This calls for a hitchhiker's reference.

namatad: this is so easy to fix
anyone and everyone who was involved in this demolition gets there house demolished.
TODAY.
you name was on the paper work? demolished
you drove the bulldozer? demolished
you are the lawyer for the city which is claiming that you didnt do anything wrong? demolished

a certain amount of equal justice makes these kinds of fark ups go away.

/just following orders? you go to prison on top of it.
/sigh .... cant live without government, cant live with government

their

That's an expensive towel.

2012: The Maya were right, the Vogons are here.

fluffybunny: [infocom.elsewhere.org image 640x512]

Sounds like the Feds may want to watch this case too in their investigation.

MadCat221: Sounds like the Feds may want to watch this case too in their investigation.


Why Mayor Urkel Ummmmm is not is jail is very strange indeed.

Come on FBI! Check this crap out!


Never mind where I park my garbage tote.

/from Buffalo
//u jelly?

You have thirty minutes to move your house.

You have ten minutes to move your house.

Your house has been impounded.

Your house has been crushed into a cube.

You have thirty minutes to move your cube.

jjorsett: You have thirty minutes to move your house.

You have ten minutes to move your house.

Your house has been impounded.

Your house has been crushed into a cube.

You have thirty minutes to move your cube.

What's yer cube doin' in Boss' hole?

Gordon Bennett: fluffybunny: [infocom.elsewhere.org image 640x512]

[gallery.guetech.org image 640x516]

Vogons use Greek letters?

Government intelligence. I can't get a pothole fixed, but they can demolish a taxpayer's home without warning? If we allowed more private companies to manage government matters, this country wouldn't be in the shape it's in.

Came to beware the leopard, leaving with the Dentrassis

namatad: this is so easy to fix
anyone and everyone who was involved in this demolition gets there house demolished.
TODAY.
you name was on the paper work? demolished
you drove the bulldozer? demolished
you are the lawyer for the city which is claiming that you didnt do anything wrong? demolished


And on the bright side if they do this then no one can complain about it.

After all, any decision by the City of Buffalo to demolish their houses is automatically lawful, rational, necessary and warranted under the circumstances.

In court papers, the city denies making any mistakes.

"Any decision by the City of Buffalo to demolish the structures cited in the complaint was lawful, rational, necessary and warranted under the circumstances," the city's papers state.

Oh, whew. All right, then. Problem solved.

From the picture in the article, I thought, "Hey, that looks like a ghetto ass neighborhood. I wonder if those houses were so run down that you couldn't tell that one of them wasn't fire damaged?"

I looked on google street view, but they were torn down before the google van went through.

But at least it did confirm that it's a very run down ghetto neighborhood.

namatad: you drove the bulldozer? demolished

My only objection. I'm pretty sure the bulldozer operator had nothing to do with this fark up.

Maybe the new fire inspector just had a REALLY bad first day on the job?

R.A.Danny: cantsleep: namatad: you drove the bulldozer? demolished

My only objection. I'm pretty sure the bulldozer operator had nothing to do with this fark up.

Zee Clerk at Auschwitz didn't kill any of zee Jews either.

'winned.

You think they told the bulldozer operator that the homeowner had no idea about the fire or the reason for demolition? It's likely that all the bulldozer operator knew is that today's job was to tear down a couple trashy houses, not the reasoning behind the tear down, and possibly not even who hired the contractor he was working for. You think the labor knows all the details of every job?

Gunny Walker: FTFA:The Szelugas argue that the city demolished their rental houses -- a two-family at 1801 Bailey and a four-family at 1805 Bailey -- without first notifying them of any fire at their properties

Your house caught on fire and you didn't know? I'm not saying the city is great either, but a real landlord would've been checking that place out the next day.

How could you check the house if you weren't informed the fire happened?

My landlady doesn't live on the property I rent an apartment in. So either I would have to call her or the authorities would if there was a fire.

It seems neither the renters nor the authorities contacted this couple in time for them to do anything about the damage, thus they were unable to prevent the demolition.

Frankly, 10 days from fire to demolition order is extraordinarily short. And the city is already under investigation for misusing federal funds for demolitions.

Atharaenea: From the picture in the article, I thought, "Hey, that looks like a ghetto ass neighborhood. I wonder if those houses were so run down that you couldn't tell that one of them wasn't fire damaged?"

I looked on google street view, but they were torn down before the google van went through.

But at least it did confirm that it's a very run down ghetto neighborhood.

I grew up down the street from there. It was an awesome area back until about 1986 or so. After that, it went down hill fast. The area now has an occupancy rate of about 40%. My old street has only one house not boarded shut in a two block stretch. Most of the houses in the area are owned by people from out of state or the NYC area. Many of the owners are in Canada. Long after they stopped being able to rent them, they leave them derelict and depreciate them each year.

Totally asinine. OTOH, the owners are evidently slumlords, and it's Buffalo. Meh.

That is just all around farked up. Hope the people get compensated and the officials held accountable.

City has its first african american mayor, who has packed all of the positions of patronage and largesse with supporters and sycophants from his former career as a grassrooots urban political organanizer. Since his election, there have been numerous investigations regarding misuse of federal block grant monies, fed and state redevelopment and renewal funds, neighborhood restoration grants and the like.

A short mile from this neighborhood (google sat will confirm this) is a vast, burned out zone of former two family residential units, abandoned stores, shuttered markets and the general detritus left over when the "white flight" of the 50s and 60s resulted in a huge change from a former Polish enclave to a mainly urban black ghetto.

You can stand on some streets now and see four blocks in any direction because all of the homes have been burned down and bulldozed. Entire city blocks have disappeared in the last 20 years.

At one point, the Mayor was sitting on a list of over 1000 completely trashed properties that were slated for the dozer. They languished for years, even though money was supposed to have been allotted to this effort through federal and state grants. The smiling mayor (in the local rag that passes as a newspaper, you'll see him derisively referred to as Mayor Urkle on the comments forum) assured everyone who cared to listen that the situation was well under control - while more arson fires destroyed more buildings, more rat infestations were reported and more drug and stash houses sprang up to drive out the last few homeowners who were willing to live in the Beirut of Buffalo.

This situation just lingered and languished behind the bright smile and the thousand dollar suits of Smilin' Byron... until the Feds got a sniff of something fishy with the monies over at city hall.

Like paying insurance or benefits for dead former employees. Hundreds of dead employees.

Or having access to accounts that were designated for economic development - which somehow ended up funding a failed upscale restaurant run by a former NBA player and streetball buddy of yours.

That's when the mayor started to get all bulldozer crazy... whole blocks of city owned properties - and many properties that were still individually owned but rundown - started falling to the mayors Impact Teams... you couldn't see for the dust some days. Busy busy busy now that people are actually watching.

This isn't going to end well for the city or for the mayor... I foresee this guy going down and taking a lot of his cronies with him. The ship-jumping, resignations and sword-fallings began about 2 years ago and seem to continue apace. If it wasn't so sad to see a city already on its knees get kicked again by a new generation of machine politics, patronage, graft and overt theft, it would make for pretty good theater.

Boss Tweed would be nodding in approval.

Atharaenea: R.A.Danny: cantsleep: namatad: you drove the bulldozer? demolished

My only objection. I'm pretty sure the bulldozer operator had nothing to do with this fark up.

Zee Clerk at Auschwitz didn't kill any of zee Jews either.

'winned.

You think they told the bulldozer operator that the homeowner had no idea about the fire or the reason for demolition? It's likely that all the bulldozer operator knew is that today's job was to tear down a couple trashy houses, not the reasoning behind the tear down, and possibly not even who hired the contractor he was working for. You think the labor knows all the details of every job?


(new window)

Well you've got to build bypasses.

...and then the owner disappeared with a friend, a towel, and several bags of peanuts before the earth was demolished for a hyperspace bypass?

/everyone beat me to Hitchiker's reference.

Isn't it considered an improvement to tear down a house in Buffalo?

I'm betting everyone knew they were crack dens.

Buffalo is a shiathole. My wife and I owned a home there from 2006 to 2009 (West Side - west of Grant St, almost to Niagara). That city is a corrupt cesspool, and Mayor Urkel made it worse. Why in the hell anybody would want to move there is beyond me. We're lucky we sold our house to some moron when Obama had his "Free 8k for homebuyers plan."

I wish somebody would inform Mayor Urkel that you can't run a city on welfare, government jobs, and playing the race card every time somebody has valid criticism.

/ever call 911 and have a cop scream at you "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT?" after getting attacked with the perps still on scene?
//Nuke it from orbit

Satanic_Hamster: Gunny Walker: FTFA:The Szelugas argue that the city demolished their rental houses -- a two-family at 1801 Bailey and a four-family at 1805 Bailey -- without first notifying them of any fire at their properties

Your house caught on fire and you didn't know? I'm not saying the city is great either, but a real landlord would've been checking that place out the next day.

Honestly, I'm thinking slumlord. Doesn't check on his properties, likely ignores any mailings on them because they might be tax related... Saw a lot of crap like that in Jersey.

I do not live in a slum - it's a really nice area, actually. My landlady never comes around - she just doesn't need to. Unless someone called her, she wouldn't know what was going on in the property.

And again, 10 days between fire and demolition order is extremely short, and mail could easily have taken that long. I've gotten stuff post dated that long from just a few miles from where I live. Post office sucks.

Forgot to add:

/submitter
//Fark buffalo
///Fark NYS
\Glad to have gotten the hell out of both, never to return
\\Go Bills

Squatters in the torched property? It's odd how the landlords had no clue one of their properties went up in flames, so unless the tenants simply ran away and never called, I'll wager no one was officially there.

Either that, or insurance fire that went awry when the city's demolition-happy management farked up.

alternative girlfriend: I do not live in a slum - it's a really nice area, actually.

sorry; I went to school in Baltimore (Motto: The City That Breeds!) and doubt the veracity of your statement. :)


/B'lieve, Hon!

This commenter summed up the problem with many cities.

FBI saturating your City Hall for two years, three personnel removals for fraud......and yet I have no doubt Buffalonians will elect the same 'ole Unionist Patronizers into office next turn...it's your own faults....

The home owners are doomed. How many times did Berger win a case on Perry Mason? Once, maybe twice. They're doomed.

The city needs to DIAF.

The Szelugas say the city should reimburse them for their economic loss from the demolition of their rental properties, and that the city -- not they -- should pay the demolition costs. The houses sold for $23,000 and $35,000 a few years ago, records show. Demolition costs are estimated at $40,000 per house.


Holy crap. Be glad you don't live in DC. With the housing prices in this area you'd be lucky to get a parking spot for that kind of money, even out here in the 'burbs. The housing prices here are out of control, but $35k still seems crazy to me.

namatad: this is so easy to fix
anyone and everyone who was involved in this demolition gets there house demolished.
TODAY.
you name was on the paper work? demolished
you drove the bulldozer? demolished
you are the lawyer for the city which is claiming that you didnt do anything wrong? demolished

a certain amount of equal justice makes these kinds of fark ups go away.

/just following orders? you go to prison on top of it.
/sigh .... cant live without government, cant live with government

Just following orders makes sense when you have no reason to think the orders are to do something evil. Why would the bulldozer driver know what was up?