So, let’s really think about this:
Let’s say there’s a landlord who owns a building that has two units — one in the front and one in the back — and that landlord allows the unit in the back to fall into a state of disrepair. Rather than make repairs, the landlord does nothing and instead lets the problems linger for years. Then, things get so bad — because of the landlord’s neglect — that the situation begins to become unsafe. Rather than act, the landlord starts hassling the tenants in the front unit, which is connected to the back unit the landlord has long neglected. Faced with eviction, the front tenant reaches out repeatedly to the landlord to find a solution to the problem, but the landlord doesn’t respond. Instead, the problem is allowed to keep building to the point that one day, the landlord has the power shut off to the front unit and orders the tenant to vacate immediately because of the problems in the back that were allowed to persist for years. And then, to top it off, the landlord posts a notice on the window of the building announcing that he has condemned his own building.
This is the story of the Buffalo Hostel. It’s unfortunate. It’s sad. It never should have come to this point. And it’s just plain bizarre.
The city owns the building that houses the Hostel at 667 Main Street and the unit that is connected and crumbling in the back on Washington Street. The Hostel is the tenant. The landlord is the City of Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency, also known as BURA. The chairman of the board at BURA, according to its website, is Mayor Byron Brown. After the city shut power off to the Hostel on Wednesday, and ordered the building to be permanently vacated, the fire department then condemned the building, posting a notice from the City of Buffalo on the Hostel’s window that read: Occupancy Prohibited, Building Unsafe, Electrical System Hazard, Structural Hazards at Rear.
Just so we’re all clear: The City of Buffalo condemned a building of which Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown is the landlord.
“It’s embarrassing,” said Katherine Pessecow, a Hostel board member and chair of its community engagement team.
To bring those who may not know the history up to speed, the Hostel had been in limbo since November when it was informed that BURA — again, headed by Mayor Brown — wanted the Hostel to vacate and shut down so stabilization work could finally begin on the structure in the back on Washington Street.
City inspectors had cited a string of violations at the Washington Street building, including water damage to the electrical panels that supply power to the Hostel. BURA this year then ordered the Hostel to vacate March 1. It pushed that closure back to March 25, but then changed the eviction date again to April 15 to accommodate guests who had booked the Hostel to see the eclipse. That the city then chose to shut off the Hostel’s power and moved to immediately evict it five days before the April 15 closure date shocked the Hostel and its supporters.
According to Pessecow, a group of inspectors came into the Hostel at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, telling staff it was there to conduct a “routine check,” adding they would not disrupt business. Then, 90 minutes later, power was shut off, the Hostel was ordered to vacate immediately and the building was condemned.
Among the tenants forced to evacuate after power was cut was an elderly women, Pessecow said, who was forced to make her way out carrying her belongings down several flights of stairs in the dark.
“It was awful.”
Another elderly woman in her 80s and bound to a wheelchair who was staying at the Hostel had fortunately left just prior to the power shutdown, Pessecow said, adding, “How would we have even gotten her out without an elevator?”
In a story by Buffalo’s excellent Investigative Post — headed by Jim Heaney, a former Pulitzer Prize finalist and one of the best journalists this city has ever seen — BURA’s senior director Hope Young-Watkins is quoted saying:
“The City of Buffalo Department of Permits and Inspection Services conducted a review of the structure, noticed a safety issue with the electrical system, and called in National Grid. National Grid independently advised BURA of imminent danger and required that the electricity be disconnected.”
But according to Pessecow, when inspectors were leaving the Hostel Wednesday, the only order they made to staff was for the removal of a few posters that were deemed fire hazards because of where they were hanging.
“The violations to the electrical box are at Washington Street in the back. Our electrical box is fine,” said Pessecow. “What’s scary is our own landlord had a situation they believed was unsafe (for years) and they did nothing. It’s frustrating and infuriating.”
Shutting down the Hostel means the loss of a vital tourism and cultural institution that pumps an estimated $1 million into downtown’s Theater District economy. Its closure will also have an adverse impact on the Buffalo arts scene, resulting in the loss of another performance and gallery venue coming on the heels of the closures to Stamps the Bar in Tonawanda and the Pit at Timeless Babez on Allen Street.
So, is this really the end for the Hostel?
“Hell no. We’re fighting even harder now,” said Pessecow, adding the support the Hostel has received from the community has been the one silver lining in this otherwise dark chapter.
“We we’re not caught off guard because we haven’t been working on a plan to stay in business. We were caught off guard because the city suddenly turned our power off.”
In the meantime, Pessecow said the Hostel is working with the O’Shei Foundation and seeking alternative funding sources such as block grants. And, despite all it’s been through, Pessecow said the Hostel remains hopeful the city will be part of the solution.
“We still believe the city can help. If it isn’t actually trying to dig the knife in here, and if it loves the Hostel as much as it says it does, then help us. We’re fighting to stay alive,” Pessecow said. “We’re not trying to call out an awful-landlord situation here. The Hostel right now needs all the love we can get. We can do this. We’re not done.”