To All,

Well, the sad saga of 18 Plymouth is drawing somewhat to a close. Here is a recap of events for those that are interested:

As reported in my last E-mail, on 11/4 the city secured the property by boarding it. Two days later on 11/6, concerned citizens cleared shrubbery that was obscuring the view of the property by removing a pine tree and cutting back some evergreen bushes. Thanks to the efforts of Chuck Villa at 15 Plymouth, the city came and picked up the debris. The house does look really good and clean.

To the best of my knowledge, there have been no further break-ins to the property since the property was secured. It should have been done a long time ago. Too bad it took a grassroots neighborhood effort to save a property that technically is not ours, yet its fate has such a huge impact on our neighborhood.

Freddie Mac is selling the property via a sealed bid. The last day they are accepting offers is 11/22 (today). I don't know what ever happened with the legal problems with the back carriage house, but I do know that the property is now being marketed as a 3-unit, front house only. A message was left on my answering machine which stated that there was a rumor that the carriage house was going to be torn down. I don't know if that is true or not - I have put out messages of inquiry to find out.

On the crime front, on 11/10 Mary Anne Cassidy and I attended a Crime-Prevention meeting at the Allentown Association chaired by Art Benton and attended by Officer Santiago. We informed him of the Hudson Street crimes and he stated that we must contact downtown, central office. We specifically discussed break-ins and architectural thefts. About 6 months ago, there was a rash burglaries of antique porch-columns stolen from Allentown homes. The psychological and financial impact of these crimes is incredibly damaging. Within our neighborhood, burglaries are on the upswing, with 5 recent break-ins being reported on the north side of Hudson Street between Orton and Wadsworth. A home that is currently being renovated at 277 Pennsylvania street on the corner of West Ave. was recently burglarized and the tools that were being used to renovate the home were stolen. Perhaps most damaging effect of these burglaries is the very real danger to residents' beloved pets, which technically are considered property. One person's dog was stolen, while another burglary victim had their pet birds stolen. When inanimate property is stolen, victims feel violated, angry. When pets are stolen, their hearts are broken.

Chuck Gardone (Chuck the Barber) told me that a vacant home on the northwest corner of Connecticut Street at West Aveunue was broken into this summer and had hardware, hot water tanks, and architectural artifacts stolen. As recent as November 11, 1999, "sixteen antique brass door knobs were taken off all the doors throughout a vacant house in the 1000 block of Elmwood Avenue," as reported in the 11/16/99 edition of the West Side Times.

Also, the city last week boarded up houses at 359 and 357 Hudson Street. 359 Hudson St. is a house that's in terrible shape. A family lived there for many years, but have abandoned the property. The owner is now taking out windows and leaving big holes in the side of the house where the windows formerly were. The next door neighbor at 363 Hudson was concerned that if someone comes in and burns the house that his will catch fire.

At 357 Hudson, the house is vacant and abandoned. There is a bullet hole in the entrance door.

In response to all this information, the neighborhood has taken the following action steps:

• Several neighborhood residents are scouting antique shops/dealers looking for the stolen artifacts taken from 18 Plymouth. It is fortunate that we have photographs of the stolen treasures.
• Mrs. Standingwolf, who lives on Hudson Street said that she observed a tall, thin man carrying a stained glass window walking down Hudson Street towards Niagara. She thought it was peculiar, but no more so than the many peculiar things she observes during any given day. It wasn't until Mrs. Villa told Mrs. Standingwolf about the burglary of the stained glass from 18 Plymouth that Mrs. Standingwolf reasoned that the stained glass must have come from the distressed home.
• Also during the first week of November, a house that was being torn down at 20 Orton had fireplaces removed by an unknown person. While the house was scheduled to be torn down, it does give further evidence of a criminal element at work, one that strips distressed houses for personal gain without consideration for the immediate neighborhood.
• The KCA has also posted a reward for information on the stolen property in the current edition of Artvoice (11/18-11/24) on page 53. The ad is as much of a statement of no tolerance as it is an ad which solicits information.

We have received some information about the crime from an eye-witness. The last thievery that occurred from 18 Plymouth was the removal of a large oak mirror which was "permanently" attached to the house in the entry hall.

As many of you may know, there are several small-time drug dealers who stand like sentinels outside of the "One Stop Party Store" on the corner of Cottage and Hudson. These dealers stand there for hours. We have learned that one of these dealers was approached by a man who asked for assistance carrying the mirror down Hudson Street where it was to be placed in a waiting van. It was verified that the way the home was being looted was that property was carried out the back of the house, across a city-owned lot adjacent to 294 Hudson Street (the large abandoned apartment house) to waiting transport on Hudson Street. The man solicited assistance because the mirror was so heavy - and offered the dealer financial consideration for his assistance. The man stated that he does this for a living, scouting distressed Buffalo houses and looting them for personal gain. He said it is very profitable. The dealer declined the solicitation for help, apparently not willing to forfeit his post outside the Party Store. Because of the nature of this interaction, this is not an information avenue that we are exploring - even so, I suspect that it is all quite true.

I finally did speak to Lt. Jake Ulewski of the Buffalo Police Department's Burglary Task Force. Lt. Ulewski had participated in the "Doorknob Bandit" case late last year. It was very refreshing speaking to Ulewski, as he is someone, finally I could talk to who knew exactly what was going on. At the same time, I could also sense his frustration with the situation. He said that this problem has been going on for years, but has gotten worse recently - perhaps because real estate values in the city have dropped so much that a house is more valuable for its parts rather than as a whole entity. He stated that he is willing to work with block clubs and encouraged community participation, stating that "drastic" action is needed if we are to preserve our neighborhoods. He encouraged taking pictures before damage is done - "a picture is worth a thousand words," he said. He encouraged partnerships between neighborhoods and housing organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, or even some area high schools such as McKinley that have construction classes.

As an example, the latest vacant abandoned house is the Granger Mansion at North St./Elmwood - who would have thought that house would be abandoned? Pro-actively, the house should be photographed, both inside and out, in case the house is looted.

Mary Simpson of Days Park Block Club has drafted a plan for reclaiming Hudson Street and will be contacting the Allentown Association to determine if this is something that the Crime Prevention Committee could undertake. Mary is the former Executive Director of the Parkside Community Association and has experience with successful plans for taking back problematic streets.

Another opportunity may be in looking at streets from a traffic calming perspective. A public meeting was held on 11/17 and at the meeting it was stated that devices which close off streets to traffic (using a variety of devices) have a measurable impact of decreasing crime in a community. While I realize that the topic is controversial, our area must come up with a plan for traffic calming to be submitted to the Council which compliments a fairly radical plan submitted by the Fargo Estate Neighborhood Association. At that meeting, the Fargo plan was called a "good plan" by Niagara District Councilman-elect Nick Bonifacio and representatives from the city's traffic engineering department. Ellicott District Council member Barbara Miller-Williams' legislative aide was also in attendance and stated that while nothing will pass at Council until her constituency is represented, she does want a response from the KCA on Hudson Street and other streets affected by the Fargo plan.

While I know that all this information may be mind-boggling, it all has an impact on the future of 18 Plymouth. Let us hope that whomever Freddie Mac selects to be the new owner of 18 Plymouth does not turn it into a drug house. In a few short months, the neighborhood has watched the demise of the house, powerless to take much action except for raising awareness of the poisonous fruits of negligence and apathy.

I hope that this story has a happy ending. When this is all said and done, will this story of 18 Plymouth be entitled GRASSROOTS NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS TRIUMPH OVER GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY APATHY or will it be called BIRTH OF A CRIME DEN?

Chris Brown

cbrown4884@aol.com