Mayor Brown Oversees Demolition Of 1423 Jefferson Avenue

Mayor Byron W. Brown today oversaw the demolition of a structure located at 1423 Jefferson Avenue, which was brought to his attention this past Wednesday (October 10th) during a tour of the Jefferson Avenue commercial district with area business leaders.

The action follows closely the recent submission of the City of Buffalo’s Restore New York Communities Initiative grant application. The City is seeking a total of $29,950,273 in Restore New York grant funds for an overall demolition effort that is estimated to cost $62,289,000. Once secured, the funds will help demolish 939 vacant residential properties and 5 vacant commercial properties.

"We are moving aggressively to remove these blighted properties from every section of Buffalo and restoring the stability and strength of our commercial and residential neighborhoods," said Mayor Brown. "In addition to the funding application we have recently submitted to the State to help us fund demolitions and rebuild neighborhoods, my Administration has created a comprehensive five-year demolition initiative known as the 5-in-5 Demolition Plan. These efforts, when fully completed, will have a dramatic impact on our City’s landscape and the overall quality of life of our residents."

Announced on August 23rd, the "5 in 5" Demolition Plan targets demolishing over 5,000 structures in 5 years.

The estimated cost of this initiative, over five years, is $100 million, with an anticipated contribution of $60 million from New York State, $20 million from the City of Buffalo, $15 million from the federal government and $5 million from a City-Community matching fund program (City will match goal of $2.5 million raised from community funding sources).

"The ‘5 in 5’ Demolition Plan will be an accelerated, comprehensive, citywide attack on the dangers and blight of vacant structures," said Mayor Brown. "Buffalo’s high vacancy rate is a serious problem that must be treated aggressively and the new ‘5 in 5’ Plan will do just that."

Following the Mayor’s tour Tuesday of Jefferson Avenue, 1423 Jefferson was processed for demolition and an emergency demolition declaration was issued today. The estimated $3,000.00 demolition will be performed by Niagara Frontier Services, which submitted the low bid for the work (Note: a city survey determined that no asbestos was present in the structure.)