Councilman Nowakowski and state officials advocate for "City of Buffalo Historic Preservation Receivership Act"

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo Common Councilman Mitch Nowakowski and other representatives of the New York State legislature are continuing to address negligence of absentee landlords by attempting to pass an act that would appoint receivers to manage abandoned or neglected properties in the City of Buffalo.

Councilman Nowakowski alongside NYS Senator Sean Ryan, Assemblyman David Rivera and Preservation Buffalo Niagara stood at a property at St. Louis Place that the councilman said has been abandoned for over a decade, advocating for the passage of the "City of Buffalo Preservation Receivership Act" in the state legislature.

"It [2 St. Louis Place] was written in 2016 for housing court with over 17 open violations. It's been a trial since 2019 and yet we have nothing happening behind here besides blight and abandonment," said the Fillmore District councilman.

"This structure has caused not only a excess of 911, 311 and neighbors calls to be able to deal with and address issues such as blight, abandonment and overgrown trash, we've had people squat inside this structure, we've had a fire outside of the structure. We've even had someone pass away in this structure. It is a threat to public safety, it denigrates the neighborhood. And it's because we have unscrupulous slumlords that allow their structures to basically fall on everyone's head."

If passed, The City of Buffalo Historic Preservation Receivership Act would outline procedures for appointing receivers to manage neglected or abandoned properties, thereby addressing blight and improving living conditions for the Buffalo neighborhoods.

Under a receivership program, the court appoints a receiver to make repairs on a property and sets in place a method to reimburse the receiver and cover the repair costs.

An example of a certified receiver is Preservation Buffalo Niagara (PBN).

"Preservation matters in Buffalo. It brings in tourism dollars, it brings in tax money. We want to see our taxes not have to be increased over and over and over again. Buildings like this when renovated pay taxes and that's a really important thing," added Bernice Radle, Preservation Buffalo Niagara Executive Director.

"We actually have over $100,000 sitting in a bank account right now, to deal with this building if we can get city housing court to say yes to allowing us to receive this property. The $100,000 can't be used anywhere else, it can be used for this building and a few others that [landlord] owns. We do want to do something. We can do something tomorrow if this were to unlock."

Receivership programs have been successful in the past, according to the elected officials and Radle. A few years ago, Preservation Buffalo Niagara successfully renovated an Allentown property on 40 Cottage Street, a property that was previously owned by the owner of 2 St. Louis Place.

Council Member Nowakowski also notes he has introduced resolutions in the Common Council in support of the passage of the bill in the New York State Assembly and also calling upon Buffalo City Court to consider receivership as a remedy for neglected properties with existing code violations.