad. The British would refer to that as “punching above our weight.”

How Not to Revive the Statler

With all due respect, a parking ramp isn’t going to remediate asbestos and otherwise renovate the deteriorating, dead Statler into something usable in the 21st century.

Someone needs to invest maybe $100 million, and in order for that to happen there has to be a reasonable expectation that the project would successfully attract enough tenants to at least break even.

The problem isn’t about the Statler and it isn’t about parking. It’s about the economy and our business environment. Stop putting Band-Aids on this festering boil.

Free Speech, Yes—Free Lunch, No

The invitations to this year’s State of the City speech look a little different than last year’s. Last year, you recall, there was all the hubbub about the Mayor using the seal of the City of Buffalo on the invite, and charging everyone $35 for the privilege of listening to hizzonor. At the last minute, [...]

The Gillibrand Seat

Before some witty Republican reminds us all that it’s really the “people’s seat”, I pre-emptively reply, “no shit, Sherlock”.

Can any Democrat around here name for me something – anything – that would render Kirsten Gillibrand unworthy of re-election?  I know that a lot of exquisitely wealthy Caroline Kennedy types may be butthurt over the way in which Gillibrand’s ascension took place, but she’s a solidly progressive Democrat who may not be as media savvy (read: camera whorish) as Chuck Schumer, but comes from an upstate background and arguably has a better understanding of – and experience with – upstate issues.

Maybe that’s why Manhattan hates her.

The whole replace Gillibrand meme I simply don’t understand, and I’ve yet to hear a solid reason for it.

Which brings us to former Tennessee congressman Harold Ford, who has now made his second foray up to Buffalo.  Today, he had lunch with such Buffalo luminaries as Mayor Byron Brown and Common Council Members Joe Golombek, Bonnie Russell, and Demone Smith.  As the operatives and media types shuffled about a very crowded Chef’s, something inexplicable was going on.

What’s up with the courtship of Harold?  Why did Brown and Collins deny having met Gillibrand?  What’s Brown’s problem with Gillibrand?  What does Harold Ford have to offer New York?  Upstate?  WNY? Buffalo? What does he offer that Gillibrand doesn’t provide?  Would he somehow do something – anything – differently from Gillibrand?  If so, what?

And at the literal end of the day – what possible good can come to Harold Ford by meeting with Steve Pigeon?  Why would he even raise the appearance of alignment with Espada’s counsel, the guy who essentially decimated any reformist bona fides that Responsible New York may have ever had?

I’m not understanding this dance, and I suspect very strongly that there is some connection between courting Harold Ford and helping Andrew Cuomo.

Got a theory? Let me know.

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