We need a moratorium on demolition in the City of Buffalo. As our city struggles with finances, we need to be more innovative and proactive with policy and code enforcement. Demolition should not be the solution that we lean on to solve issues of neglect. Recently, we (COB) demolished 149 Arkansas, the notorious “House from Hell”. I’ve yet to meet a “bad” house, but this story underscores the failures of our policy and government.

Similarly, we must be more strategic about stabilizing and preserving structures that contribute to our tax base and give our communities character and economic potential. When we demolish structures like 706 Broadway and 1511 Jefferson (FIGMOS PTL of Buffalo circa 1981), we whittle away the infrastructure of our commercial corridors. We remove structures from the tax rolls and we eliminate opportunities for economic investment in our neighborhoods.

We need to STOP ALL DEMOLITION until we figure out a holistic plan for stabilization, for local economic development, and for code enforcement that leverages existing infrastructure to create assets in our communities.