Mayor Brown Awards City Youth for Summer Reading Achievement
September 26, 2016 - A record number of Champion Readers and their families celebrated Mayor Byron Brown’s 15th annual Reading Rules! Summer Reading Challenge today at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. This year, nearly 2,000 students, in grades K-12, successfully completed Mayor Brown’s summer reading challenge. Nearly 13,000 Champion Readers in Buffalo have completed the challenge since 2006.
“Every year I am pleased with our champion readers who productively and wisely used their summer to prepare for the next school year,” said Mayor Brown. “15 years and going strong, my summer reading challenge continues to help increase literacy in our community. It is critical that our youth continue to learn, even during the summer, and Reading Rules provides them with wonderful incentives to do just that.”
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Buffalo Fall Roadway Projects Kick into High Gear This Week
Mayor Brown highlights several major infrastructure paving projects
September 26, 2016 - Mayor Byron Brown, joined by Congressman Brian Higgins, State Assembly Member Michael Kearns, Senator Timothy Kennedy and South District Council Member Christopher Scanlon, today marked the start of paving on Warren Spahn Way in Cazenovia Park, part of a $300,000 infrastructure improvement project. He also announced the start of milling on the Pearl Street Two-Way Conversion project, a $2.5 million project - supported by a $1.5 million city bond and $1.0 million CFA grant from New York State - that is aimed at further improving pedestrian and vehicular access throughout downtown.
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Mayor Brown Helps Promote 'Make-A-Wish Western New York Radio-Thon' in Buffalo
He also pays tribute to Wish Champion, Larry Norton, who has been hosting the 97-Rock Radio-Thon since its inception 22 years ago; this will be the veteran broadcaster’s final Make-A-Wish Radio-Thon
September 20, 2016 - Mayor Byron Brown presented Larry Norton with a City of Buffalo gift basket as a thank you for his hard work and dedication to countless children in Buffalo and Western New York. Norton has hosted the 97-Rock Radio-Thon for decades, raising nearly three-million dollars. Norton will continue his work - one final time - as he hosts his very last Radio-Thon on Thursday, September 22, 2016 beginning at 6 a.m. During the 28-hour event, Norton will speak with children who have received a wish, doctors who know how important the wish process is for the children, and plenty of folks who know first-hand, what a wish means, not only to the child – but to the community as well. All money raised stays right here in WNY, helping to bring joy and hope to children battling life-threatening illnesses.
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Mayor Brown Celebrates National Welcoming Week With Recognition For Buffalo Public Schools
September 15, 2016 – This week, Mayor Brown will kick-off national Welcoming Week by recognizing the important work facilitated by Buffalo Public School Cultural Resource Specialists who serve as a welcoming first contact for students and parents that are new to Buffalo schools, new to Buffalo and new to the U.S.
Welcoming Week (September 16 to September 25, 2016) is an annual celebration of local events across the nation recognizing contributions of immigrants and refugees and the role communities play to foster a welcoming environment. Superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash will join Mayor Brown at Buffalo Public Schools Central Registration, 33 Ash Street, Buffalo, to present 6 Buffalo Public School Cultural Resource Specialists with certificates of recognition, and to also congratulate Nadia Nashir, Assistant Superintendent of Multilingual Education, and Finune Shaibi, Supervisor of Multilingual Student Placement for their work in identifying and meeting the needs of English language learners in the Buffalo Public Schools.
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Mayor Brown and Common Council File Revised Green Code and Unified Development Ordinance Which Reflects Extensive Public Input on Future Development in the City of Buffalo
Today’s filing will lead to a final round of review to overhaul the City’s 63-year-old zoning rules
September 15, 2016 – Mayor Byron W. Brown and the Buffalo Common Council today jointly filed a revised draft Green Code and Unified Development Ordinance which includes more than 100 revisions reflecting the tremendous amount of public input on the City of Buffalo’s blueprint for zoning and development in the 21st Century.
The Green Code is an historic update of the city’s 63-year-old zoning code and land use policies. It is one of the key components of Mayor Brown’s place-based economic development strategy aimed to further promote private and public sector investment, facilitate job creation, restore the environment and continue to improve Buffalo’s quality of life for residents. Over the past 10 months, a formal public review and comment period under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) took place to consider the Green Code’s environmental impacts. The document filed today includes over 100 of the public revisions which came out of those 20 public meetings and two public hearings.
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Mayor Brown and Fire Commissioner Whitfield Swear In New Class Of Firefighter Recruits
September 8, 2016 - 12 Buffalo Firefighters also promoted at Ceremony
Mayor Byron W. Brown and Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield today swore in a new class of 57 fire recruits. The new recruits will begin a rigorous training program on Monday. Mayor Brown also commemorated the promotion and appointment of 12 Buffalo firefighters.
“Today, we congratulate the newly promoted officers who will continue to fill the ranks of Buffalo Fire’s senior leadership as we also honor and welcome 57 new fire recruits with enormous talent, a good work ethic and diverse backgrounds into the Buffalo Fire Family,” said Mayor Brown. “With each new fire class, Buffalo Fire grows stronger and more representative of the communities it serves and on behalf of city residents I thank each and every one of these new recruits for their service.”
The newly promoted officers are:
| Captain Marc Suggs | Captain Brian Horwood |
| Lieutenant Daniel Milovich | Lieutenant Timothy Shoemaker |
| Lieutenant Edwin Ortiz | Lieutenant Shannon Whitney |
| Lieutenant Peter Margerum | Lieutenant Joseph Vidal |
| Lieutenant John Kline | Lieutenant Eric Witkowski |
| Lieutenant John Hayes | Lieutenant Timothy O’Rourke |
With new leadership in place - and with the addition of this new class of fire recruits – the total number of sworn personnel in Buffalo Fire is 709. The new recruits begin training on Monday, with a tentative graduation ceremony in December.
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Mayor Brown Dedicates New Contemplative Garden At Broderick Park To Lillion Batchelor
August 31, 2016 - Mayor Byron Brown and Niagara District Council Member David Rivera, joined by community leaders, business owners, residents and others, dedicated the new Contemplative Garden at Broderick Park today to Lillion Batchelor, founder of the Buffalo Quarters Historical Society, for her continued commitment and dedication to raising the national and international awareness of the significant role of Buffalo in the Underground Railroad movement. A beautiful bronze plaque etched with Ms. Batchelor’s name was unveiled as part of the commemoration ceremony of the new garden.
Mayor Brown stated, “Today is a special day as we dedicate the new Contemplative Garden at Broderick Park to Ms. Lillion Batchelor, who never lost sight of the goal of bringing significant improvements to one of Buffalo’s finest waterfront parks and, in the process, raised global awareness about Buffalo’s role in the Underground Railroad movement. It’s an honor to dedicate this special garden as the “Lillion Batchelor Contemplative Garden.”
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Mayor Brown Calls On City Seniors To Take Part In AARP Experience Corps Literacy Program
August 11, 2016 - Program being administered by Read to Succeed Buffalo
Mayor Byron W. Brown is calling on city senior volunteers, ages 50 and up, to sign up immediately to participate in the AARP Foundation's Experience Corps Literacy Program, an award-winning national literacy program that helps struggling students become better readers by pairing them with well trained, mature volunteer literacy tutors.
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Mayor Brown Attends Groundbreaking For One Of The Largest Commercial Development Projects Taking Place On Lower West Side In 25 Years
August 3, 2016 - GBUAHN’s new medical facility brings jobs; access to quality healthcare to Lower West Side
Buffalo’s Lower West Side neighborhood is experiencing a significant economic transformation, and the Greater Buffalo United Accountable Healthcare Network (GBUAHN) is contributing to this progress by building a new $5 million medical facility. Mayor Byron W. Brown joined GBUAHN at today’s ground breaking ceremony for the new medical facility that will offer a full variety of healthcare services. He also issued a proclamation declaring August 3, 2016 as ‘Greater Buffalo United Accountable Healthcare Network’ day in the City of Buffalo.
“As we continue to grow Buffalo into a city of opportunity for all people, I thank the Greater Buffalo United Accountable Healthcare Network for its continued commitment to our community and launching one of the largest commercial development projects taking place on the lower west side of Buffalo in 25 years,” said Mayor Brown, adding that the city has already provided support for this significant health care project via the Office of Strategic Planning and Permits and Inspection Services.
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CAN A BICYCLE BE AN AGENT OF CHANGE?
Dear Fellow Citizens:
In early Buffalo, around the turn of the century, it was legions of bicycle riders that championed the cause for paved streets – placing Buffalo on the forefront of American cities.
Because of the freedom and independence offered by a bike, women’s rights pioneer Susan B. Anthony went so far as to say the bicycle had “done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world”.
More than a century later, communities that have invested in cycling infrastructure, including Buffalo, have seen a tremendous return in commerce, in new residents, in tax dollars, in the health of residents, and in greater engagement at the community level.
