Last week, we learned that City Hall failed to spend a federal Lead Hazard Reduction grant. In 2021, the City of Buffalo received a $2 million dollar HUD grant to remediate lead in 110 units. Four years later, only 18 units have been remediated, and $1.5 million – three quarters of the funding – is unspent. With $2 million available, the City of Buffalo only managed to complete lead repairs in fewer than 5 units per year of the grant. Now, the City will have to return most of the unspent $1.5 million to the federal government.

At the same time, Erie County is a regular recipient of HUD's Lead Hazard Reduction Grant, the identical source of funding as the City's failed lead grant. It was awarded another $7 million dollars at the end of 2024 to remediate 300 units. Erie County has successfully administered multiple rounds of this lead remediation grant program working with local landlords and contractors.

This raises the question, “Why can Erie County run this program effectively, but the City of Buffalo can’t?” Speakers pointed to City mismanagement of the program, and a failure of City Hall’s leadership to urgently address lead poisoning.

NYS Assemblymember Jon D. Rivera said, “The City of Buffalo’s failure to spend more than $1.5 million in federal lead abatement funding is not just a matter of bureaucratic negligence. It is morally outrageous. At a time when hundreds of children in our city are poisoned by lead every year, City Hall has once again failed to act. This is a disgraceful repeat of decades of inaction, and the consequences will be felt by our most vulnerable families. We need accountability, but more importantly we need a complete overhaul of how this city confronts its lead crisis before another generation of children is harmed.”

NYS Senator April N. M. Baskin said, “To call this situation dire is hardly an understatement, especially for families of color. Children living in predominantly Black neighborhoods are 12 times as likely to be poisoned by lead than children living in white neighborhoods. It often results in children spiraling into other problems with learning challenges, neurological deficits, hearing and speech problems and ultimately a decreased lifespan.  We can ill afford to waste an opportunity to fight this insidious problem. Let’s strategically work together at all levels of government to finally end Buffalo’s lead crisis.”

Andrea Ó Súilleabháin, Executive Director at Partnership for the Public Good, said, “City Hall’s failure to run an effective program, to assess their progress and make needed changes, is another sign that lead poisoning is not prioritized in City Hall. With federal changes, and HUD likely reducing lead hazard funds for the years ahead of the Trump administration, it’s now even more important for local and state government to prioritize lead. Erie County is doing it; New York State is doing it; we need the City of Buffalo to step up too.”

Catharine Grainge, Director of Advocacy at Jericho Road Community Health Center, said, “At Jericho Road, we care for some of our most vulnerable neighbors: many who find themselves stuck in poverty, adjusting to a new country and culture, and/or are affected by various forms of racial injustice. Those patients also happen to be disproportionately diagnosed with high lead levels. In the clinic, we treat them as best we can, but if their environment doesn’t change, if the thing that made them sick in the first place doesn’t get any better, they won’t either. We believe that these kids and our most vulnerable community members deserve our every effort. We encourage our City leadership to make decisions that show their belief in that too.” 

Senator Baskin and Assemblymember Rivera highlighted four state bills they are advancing to address Buffalo’s lead crisis: 

Lead Paint Right to Know Act (S.4265/A.1529)
End Lead Poisoning Exemptions for NYS Insurance Companies (S.00133/ A.01067)
Lead Early Intervention (S.5538/A.6537)
Lead Pipe Replacement Act (S.6892/A.7878)
 

Ó Súilleabháin called on the City of Buffalo to fully implement its proactive rental inspection program to improve housing safety, to fully use and seek other available repair funds to help landlords make their units lead-safe, and to finally take ownership of Buffalo’s preventable lead crisis and prioritize lead-safe housing in Buffalo.