Democracy In Albany

apparently doesn't require government to create docs that don't exist (unless it's Troopergate).

I'm not sure how much government can push that when data is easy to produce.

The Jennings Gang is tight with information, no doubt about it. But it strikes me that Corey is just lazy and is indeed asking for something that doesn't exist.

I haven't seen it mentioned here, but the city has a very handy new Property Locator that allows anyone to do a lot of their own research without leaving your house of office. You can look at individual parcels, entire streets, specific landlords, etc., etc. Pretty nifty by Albany's primitive online standards ...

Corey can, and should, do his own homework. Start with the city website, proceed to other available public records, and stop whining about blocked access to information you can look up yourself.

The online parcel locator is new, but the information has always been available for the asking.

In the past, and currently, you can call the assessor's office and they will tell you over the phone who owns a particular piece of property. Or, you can just walk into City Hall and look through the assessment rolls any time you want.

I realize the political value for Corey in claiming he's being denied important information by an imperious City Hall. Great talking point. But he can get it himself, online or in person. My bet is that he will still be carping and crying about this months from now instead of doing his own damn homework. Owner names and addresses are readily available. If he wants phone numbers also, search online by owner name or do a reverse lookup by address. This is really basic stuff, and the city has no obligation to do Corey's work for him.

I agree and learned for myself that at least during the assessment challenge period (and maybe all the time) you can get info from the tax assessor. (You can also see if a property is delinquent, but not how long.)

I don't know how it works from other perspectives.

Just guessing if someone is going door to door in any ward in the city and hears about vacant, abandoned properties, over and over again, that person might think it's best to "ask the city" and file a request for information. Makes sense.

I better stop now, so DIA can hold on to his false ideas about me and progressives.

DIA, it must be a problem when someone's full quote does not fit into the neat little point that you want to make about them.

Take for instance the critical portion of Conti's quote from this morning's article - the portion you so conveniently left out of your post.

"Out of courtesy and out of respect for the office, I don't think council members should have to do that," he [Conti] said.

So while he is pointing out the legal argument (and while you can complain, I don't see you disputing with valid legal criticism the law Conti cites), he is saying that Council Members should get answers to their requests without a FOIL.

Strangely, as a constituent of Conti's, this is a response I have heard from him personally as well at neighborhood association meetings.

FOIL and the city Charter.

You've made your take on what Ellis should do pretty clear.

Perhaps you could offer your opinion on whether or not the city should have data on vacant buildings a little more readily available.

I can't research this right now, but it sure seems strange to me that the city hasn't been compiling this info for its own use, which it could then easily share with Ellis or anyone else.

I'd be interested to learn how the city maintains and/or accesses this data. If we really are "Tech Valley," then it shouldn't be that hard to run a report from a database. And then we can judge the truth of these statements from Jenning's office about data and documents that don't exist.

Well, there's the "Vacant Building Inititive Report" issued by the city in October 2006. It lists all vacant residential buildings in the city with ownership info, pictures of each building and other relevant info. It's not online or in data base format, although it should be. I'm not defending the city's unwillingness to fully join the information age, but at least there's a hard copy record of all vacant buildings.

When the report first came out, Corey wouldn't give a copy to our neighborhood association, even though the report is very clearly a public record. We got it on our own, identified the buildings we care about, cross-referenced with online data and other public records, physically inspected each building, prioritized which buildings should be saved and which should be torn down, etc., etc. People in other neighborhoods are doing likewise. As a resident of the 3rd Ward, I don't see how it benefits us to have Corey sitting around waiting on FOIL requests that duplicate what is already being done at the neighborhood level.

One other thing Corey could do: Get copies of the vacant building registry forms each owner is required to file with the city. The forms are supposed to have a phone numbers for the owner and a designated "local agent." A FOIL shouldn't be necessary but if it is, he can request the forms for all vacant buildings in the 3rd by specifying the addresses.

But enough about Corey. Jennings is the real villain of the vacant building mess. He should be voted out of office on this issue alone ...

nice user name.

Most people can see a distinct difference between these two approaches.

"Maybe it is time we use the charter and we start bringing these commissioners and assistant commissioners to the floor and hold their feet to the fire," Calsolaro said.
"Out of courtesy and out of respect for the office, I don't think council members should have to do that,

One council rep talking about getting things done and holding people accountable. One saying it would be nice if the mayor was more respectful. I think i know which approach i prefer. But then again, I'd like to get things done. Or we could just wait for the mayor to start being honest, courteous and respectful.

When the city/county tax collection people do not get paid property taxes due, in a timely fashion, they annually take out legal ads, in their designated news papers, to expose the non-payers and scofflaws, by name and by how much in arrears they are.

But when it comes to publically displaying updated lists of the hundreds of vacant properties in the city, they clam up, except to a chosen few...

And, I recall, years ago, Mayor Jennings talking about "open government" in Albany. Yeah! Right!

Are any of you old enough to have had to go through each individual buff card in order to develop a prime voter list or sit down with a pencil and a note pad to develop a list of voters?

Ah, those were the days.

Here is the problem with FOIL requests. Say I wanted to look at crime data on the city level broken down by location and nature of the crime. If I were to FOIL the information the City of Albany would probably tell me that they do not have the document or information requested available.

Because they don't keep in broken down into any form except that which they have to do for other required crime reporting. The feds make them keep track of the number but not the type or location.

They do have the infomation however. Its on the police departments data base. If a common council member were to request a the RAW information then the police department would be hard pressed to say they didnt have it.

The various Boards of Election used to pull this stunt all the time. You asked them for information using an incorrect term then the FOIL is rejected because the information didn't exist (wards in areas that didnt use them) or they would reject the information because they dont have the information broken down in the format requested because they had never done a report in that format and are not required to generate one to meet FOIL.

The key is to know how the operation you are foiling works. The police department has a database, simply request a copy of it and then break down the information any way you want.

What other ways are criminals cataloged when they enter the system? Request the raw copies of those.

If the police refuse to comply with information for the raw and unprocessed data then, as common council members how about using that power of the budget to make them comply? In colonial times the colonial legislature would not pay their governors or other civil servent pay if these people were not doing their jobs. Eliminating or reducing a budget line seems to work on the county level. Why not the city?

"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"

what the freedom of information law is. It allows for anyone to request information and be granted their request for that information. Anyone.

There are a few things one cannot foil for, though.

In another locale it would be scandalous for a member of a governing body to have to resort to foiling for information, but sadly, in Albany it is the norm.

The property locater does not list any buildings that are not on the assessment roles, like those owned by not-for-profits.

Try to locate any that you know of that are owned by NFPs and your search will be unsuccessful.

To claim Ellis is lazy is unfortunate and may be due to your disdain for him. Most people don't have the time to do physical searches for three hundred properties and I would suggest that if you or anyone else asked the clerk for that much information, whether by phone or in person, you'd be asked to submit a FOIL request for it. You might try working with Mr. Ellis as he is concerned about your neighborhood and could probably use your help much more than your criticism.

That you claim his reaction to the city's ignoring the law as a 'talking point' is surprising. I wonder what your feelings are about the TU's needing to go to court to get the machine gun data? Another 'talking point'?

What was Nitido's 'talking point' when he had to sue the City for information he needed but was unable to get from treasurer Barnette or Burton's before him? By the way, I still don't think he's gotten the information he requested.

Anyone remember what he was asking for? Was it how much the city had paid for the Coeymans land and the revenue from and operating cost of the Rapp Road Landfill?

As Rex pointed out, the average citizen without the financial resources of the TU, cannot afford the legal battle to seek documents that should be readily made available to anyone who seeks them.

Perhaps you'll recall that the city was unable to reach the owners of several of the Alexander Street properties?

In July Richard Conti, to his credit, had introduced an amendment to the Vacant Building Registery which was adopted by the council, that increased the fines of those listed buildings owners. It is Ordinance # 65.72.07 and requires the owner to list the building within thirty days of it becoming vacant.

If Mr. Conti had called for the city to stringently enforce the exisiting ordinance along with his amendment's introduction or asked the reason why it wasn't being enforced would have had a greater effect than increasing the amount of a fine to an long unenforced ordinance.

Kate, I too like John. He is required by law to respond to your request and let you know whether your request is too broad. It is also his job as the city's Records Access Officer to assure departmental compliance with the FOIL request. It is also their responsibility to compile information gathered by research from sometimes more than one department in an effort to obey the law. The city is obligated to respond to and fulfill a foil request within twenty days.

From the City Clerk's website on FOIL:

http://albanyny.gov/Government/Departments/CityClerk/FreedomOfInfo.aspx

NY Freedom of Information Law:

http://www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/foil2.htm

I believe you're both under the impression that all owners of vacant buildings comply with the ordinance requiring them to register their properties. They don't.

If they ignore the building codes why would you suppose they'd comply with another unenforced ordinance?

By the way, how many buildings are listed on the updated registery?

Jim, thanks for the condescending lecture, but I understand how the law works. The problem with Ellis' request is that is was overly broad. As already noted, FOIL requests are much more likely to be granted when they are specific and targeted.

And, please, no one is under the impression that there's full compliance with the registry. Those of us who actually live in the city of Albany and deal with vacant buildings in our midst understand that fully. It's one tool, among others, that Ellis or anyone else could use if they're seeking phone numbers and other contact info for the building owners.

Sorry you felt I was being condescending. I was just trying to be helpful.

I was surprised by your comments, which appeared to me at least, to be not much more than a put-down of Correy Ellis.

You at first suggest he's lazy, that he's asking for something that doesn't exist and that he should do his homework first before foiling for it. Nonsense. He foiled for the information. It's a law. That he's your representative, you should be pissed he wasn't given it.

Then you go on in your reply to Kate saying that the information is available for the asking. Mind you, you've just stated it's non-existent.

Ellis asked for and was denied the information.

About the Vacant Building Registry:

"It lists all vacant residential buildings in the city with ownership info, pictures of each building and other relevant info."

"...but at least there's a hard copy record of all vacant buildings."

"One other thing Corey could do: Get copies of the vacant building registry forms each owner is required to file with the city."

Perhaps you can now see why I thought you weren't aware that the registry is inaccurate as all vacant buildings are not listed.

Ellis said he was told by the building department that 1) his request was too expensive, 2) that they didn't have the data he was seeking, and by the city clerk 3) that his request was too broad.

So who are you to believe here? The building department, the Clerk, or Ellis?

Obviously you don't believe the building department.

If you did, you wouldn't have suggested your representative waste his valuable time searching for something that they said doesn't exist, would you?

Too expensive? An unreal reply to Ellis' request.

That his request was too broad? I don't know. I haven't seen it. Yet you seem to have come to the same conclusion as the clerk has without any proof.

As a public service, I provided links to the city's information on FOIL and to the NYS law itself.

Oh, and by the way, just because I sleep in Coeymans doesn't mean I'm not uninvolved with daily life in Albany with my family. I worked longer in Albany dealing with the vacant buildings and other housing and poverty issues than some of you have been alive.

Maybe some day you'll honor the slaves buried under the Ten Broeck Triangle and relocate the playground from above it. Lucy doesn't want it moved to the park in front of her house, of course.

And maybe you'll be successful in shutting down the medical waste incinerator over at Whitney Young. But I suppose you already know these things and have a handle on them.

Like I said, you should put aside your petty differences with Ellis and work with him to help him become a better representative for all of you.
If you feel he's not doing a good enough job, let him know how to do better.

It is not ALL vacant buildings.

Richard Conti was kind enough to forward me a copy of it here is the definition:

The city code defines a vacant building as a building or portion of a
building that is:

Unoccupied and unsecured;
Unoccupied and secured by other than normal means;
Unoccupied and an unsafe building as determined by the Department of

Fire, Emergency & Building Services;

Unoccupied and has multiple housing or building code violations;
Illegally occupied;
Unoccupied for a period of time over 365 days, and during which time the

enforcement officer has issued an order to correct code violations.

So if you have a vacant property that is secured with a standard lock then by the definition of a "vacant building" it is not a vacant building, it is an "unoccupied" building, apparently.

I am surprised at you, Jim, for berating 1894 for expressing his opinion that Ellis being lazy.

Don't you think an obviously involved member of the neighborhood would know if he was being represented by someone "lazy." Especially as 1894 and Ellis dont live all that far apart?

I seem to recall 1894 saying that Ellis wont even go to his neighborhood association meetings.

And Jim, I have heard several third ward residents say the same thing, that Correy Ellis is lazy.
"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"

Jim ... You'll have to fill me in some time on the "slaves buried under the Ten Broeck Triangle." If you're talking about Van Rensselaer Park, there was an old Dutch burial ground there until the 1840s. As far as I know, the bodies were disinterred and removed before full-scale residential development of the Triangle.

On the vacant buildings, you're confusing what I said about the Vacant Building Initiative Report (first issued in 2006) with the Vacant Building Registry. Big difference. Everyone knows the registry is deficient and many properties are not on it because owners haven't complied with the law. The report issued last year, and updated this year, is a more accurate reflection -- although, as alfred points out, there's wiggle room in the city's idea of "vacant" and the actual number is probably higher than the 954 buildings initially reported. Incidentally, the city says it came up with the number by canvassing every city block over a four-month period.

And, Jim, since you're friendly with Lucy, why not ask her opinion of Corey? You'll hear more of the same.

Being unfamiliar with the report which, as I understand it, was partly compiled from the registry and reported code violations, I may be misunderstanding you. (I wonder how a code violation is filed for an unoccupied building, unless it's falling down and that's what's being reported by neighbors.)

But you said Ellis had last years report, didn't you? OK, I am confused.

Al, if I understand your meaning, you're saying that the city's definition of a vacant building does not include one that may in fact be unoccupied for great lengths of time as long as it is properly secured and no one's complained to codes about it? Is that right? If that's so, it's ridiculous.

Al, I also highlighted 'all' because 1894 had used this term. I was pointing out that not all vacant buildings were being reported.

I only commented about Ellis being referred to as lazy by 1894 because he chose to FOIL for information rather than research it himself.

Al, please send me a copy of the updated report and I'll send you something useful. I'd send it to 1894 too, but I don't have his email address. If you do feel free to share it with him.

I may have posted it here before and you may already have it, but I don't think I have.

I would advise giving Ellis a helping hand. Perhaps yourself, 1894 and a few of your more active neighbors should meet with him and let him know he's not living up to your expectations. I think he'll respond favorably to such a meeting. He is new to the job and could benefit from some constructive advise.

There are slaves buried under the playground to this day. Some others in the city are aware of this too.

Your wish is my command. On the way.

I also believe that all of the graves were moved to Albany Rural. A long time ago I was down there with a group and was told that all the graves had been moved.

Was St Joseph once sold to a private individual who gave it back in the 1980s? I seem to remember hearing about that.
"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"

in 1989. Soon thereafter it was sold to an individual who in turn sold it to the city after being unable to afford the costly and necessary repairs. It became quite dangerous to be around at that time. The city sold it to Historic Albany for a dollar and they obtained the grants for its rehab. It is a gem.

Slaves are still buried there, regardless of what you've been told. Someone should do some ground penetrating radar studies to locate and sanctify this area and the playground should be relocated to the park on the other side of the church.

Interesting.

Then I met the wife of the then owner. My understanding was that after the sale the catholic church retained control of it.

These slaves should be re-buried at Albany Rural and their remains given a proper burial with the respect that they deserve. I would be more than happy to contribute to a marker in their memory.

They are just as important to Albany history as anyone else who toiled and died here. Free or slave we are all part of Albany's rich history.

Maybe you should take a leading roll on this as you are familure with their story. We should all be reminded of the debt we ALL owe to those, black and white, who made Albany as great as it is.
"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"

I'll keep an open mind, but I've never heard any mention of slave burials at what is now Van Rensselaer Park. William Kennedy doesn't specify, but here's what he says in O Albany!:

In 1764 the Patroon donated to the city two lots situated between Second and Third streets on Ten Broeck Street, to be used as burial sites. The cemetery remained in use until 1842, when it was closed as a disgrace and turned into a park.

I've heard Jack McEneny talk about the history of the neighborhood on a number of occasion, but I don't recall any mention of slaves. As alfred said, I was under the impression that the bodies were removed to Albany Rural. If the original colonial-era burials were mainly Dutch and English, would slaves have been buried alongside or segregated into their own burial ground? (Incidentally, Kennedy puts the number of slaves in Albany in 1790 at 572, which was one-sixth of the entire population.) In any case, VR Park is fairly small and the cemetery must have filled up long before 1842.

Re moving the playground from VR Park to St. Joseph's Park, residents of the Triangle would throw a fit and it would never happen. A lot of people still assume that St. Joseph's Park is part of the churchyard, but it was deeded by the church to the city in 1876 to be used in perpetuity as a park. I'm biased, but I say it's the best small park in the city. All of the gardening is done by neighbors in cooperation with the city. The twin parks make the neighborhood, and I'm sure there would be an uproar to changing their current uses. (The dog issue alone would be a big one. Dogs are walked in SJ's Park, but they're not allowed in VR Park because of the kids.)

Re St. Joe's ... It was before my time, but the church was sold to a private individual in 1981 for $27,500. The Diocese was given continued use of the building, and the last Mass was held there in the mid-1990s. At some point, the Diocese got the building back, and it was subsequently sold to restaurateur Elda Abate for $1. Her plans for a nightclub didn't fly with neighbors, to put it mildly, and the city ended up taking the building by eminent domain after Elda's own engineer sounded the alarm about serious structural issues. The city deeded the church to Historic Albany Foundation, which has stabilized the building and recently re-opened it to community events.

She says she wanted to use it for an upscale catering facility at the same time that jackass puts up a website anouncing the baddest rave club was coming soon.
"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"

Good memory, al. The website was a hoot, especially the son's description of himself as "host and creator of the powerful outer borough clubland renaissance...ELDA'S."

Don't ask me what the hell he meant by that. Elda's daughter also gave us some good laughs in those days. At one of the zoning hearings, she chastised Triangle residents for objecting to their plans for a "decadent" night club. "Decadent," she explained, is what "upscale people" do when they go out for a good time.

Well, as a graduate of her fine tippling establishment over in Troy (used to have a two tiered cover, under 21 paid enought to cover the fine) I have to believe that the daughter probably do think that them dare upscale people go out to be "decadent" and upscalely and all that.

I think the Troy establishments were run by her son. You were considered all polite and well raised if you would vomit into the gutter and not onto the bar's floor.

In all fairness, her restaursant on Lark is very well run and she keeps a very tight grip on what goes on there. Great food at good prices. It is rather too bad that she didnt try to do that down at St Joes. I think an upscale (non decadent) restaurant would have really helped spur investments in the triangle.
"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"

If i'm not mistaken, I believe Elda is running for mayor of troy. Perhaps if she wins her son can be the new three job bob.

that line about what rich people do is a classic.

of St. Joe's. Elda's got quite the reputation over in Troy for being a slumlord.

It was in the eighties too, that they found a grave on the perimeter of the mansion property. I don't recall the details, though. Jack or someone over at the mansion should know the details.

What strikes me about the discussion on this issue is the omission of vacant lots/land as part of the equation. If you drive through the North End, Arbor Hill, the South End, and elsewhere the gaps in the streetscapes of the city which once was are the most apparent physical fact. They far outnumber the empty buildings, whatever the latter may total. At night these unlighted and unkempt parcels contribute to the sense that the city is unsafe. By day, as they are not, along with the vacant buildings, marketed positively by the city as opportunities for investment, they are ignored. It is mystifying that a complete inventory of vacant lots, by square footage and location, and vacant or unused buildings, whether residential or commercial, has not been established so that investors know the investment landscape and can make a decision about whether they want to participate. Surely this data would positively affect a calculation of future market potential for the savvy investor, particularly if the city bundled options on the lots and offered them for sale in bulk with a proviso that redevelopment be completed within a specific time. New construction on these lots would be cheaper than rehabilitation. No other government handout would be necessary.

Two buildings on First Street (numbers 53.5 and 90) were torn down today. The first one was within the Ten Broeck historic district, and oour neighborhood association had lobbied for the demo. Sadly, the building was too far gone to save.

Correction: It was 53 First Street.

Cost of new construction includes the cost of the lot, which is much higher in the 'burbs. An analysis of the marketabilty of small s/f dwellings on these relatively small lots would likely show they would be bought, if in sufficient number and in an otherwise intact neighborhood, by exactly the young professional the city seeks as resident from the 'tech boom'. The market price would comepete with a condo in Rensselaer. And you know Alfred, if we got enough of 'em, and they started having kids, maybe they'd clean up the mess in the school system. The present population seems too detached, disinterested or witless to do so. Or perhaps, not properly led.

Roscoe isnt looking at the whole picture. The problem with many of our empty lots is that they are actually filled with demolision debris from the previous building. This debris often has to be removed before you can build.

The typical downtown lot is 18 to 24 feet wide. The only way to clean these out without damaging the adjacent property is by hand.

The next problem that you face when trying to build here is that the many of the desireable lots are in historic districts and that IS a problem here in Albany. It can take several months to get a plan approved.
"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"

Unless we are willing to continue to abandon our old cities and build new on undeveloped land, and abandon the best locations in the temperate climate zone in favor of less hospitable climes, and less desirable locations, you are each correct: problems must be solved. The base problems arise predominently from the failure of the 'great society': the decline of family units, legitimacy, effective education, and the consequent reduction of participation in the economy of discrete socioeconomic groups. Education is key; economic vitality regionally and nationally allows the opportunity to escape the bonds of social welfare. Of course each of these obervations square off against liberal dogma, and the constituency politics of the present Democratic Party.

Locally, politics is more conservative and less hamstrung by leftist dogma on these issues, since the proofs, the terrible loss of human potential, are right before us.

It has been stated by others here that cities like Albany, Troy and Schenectady are anachronisms, no longer viable in models for regional economic organization. I disagree. Cities are efficient; they have been, historically, the foci of economic activity and vitality. People understand this. I would argue that it is their mismanagement in the US in the 20th Century that has brought many of them to near ruin; the residents have been driven out by crappy politics, indeed, each new generation is driven out in turn for reasons clear to all.

It will take a generation or more to undo the post-liberal wreckage in the Northeast. Do we start now, or would you like to wait?

If I were a developer looking at the many vacant lots in Albany, I'd require Encon clearance of all parcels in question by the option bundler, the City, which in most cases was a real party to the demolition. After assuring that all utilities were tied off by an independent contractor, bonded, by reason of the current incompetence of the city agencies involved, I'd put up stacked energy efficient modular units with an acceptable infill facade, probably on a slab with a garage at street level. The insulated slab with moisture barrier would cap any contaminants Encon doesn't know about yet. Any other questions?

If one were to do a title search of the city's all too abundant vacant lots I'm sure you'll find many are owned by speculators, deep-pocketed developers awaiting the future Renaissance.

But with construction costs currently running at well over a hundred dollars a square foot, new construction for a 2,000 sq ft dwelling would cost 200 - 300K.

Most 'normal' folks with families, those without the desire to become urban pioneers, would weigh the pros and cons of raising a family in Albany against what is offerred for the same price in the neighboring communities.

You know the type, those of the white picket fence without the bullet holes crowd.

And Albany loses them to those communities with lawns and yards and better schools. Like where Jerry lives.

Rehab is still cheaper by far and is a much wiser way to prevent the existing housing stock from decay and eventual demolition and it preserves the neighborhoods character.

Just take a look at almost any of the infill housing that's been built over the past twenty years. It's ugly! And it doesn't fit the neighborhood character.

There was one infill project on lower Catherine Street just above Elizabeth that was built about twenty years ago by Capitol Hill Improvement Corporation, CHIC, that was truly compatible with the neighborhood, fitting well with and keeping in mind the area's existing architecture when it was designed.

The cost for this housing was about $117 Sq Ft.

But a combination of grants provided to the buyers and builders made this housing affordable to lower income folks, with the promise they hold ownership for seventeen years before selling it. The Section 8 tenants unit rents helped to pay the mortgages.

One of the reasons for the long term conditioned grants was the provide stability to the neighborhood.

If the buildings were sold early, the owners would have to repay the grants.

There are two programs I know of working effectively on affordable housing issues in Albany today. One is the Albany County Housing Trust Fund and the Albany Community Land Trust:

http://www.ahphome.org/HousingTrustFund.htm

http://www.albanyclt.com/

It takes either a special person to want to build on an inner city vacant lot where they'll have to hire guards overnight during construction to protect their investment or someone who's incredibly naive.

I ask all of you married folks to try this experiment with your spouse tonight over dinner: Ask them what they think of your selling your home to build a new, maybe smaller one, on one of those inner city vacant lots and see what they'll tell you.

Remember too, when you ask the question, that you already live in the city.

Now you'll know why there are so many vacant lots.

Maybe in a few years they'll become more desireable.

But keep in mind, the buildings that have become derelict and are now dangerous and at risk of being demolished are the result of years of neglect by this and past administrations, who have done little to enforce the housing codes or reinvest in the inner city.

Unless you can get a drink there, of course.

Mayor Jennings - Refusing FOIL requests

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