POLICE STORY

In December of 2004, I was in a less than great neighborhood in downtown Buffalo doing some volunteer work. This was a Tuesday morning; I was parked on Virginia Street from 9am until about 11:30am. When I returned to my vehicle to go to work, much to my dismay, I discovered that my car had been broken into. My passenger side front window was completely gone; there was a crack all the way across my windshield, the driver’s side door had been popped off its hinge, and my stereo had been stolen.

So, I did what any concerned citizen would do: I called the police.

The woman I spoke with at 911 told me to stay where I was so I proceeded to stand on the corner where my car had been broken into, feeling very safe indeed. Forty-five minutes later, I called back and asked what I should do. A different woman at dispatch outright laughed at me and told me, “The police don’t do car break-ins anymore.” And so, putting in a new window and welding my door back together became fun family activities that Christmas eve.

Now let’s fast forward to April of 2006. While driving home from the university library at around 12:15, I turned onto Bryant Street. While a car passed me on the driver’s side, someone opened the door to a parked car on my passenger side as I was driving by. Let’s not discuss the fact that had they waited four seconds, this whole mess would not have occurred. Anyway, as I drove by, my passenger side rearview mirror clipped the side of this car’s door, putting one dent in the car about the size of a nickel. (The force from the “collision” was not even enough to dislodge my rearview mirror.) After listening to the owner of the car yell at me for a period of 10 minutes, I gave him my name, phone number and insurance information and went home, about a block and a half down the street. Forty-five minutes later, I get a phone call from the police that said if I didn’t go back to the scene of the accident, I was going to be charged with a hit-and-run felony. The police (two squad cars’ worth) proceeded to treat me like a common criminal—accusing me of various things, threatening to impound my car, etc.

I’m a graduate student. I’m president of my student government. I’ve never been in an accident, never been arrested, never even spoken to a police officer save for two speeding tickets. I’m going to graduate with honors. I have three jobs. I am not a criminal. I did not knowingly or intentionally do anything to damage another person or their property.

Therefore, I have reached the conclusion that the Buffalo Police are at the least useless and at the worst harassing. They “don’t do car break-ins” but can harass an everyday citizen who was the victim of someone else’s idiocy? Shouldn’t the two squad cars have been out fighting crime?

Jennifer Levanduski

Buffalo

NORTH BUFFALO RAILS-TO-TRAILS

I was one of about 100 people who attended a meeting, hosted by Natale Developers, regarding a proposed development of the abandoned railroad tracks in North Buffalo (“Recycling Railroads,” Artvoice v5n14). Once again we were treated to the snake-oil visions of New Urbanism. You really haven’t lived until you have been called selfish by real estate developers from Williamsville and Clarence making a land grab and planning to carve up your neighborhood like a Thanksgiving turkey, white meat for the rich and leftovers for the rest of us.

Natale Developers’ New Urban vision for the rail corridor consists of connecting the deadend streets abutting the abandoned rails to make driving easier for the people inhabiting quarter-million-dollar McMansions. The developers don’t seem to understand that we are not a neighborhood separated by abandoned railroad tracks, but a neighborhood united in our care and concern for our community.

Once again, as we have been doing for the last 15 years or more, we told developers that greenspace is valued and increases the value of the homes that surround it. Hopefully this time the message got through.

Beth Bradley

Buffalo

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An editorial phoned in to the office by MC Moses regarding "This Is Buffalo Hip-Hop" (v5n16)

BUFFALO HIP-HOPPERS:

GET OVER YOURSELVES

I just picked up my copy of Artvoice and I was very excited when I saw a faint image of Black Moon on the front cover (“This Is Buffalo Hip-Hop,” Artvoice v5n16). Instantaneously I picked up the paper and turned to page 28 in haste.

Yet when I actually started to read the paper all I saw was babies crying. All I was reading about is how these Buffalo rap acts are so down in the gutter because Buffalo wouldn’t embrace them. But in all reality, I think it’s Buffalo not wanting to embrace Buffalo hip-hop. I have heard Buffalo hip-hop and the only fans that ever really existed for these artists were Buffalo fanboys. Hip-hop is dead; it’s not waiting three years for Pete Rock and Cl Smooth’s new LP anymore, it’s indie rappers releasing music every five months and totally saturating the market. Buffalo artists are saturating the market, too; I have heard the same three names in Buffalo hip-hop forever. Get over yourselves.

I noticed that one of your interviewees mentioned that the scene was a lot like Wu-Tang and Nas, but he didn’t mention that that sound was popular in 1994 with the release of Illmatic. These rappers are carbon copies, thinking that since they rap in front of eight people, work minimum wage jobs, stay up till dawn to make music, that they are real. I think it’s a shame that Buffalo fanboys are comparing themselves to Dilated Peoples and Little Brother as serving the same “backpack” audience. There is a huge difference between the two; Buffalo is boring and old, while Dilated and Little Brother are bringing something to the table: a new sound.

So basically I am coming off as a huge hater, but in reality I am a hip-hop fan listening to commercial rap while also listening to the most obscure hip-hop in the world. Just to prove my case, I have been listening to 10Bass T while writing this. I really could care less what people think of me, but I feel like people will read what I say and think I am some uneducated hip-hopper. So sorry if I am not riding on Kris’ nuts and worshiping the elements of hip-hop, or if I am not backpacking my way to poverty, but I’ll just say that all these “true hip-hop heads” should take their backpacks off and get a real job, because the job where they rap and cry is going to get them nowhere in this world.

Drew S. Hermann

Buffalo

PS: Good article all in all. I know it’s hard to pickup the love with my flaming of Buffalo hip-hop, but it’s good to see something on hip-hop in general.

THE DEVIL’S DETAILS

Just a bit of clarification regarding George Sax’s review of the movie, The Devil’s Miner (“The Devil and His Due,” Artvoice v5n16). The name of the city in Bolivia which contains the silver mines is Potosi, not Portosi.

Perhaps your questions regarding the state of affairs in this city, and in the country of Bolivia are rhetorical, only questioning why these issues were not addressed in the movie; but basically there is much corruption in Bolivian government as in many parts of South America (as in most countries). The social class at the bottom of the heap is the Indians, also the farmers, or campesiños, and the miners.

Another problem for the miners is that the abundance of silver was exhausted some time ago, and silver lost its grip as a rich source of income. In fact, Potosi used to be a very wealthy city. The wealth spread to other parts, including Sucre.

I visited the silver mine in Potosi, and I remember the miner who guided us through the mine telling us not to feel sorry for him or the other miners, as they chose this work. But, of course, how could you not feel horrible witnessing the hazards and drudgery of their lives. It is customary to take up a collection from the tourists before entering the mine; a few bolivianos buy some Coke and cigarettes. I luckily did not witness any animal sacrifices, although these are still common with some Quechuans as ceremonial practice, but I did observe and pay homage to the god of the mine, a gaudy, red-painted idol with a large appendage. We ladies were told this was not a sign of disrespect, rather a symbol of fertility, which is common in Quechuan designs.

Bolivia and other South American countries will continue to have difficulties as our current president and the powers that be refuse to understand the importance of coca as a cash crop and cultural mainstay for these people. There is great fear and misunderstanding regarding many countries in South America, and it seems to me that North America pays little attention to the “other” America, especially to its poorer countries.

Nancy Locke

Lockport

CORRECTIONS

In “Recycling Railroads” (Artvoice v5n14), we wrote that Dave Gordon purchased a 23-acre plot in North Buffalo from the NFTA several years ago for $100,000. In fact Gordon already owned three acres of property in the middle of the NFTA land, where he has operated a business since 1977. Gordon later purchased the surrounding 20 acres for $100,000. (The land was, according to Gordon, “worthless” to anyone else with his property smack in the middle of it.)