On Tuesday, residents of the Fruit Belt, an area in Buffalo's lower East Side, finally got UB to respond to their concerns regarding the sale and development of McCarley Gardens. But it wasn't the response they wanted.
Mike Pietkiewicz, the assistant vice president for government community relations, spoke to Buffalo's Common Council on Tuesday afternoon about UB's 2020 plan for the Buffalo Niagara Medical Corridor, which includes the purchase of McCarley Gardens from Oak Michigan Housing Development Corp. Pietkiewicz read a prepared statement to the council, which outlined the beginnings of UB 2020 and why the university hasn't moved forward with the sale or toward tangible plans.
George Arthur, who has lived in the Fruit Belt for decades, called the statement "double-talking gobbledygook" and called Pietkiewicz a "loony toon" for suggesting the plans and statement had not originated within the UB Foundation (UBF), a private group that supports developing and managing real property on behalf of the university. He said UBF has ignored all resident concerns regarding relocation plans.
"It is the will of the people that McCarley Gardens not be sold," Arthur said. "It is not needed. UB does not need it. And Oak Michigan doesn't need the money ... The University at Buffalo has been in this city for 167 years, since 1846. And one day out of [those years], they found the Fruit Belt. The only way they got students to go down there was to say that they wanted to have a 'getting dirty' party. Only way you get dirty is by going to the Fruit Belt - what an insult. What a racist insult.
"I would hope this council would make a commitment to say 'no' to anything that deals with the selling of McCarley Gardens because UB's intentions are not honorable."
He continued on to say residents of the Fruit Belt and McCarley Gardens are not against UB 2020 or the Medical Corridor; rather, they feel they are being taken advantage of and they're frightened.
Ellicott District Councilmember Darius Pridgen was also frustrated with UB's response after a university representative did not attend the Common Council meeting on March 19 (Pietkiewicz was out of town and received notice of the meeting an hour before it started). Pridgen does not intend to pass any legislation until residents feel comfortable with UB's plans.
"I need you to hear my heart and I'm sorry to do this on the floor, but the question was about the folks who live in McCarley Gardens," he said. "We went from 'it will be sold by 2017,' but could it be sold before 2017? What I'm asking to address is the frustration of the people who I'm representing."
No progress has been made and UB has not moved forward with developing McCarley Gardens because the original deal stated the university would not gain the property until 2017. That contract expired in March 2013, according to Pietkiewicz, and was automatically extended as a result of St. John's Baptist Church, which sponsors Oak Michigan, not getting approval from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
UB first made reference to McCarley Gardens in 2008 in a first draft plan for moving the medical school downtown as a part of UB 2020, according to Pietkiewicz. The final draft was released a year later, and St. John's approached the university about its interest in acquiring the property in 2009. UB and St. John's signed a deal in 2010.
The university cannot purchase the land until 2017 due also in part to lack of funds, Pietkiewicz said. New York State was supposed to embark on its next five-year capital plan this year, but because of the economic environment at the national and state levels, it was unable to do so. The economic disparity left UB and SUNY without a capital plan and no funds for any projects, he added.
And because McCarley Gardens is not next on the "to-do list" for UB 2020 - next up is moving the School of Social Work and Graduate School of Education back onto South Campus - no further talks have been geared toward the Fruit Belt area and no tangible, solidified plans have been put in place, Pietkiewicz said.
Pietkiewicz stressed that UB does not own the property, nor is the university the landlord of anyone living in the area. But UB is still very concerned about community engagement and is working to connect with tenants regarding the sale and development of the land. "I understand these are just words, but we intend to prove it through action," he said.
Pridgen is concerned that because UB is a public entity and not a private citizen or organization purchasing the property, the situation is more worrisome to residents. He wants to see concrete plans and a concerted effort to engage the community.
"I think we couldn't be at this point now had there been great communication, and if these residents really felt they understood, they wouldn't have come the Ellicott office and said, 'We need help. We need a voice. We're not being heard,'" Pridgen said. "This is not whether they're black or they're white or they're rich or they're poor. This is simply that they live there. We have to be very sensitive to that."
Any future plans would affect 150 families that rent their properties from St. John's, and no relocation plans will be set into effect until approved by HUD, according to Pietkiewicz. No one has currently been asked to move or relocate.
"There's a lot of activity that's going on that people are not recognizing, and that's OK," Pietkiewicz said. "[Whether] they're not receiving that or we're not communicating enough, we need to communicate more. I look at this as a learning lesson and we're going to try to do a better job communicating with the neighbors going forward. We certainly have our work cut out for us in terms of communicating directly with the neighbors and residents."
The Common Council tabled the discussion, and Pridgen has set up an advisory board to gauge what residents' concerns. Pietkiewicz said the university will reach out to the board and other neighborhood groups to better future communication.
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