Buffalo Mayor Sean M. Ryan said that for years Buffalo disinvested in its Department of Public Works — and it shows. From the aging Broadway Barns to extensive outdated equipment, the system has been cut to the bone.

He noted that fellow upstate cities like Rochester and Syracuse have invested far more per capita in public works while Buffalo crews have been asked to do more with less. His budget begins to reverse that by reinvesting in DPW to fix the basics, including:

• Repairing 600 downed light poles
• Upgrading vehicles & equipment
• Restoring city services (trash pickup, snowplowing)

“We must give our crews the tools they need to do the job right,” he said. Ryan is in New York.

Geoff Kelly reports that Buffalo’s streetlight maintenance has been described as “haphazard.” The city’s Department of Public Works can produce no maintenance and inspection records more recent than 2017, and the records the department did produce appear incomplete.

In a related incident, a light pole fell on Pearl Street, damaging two cars. It wasn’t very windy that day, but the pole came down.