This is what happens when the City of Buffalo runs an Olmsted park
Courtesy Olmsted Conservancy
Robert Delano's favorite spot to dump chemicals.
Have you lived here long enough to remember what happened to Delaware Park when the city ran it? I have, and I wrote about it in the September, 2000 issue of Buffalo Spree, as part of a larger story about interesting Buffalo trials. Here's an excerpt:
Delano … was said to have ordered holes punched in the ice in Delaware Park Lake to foil the first planned Winterfest as well as ongoing skating activities. A 1988 motorcycle racing event, part of Winterfest, had to be held in Auburn instead, thanks to Delano’s alleged sabotage. It was also testified that Delano had stolen 10 tons of chlorine; gave free trash pickups, hydraulic lifts usage, park benches, and tennis nets to a private club; and basically treated the Parks Department as his own private corporation, the supplies and manpower of which were entirely at his command. ... In 1992, Delano was convicted of racketeering and four other criminal charges and eventually served over two years in prison. His racketeering charges were overturned but the theft and extortion convictions held. He was released on probation in 1996. Although this case might not deserve to be listed among the most infamous, it is an example of the type of political corruption that can keep cities like Buffalo on a downhill slide.
Is this possible? Could a city parks official—in this case Robert Delano, who ran the parks under Mayor James Griffin—damage and exploit an historic asset for his own personal gain? Of course it is, and of course he could. It still happens in Buffalo, in Albany, and throughout the United States. (Buffalo does not have a monopoly on political corruption by any means.)
That is why we have the Olmsted Parks Conservancy. The Conservancy’s employees are not hired because they carried petitions for politicians. They are hired and trained to take care of our parks. The Conservancy’s core mission is to maintain, improve, and restore our historic park system, and over the 5-plus years they have been in charge of the parks, they have done so admirably, including drafting a master plan that will help bring the parks and parkways closer to Olmsted’s original design. As has been correctly reported, the Conservancy is also able to bring financial support to the table in a way impossible for municipal government to replicate, even if they cared enough to try.
Olmsted should be allowed to continue this work without political interference. History has shown that civic assets are often not much more than pawns in the hands of politicians, who are concerned primarily with their own power and advancement, not the benefit of the municipalities under their control. Our Olmsted parks are too important to become neglected and/or abused dumping grounds for patronage, much as they were literal dumping grounds in the well-documented—and recent—past.
If you agree, I encourage you to attend the public rally for the Olmsted Conservancy this Sunday, December 13, in MLK Park, at noon. You can also call the mayor’s office at 851-4841 to express support for the Olmsted parks remaining under Conservancy management.
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