Buffalo Rising Online

Well, it is very interesting reading these responses regarding the Saving Grace Ministries proposed project on Tonawanda Street. I wonder how many of you live in the area? I have lived here for the past 12 years, first at the Creely's (Robert and Penelope) Firehouse, for 5 years, where my husband and I had our wedding, and since, across the street in a Hud house that we are refurbishing.

When we decided to stay here, we had looked at other houses for sale in the 'Chic' (where I had lived before) Elmwood/Delaware district, but those had all been boarded up due to valdilism, fire, crackhouses, whatever,. The house we bought had sat unoccupied for year, with no boarding up and no vandallism.

In Blackrock, though it might be a blue collar neighborhood, this is still what I consider a 'front porch neighborhood" One where kids can still go fishing, trick or treating, and play in the church parking lot. Where neighbors look out for one another.(I've never had a crime against myself here...but had many in the Elmwood/Delaware district)

Blackrock is in a period of renewal....lets remember the Greenway project, the Riverkeepers, the Olmstead parks, and as part of the Great Lakes Initiative.

For those who say Sam Hoyt only had to write a letter for his paycheck, obviously, they aren't in the loop of recieving all of his correspondance....and for those who say, ...better next to a college than a childcare center...let me inform them that...a: there is a HUGE childcare center within the vicinity, along with others, (as well as many families with children) and would you like your college age child that close to a level three sex offender home? Age is not the only issue! And while 'no place is a good place', there are still better places. ESPECIALLY since this is so close to an international border, and I have the facts that GPS tracking doesn't work so well in that situation. (Hey, we have a bike path here, and Sqwaw Island, and the Riverwalk.....think about it!, Really....think about it!) Plus, if any one has done their homework about Grace Ministries, you would realize that a: their State payments are RELIANT on opening new facilities...and b: Just have a look at their last budget.....don't see much there for GPS tracking, or psychological counseling, or mental health evals....just a lot of 'payroll' for the uppers... (I implore you to look at their Board of Directors.....go to their website)

This is not just a NOT IN MY BACK YARD situation. We, as both a community and city, have a chance to make a difference in keeping our children, and neighborhoods ( yes, it extends to you too!...think of the bike path) safe, and growing (along with the other lake/river/greenway projects that already have funding and are progressing..which will benefit us ALL as better/growing city) And to honestly come up with a solution for those who do need help, but within the parameters that would be both, the best for them, and for our community.

I would like to add, that I understand how someone can be listed/charged as a 'sex offender' , when the 'offence' may have happened between two willing under age kids. And know how that can follow someone for the rest of their lives. THIS IS NOT THE CASE! These are considered Violent offenders, who have a high rate of reoffending.

Instead of us self-segregating our neighborhoods, why don't we work together to make the City of Buffalo the best it can be! Please, let's work together for a Buffalo that we can ALL be proud of! Let's consider the possiblity of supporting our city, while challenging the State, when need be!

Dixiechick

Well, it is very interesting reading these responses regarding the Saving Grace Ministries proposed project on Tonawanda Street. I wonder how many of you live in the area? I have lived here for the past 12 years, first at the Creely's (Robert and Penelope) Firehouse, for 5 years, where my husband and I had our wedding, and since, across the street in a Hud house that we are refurbishing.

When we decided to stay here, we had looked at other houses for sale in the 'Chic' (where I had lived before) Elmwood/Delaware district, but those had all been boarded up due to valdilism, fire, crackhouses, whatever,. The house we bought had sat unoccupied for year, with no boarding up and no vandallism.

In Blackrock, though it might be a blue collar neighborhood, this is still what I consider a 'front porch neighborhood" One where kids can still go fishing, trick or treating, and play in the church parking lot. Where neighbors look out for one another.(I've never had a crime against myself here...but had many in the Elmwood/Delaware district)

Blackrock is in a period of renewal....lets remember the Greenway project, the Riverkeepers, the Olmstead parks, and as part of the Great Lakes Initiative.

For those who say Sam Hoyt only had to write a letter for his paycheck, obviously, they aren't in the loop of recieving all of his correspondance....and for those who say, ...better next to a college than a childcare center...let me inform them that...a: there is a HUGE childcare center within the vicinity, along with others, (as well as many families with children) and would you like your college age child that close to a level three sex offender home? Age is not the only issue! And while 'no place is a good place', there are still better places. ESPECIALLY since this is so close to an international border, and I have the facts that GPS tracking doesn't work so well in that situation. (Hey, we have a bike path here, and Sqwaw Island, and the Riverwalk.....think about it!, Really....think about it!) Plus, if any one has done their homework about Grace Ministries, you would realize that a: their State payments are RELIANT on opening new facilities...and b: Just have a look at their last budget.....don't see much there for GPS tracking, or psychological counseling, or mental health evals....just a lot of 'payroll' for the uppers... (I implore you to look at their Board of Directors.....go to their website)

This is not just a NOT IN MY BACK YARD situation. We, as both a community and city, have a chance to make a difference in keeping our children, and neighborhoods ( yes, it extends to you too!...think of the bike path) safe, and growing (along with the other lake/river/greenway projects that already have funding and are progressing..which will benefit us ALL as better/growing city) And to honestly come up with a solution for those who do need help, but within the parameters that would be both, the best for them, and for our community.

I would like to add, that I understand how someone can be listed/charged as a 'sex offender' , when the 'offence' may have happened between two willing under age kids. And know how that can follow someone for the rest of their lives. THIS IS NOT THE CASE! These are considered Violent offenders, who have a high rate of reoffending.

Instead of us self-segregating our neighborhoods, why don't we work together to make the City of Buffalo the best it can be! Please, let's work together for a Buffalo that we can ALL be proud of! Let's consider the possiblity of supporting our city, while challenging the State, when need be!

Dixiechick

I would like to invite all of you who have responded to the meeting tomorrow , (Weds) night to listen, and air your own concerns, and to learn a little more about our neighborhood. And by our, I mean OUR neighborhood. The owner of the proposed facility, if he was anyone else than who he is, would have jumped on the chance for the payment per month/year, that Grace Ministries is offering. Can we Please, show up to support someone who is trying to do the right thing for a neighborhood, and city?!?! (Please note the meeting time and place) Thank you! Dixiechick

Please forgive me for the double message above! Don't know how to delete one.

Curiously, I have noted, while the map at the beginning of this section includes Buff State up to Elmwood, it does not include the 'historic' BlackRock community (i.e down to Niagara St), with corresponding notices on where important locations are. (like the bike path, childcare centers, Squaw Island, etc) I applaud the map idea! It is great! ...lets please extend it into the area we are talking about. BR has more readers here in BlackRock than you know!

Dear chris69,

Thank you for your imput. I am new at this, and your words seem on the mark. I agree that Buff State may seem to move slowly...but, both within my contacts with Buff State, and knowing how ridicuously slowly the State funding can be, even with the best intensions, I can, perhaps naively, give them a little bit of a break. To me, the Problem is, when city concerns can move so much more quickly through the 'pipeline' than State stuff, how do we conteract that?

I hear what you are saying, and agree with it. I have to state that, living in NYC during the time when 'gentrification' was a bad word, as in; :" the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents, ...I don't see this neighborhood falling into that catagory, or, is a very different discription of such.

Please, I don't mean to make too much of a point on that, as that is not the issue, but, just had a 'moment' of relfection, relating to that, due to my living in Harlem, and other areas of Manhattan, where that word was held up as supreme positive. And to the 'neighborhood' was a negative. That is why I mentioned that we shouldn't 'self-segregate' our city.

I agree that we shouldn't put somthing like this in the few areas where there is so much potential.

That is my call out for all of us passionately caring for our City.

I'd really like to see 'Buffalo Rising' to mean just that! Where we are not arguing about eadh others neighborhood, but where we all work togehter to see 'Buffalo Rising'! Discussions and discord are important, but I believe that we, as a whole community, can work, and speak out, and have our voices heard, to make this city the CITY that it should be. We've already accomplished that in the Elmwood district...( with others following)...so lets continue....do I hear a yeah...?

I attended the Black Rock/Riverside GNPA meeting where Rev. King laid out his proposal for this site. I wasn't comfortable with it then, and I'm even more so against it now. He spoke of how the residents at this facility are required to receive daily individual and group counseling and visit their parole officers. That's 30 Level III offenders traveling in and out, on public transportation. We can relax though because they'll be wearing GPS monitoring devices. In just a few minutes searching online, it's clear that in most instances these devices have proven to not work....lost signals, batteries that don't last even a day, and numerous reports across the country of violent attacks committed while wearing the devices. Rev. King stated himself that there would be TWO people watching the facility at all times. That's not a very good ratio by any means. With somebody supposedly handling the monitoring, that leaves one individual overseeing the facility. Thanks to the recent civil confinement laws, there may be a need for a program such as the one proposed. I just don't believe this is the model that's needed. I can only hope that every citizen that can, will attend tonight's meeting. This isn't just a concern for Black Rock, but all of the surrounding neighborhoods as well. The location on Tonawanda Street is just a short jog up the bike path to Delaware Park or anywhere along the waterfront. That's a much bigger impact range than just our neighborhood.

Ed Hogal is a good guy and progressive thinker, Ed has done much to improve the area around his property. It's too bad economics have put him in this controversy. That said, having dealt with Ed , I know he wouldn't want this activity next to his house either.

It may interesting to note that Sanches committed most of his crimes in the area in question, imagine the connivence to him if he would have lived in the area. How about all the attention to the Bidwell park area and the rapist in that area, do you think the offender lives far away. Lets see ------- college girls -------- young girls-------sex offenders------bad mix.

It was a great meeting last evening at the GNPA, and zoning board meeting. I think, UrbanMatt, that if you were there, you would realize just how so NOT NIMBY this issue is about. Some of the comments have been made above that start to hit the head on the nail. FlyGuy, thanks for the support and BAEagen, you're absoulutely correct, this would have a bigger impact that would affect other areas of Buffalo. For instance it was mentioned numerous times last night, by citizens, community officials, Riverkeepers, Business owners, AND from other speakers that are NOT in our zip code, but realize how their neighborhoods could be affected also. We now have the Scajaquada Bike Path completed, which links Delaware Park and the Delaware District to the river. It is a stone's throw away from 31 T. RiverKeepers is opening up an office on Niagara Street with 12 mostly female scientists to work there, working alone, taking water and environmental samples from the creek, and river...One of the most important things said last night was from a local cop from our district, who came to the meeting after completeing a 12 hour shift. His first statement was that, (as Rev. King has said that GMinistries were working well with the poli e department and that if a parollee misbehaved, etc, that the police would be right there) That he and his fellow policemen and women, work hard, are caring and devoted to keeping the neighborhood safe, but that Rev. Kings was was feeding us all a line of crap. There was no way that the police district could 'baby-sit' 30 level 2-3 sex offenders. He also noted that he had spent the last 3 hours of his shift with a rape victum. "An amputation for the soul, for which there is no prosthetic", he said.

This is not just about my back yard. It is about yours, and everyone elses too. And yes, Biniszkeiwicz, it is very disturbing to concentrate that many level 2 - level 3 offenders in one location. Let's remember, this location was initiallly requested for level 3. These aren't pathetic wimpy folks. They are, by definition, Violent sex offenders, with a very high risk for re-offending, many considered a public danger.

And we are all, already paying for this facility. Rev, King, and Grace Ministries receieves funding from from the NYS Department of Parole, among other State funding, which we do pay for with our taxes. He is opening up locations in Rochester, and already has other locations in PA.

I'm not saying that SO shouldn't be treated, both fairly, and medically/psychologically, but let's come up with a better strategy to do so.

Regarding American News...the issue isn't with the company itself. The reason, I believe, that it is even being mentioned, is that most, of not all level 3 SO are not to view, or be in possession of pornographic material. Kinda like a junkie living downstairs from his dealer.