Mayor cites $125,950 ESD pro-housing grant for scattered-site blight removal; council debates demolitions and tenant impacts

Mayor Jared Kramm presented RL25-63, a resolution to accept a $125,950 pro-housing grant from Empire State Development to support scattered-site blight removal in downtown Binghamton.

Kramm said the grant — a 50 percent award for demolition and related work — applies to parcels the city acquired as part of a settlement with a local property owner (identified in the meeting as Isaac Anserud). The parcels identified in the grant include 234-and-a-half Fayette Street, 42 Fayette Street and 12 Rutherford Street; Kramm said 12 Rutherford would remain green space for flood mitigation and the other parcels would be cleared to be shovel ready for redevelopment. He described the grant as a tool, together with a “block-by-block” program, to prepare parcels near Columbus Park for redevelopment and more housing. The transcript records the mayor noting some deed or title complications for a separate parcel (3 Fayette) that is not yet city-owned and could not be included in the current round.

Several council members pushed back and asked detailed questions about demolition criteria, the city’s decision-making process for demolition versus rehabilitation, and the potential displacement of residents. A lengthy exchange focused on 42 Fayette, where a long-term resident (identified in the discussion as a veteran) has sought to rehabilitate and has offered to purchase the property. Council members and the mayor traded accounts of code inspections, a vacant property officer’s memo, and legal constraints. Council members asked why the city had not more consistently documented code violations in the permitting / Munis record and pressed the mayor to seek legal counsel advice on whether an eviction scheduled for March 19 could be withdrawn to permit a written plan to be developed and shared with council. Mayor Kramm said he would consult outside counsel and corporation counsel and expected to provide council an update.

Council members also noted that the city has allocated substantial CDBG funds for demolition in this fiscal year (the mayor said roughly $467,000 in the CDBG demolition pot) and that the ESD award would complement that funding. Several council members said demolition should not be the default and urged more community-driven decisions, rehabilitation where feasible, and careful handling of residents at risk of displacement. The mayor said some properties are unsafe, pose risk to first responders, and that the city has a duty to address those hazards. He also described partnerships with Broome County Land Bank and nonprofit housing providers for redevelopment on certain lots.

The mayor and multiple council members agreed to continue the conversation; the mayor said he would consult counsel the following day about the pending eviction at 42 Fayette, and council members asked for a documented property-by-property rationale for demolition vs. rehab before further action.

The council voted to expedite consideration of the ESD grant during the work session; no final demolition action was recorded in the transcript portion provided.

Note: The transcript contains detailed exchanges between the mayor, multiple council members and staff about code history, public safety concerns, and options for residents. This article reports the council debate and recorded facts from the meeting; it does not assert outcomes beyond what the transcript recorded.