Politicians Speak for Us and Then They Get Elected!

By Betty Jean Grant

Betty Jean Grant

During 2000-2001, in South Buffalo, the Abby St./Hickory Woods Neighborhood controversy was a big issue in the Buffalo Common Council and in Mayor Anthony Masiello's Administration. The politicians that represented South Buffalo as well as those that did not, did right by the people affected by the toxins that were in the soil in the neighborhoods. The toxic pollutants spewed for years, from a large steel factory, before developers decided to build nice, affordable houses on the land.

The homeowners in South Buffalo were getting sick with many illnesses and no one knew why. Meetings were called and soon the Common Council and Mayor Masiello intervened. The City of Buffalo elected officials worked with the EPA and the DEC to make sure the needs of the residents were taken care of. There were many community meetings, surveys and health studies conducted by Erie County and New York State.

Meanwhile, today, residents on Humboldt Parkway are still waiting for their elected officials to meet with them and to support them and/or to demand that the New York State Department Of Transportation (NYSDOT) conduct an Environmental Impact Statement. It is absolutely telling how some Buffalo Common Councilmembers treat certain constituents differently based on what area of the city they live in.

Tell me, what are the sick residents on Humboldt Parkway being offered for their years of breathing toxic air? How will they be compensated from the additional health issues that will be created by the construction of the Tunnel in their front yard? That is why it is important that we, those of us who care about human and civil rights (and sick people), unite and begin to elect the right district council members and work with the community to support the addition of At-Large council representatives back in the common council.

Furthermore, some of the elected Councilmembers are not allowing letters, information or requests to speak, to be filed with the Council and to be referred to a Community Development Committee or Legislation Community where it can be discussed or debated. Transparency, democracy and civil engagement seemed to have taken a huge step backwards as they relate to citizens' participation in this 2024 council year.

It has been documented that the full restoration of Humboldt Parkway will cost 1/2 of the cost of the Tunnel. Full Restoration would also create more local job opportunities, increase vehicle traffic on customer starved commercial corridors, reduce the toxins, carbon monoxide and other pollutants from sickening the residents living close to the Expressway.

One important question the residents of the Eastside need to ask the NYSDOT is: If there is no potential harm to residents on Humboldt Parkway by installing the tunnel, why not reassure all of us by conducting the Environmental Impact Statement the whole city is asking for?

As the world waits for an excuse or continue to be subjected to dead silence, I will answer the question. The NYS-DOT already knows that the Expressway has already made a lot of homeowners sick while a few have died as a result of breathing all that toxic air, over several decades.They also must realize that the addition of the Tunnel will only make the problem worse because the air filtration system has been removed from the Project by the NYSDOT. By Hook or Crook, they are planning on planting that toxin tunnel in the Expressway on our Humboldt Parkway, community and homeowners opinions be damned!