Net Neutrality and Buffalo

[A part of] Buffalo is having a renaissance, and rebounding into a new world.  A key element of that new world is the internet.  

If Buffalo ever hopes to re-build a diverse, robust economy, a key element will be our home-grown businesses having unfettered access to this means of commerce.  The end of Net Neutrality--currently being challenged by a number of States' Attorneys General, including New York's--poses a threat to that vision.

People who live in poverty find it harder to access what to many are common goods.  Many in Buffalo, who have not yet felt the benefits of the Renaissance (or are being displaced by them), can tell us what happens when you don't have fair, strategic access to critical resources.  

We need to find for this access together.

SEQRA, Developers, and Community

This weekend the LOSA office will supply succinct but meaty input on the "State Environmental Quality Review Act" (the infamous "SEQRA") process when Preservation Buffalo Niagara facilitates a community discussion about the re-use of the former Children's Hospital site.

Join us!  Communities are built of brick, mortar,* and meetings.

*Or steel, wood, concrete, etc...but hopefully only the most artfully applied metal cladding and Dryvet.

Case update: David Saunders and the 198

[NOTE:  Legal services are confidential unless your client authorizes you to talk about them.  My client has authorized discussion of the general issues in this case, for purposes of promoting awareness and discussion!]

This week, Plaintiff David Saunders' case, claiming that the City of Buffalo still owns and controls parts of the 198 (and that because of that, among other things, he should be able to ride his bike on the road), was served on the City and the NYSDOT.

David is taking on this fight because he loves his City.  He is personally opposed to the separation of neighborhoods, and the destruction of parkland, caused by the 198.  He has also done his research, and knows that the 198 is not really an "expressway" (under NY state law)--something that has implications for the State's current plans to expand the road.

When people look back on the destruction of the Humboldt Parkway and Delaware Park in the 50's and 60's, they wonder if there was anything that could have been done to stop the devastation.  David is making sure future generations don't have to ask that question. 

Founders' Agreements

"A beginning is a delicate time."  So says that business classic, Dune, and so says the conventional wisdom about the core document for creating a start-up: the "Founders Agreement."

I spoke on this topic at today at SUNY Buffalo's Technology Incubator.  From conducting due diligence, to the right structure for attracting investment and retaining talent, to accommodating growth and change, the talk covered the process for taking a founder's agreement from goal to reality.

My presentation was part of SUNY's "Startup Series"--an array of events connecting startups with the information and assets to take their innovations from the lab and into the market.  It was an honor to speak with an array of creative, innovative people at this event!

Why #RightToBike?

My client David Saunders has sued the NYSDOT and the City of Buffalo for the right to ride his bike on any road in Delaware Park...including the notorious "198."

What fool would want to bike that road?  In WINTER?

My client is no fool. He's a Buffalo native who loves his City.  He has read old newspapers, old Common Council proceedings, old laws...he knows that the soil under the 198 should be governed by Buffalo, not the NYSDOT.  And he's a fighter.

What is he really fighting for?  It's simple: Delaware Park was meant to be a place where a person can ride their bike.  It was meant to be place where adults gather, and children play.  It was created as a place held in trust, for past, current, and future generations of our city.

My client is no fool, but he is a dreamer.  He dreams of a Buffalo reunited.  He dreams of a park restored.  And he bases that dream on a simple assertion: he is #RightToBikeDelawarePark.

Make Time for the FCC

Today's Wall Street Journal reports: "The Federal Communications Commission is planning to make sweeping changes to media-ownership rules next month, eliminating or scaling back longstanding limits on local ownership of TV stations and newspapers, its chairman said Wednesday."

While the country goes through a series of social, moral, and normative struggles, this is one to watch.  I'll leave the attribution of causality to social scientists, but the laws that influence how communities gather, assess, and broadcast news have never been more critical.

As an attorney focusing on how laws create our built, business, and cultural environments, I'll be checking in on this.  As a person living in the mediaverse those laws create, you should, too.

"You Build It; I'll Help" . ...Build What?

I was recently asked by a community-minded friend, who was quoting from my web site: "'If you build it...I'll help.' What if we don't want it built?"  Meaning (I inferred), was my office going to help people build structures that tear at the fabric of their community?  

This question was loaded with implications, so I answered it very carefully: "I need to be mindful of the ethical rules governing representation, particularly EC 2-37: The personal preference of a lawyer to avoid adversary alignment against judges, other lawyers, public officials or influential members of the community does not justify rejection of tendered employment. That said, when it comes to preservation and design, I think my previous experience shows my stripes."

What did I mean by "my stripes?"  Any potential client, looking at my record, will see that my work in this arena leans toward preservation, adaptive re-use, and good design.   Here are the qualities of projects I would like to help build: Compliant with applicable laws and codes;  Adapting legacy structures for current use through preservation and thoughtful renovation; Respecting the community and the location; Environmentally responsible.  CARE.

On any project, CARE must be taken to build the world, the city, and the neighborhoods we want to live in.  The world I want to live in honors its past, makes the best use of its resources, and plans for the future.  That's what I help do.

Cole Live and Uncut: Digitization Workshop

This week I will be presenting on "Digitization," with the Director of Copyright Services, and the Digitization and Conservation Services Director, from the Cornell University Library.

We'll use Cornell's Hip-Hop Collection, an archive of "hundreds of party and event flyers ca. 1977-1985; thousands of early vinyl recordings, cassettes and CDs; film and video; record label press packets and publicity; black books, photographs, magazines, books, clothing, and more" as an example of how to tackle the legal concerns and practical challenges of partially digitizing a large project.

Hip-hop has challenged copyright (among other things) from its inception, so with a bit of luck, this workshop will quickly get meta.