Higgins welcomes 'long-overdue' action to improve conditions for Perry Neighbors

Plans come for redevelopment after urging by Higgins

Congressman Brian Higgins welcomed what his team called “long-overdue” action by the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) to move forward on a plan to rehabilitate the Commodore Perry Homes development.

Higgins said, “For too long, residents in the Perry neighborhood have been subject to unsightly and unsafe conditions. The neighbors and this community deserve better than the boarded-up buildings and blight forced upon them. For the last five years, we’ve been calling for a better living environment for residents, and we are glad to see BMHA moving forward.”

Higgins first raised concerns about conditions in the Perry neighborhood in a 2017 letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general. Then, after an article ran in the Buffalo News about failing grades at public housing, the congressman drove to inspect the sites and took photos himself. He raised the issue again with HUD in a June 2018 letter, which included those photos. A few months later HUD OIG confirmed with Higgins’ office it was planning an inspection because of his request. 

Following Higgins’ call for an RFP to developers, BMHA announced it had done so and selected a developer in November 2020, but did not immediately proceed. In January of 2022, HUD OIG released the details of its inspection which, like Higgins, urged BMHA action.