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Governor Sets His Sights on Revitalizing Buffalo
By DANNY HAKIM
Published: October 11, 2007
ALBANY, Oct. 10 — Gov. Eliot Spitzer outlined roughly $850 million of economic development initiatives on Wednesday aimed at revitalizing Buffalo and Niagara Falls, including a plan to redevelop the Buffalo waterfront, which will have a nearly 200,000- square-foot sporting goods store built to resemble an old Erie Canal wharf terminal in the historic inner harbor.
The plans, many of which have been considered in various forms for years, were announced in the first of a series of speeches the governor plans to deliver in the coming weeks to detail his strategy for reviving cities in various parts of the state.
The degree to which the governor can follow through on his agenda will depend on winning financial support in the Legislature, where he is enmeshed in a bitter feud with Senate Republicans that has waylaid much state business. The deals he discussed on Wednesday will use a combination of state, federal and private money — both cash and debt — with much of the needed state funds already agreed upon and allocated.
Perhaps a more fundamental challenge, beyond politics, is that Buffalo is one of the poorest cities in the country, and its problems reflect a deep decline in manufacturing that will be difficult to overcome. Further, the state will have less money to spend next year: The governor’s budget division expects revenue to slump amid weakening profits on Wall Street.
The governor outlined three initiatives for Buffalo in his speech, which was delivered here on Wednesday. They included a development deal to turn a vacant building on Delaware Avenue, where more than 2,000 federal employees once worked, into a complex with a hotel, offices and condominium apartments.
He also unveiled the latest plan to redevelop Buffalo’s waterfront. A deal years in the making to bring a large Bass Pro Shop store to the inner harbor, where the Erie Canal once met the Great Lakes, appears certain. The redevelopment also includes a 500,000-square-foot complex of buildings in the inner harbor that will be used for a variety of purposes, also including condominiums and office space.
The governor also pledged that within two years work should begin on a long delayed expansion of the Peace Bridge, a major thoroughfare for commerce between the United States and Canada. And Mr. Spitzer outlined a plan to redevelop a pedestrian mall in Niagara Falls as part of an effort to make the city more appealing to the millions of tourists who cross the border each year.
“Since 1990, upstate’s population has grown slower than all but two states,†the governor said, according to a prepared text of his speech. “During that time, the population right here in Buffalo has actually declined by 14 percent. For the first time, a generation of upstate New Yorkers has had less economic opportunity than their parents — and many have been forced to leave for opportunity elsewhere.â€
Mr. Spitzer said his strategy was to create what he called “regional blueprints†for different parts of the state rather than a unified strategy. He said that previous strategies had used “a ‘one size fits all’ approach†that “did not recognize the fact that upstate is not one economy, but many diverse economies.â€
Republicans have long said that the governor has not moved quickly enough to put together a comprehensive plan to boost the sagging upstate economy. At the same time, they have prevented the governor from installing some important aides. His top upstate economic adviser, Daniel Gundersen, is one of scores of nominees that have been held up in the Senate for several months.
John E. McArdle, a spokesman for the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, called the projects announced by the governor retreads of previously announced deals.
“I’m glad to see he is living up to commitments made years ago under previous administrations,†he said. “What’s new?†he added. “Where are the new projects and initiatives that we have been attempting to get done in Buffalo?â€
Jeffrey Gordon, a spokesman for Mr. Spitzer, said Mr. McArdle was “absolutely correct†in saying “many of these ideas have been around for some time.â€
“The difference is that this governor is providing the leadership to make them a reality,†he said.
Edward Glaeser, a Harvard economist who has studied Buffalo’s problems, said politicians, generally speaking, were focused on the wrong priorities by pouring money into infrastructure instead of education.
“It’s crazy to think you can solve the problems of declining cities by building lots of infrastructure,†he said. “While all of the colder, older cities in America looked troubled 30 years ago, the turnaround of some cities has been sharply linked to high levels of human capital, or a higher share of the population having college degrees, and in Buffalo today, one in five of its residents has a college degree as opposed to 27 percent for the U. as a whole.â€
He added, “Think about what you could do for the kids of Buffalo with this money.â€
By DANNY HAKIM
Published: October 11, 2007
ALBANY, Oct. 10 — Gov. Eliot Spitzer outlined roughly $850 million of economic development initiatives on Wednesday aimed at revitalizing Buffalo and Niagara Falls, including a plan to redevelop the Buffalo waterfront, which will have a nearly 200,000- square-foot sporting goods store built to resemble an old Erie Canal wharf terminal in the historic inner harbor.
The plans, many of which have been considered in various forms for years, were announced in the first of a series of speeches the governor plans to deliver in the coming weeks to detail his strategy for reviving cities in various parts of the state.
The degree to which the governor can follow through on his agenda will depend on winning financial support in the Legislature, where he is enmeshed in a bitter feud with Senate Republicans that has waylaid much state business. The deals he discussed on Wednesday will use a combination of state, federal and private money — both cash and debt — with much of the needed state funds already agreed upon and allocated.
Perhaps a more fundamental challenge, beyond politics, is that Buffalo is one of the poorest cities in the country, and its problems reflect a deep decline in manufacturing that will be difficult to overcome. Further, the state will have less money to spend next year: The governor’s budget division expects revenue to slump amid weakening profits on Wall Street.
The governor outlined three initiatives for Buffalo in his speech, which was delivered here on Wednesday. They included a development deal to turn a vacant building on Delaware Avenue, where more than 2,000 federal employees once worked, into a complex with a hotel, offices and condominium apartments.
He also unveiled the latest plan to redevelop Buffalo’s waterfront. A deal years in the making to bring a large Bass Pro Shop store to the inner harbor, where the Erie Canal once met the Great Lakes, appears certain. The redevelopment also includes a 500,000-square-foot complex of buildings in the inner harbor that will be used for a variety of purposes, also including condominiums and office space.
The governor also pledged that within two years work should begin on a long delayed expansion of the Peace Bridge, a major thoroughfare for commerce between the United States and Canada. And Mr. Spitzer outlined a plan to redevelop a pedestrian mall in Niagara Falls as part of an effort to make the city more appealing to the millions of tourists who cross the border each year.
“Since 1990, upstate’s population has grown slower than all but two states,†the governor said, according to a prepared text of his speech. “During that time, the population right here in Buffalo has actually declined by 14 percent. For the first time, a generation of upstate New Yorkers has had less economic opportunity than their parents — and many have been forced to leave for opportunity elsewhere.â€
Mr. Spitzer said his strategy was to create what he called “regional blueprints†for different parts of the state rather than a unified strategy. He said that previous strategies had used “a ‘one size fits all’ approach†that “did not recognize the fact that upstate is not one economy, but many diverse economies.â€
Republicans have long said that the governor has not moved quickly enough to put together a comprehensive plan to boost the sagging upstate economy. At the same time, they have prevented the governor from installing some important aides. His top upstate economic adviser, Daniel Gundersen, is one of scores of nominees that have been held up in the Senate for several months.
John E. McArdle, a spokesman for the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, called the projects announced by the governor retreads of previously announced deals.
“I’m glad to see he is living up to commitments made years ago under previous administrations,†he said. “What’s new?†he added. “Where are the new projects and initiatives that we have been attempting to get done in Buffalo?â€
Jeffrey Gordon, a spokesman for Mr. Spitzer, said Mr. McArdle was “absolutely correct†in saying “many of these ideas have been around for some time.â€
“The difference is that this governor is providing the leadership to make them a reality,†he said.
Edward Glaeser, a Harvard economist who has studied Buffalo’s problems, said politicians, generally speaking, were focused on the wrong priorities by pouring money into infrastructure instead of education.
“It’s crazy to think you can solve the problems of declining cities by building lots of infrastructure,†he said. “While all of the colder, older cities in America looked troubled 30 years ago, the turnaround of some cities has been sharply linked to high levels of human capital, or a higher share of the population having college degrees, and in Buffalo today, one in five of its residents has a college degree as opposed to 27 percent for the U. as a whole.â€
He added, “Think about what you could do for the kids of Buffalo with this money.â€
