Where's Bonnie Russell?

Where's Bonnie Russell?	by Beth Bradley

Over the past year, the University Heights has experienced a spike in crime that has horrified and angered the residents. What has been our councilmember’s response to this?

While neighbors deal with armed robberies, burglaries, beatings, murder and attempted murder, Ms. Russell proposes platitudes such as training in how to live off-campus for UB college students, block clubs and, my personal favorite, legislation to stop hair-dressers from doing “grill work.”

In the meantime, residents of this community have worked together to try and get crime-prone abandoned railroad property converted to a bike trail/public space, organized training to watch and patrol the neighborhoods, worked with UB officials to develop a call-in procedure that involves UB police in quality-of-life issues, written grants for security cameras, and much more. I would like to urge Ms. Russell to stop hiding from many of her constituents, start meeting with them on a regular basis, and work proactively to reduce crime and violence in the Heights.

Beth Bradley

Buffalo

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Reader Comments

UBer
16 Jun 2008, 13:02

There have been some high profile crimes in the Heights (i.e. the murders at Tony's and the Univeristy Deli), but how much can a council person really do to curb this stuff. Maybe step up police patrols and take guns off the streets.

There are some crimes related to students, apartments and cars being robber near the UB campus. The Campus police, Buffalo Police, and NFTA police need to coordinate efforts better to curb this stuff. A lot of the crimes are done by local kids with nothing to do in the summer and after school. Maybe a summer jobs program and some supervised after school activities would keep this problem under control.

There is the problem with absentee landlords in the Heights. Maybe UB could get a developer to buy up all the rental property in the Heights, demo it, and build new student housing. That seems like a job for the UB2020 team and not a council member.

For people on the South Campus the solution is simple and should be on the way. UB needs a fence around the entire perimeter of the campus and to restrict access to the campus. A security fence would stop crime from coming on campus and make it safe for students to walk on campus without being mugged. This would at least contain the crime problem and slow behing the scenes discussions of closing the South Campus, moving the medical school downtown, and other academic programs to Amherst.

Brown
01 Jun 2009, 17:41

UBer made some great points, but council persons are supposed to be visible and acting to make a difference. These ARE issues that the council persons should be prepared to deal with. The University at Buffalo does also share some responsibility for students living in the University Heights area, but it is not within their power to buy up the whole neighborhood --- and this is not something that could/will solve the problem of criminal activity in the University Heights area. Many of the crimes occurring in this area are not committed by the students themselves, but are a clear indication that students are being subjected to a dangerous living environment which should be under supervision of the appointed council person. Right or wrong?

Where's Bonnie Russell?

by Beth Bradley

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