Mulroy Park receives $200,000 grant from NFL

In addition to many threats of bodily harm, I've received several emails regarding the future of the Nevilly Court Sports Complex. Councilmember Kearns has announced the project has been moved to Mulroy Park (behind Holy Family Church). I think this is a wise move, as Mulroy is a better location. It is already a park and no trees need to be removed to build the complex.

Today, the NFL announced Buffalo will receive funding for a turf field in the otherwise abandoned park. The last field built in our area was Riverside in 2008.This field will be a great addition to local high schools, especially when you consider the number of lacrosse, softball, etc games that had to be cancelled due to the abnormally wet weather we had this Spring. Here is the press release from the NFL regarding the new field. (I condensed it to fit, but left in all the important stuff)...


NFL/LISC GRASSROOTS PROGRAM AND BUFFALO BILLS GRANT $200,000 TO HELP INSTALL SYNTHETIC TURF AT MULROY PARK

Orchard Park, NY – The Buffalo Legacy Project, which is focused on designing a modern, multi-purpose athletic field for residents in South Buffalo, will receive a $200,000 grant from the Buffalo Bills as part of the National Football League Grassroots Program, it was announced today.

The grant, awarded by the Bills, the NFL Youth Football Fund and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), is part of $2.5 million in field refurbishment awards allocated this year. It will be used to install a new synthetic turf field at Mulroy Park, which will be one element of a multipurpose recreation and community facility featuring football, health and wellness programs, and education spaces.

On behalf of the NFL Youth Football Fund and the Buffalo Bills, over one million dollars in grants have been awarded to community facilities since 1998. A full list of the grants awarded since 1998 is attached.

The NFL Grassroots Program, a partnership between the NFL Youth Football Fund and LISC, the nation’s leading community development support corporation, has resulted in the construction or renovation of 243 football fields nationwide in the past 13 years. During that time, the NFL Youth Football Fund has granted more
than $30 million to revitalize playing fields in underserved neighborhoods. Fields are newly built or significantly renovated, with improvements such as irrigation systems, lights, bleachers, scoreboards, goal posts and turf. Grassroots grants are issued once established funding thresholds are reached for each project.

“The Buffalo Bills are proud to support the construction of athletic fields in the Western New York community and assist in providing our youth with safe and accessible places to play,” said Ralph Wilson, Jr., Bills chairman and president, “We look forward to continuing our partnership with the NFL Youth Football Fund and LISC to help develop recreational areas in our community.”


June 28, 2011 – Mulroy Park to receive $200,000 grant from Bills and NFL Youth Football Fund

"We at LISC are very happy to have worked with the Buffalo Bills, the NFL Youth Football Fund and the City of Buffalo to provide this important grant for playing field improvements at Mulroy Park,” said Michael Clarke, LISC Buffalo executive director. “This field will be the seventh permanent playing surface that our partnership
with the Bills and the NFL are making possible in Buffalo, and it will serve children of all ages, providing organized recreational opportunities for a long time to come."

Buffalo Bills - NFL Youth Football Fund Grant Recipient History:
Year Program Location Grant Amount

2010 Buffalo Legacy Project - Mulroy Park Buffalo, NY $200,000

2008 Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
(Riverside Youth Football Field) Buffalo, NY $50,000

2007 Johnnie B. Wiley Amateur Athletic Sports Pavilion Buffalo, NY $200,000

2006 Detroit NFL Youth Education Town/
Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Athletic Field Detroit, MI $100,000

2005 Robert E. Rich Sr. All High Stadium Buffalo, NY $200,000

2005 Buffalo Bills Youth Football Stadium Orchard Park, NY $100,000

2003 Veterans Stadium Restoration Project Lackawanna, NY $50,000

2000 Broadway Fillmore Neighborhood Housing
Services - Emerson Park Football Field Buffalo, NY $100,000

1998
Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
(Riverside Youth Football Field) Buffalo, NY $80,000

TOTAL $1,080,000

For more information on the NFL grants, please check out http://www.nflyff.org/.




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Nevilly Court meeting this Saturday

I just wanted to remind those of you with kids involved in sports: the meeting for the Nevilly Court Athletic/Educational Center will be this Saturday at 10AM at Bishop Timon High School (Mckinley Parkway).

Councilman Kearns will be going over the project in detail. Some of the neighbors are against the project. I don't begrudge them, as they live in the area and should have a say in the project. What I do have a problem with is a small minority of people living outside the neighborhood who have opposed the project. They are not opposing it based on any principle. They are opposing it in an effort to endear themselves to the mayor. These people are not representative of the community at large. They are political opportunists looking to gain favor with our mayor (who incidentally couldn't find South Buffalo on a map). I encourage everyone to bring their kids and call your neighbors and have them bring their kids. Be heard.

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Nevilly Court meeting 2/8/11

I attended a meeting tonight at the Cazenovia Resource Center on the proposed Nevilly Court Educational/Athletic Fields Project. It was for the neighbors of the proposed facility to express their concerns about the project to Councilman Kearns. I got a call around 6:30 saying many people not from the neighborhood were planning on attending, so I stopped by.

The meeting was heavily attended. The neighbors came out in full force to discuss the project. They were pretty much dead set against it. One woman a few seats next to me made some very good points in a calm, non-confrontational manner towards the Councilman. A man in the back row had some good questions as well. Both liked the project but felt the location was not in the best interest of the neighborhood. A few in attendance liked the sound of their own voice. They interrupted the Executive Director from the Legacy Foundation, the Councilman, and even some of their own neighbors who shared their views. They just wanted to be loud. It was pretty comical, actually.

A woman who used to live on Marilla Street, but now lives off of South Park Avenue tried to make a point about giving kids from the neighborhood a safe place to go. A guy in the last row, who incidentally, looked like the BTK killer, shouted her down using the F word and other various profanities. It was white trash behavior at it's finest. He got up and excused himself from the room. It's pretty bad when you're so dumb, you have to put yourself on timeout. Others quickly got off topic and started talking about Sorrento Cheese, toxic waste, and anything else on their mind.

To hear some of these people talk, you'd think Kearns was planning on having a strip club put in over there. The woman a few seats away from me and the man in the back brought up legitimate concerns and asked good questions and spoke calmly, yet passionately. Others just talked loudly and tried to act confrontational every chance they got. If Kearns' project gets off the ground or doesn't, it's too bad people can't put aside their differences to work for the next generation. I've been at Tosh Collins three nights a week this winter and I can tell you the next generation is worth investing in.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me we should be working on education and community activities. The schools can't do it by themselves. Families need to come together to help each other. Youth sports is a great way to teach kids discipline as well as the importance of education. We can't look at politicians for the answers. We need to find the solutions ourselves. The mayor of Buffalo is a total joke. He's no leader and has never made any effort to work with the people of South Buffalo. He's just sitting back, hoping someone offers him a statewide post.

I was just there tonight as an observer. I certainly don't have anything against the group who oppose the project. None of them made any outlandish statements towards me. Unlike the flower lady, who gets grants from the city, state, and federal governments to plant flowers on McKinley Pkwy., these people actually live next to the proposed facility. Their voices deserve to be heard.

It would be nice if people stopped bickering about everything and came up with a plan to improve our neighborhoods (S. Park, Seneca St., and Abbott Rd.). I have to laugh when I hear people at the meetings say we have too many soccer fields. I remember when we had one field (at Potters Rd. in Cazenovia Park) in 1991 and their was only one goal on it. The other was in two pieces because of vandalism. People told me we would have a hard time selling outdoor soccer to city kids. The reason we have the fields we do now is because they are used almost every night during the summer months. Kids between the ages of 4 and 16 play on those fields. We have 1/10th the fields of our competitors. They are real families that come out each night to watch their children play. I know many of these families read this blog and I hope they attend the meeting on March 19th. We need to come up with a plan to help the next generation and help our community reach its full potential. Yelling at each other and pointing fingers will not do anything to improve the neighborhoods.

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Nevilly Court Legacy Project

Pictured above is an artists' rendition of the proposed Nevilly Court Legacy Project


I know many people have questions about Councilman Kearns' proposed Youth sports/educational center. It will consist of a multi use outdoor synthetic turf field adjacent to an indoor educational center.

The indoor facility is not a place for parents to send their kids. It is a place for good parents to accompany their children through positive educational and recreational activities. I believe the community deserves a facility like this. Here is an excerpt of an article written by Glenn Gramigna from WNY Media.net on the proposed project...

SOUTH DISTRICT'S MICHAEL KEARNS BACKING "A NEW COMMUNITY ATHLETIC CENTER AT THE GATEWAY TO SOUTH PARK"

No one can doubt that, in the end, WNY's future success or failure will depend on the educational and personal achievements of today's children. Yet, where do we go to find the solutions to the difficulties of a generation of kids who, very often, find no supervision when they get home from school in the late afternoons because both parents are working or because there is only one parent present in the home?

While some run away from the problem, South District Common Council Member Mickey Kearns has created a possible solution in the form of the Nevilly Court Improvement Project.

"Imagine a new youth athletic center at the gateway to South Park that will be open till midnight and offer kids hours of opportunities for supervised athletic activity," says Kearns. "Imagine a new center that includes three basketball court gymnasiums complete with locker rooms, weight rooms, and fields for football, baseball, and soccer equipped with snythetic turf that will not require a lot of maintenance and can be used all year round. This is the project we are working on, seeking to attract, not only money from the City of Buffalo but also from private foundations, including the NFL Foundation."

For the full article, please go to www.kearnsformayor.com.

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Crazy train

The mayor will be watching the Super Bowl with the President this Sunday (and probably asking what inning it is). Meanwhile, parents with children involved in sports are continuing to spread the word about the meeting on Councilman Kearns' proposed youth sports/educational complex. Instead of kneeling before me and kissing my rings, the powers-that-be have sent out people in the neighborhood to do their bidding for them.Big mistake. Our job now is to start spreading the word about the meeting on Saturday, February 19th at 10AM at Bishop Timon HS.

I'm signed up to take an exam that day for Erie County. Because I'm not entitled to no show jobs like many in the political class, I have to do my best on my own. I'm ecstatic so far at the people who are planning on attending this meeting. I've had several conversations this week with people who are ready to take back their city from these political opportunists. When the mayor sent out his paid bird-dogs, he may have unintentionally awoken a sleeping giant...


I put together this tribute video. We will take back our neighborhood from these paid political sycophants. The people I've spoken to in the last few weeks are sick of a few sell-outs speaking for the rest of us. We know who they are. They are the people in the community who feel the need to mention their own name every five seconds or nominate themselves for "civic pride" awards. They think they're better than us and will soon find out this is not the case.They have about as much pull as Hosni Mubarak. It's 2011 and they don't control the press anymore. Everyone knows the neighborhood blogger controls the press, and these orphans will have to come to terms with this fact soon...

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt." Mark Twain (and about 6 other people)

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Missing persons report: Has anyone seen Brian Higgins lately?

Here's a clip of a new artificial turf field being unveiled earlier this year at Riverside High School. The cost? $16 million.Where was Byron Brown then to say the cost was too high for this field? He's standing right behind the other career politicians in this clip smiling like the ignoramus he is. The South District Councilman's funding request of $450,000 for the Nevilly Field project passed the Common Council and survived the mayor's veto. Yet, Brown continues to block it's passage by withholding the bonds for the project.

How come Congressman Brian Higgins, County Legislator Tim Keane-Whalen, and State Senator Tim "Hortons" Kennedy are not rushing to Kearns' defense? They are against the project for one reason-politics. Higgins opposes everything Kearns does because, unlike the other two bozos, he views Kearns as a political threat. Higgins has opposed Kearns since the day Kearns defeated his handpicked stooge in 2005. Kennedy and Whalen do whatever Higgins tells them to do. They're like the stormtroopers in the Star Wars' movies. If you think they are actual leaders, then you really need to get a clue. Their shoes are marked L and R so they know which is which.

If you happen to see Higgins in the district, ask him why he's not fighting for the youth of South Buffalo. Their claims of a high price tag are nothing more than a smokescreen for the real issue- partisan politics. They're not fooling the neighborhood blogger on this one. I encourage all South Buffalo residents with kids involved in youth sports to show up on Saturday, February 19th at Bishop Timon High School at 10AM and send a message to Higgins and mayor Brown that S. Buffalo should not be treated as a second class community. Take back your neighborhood from these knuckleheads...

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Letter to the Blogger-Nevilly Court Youth Sports Complex

I got this comment underneath one of the posts on the Nevilly Court Sports Complex and I thought it raised some very good points. The people opposed to the project, not the ones living near it, are hired political pawns. They are doing the mayor's bidding for him and are clearly looking for something in return for their families (probably jobs.) Their motives are obvious to everyone. One of the paid spokespeople is articulate. The other is from planet Mars and is clearly as mad as a hatter...

It makes me question the mayor's competence yet again. What kind of a leader wants to have himself represented by someone like this? There are so many normal people he could bribe to do his bidding for him on this issue and he picks her? The mayor won't show up at the upcoming meeting because he doesn't even know how to find South Buffalo on a map...



Mike,

She is definitely in the minority, speaking for the mayor. My question is did other parts of the city have these arguments when the mayor helped them get new fields(Riverside,Johnny B Wiley)Millions of dollars of public and private funds have gone to make new fields for other sections of the city. Does Marge know that? Her argument is embarrassing and easy to shoot down. Yes, we have other needs, new police station, firehouse, some upgrades at pool, Tosh etc.. but it doesn't diminish the need for a safe playing field, one that the city doesn't have to maintain.

It is 100% clearly political and our kids shouldn't have to suffer. Maybe we can get a fund together to move Marge to live closer to the Mayor. Our area, South District has the most population of any district in the city from the latest census. Still plenty of kids in sports, actually baseball is losing kids(especially girls to W. Seneca because of their fields). She is wrong on so many levels.- A Concerned Parent

I'd just like to remind everyone that a public meeting on this issue will be held on Saturday, February 19th at 10AM at Bishop Timon High School. Please do not let a few people, who work for the mayor, dictate what happens here. Remember, they are being paid to oppose the project.

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Nevilly Court: sex, lies, and videotape

OK, I lied. There's no sex. But there are plenty of lies. And we did capture some of them on videotape. Here, one of the neighbors at the meeting (who is a city of Buffalo employee) falsely tells the crowd Councilman Kearns wants to build the educational/athletic center as a shrine to himself. Since I'm not sure he would have said this if the Councilman was in the room, I thought we'd post it here...


In this clip, our Citizen of the Year goes on a bizarre rant about the Olmsted Parks' Conservancy. She says their long term goal is to tear down the Cazenovia Casino, Cazenovia Pool, ice rink, and the Tosh Collins Community Center. Where does she come up with this stuff? There is no way anyone would ever let any of this happen. Finally, she says, "If Mr. Kearns wants to take it (the money) for Nevilly Field, he's not going to get it!" WTF is she smoking before these meetings? I wasn't aware she had anything to do with the funding process.


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What did she just say?

One of our roving reporters attended a public block club meeting on Councilman Kearns' proposed Nevilly Court Education and Athletic Complex. The meeting was run by Linda Friedenberg and her coalition of block clubs. Linda is a very nice woman, who's worked very hard over the years to improve the area without seeking much fanfare. Her group does an excellent job.

Some of the neighbors are opposed to Kearns' project. Living next door to the proposed facility, it is within their rights to do so. I don't know too much about the project. I know it is a public/private venture. (The NFL reportedly has committed funding to it. I know Kearns' vision is to have an artificial turf multi-purpose playing field and a new state of the art community center/educational center. I'm not a huge proponent of artificial turf for soccer, but I know other sports (lacrosse, softball, and football) often use it. In the Fall, it would be great for some of the high school teams to use for soccer, as rainy weather often makes the current fields unplayable.

The mayor however, has blocked the $450,000 allocated to Kearns' district for the project. (Perhaps some more barber shops on Jefferson Avenue are in need of funding again. Who knows?) Fortunately, the common council has overridden his veto.

Desperate to block the project, the mayor has now recruited a retired city worker with a lot of time on her hands to do his bidding for him. She is saying the project is too expensive. Ironically, she's not as fiscally conservative with our tax dollars when it comes to her group. They receive tens of thousands of dollars from the city, state, and federal government to plant flowers on the McKinley Circles! If we're looking to save money by cutting services, I think we need to start there. Personally, I'm behind what Kearns is trying to do for our youth. The debate over the location, on the other hand, is between he and his constituents.

I just thought this was a hysterical clip taken from the meeting. The McKinley Circle Lady is now apparently acting as a spokesperson for all youth related groups in South Buffalo. She says the neighborhood doesn't need to upgrade any youth related facilities because "Enrollment in all sports is down. People aren't having large families anymore. Their numbers are dwindling. There just aren't as many children in South Buffalo playing organized sports anymore."

This must be news to Tom Finn and the 1,400 parents whose kids played soccer last summer here. It must also be news to Brian Leonard and Carole Pulvino from the South Buffalo Football organization. Carole's been a volunteer for over 26 years and mayor Brown has never once asked her to be in one of his campaign commercials. I wonder what Mike Schieber, Mark and Jim Blake, and the folks involved with Cazenovia Hockey think about the McKinley Circle Lady's claims. They are constantly attending meetings and figuring out ways to do more with less, and do a terrific job at the ice rink with what resources they have. A few NHL players have even gotten their start because of their organization. Scott Heywood and the parents involved in South Buffalo Baseball probably didn't hear about the sudden decrease of kids and sports in South Buffalo, either. They've used scarce resources to do great work over at Okell Field. You often hear baseball isn't as popular as it once was. While this might be true nationally, don't tell that to the hundreds of kids playing baseball and softball off of South Park Avenue in the summer months.

All I'm saying is the mayor should listen to these people and not a retired city worker with a clear political agenda, whose kids are all grown and living in the suburbs. The Councilman will be holding another public meeting on Saturday, February 19th at 10AM at Bishop Timon High School. I encourage all parents with children involved in sports (actually living in South Buffalo) to attend and speak up. Do not let this woman, who is obviously a pawn for the mayor, speak for the people of our community...


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Tug of war continues with Brown and Kearns

The chess match between South District Councilman Mickey Kearns and Deputy Mayor Byron Brown continues over the Nevilly Court Project.

Last week, we told you how Brown was bribing city-working neighbors close to the project to oppose it. Brown then announced he would not authorize the bonds needed to pay for it.

Today, Kearns struck back and said that unless lawmakers have the opportunity to vote on bonds for all projects in the city’s capital plan, it’s possible that the entire roster of initiatives could be delayed. That would mean other projects in the city would be delayed. From The Buffalo News...

The projects range from new streetlights in the Niagara and North districts, to streetscape improvements in Lovejoy and Masten, and infrastructure upgrades near the Genesee Gateway project downtown. There also is money to finance the city’s ongoing demolition blitz, improvements at various parks and upgrades to a number of city-owned buildings. “This is a question of fairness, and we’re prepared to take this to the end,” Kearns said.

Readers of this blog should know that Councilmembers Joseph Golembek and Bonnie Russell in effect, work for the mayor. They clearly do his bidding. Golembek, who made himself out to be a maverick years ago, should be particularly embarrassed with himself...

North Council Member Joseph Golombek Jr. said Kearns’ threat to hold up other projects is typical of how the Council’s ruling majority has operated.

“It’s the worst majority I’ve ever seen on this Council,” Golombek said. “They’re cocky. They’re arrogant. They ostracize the rest of the Council.”

I didn't hear Golembek complaining when a new turf field was put in over at Riverside Park a few years back. He also was very supportive of the new state of the art football field constructed behind Riverside High School. How about something for a neighborhood where the people actually pay taxes? Golombek has been in office way too long and has gotten too comfortable. His district has gone to the dogs since he first took office. He's clearly a fraud carrying around a lot of secrets.

I'm not a huge fan of turf fields, myself. I know they are good for sports like lacrosse, football, and softball. The thing I'd like to see built is the actual gym/educational center. The big question I have is, where are the South Buffalo political families that spoke out for Brown against Kearns? They all said he was great for South Buffalo. Obviously, they really meant he was great for them and their greedy, untalented, conniving relatives.

Political carping may kill capital projects - City of Buffalo - The Buffalo News

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Brown continues opposition to S. Buffalo youth facility

Listen to Did I Do That from Steve Urkel
Despite overwhelming support on the Common Council and the South Buffalo community, mayor Brown is doing his best to prevent South Buffalo residents from getting a state of the art sports complex/educational center for it's youth.

The Council was successful in overriding the mayor's veto last week. However, a new Councilmember friendly to the mayor (Reverend Darius Pridgen), replaces outgoing Councilmember Curtis Haynes next week. Haynes was in favor of the project. Pridgen is widely expected to do the mayor's bidding. His vote could prevent the rest of the council from freeing up funding for the proposed facility. From The Buffalo News..

Mayor Byron W. Brown announced that he will not authorize bonds to pay for the Nevilly Court project. The Council could have a tough time lining up six votes to free up funding because a key project supporter is leaving the Council on Friday.

The development near South Park Avenue has been on the drawing board since 2006 and would include playing fields, a gymnasium, an educational facility with classroom, library and performance space.

The mayor's latest trick is to recruit (hire?) one of the neighbors to act as an obstructionist to Kearns' project. Oh, and I'm sure this will come as a shocker to everyone, he's a city employee...

Nick Macri, president of the Dallas Zollars Block Club, insisted that some residents only heard about the project through the media.

"No one knew what Nevilly Court was, and it's in our backyard," Macri wrote. "After talking to neighbors and block club members, our area is against this plan and feel funding should go to existing facilities."
Listen to Human Voice Clip Male Ten Year Old Boy Exclamations Liar Liar Pants On Fire from Human

Kearns said it is untrue that Macri wasn't briefed on the project. The lawmaker claimed he personally outlined the plans to Macri during earlier conversations. Kearns also raised suspicions about Macri's motives, noting that Macri is a city employee.

"I just find it suspect that [Macri's] letter even uses some of the same terms that were in the mayor's earlier veto message," Kearns said.

I believe Kearns when he says he spoke to Macri about the project. The mayor's people obviously coached Macri on what to say in his letter. I'd love to know on what grounds they oppose this project? Buffalo should change it's name from the Queen City to the Obstructionist City. We have people waiting two hours to get across the Peace Bridge because politicians can't make a decision on building a new one. The owner of Pano's Restaurant on Elmwood had to fight preservationists like crazy to expand his business. Now, it is one of the nicest buildings on the Elmwood strip.

We have Brian Higgins and his "South Buffalo team " (Antoine Kennedy, the Comerfords, the Mckinley Circle Lady, Jim Keane, Kevin Kelley, Pinocchio Petrucci,etc.) to thank for this also. They were the ones who told you and your neighbors how you needed four more years of Byron Brown.

Where do they stand on this project? They're against it, because it won't make them look good. If they were true leaders, they would be speaking out for it, for the neighborhood. Most of these people don't care about the neighborhood children at all. Why should they? Most live in the suburbs, or are hoping to, soon. One even lives in Florida. All they care about is furthering their own careers and securing politically appointed jobs for their entitled kids.

Most residents I talk to don't care who looks good by building the Community Center. They just want a place for their children to go and play sports and receive tutoring services, and socialize in a safe environment. A place like they have in almost every other part of the city. Councilmember Kearns knows this also, which is why I think he's not ready to give up the fight on this project. This isn't over with by a long shot.
Listen to Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? from Movies

Overturning veto may go for naught - City of Buffalo - The Buffalo News

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Nevilly Court opponent

I just came back from the docks and the canaries over there were really chirping. Some people close to Deputy Mayor Byron Brown are telling me a major opponent of the proposed athletic complex/educational center by the Sorrento Cheese processing plant is none other than the McKinley Circle Lady.

Apparently, everyone's favorite flower person phoned Brown's office and told him there already were enough playing fields in South Buffalo and the education center would go unused. That we have a mayor who gives this person an ounce of credibility, is astonishing to me. She doesn't have a clue about the needs of South Buffalo's youth or anything else, for that matter. The only time she encounters the youth is when she is stealing their Christmas elves from the otherwise barren, publicly funded, circles on McKinley Parkway. A year ago, she wrote an article for the Metro Community News Blow off Your Steam section in which she alleged the new center was an attempt to close Cazenovia Park altogether. This had to be the most ridiculous thing I'd ever seen in that paper, (and I've seen many ridiculous things in it.) Nobody in their right mind is suggesting to do anything to Cazenovia Park, one of the most beautiful Olmsted Parks in the entire area.

One council-member told me he was very uncomfortable with the self proclaimed citizen of the year calling him and trying to influence his vote. This woman is becoming out of control, he told me. She's receiving a community service award from Bishop Timon for her paid job of planting flowers. I don't know if she's aware that Bishop Timon is rumored to be one of the groups hoping to use the new gym for their home basketball games. She doesn't like Councilmember Kearns and will stop at nothing to prevent him from looking good. Some people have more hot air than a tornado in Kansas...


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Mayor Brown vetoes South Buffalo Education and Athletic Complex

Apparently, it's ok to give thousands of dollars to barber shops, but when it comes to South Buffalo's children, Deputy Mayor Byron Brown is not so generous. From The Buffalo News...

Mayor Byron W. Brown said “no” Thursday to new athletic fields in South Buffalo, the pet project of a longtime political foe.

Brown vetoed $450,000 in capital funding for the Nevilly Court recreation and education complex and cited the city’s already growing obligation to parks and playgrounds.

For those of you who don't know, Nevilly Court is an area of land near the Sorrento Cheese processing plant. The idea is to build an educational and athletic fieldhouse on the land. This project is badly needed in the South Buffalo neighborhood, as thousands of kids are now involved in organized sports there. The East side has the Johnny B. Wiley Fieldhouse. The North side has All-High Stadium and the North Buffalo Community Center. There is a community center on every other block on the West side. Private money has already been raised (the National Football League is reportedly behind the project).
Many people feel the reason for the mayor's opposition is based solely on political spite. The main sponsor of the athletic and educational facility is South District Councilmember Mickey Kearns...

Lawmakers believe the project, which includes athletic fields, as well as new education and recreation facilities, was left out of Brown’s initial capital budget because Kearns is the driving force behind it.

Nevilly Court was added to the budget as part of a series of additions by the Common Council last month and was the only addition vetoed by Brown on Thursday.

The big question many of us have is where does the South Buffalo Team of bench warmers stand on the issue? Brian Higgins, Tim Kennedy, East Aurora Jim Comerford, and the McKinley Circle Lady have been strangely silent on the proposed fieldhouse. They are preventing the neighborhood children from a great opportunity, because they don't want to see Kearns look good. If they speak out, Brown might not let them appear in one of his future political ads. Very sad. Fortunately, the Common Council has the votes to override Deputy Mayor Brown's veto.

I wrote this article because a friend asked me to do so, and the complex is a good idea. On a side note, I'd like to see Mickey step it up and pay more attention to the people in his district that actually get things done, instead of the city hall types crawling around him. If you would like to see this project move forward, you are encouraged to email Byron Brown at bbrown@city-buffalo.com or call his office at 851-4841.

Brown vetoes Nevilly Court project - City of Buffalo - The Buffalo News

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