Investigative Post
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Investigative reporting center serving Buffalo and Western New York. Founded & edited by @JimHeaney . Send us tips, securely: investigativepost @proton .me
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Welcome to Investigative Post!
To send us tips securely, email: investigativepost
@proton
.me
To get
@JimHeaney
's Sunday newsletter, sign up here:
And follow our reporters:
-
@ghkelly1969
-
@JDale_Shoemaker
-
@jaz_ciel
-
@Garrett_Looker
-
@brushtoniltimes
2
2
9
The entire Buffalo Police Emergency Response Team has "resigned in disgust" over the suspension of two officers shown in video pushing and injuring a 75-year-old protestor, reports
@Ali_IngNews
:
#BuffaloPolice
#BuffaloPD
#WNY
81
308
1K
In a deposition for a lawsuit, a retired Buffalo cop admitted he used racial epithets when dealing with Black people. He said he'd heard lots of cops do the same. Our
@ghkelly1969
has the transcripts:
17
153
311
NEW: The Cuomo administration is refusing to release a report detailing the number of people employed at the South
#Buffalo
Tesla plant that cost $950 million to build, all at the expense of taxpayers
8
25
96
His mismanagement of the blizzard is but the latests in a long line of snafus by
@MayorByronBrown
. Our
@JimHeaney
weighs in.
#Buffalo
#WNY
#Niagara
#NewYork
#buffaloblizzard2022
#politics
13
49
108
"I did not seek- nor will I accept- support in any form, should I decide to pursue a write-in campaign, from Carl Paladino,"
@MayorByronBrown
said in June.
Update: He did. New today in 'Campaign Notes.'
#Buffalo
#WNY
#Politics
15
42
96
Just posted:
@tesla
plant in
#Buffalo
employing few solar workers and delivering none of the promised spin-off development.
#WNY
#NiagaraFalls
#NewYork
4
28
69
Congrats to our
@DanTelvock
for receiving 2 more awards for his stellar environmental reporting.
#Buffalo
#watchdog
1
20
64
EXCLUSIVE: Erie County ranks second in the US for the number of residents charged in Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. New York ranks 4th among states.
#Buffalo
#WNY
#Niagara
#NewYork
#upstateNY
#insurrection
14
43
65
New:
#Buffalo
and
#WNY
have a growing cadre of right-wing extremists.
@JimHeaney
details their inroads at both the grassroots and electoral level in 'Outrages and Insights'
27
51
64
Are City Hall employees campaigning on the public's dime? A simple question
@ghkelly1969
asked, with an evasive answer from
@MayorByronBrown
's spokesperson. Read the maddening exchange here:
#Buffalo
#WNY
#Politics
3
28
58
New this morning: Federal investigators are looking at whether city employees, including cops, violated the Hatch Act during mayor's re-election campaign last year. IP's
@ghkelly1969
reports:
3
21
53
The majority of Buffalo police officers who have been investigated most frequently for misconduct are white, live outside of the city and make over $100k per year on average,
@Ali_IngNews
reports:
#BuffaloPD
#BuffaloPolice
#WNY
1
28
43
For the second time in a week, filings in federal court have accused Buffalo police officers of using racist language with no consequences. We broke both stories. The most recent accusation comes not from citizens but from cops:
0
34
43
Buffalo has been so slow to spend its federal covid relief money that last year it made $13.8 million interest on the idle cash. Programs it was supposed to fund have languished, while more and more is diverted to balancing the city's budget:
7
20
43
Buffalo under Mayor Byron Brown is a chronic violator of the Freedom of Information Law, routinely ignoring requests for public records. Here are four recent examples:
2
11
40
Please help us welcome Susan Schulman, one of Buffalo's finest reporters and editors, to the Investigative Post team! This and other changes are underway for our newsroom in 2024. Read more here:
2
6
41
Longtime
@BuffaloBills
fans will remember Booker Edgerson and Cookie Gilchrist. What they don't know is the abuse they suffered at the hands of
@BPDAlerts
back in the day. Edgerson goes public in light of
#GeorgeFloyd
.
#Buffalo
#WNY
#football
1
24
37
Landlords in Erie County — primarily in Buffalo — are moving to evict tenants in greater numbers than almost anywhere in the state. More than Queens, Manhattan or the Bronx,
@jaz_ciel
reports:
10
31
38
New: Oligarch Roman Abramovich, long tied to Vladimir Putin, has been a major donor to
#Buffalo
's cancer institute and an investor in a series of companies with business ties to
@RoswellPark
0
31
38
Buffalo & Erie County used to have 15 extra libraries.
But budget cuts from 2004-2011 meant all of those branches were shuttered.
Now, the city has “book deserts,” meaning kids don’t have access to books outside of school.
We dive into the issue:
4
14
36
Fewer 911 calls to
@BPDAlerts
, but a lot more traffic stops - mostly in minority neighborhoods.
#Buffalo
#WNY
#NewYork
0
22
38
For the first time, we have a full accounting of every inmate who has died in Erie County.
For years, the number was significantly undercounted. Over the last 20 years, 57 people have died.
Under the former Sheriff, many committed suicide in lockup.
1
14
37
Pulitzer Prize winner
@DavidCayJ
has been reporting on Trump for 30 years, recently penned two bestselling books on him and founded
@DCReportMedia
, which covers the administration. Come hear Johnston discuss his work Tuesday at
@BPArtCenter
:
#Buffalo
#WNY
2
19
33
The Erie County Board of Election's website is a miserable way to track election results.
1
1
35
Two years ago, ten individuals lost their lives in a racist attack.
Today we remember those who were lost.
Celestine Chaney.
Roberta Drury.
Andre Mackneil.
Katherine Massey.
Margus Morrison.
Rev. Heyward Patterson.
Lt. Aaron Salter.
Geraldine Talley.
Ruth Whitfield.
Pearl Young.
0
12
36
NEW: Modern-day redlining in Buffalo:
Our latest investigation has found that banks in the Buffalo area make fewer home loans to Black applicants than nearly anywhere else in the country.
Black applicants are rejected at twice the rate of everyone else.
4
21
35
All told, Amazon got $137M in subsidies to build a major facility in Niagara County.
Under state law, that amount should mean the construction workers building it earn high wages.
But a state board has decided to waive those rules for Amazon — in secret.
2
28
35
Last week, a slate of progressive challengers won seats on the Erie County Democratic Committee.
One thing they all have in common? Opposition to the Kensington Expressway project. The group prefers a full restoration of Humbolt Parkway.
1
12
34
A new report has confirmed what Investigative Post has been reporting for years: that lead poisoning is a bigger problem in Buffalo than any other large upstate city.
#WNY
#leadpoisoning
3
33
33
The Brown administration pulled the plug on a program meant to return $3.6m in surplus cash from the sale of foreclosed properties to former homeowners, reports
@ghkelly1969
. The city's keeping the money, and the Council president doesn't like it:
2
20
32
A Buffalo worker filed a wage theft claim against her employer in 2017 with the state labor department. In 2019, she won her claim. She still hasn't seen a dime. It's the same all over the state:
1
13
33
Hundreds of investigations into alleged Buffalo police misconduct have finally been made public.
The NYCLU has released nearly 1,000 investigations spanning more than 20 years — the biggest release of disciplinary records in the department's history.
1
13
31
A clerk in Buffalo fire department was accused of tampering with payroll in 2016. She's been on paid leave ever since, raking in well over a half million not to work. Our
@ghkelly1969
reports:
2
16
30
New & exclusive: The Buffalo Sewer Authority, controlled by mayoral appointees, has given
@MayorByronBrown
's son a cushy job.
#Buffalo
#WNY
#Niagara
#NewYork
8
15
31
Geico employees, exasperated by what they consider wage inequities and changing work conditions, are trying to form a union at the company's Amherst facility. If successful, it'll be the company's first union,
@JDale_Shoemaker
reports:
2
13
30
Some good news, for once:
In April, we exposed living conditions at a senior housing complex — Bed bugs. Roaches. Rodents. Structural issues.
Now, tenants say the building is in better shape than it's been in years.
2
10
31
Taken as a whole, New York is a state of high wages and average poverty.
But when we examine upstate cities like Buffalo and Rochester something different becomes clear: Wages are much lower than average and poverty is high.
Here's what the data shows:
7
11
30
Why did a city-controlled agency sell a warehouse to a developer, then lease it back from him on generous terms without seeking other bids?
#Buffalo
's comptroller has been asking
@MayorByronBrown
for three years. Full story from
@ghkelly1969
at the link.
2
15
28
Once again,
@TheBuffaloNews
has lifted one of our stories without doing the professional thing and crediting our reporting. Here's the link for our original story on
@IBM
related layoffs.
#Buffalo
#WNY
1
12
28
EXCLUSIVE:
@BPDAlerts
cop who shot homeless man Saturday shot and paralyzed teen in 2012. Cost
#Buffalo
$4.5M to settle.
#WNY
#Niagara
#NewYork
#PoliceShooting
1
20
28
In this morning's Campaign Notes:
@Indiawaltonbflo
supporters say Judge Sinatra should have recused himself because of his brother Nick's ties to the mayor. Turns out the judge has some ties, too:
3
11
28
Buffalo put a water department employee on paid leave after he complained about workplace conditions, including being denied breaks. 18 months and $90k later, he's still being paid to stay home, wondering when he can return to work. New from
@ghkelly1969
:
5
9
27
NEW: 39 community groups are calling out Buffalo for not inspecting enough rental homes and removing lead — leaving children in harms way.
3
6
27
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown says the city has to raise taxes so it can pay to plow more streets.
Is that really the reason?
What about expensive police settlements? Or the expensive new police contract? Or the depleted city reserves?
4
6
27
Buffalo Police officers on the receiving end of what they say were racist rants by their boss are resisting orders to return to work. They speak of their experience and attitudes held by too many on the police force.
Read the full article here-
1
11
24
BREAKING: Desperate for revenue, Investigative Post has learned the city has sent letters to music venues demanding they begin charging fees for all ticketed events.
The fees would mean higher prices for shows at venues from Nietzsche's to Town Ballroom:
19
18
26
The Buffalo police officer who shot a homeless man Saturday has been investigated 17 times by Internal Affairs, often for allegations of excessive use of force:
#WNY
#policebrutality
1
25
24
More newsroom cuts are planned for The Buffalo News.
It's a shame, writes Editor Jim Heaney. Buffalo deserves a robust daily paper.
5
2
25
The Carl Paladino and
@MayorByronBrown
connection. There are many.
#Buffalo
#WNY
#Niagara
#WNY
#UpstateNY
1
17
23
Trees improve the health of people. So why is
@MayorByronBrown
intent on cutting so many down and planting so few in their place?
#Buffalo
#WNY
2
7
19
BREAKING:
@Indiawaltonbflo
appears to have filed enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in her race against
@MayorByronBrown
.
@ghkelly1969
reports.
#Buffalo
#WNY
#Politics
0
9
22
Help us find another reporter to join our team of watchdog journalists.
#jobs
#journalism
#news
#Buffalo
0
19
21
Tesla is in the process of covering its South Buffalo factory with solar panels. Which makes sense — Tesla, after all, is in the solar business.
But the panels don't look like Tesla's panels.
So who made them? That's apparently a state secret.
2
12
23
NEW: If you thought New York was done spending money on the Buffalo
@Tesla
factory, think again.
Records we obtained reveal the existence of a $29 million fund officials have been letting Tesla spend on a number of projects, including a new cafeteria.
1
17
20
Identifying cops with a history of misconduct is important to reforming
@BPDAlerts
. That's why its police union is fighting in court to keep most disciplinary records secret. Transparency advocates are fighting back.
#Buffalo
#WNY
#Niagara
#NewYork
0
7
22
The Brown admin changed the rules of the tax auction but won't codify them. It makes people who lost homes to foreclosure prove "financial distress" to get back their equity. Now the city is sitting on $3.6m of other people's money. New from
@ghkelly1969
:
2
10
20
Want to see how reporter
@ghkelly1969
landed the story of a city clerk who's secretly held two jobs for years?
Check out the latest episode of our podcast:
4
6
22
A while back, we asked a simple question: Did Tesla install its own solar panels on its factory roof, or did it use another company's panels?
But as we sought to answer that question, we were stonewalled. Who made the panels is apparently secret.
0
12
19
Buffalo's Police Commissioner doesn't think he has the power to discipline bad cops.
The mayor doesn't think so either.
Lawyers and other experts say they're wrong. So does the city's charter.
5
15
22
Our story on North Buffalo's bigot bar has been updated with
@Ali_IngNews
story produced for
@WGRZ
.
#Buffalo
#WNY
0
5
22
How many City of Buffalo employees are being paid not to work? The comptroller's office says they're looking into it, but it'll take a while — and require cooperation from the mayor and his department heads:
5
9
21
Eleven newly elected school board candidates in
#Erie
and
#Niagara
counties are only two degrees of separation away from
#WNY
’s radical right. Details on the far right's fielding of candidates from
@DowdallLayne
at the link:
5
17
22
State Sen. Tim Kennedy spent a whopping $1.5 million in campaign money in 2023, though he wasn't up for re-election. He's had his sights set on Congress. But he'd best be wary of federal election law, which forbids using state money on a federal campaign:
6
8
21
NEW & NOTABLE:
@MayorByronBrown
's push for line on November ballot aided by GOP and City Hall insiders.
#Buffalo
#wny
#newyork
#Niagara
1
12
21
A new report tracking Oath Keepers confirmed more members of the far-right militia group in law enforcement in New York than in any other state:
3
14
20
Today, we remember the 10 lives lost one year ago. Our thoughts are with our neighbors and the families whose lives were tragically changed, as we recommit ourselves to telling the important stories and exposing the systemic injustice that made our beautiful city so vulnerable.
1
4
21
Mayor Byron Brown said plowing city streets promptly might require higher taxes. But snowstorms are low on the list of the city's long-simmering financial problems:
5
4
20
How badly has Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown mishandled the city's finances?
Bad enough that an authoritative fiscal control board should once again have oversight over city budgets and spending.
Jim Heaney makes the case in his latest column.
2
6
19
State Sen. Tim Kennedy wasn't running for anything last year.
Yet he managed to spend $1.5 million in campaign cash anyway.
Spending that money on his race for Congress would be illegal.
1
7
20
In 2006, Mayor Byron Brown and his staff numbered nine people and cost taxpayers $500,000.
This year's budget calls for 26 staffers at a cost of $2.4 million.
That's nearly triple the people and, adjusted for inflation, triple the cost.
15
11
20
For more than a year, Investigative Post has sought records from the state about the South Buffalo Tesla factory.
It took 14 months to get the records. In the process, a state agency spent $50,000 on a law firm to review and redact the pages.
6
9
18
Nearly a third of all Buffalo residents live below the poverty line.
That's on par with other upstate cities, where incomes are far below the state average.
6
9
19
Introducing "Campaign Notes," a daily blog of campaign news and intelligence on the race between
@Indiawaltonbflo
and
@MayorByronBrown
. Check daily for updates.
#Buffalo
#NewYork
#WNY
#upstateNY
0
10
19
New in 'Outrage and Insights': In light of the supermarket massacre, it’s time to address segregation and the under-investment and over-policing of
#Buffalo
's Black community.
@JimHeaney
's full column at the link
#Buffalo
#WNY
17
13
19
Our
@ghkelly1969
sat down with
@AOC
and
@Indiawaltonbflo
tonight. Watch the full interview here:
#Buffalo
#WNY
#Politics
1
11
19
State officials are prepared to slash penalties on Tesla, even if the company fails to hire thousands of workers in Buffalo and across New York.
That's according to a draft of a new agreement the state is currently finalizing.
Read the details:
3
13
16
Dr. Henry Taylor released a report three years ago identifying barriers to the progress of Buffalo’s Black residents.
Now, he has a plan to rebuild those neighborhoods with an approach the city hasn’t seen before.
1
12
17
Pressed by
@ipostnews
,
@NYGovCuomo
finally releases
@Tesla
jobs report, which shows employment far below quotas.
#Buffalo
#Niagara
#WNY
#NewYork
2
6
17
EXCLUSIVE:
@byronwbrown
supporters trying to orchestrate show of support for write-in campaign against
@Indiawaltonbflo
. Some key business leaders appear to balk at the prospect.
#Buffalo
#WNY
#NewYork
2
12
17
New this morning: The deteriorating condition of
@TheBuffaloNews
in a word is "ouch."
#Buffalo
#WNY
#NiagaraFalls
#NewYork
#journalism
3
9
19
Local politicians and police claim "outside agitators" to blame for protest disturbances in Buffalo, but arrest records show that's not the case:
#BuffaloPolice
#BuffaloPD
#WNY
1
16
18
WATCH:
@MayorByronBrown
responds to our report about a city authority he controls hiring his son. Our
@ghkelly1969
and
@wgrz
's
@wgrzMichael
discuss the story:
0
9
17
After we discovered that Mayor Byron Brown believes he doesn't have the power to discipline cops, we wanted to know: Who *does* have the power to discipline bad cops?
So, we asked the Common Council. Most of them punted on the question.
2
4
17
Something's wrong with a system that enables a police officer with Michael DeLong's track record (domestic violence, excessive use of force, etc.) to get promoted. What's up with
@BPDAlerts
?
#Buffalo
#WNY
#Niagara
0
6
15
If you don't ask the Erie County Democratic Party chair permission to run for even a minor party office, watch out — he might send mailers to your neighbors suggesting you're a threat to democracy.
You know, like Donald Trump.
5
9
17
The city will borrow $43 million over 5 years to pay a settlement to a woman rendered a paraplegic when she was hit by a speeding police car in 2020. The debt service will be more than the annual budgets of most city departments:
2
10
16
Today, we make our email-only newsletter, Political Post, available to all for the first time.
Political Post, written by veteran reporter Geoff Kelly, takes you inside Buffalo City Hall and all things politics.
This one's on us. Sign up for more:
3
11
16
Buffalo Police Lt. Michael DeLong, who has been investigated for misconduct 36 times & was suspended for calling a woman the c-word this summer, wants a transfer from his position into the city's sex crimes unit or the training academy:
#BuffaloPD
#WNY
9
23
17
Determined to challenge the tactics used by public officials to stonewall our reporters, we've teamed up with the
@UBSchoolofLaw
Civil Rights and Transparency Clinic:
#BuffaloNY
#journalism
#WNY
#FOIL
0
7
18