DECEMBER 2000
Meeting Schedule. We will continue to meet on the 3rd Wednesday evening of each month, at the First Presbyterian Church, One Symphony Circle. The next few KCA meetings are:
Mark your calendars and hope to see you there!
Come one, come all... KCA Holiday Social Event - Monday, December 18, 2000, at First Presbyterian Church, basement entrance (Pennsylvania Street), from 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM.
For many reasons, we have not had a KCA meeting in a few months, although as you will see from this newsletter, many wonderful things are happening in the neighborhood. Our intent is to get back on schedule in January 2001... For our December meeting, we have decided to forego the usual agenda and have a social get-together at our usual meeting space on a special day - Monday, December 18th - in the basement room of the First Presbyterian Church. Refreshments and good cheer will be provided, but if you wish, bring your favorite holiday delectable to share. All are welcome. If you have any questions or comments, please call Chris at 884-1914. Hope to see you there!
Allentown's Annual Christmas Extravaganza. Visit Allen Street on December 16 to experience a Victorian Christmas... free horse driven carriage rides will be given from 11:30AM to 2:30PM. The Allentown Association at 234 Allen Street will sponsor an open house from 11:30AM to 3:30PM and refreshments will be served. After enjoying a carriage ride and stopping at the Allentown Association, take the family on a walk down memory lane and enjoy the animated window displays in many Allentown shops while mingling with the Victorian carolers singing Christmas songs throughout Allentown.
Crime Watch. Many people in the neighborhood have been participatory in crime watch activities. Houses which have been targeted include those on Jersey Street and Orton Place. Although this is not the most pleasant of neighborhood activities, it is certainly well worth the effort. As one neighborhood resident put it: "Our neighborhood has been a lot safer due to everyone's time and efforts."
Members of our block club have enlisted the help of our Common Council Members and the SOS (Save our Streets) program, which has been very effective on Jersey Street. It's important that each person do their part and contact the police whenever you witness what you believe to be criminal activity. Here are some important resources for you to call:
Council Member Nick Bonifacio became actively involved with a trouble property at 282 Jersey Street. He wrote a letter dated 9/29/00 to the owner of 282 Jersey and stated that the property has long had a history with problem tenants - his research showed 22 911 calls were made this year alone. Bonifacio stated that he strongly felt "that further steps must be taken to resolve this matter."
On another note, on 10/17/00 a letter was received from Wingate Management regarding 281 Jersey which said that its problem tenants were evicted from the building and that the company was committed to "continue working in a cooperative effort to achieve our common goal of drug eradication."
It is wonderful indeed to see the results of the efforts put forth on our streets. A Jersey Street resident and KCA member recently commented: "We should all celebrate the successes our neighborhood had this year ridding the area of a significant number of problem tenants, i.e., drug trafficking, noise, loitering, etc. How bad it was this summer for a while... we all made a difference, working as an organized neighborhood and working individually. There are other neighborhoods where people have given up and others where they never were organized in their efforts. Let us all understand and value our KCA. We would all benefit from sticking together and also spreading the word for others to join us."
Results of Crime Watch! One more good reason to report crimes observed at rooming houses in the neighborhood... now landlord licenses for these properties can be revoked! According to a Buffalo News article published on 12/3/00, a new law sponsored by Nick Bonifacio will allow the city to have troublesome properties have their lodging (rooming) house license denied if the police or community can show the property has a long history of criminal incidents or nuisance activity.
Niagara Council Member Nick Bonifacio sponsored the resolution to toughen the licensing requirements. The new laws, he said, should put rooming house owners on notice that their ability to legally operate these houses depends on their willingness to properly manage their properties and tenants.
"We really felt it was important to include nuisance activities, 911 calls or even a history of drug activities," he said. "I think it brings safety and security to our neighborhood."
Rats! For some reason, many neighborhood residents have reported seeing rats this season. It's important to not put food outside in a way which can attract rats. The blue garbage cans are ideal for containing trash and keeping it away from rats, but the lid must be kept closed. If you see any rats around your home, be sure to report the siting to the Erie County Department of Health, Rodent Control Department at 881-4052. They will follow-up and advise you of options for controlling the problem.
Housing Changes. Many changes in our neighborhood's housing have taken place over late summer and fall. At the city foreclosure/tax sale held on October 23 - 24, 2000, 359 Hudson Street was sold to Texan investor Scott Wizig, who was profiled in the Buffalo News on 11/12/00. 366 Hudson Street was sold to Tara Evans. 117 Plymouth Avenue was sold to Mohammed Fadhil. Long-time neighborhood residents Dinah Gamin and Candace Church bid against Scott Wizig and successfully acquired 43 Plymouth Avenue - congratulations to Ms. Gamin and Ms. Church and thank you for your ongoing commitment to the neighborhood!
On another note, 32 St. John's Pl., the house which burned in April 1998 was also auctioned, but no one bid on it, so it was struck to the city. While we hope that the house can be rehabilitated, we have written letters to Ellicott District Council Member Barbara Miller-Williams stating that we do not want the house demolished (if that is the home's ultimate fate) until there is a plan for the re-use of the land. The house's roof is unshingled bare plywood, thus unprotected from water entering the interior and wrecking ceilings and walls and causing structural weakening. It is in an accelerated state of decline and close to being doomed to demolition. It would not be for naught if there were to be some widespread journalistic splash that would help change the ineffective status quo. Perhaps a mock funeral procession or requiem for a failing neighborhood beauty or a ceremonial wake could grab some attention. In any event, we do not want the house demolished until there is an agreed-upon plan put forth regarding its re-use. We already have too many abandoned, uncared for lots in the neighborhood (146 Cottage St., 390 Hudson St. and 39 St. John's Pl.) and don't need more. We have enlisted the help of the Preservation Board and Allentown Association in this endeavor.
On the positive side, congratulations to Pat Thomas and Steven Osterstrom on the purchase of their new home at 289 Pennsylvania Street, the former HUD home which has been long-vacant. Steven shares that he and Pat are "looking forward to future involvement in neighborhood efforts for enhancing the quality of life around here."
Other housing snippets: 49 Plymouth has been boarded... 322 Pennsylvania has been vacated and will soon be offered for sale by its lender. If you see any suspicious activity around this house, please report it to the owner at 1-800-550-0508, and reference #20709986.
The new owner of 333 Pennsylvania has done a wonderful job putting a new architectural roof on the house. It looks just terrific and keeps the water out... Dr. Persico and Diane Drummer continue to rehab their building at 16 Orton Place which is become a tremendous asset to the neighborhood. Recently a new roof was put on the house... the beautiful Queen Anne style home at 12 St. John's Place was recently foreclosed by HSBC bank and is being marketed by Hunt Real Estate. Listing agent George Correa has called it a "jewel" and believes that it is a fantastic opportunity for someone at only $69,900.
Plymouth/Pennsylvania Revitalization Project. Kudos is due to Ann Angelo for spearheading a focus group on enhancing beautification and quality of life issues on Pennsylvania St. from West Ave. to Symphony Circle and Plymouth Avenue from Pennsylvania Street to Porter. Ann has encouraged dialogue among residents of the targeted area and the focus group is in the process of selecting a single enhancement project for the area. It is envisioned that funding for the project will come through a grant.
Traffic Calming. A community TC meeting facilitated by Heart of the City Neighborhoods was held on October 25, 2000 at the Herman Badillo School #76 auditorium. Some representatives from the city issued a letter in support of some traffic devices, but not in favor of ones playing a significant role in the HCN plan, namely neck downs, raised intersections and diverters. The purpose of the meeting was to meet with city legislators and discuss the plan. Many residents from the KCA neighborhood attended, including Ann Angelo, Carlos Benetiz, Bill Brady, Chris Brown, Sue Byron, Dan Greenway, Dave Hand, and Bill Lindner. Although there was no consensus for the plan, it was generally agreed that there should be some start to the plan to gauge its impact on our community. Unfortunately, there is no funding available, so the next major step is to identify possible funding sources for the plan. The meeting was video taped for future presentation on Public Access television.
One of the most beautiful spots in the city... Congratulations to the Fargo Estate Neighborhood Association for winning 2nd place in the community garden category of the 2000 Buffalo In Bloom city-wide gardening contest for their garden at Jersey Street and West Avenue.
Garden Walk. Thank you to everyone who participated in Garden Walk 2000. This year's event was bigger than ever. Although it rained on Sunday, the attendance on Saturday was phenomenal. It certainly cast our neighborhood in a positive light and demonstrated the great things we can do as a community when we pull together.
Thanks to all those who participated, including Dr. Persico, Jim and Tanya Peck, the Heaverlo family, John and Cyndy Allen, Joe Gerace, Michael Rooney and Paul Lachacz, Carl Schade, Candace Church and Dinah Gamin, Dan Greenway, Sue Byron, Ann Angelo and Kathleen Betsko, John Morgan, Dot Brown, Joe Raimondo, Mary Ann Cassidy, Barbara O'Neil, David Hand, Beth Kauffman, Joyce Berg, Donna Rozinski, Al Rozinski, Mary Beth Bartlett, Betsy Crocker, Patrick Mack and everyone else! Special thanks to Mayer Brothers for again donating water and to Joyce Berg and Joe Gerace for facilitating the donation.
Allentown West Walking Tour. About 30 people toured our neighborhood as part of an architectural walking tour on Saturday September 2, 2000. The tour was a benefit for the Preservation Coalition of Erie County and was a huge success.
The tour showcased Symphony Circle, Pennsylvania Street, Orton and St. John's Place, among other streets. It was very well received and tour attendees had encouraging things to say about our neighborhood.
Symphony Circle Update. Work is continuing on Symphony Circle; the gardens this year looked especially lovely with their tall grasses. Work is continuing to attempt to restore the center grassy island in the middle of Symphony Circle with its ornate lamp standard. It is hoped that both Symphony Circle and Ferry Circle (Richmond at Ferry) can be restored in 2001 using similar lighting standards recreated from original photographs and historic documentation. More details about this project will be available as the project unfolds. This is an exciting project which carries forth the promise and advocacy expressed in the Buffalo News editorial of May 17, 2000.
Secrets of Allentown. This year's annual Secrets of Allentown tour of historic homes/taste of Allentown was an enormous success. Despite changeable weather, many people attended the event held on September 24, 2000. KCA neighborhood residents Hogan Restoration at 310 Jersey and Jim and Tanya Peck on Symphony Circle opened their buildings for the fundraising event which benefits the Allentown Association. In addition, Ann Angelo set up a special display of Symphony Circle as an outreach project at the Karpeles Museum, which curator Chris Kelly opened up at a special time to match the event hours. KCA residents Candace Church and Dinah Gamin donated their time and saki for a wine tasting/art reception held at the Cyclorama Building. THANK YOU to all in the neighborhood who participated in this important educational and cultural event.
Orton Gardens. Despite a late start, work has continued this summer and fall on Orton Gardens, the community garden being built on the site of a razed home at 20 Orton Pl. Top soil was delivered, a front lawn started and two flower beds were created. They were planted with annual flowers and later planted with hundreds of daffodil and crocus bulbs in the fall. Thanks to donations from Keep Buffalo Beautiful and Allentown Association Board Member Elizabeth Licata, the gardens should be overflowing with flowers as soon as spring breaks!
Ten perennial shrub bushes were also planted as well as a dwarf spruce and plum tree. The back fence was installed and looks great. As soon as the weather breaks, a fence will be installed in the front and side of the garden. We have worked closely with Coco Wozniak and Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo on our project. THANK YOU to everyone who has donated their time, energy and financial resources to this project. Next spring we will create the vegetable portion of the garden and continue to work on the beautification effort. It is hoped that through our grant we will have funding for a gazebo or other structural improvement.
Newsworthy KCA Neighborhood. This summer, many news articles featured our neighborhood... On August 20, Buffalo News reporter Sandra Tan wrote an article called "Thieves Finding Homes to be Handyman Specials" which told of the plight of neighboring homes which had architectural elements stolen from them. While the article told of loss, it was kind to our community and said: "The homes in the neighborhood around Kleinhans Music Hall share much in common - gorgeous woodwork, historic architecture, beautiful gardens and caring homeowners."
On September 22, Buffalo News reporter Susan Martin wrote an article entitled "Just Do It" which described home restoration projects and featured John Allen's roofing project on the Allen's Orton Place home.
On October 18, Ann Angelo was interviewed by the Buffalo News and extolled the virtues of the Kleinhans neighborhood. Ann, neighborhood activist extraordinaire, is among those who have been approached by project organizers to appear in a video encouraging city living. Ann believes an aggressive outreach effort would be successful in attracting more residents to the urban core and said: "What I like about Buffalo is that you have these strong niche communities with so much history surrounding them. There are not too many other communities that have such an abundance of treasures."
The KCA neighborhood was featured in the Summer 2000 newsletter of LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation). The article described Heart of the City Neighborhoods' (HCN) housing efforts in our community. The article stated "We believe that HCN's ability to rehabilitate vacant property on the West Side, providing extended useful life and increased property values will be improved and hasten the pace of neighborhood stability efforts around Kleinhans Music Hall."
Not Everyone Encourages You to Move to the Burbs... Three separate financial incentive programs are in the works at local and federal levels to provide ways to help purchase or manage an antique home. Here are the initiatives:
West Side Initiative. A new housing program has been established with important goals for our community. The program's objectives include stabilizing neighborhoods with resources within the west side area; increasing home ownership in the targeted west side area by middle and upper income households and providing home ownership opportunities to those in need of assistance; reducing the density of housing by converting multiple units into one or two units; to reduce current residents hardship in the upkeep of the homes and prevent the sale of their homes by providing affordable rehabilitation financing; to improve the image of the area by marketing its assets and the availability of financing tools; and to improve basic city services and infrastructure support.
"Sustaining the existing housing stock and rehabilitation of those properties in need of assistance is the key to revitalizing the West Side." - Anthony M. Masiello
The Interest Buy-Down Program will buy down one interest point on a loan or mortgage that includes rehab up to $100,000, with a grant limit of $4,500. Homeowner must be at 80% of the median income or above to qualify.
The City Assistance Loan will offer 2% loans up to $20,000 over 15 years for rehab of their home. Homeowner must be at 80% of the median income or below to quality. For more info, contact West Side NHS, 359 Connecticut St., 885-2344.
Historic Home Ownership Assistance Act. As part of a forthcoming urban rejuvenation effort planned by the White House and congressional leaders, tax credit proponents want to focus attention on hundreds of thousands of homes in big-city neighborhoods (like the KCA neighborhood) that are in need of rehabilitation.
The neighborhoods tend to be among the oldest and most architecturally distinctive of their areas. They have all been recognized as having historic importance to the community as a whole, and have been designated by such by either state or federal agencies.
The neighborhoods are not necessarily "hot" at the moment, in real estate sales terms. But they could be, if houses were restored to their potential by their present owners, or new buyers moved in and remained in the neighborhood.
Under the pending tax credit bills (H.R. 1172 and S. 664), buyers or owners of homes in state or federally designated historic neighborhoods could receive up to 20 percent of their renovation expenses back in the form of tax credits. A fix-up that cost $50,000 would generate a $10,000 credit; a $100,000 project would generate $20,000. The bill is currently being studied in committee, and has been cosponsored by Congressman John J. LaFalce.
City of Buffalo Historic Property Tax Exemption. The Buffalo Common Council has enacted legislation that may benefit the owners of properties located within the boundaries of Historic Preservation Districts like Allentown. The City will grant property tax exemptions based upon the dollar amount of the increase in assessed value resulting from alteration or rehabilitation of a property, if the work is performed for the purpose of historic preservation. For more information, contact the City Tax Exemption Office, 105 City Hall, 851-5747.
Citizen Complaint Line. Recently the new city charter created the Division of Citizen Services, which includes a complaint line. When you contact the Complaint Line, your call will be documented, referred to the appropriate department and a service number will be issued. This service number will allow for your concern to be tracked and referenced in a timely fashion. You may remain anonymous if you choose to do so, but please remember to ask for a service number. Please direct your concerns to the Complaint line at 851-4890 or you may send correspondence to Jay Duderwick, Division of Citizen Services, Room 218 City Hall, Buffalo NY 14202.
Kleinhans Music Hall 60th Anniversary. Many events had been orchestrated to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Kleinhans Music Hall's opening on October 12, 1940. For the surrounding community, the most visible component was the kick-off of the reflecting pool restoration outside the building which began reconstruction in September, 2000. It is anticipated that it will be in use by late spring 2001.
Dr. Steve Bench, a member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, and editor of their newsletter Canon, honored the 60th anniversary of Kleinhans by including an article in Canon's 10/00 edition about the history of the hall and Symphony Circle. Dr. Bench referenced information found on the KCA web site and said: "the KCA site/links are excellent! I spent quite a bit of time reading all the different pages about the neighborhood."
If anyone hasn't been in Kleinhans for some time, go see a concert there. The hall looks great and most agree that it hasn't looked this good in many, many years. What an asset to the neighborhood!
Flower Planter Update. Due to the severe storm that the city experienced on November 20 and subsequent clean-up efforts, some KCA flower planters were damaged. We will attempt to get a claim in for the damaged/missing planters. Thanks to Dan Greenway for picking up and distributing donated daffodil bulbs which were planted in many of the planters.
Important Dates To Remember:
Mon. 12/18/00 - 6:30 PM - KCA Social
Wed. 1/17/01 - 7 PM - KCA Meeting
Kleinhans Community Association
Holiday Social Event
Wish Your Neighbors Happy Holidays
Monday, December 18, 2000
6:30PM - 8:30 PM
First Presbyterian Church
(Basement Room, Pennsylvania St. Entrance)
Refreshments will be served...
feel free to bring a dish to share, but is not required.
Questions, call 884-1914. All
Welcome!
Kleinhans Community Association
c/o 34 Orton Place, Buffalo NY 14201, 884-1914
Visit our web site on the Internet:
http://kleinhansca.org