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BUFFALO-Within a six-block radius, 340 abandoned buildings surround Emerson Vocational High School on Buffalo's East Side.

The persistent and dangerous problem of abandoned buildings had Eastside P.R.I.D.E. members demanding that city and federal officials promising to physically secure and demolish vacant buildings near school zones in a meeting held in late January.

"A lot of these children walk to school alone. These buildings are time bombs," said Angie Gajewski, an Eastside P.R.I.D.E. member.

More than a dozen local and state officials and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) representatives turned out to hear the demands.

A survey conducted by P.R.I.D.E. found that many of Buffalo's schools are surrounded by abandoned houses and other empty buildings. These buildings are sometimes left open, attracting a dangerous combination of gangs, drug dealers, and school children. The survey found more than a 1,000 abandoned buildings surround eight schools on Buffalo's Eastside.

Armed with the results from their survey, P.R.I.D.E. members issued a series of demands to HUD and the City of Buffalo. The demands included speeding up the board-ups of abandoned buildings within the designated Safe School Zones and stepping up the demolition of these properties within the zones. HUD, the City of Buffalo, and a private management company paid to take care of hundreds of Buffalo's abandoned building all agreed the issue of abandoned buildings around schools is a serious problem in the City of Buffalo. They also agreed to P.R.I.D.E.'s demands to board up the buildings.

Three television crews and several local newspapers turned out for the meeting, which was the lead story on the evening news and the morning news the next day. The Mayor's office committed to working further with Eastside P.R.I.D.E. to do even more to address the problems of abandoned buildings in P.R.I.D.E.'s Safe School Zones.

P.R.I.D.E. also demanded that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) expand its Fraud Prevention Plan pilot program to Buffalo, a city that has seen an unprecedented amount of FHA fraud in the last few years. FHA representatives agreed that the program is needed in Buffalo and committed to making this a priority with the new administration. Staff for Rep. Quinn (D-NY) also agreed to work with P.R.I.D.E. to get the Fraud Prevention Plan introduced in Buffalo.

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