Mayor Brown would be smart to distance himself from taking any credit for the success that Extreme Makeover brought to Buffalo’s Massachusetts Avenue neighborhood. Instead, he should cite this as an example of what can be accomplished when everyone works together for the betterment of a neighborhood. He’d be way ahead if he uses his political clout to help sponsor and organize Extreme Makeover, Part II – XYZ Neighborhood. I think any area around Jefferson and Best would do just nicely.
Someone asked about the tax liability that Delores Powell will have on her new home. Rest assured that the producers of Extreme Makeover don’t leave that open-ended. Essentially, they got the city to agree never to raise the assessed value of Delores’ property so long as she owns it. What Extreme Makeover did was lease the house for two weeks from Delores, so that they could renovate it under leaseholder improvement provisions. There is even a federal provision nicknamed the Extreme Makover Loophole that Congress passes every year, just so these guys on ABC can do what they do.
I’m not sure how New York State sees this but I wouldn’t be surprised it sends Ms. Powell some kind of tax bill for imputed income. It is New York State, after all.
It’s a wonder that this Extreme Makeover segment even happened. When the producer first went to City Hall with the schedule, some of the first words out of the Municipal Housing Authority were “It’s not gonna happen by those dates” to which the producer said “We’ve done 168 homes throughout the country so far; do you really want to be known as the first city that couldn’t accommodate the schedule?” The permits were put into place shortly thereafter.
This is yet another example of the territorial nature of our local government. I’m happy that clearer heads prevailed and if Mayor Brown had something to do with this, then good for him. Rather than embrace Extreme Makeover and its potential for great intentions and even greater PR, some clown in City Hall decides to throw his weight around. The issue of little duchys permeates across Western New York govenment and grows by example, starting with our political leadership. How do we ever change something so ingrained as this?
Buffalo needs more Extreme Makeovers. What a great way to bring out the best and show the rest of the world why we so rightly deserve the title “City of Good Neighbors”.
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