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2 • • Thursday, May 21, 2026 PERSPECTIVES
EDITORIAL Mental Health Awareness Month

How special are special elections serves as reminder: Help is available
In Western New York, voters are learning an old lesson all over again: ental Health Awareness to navigate benefits and programs
political machines never surrender power voluntarily. They simply become MMonth was established in that are available to our residents
more sophisticated in how they keep it. The latest example is the increas- 1949 and every May we observe who have served. Their office can
ingly routine practice of party insiders filling vacancies in elected office the importance of taking care of be contacted at (716) 858-6363 or
without giving the public a meaningful chance to weigh in through special our minds, inner thoughts and feel- by emailing veterans@erie.gov.
elections. ings. There is a plethora of resourc- Throughout the district there are
When an elected official resigns, retires, or moves on to another office es available for maintaining overall also several legions that always
– at that seems to be happening more frequently – the seat does not belong healthy lifestyles and the Erie have their doors open. The Ameri-
to a county chairman, a legislative caucus, or a circle of party loyalists. It County Department of Mental can Legion Post 1041 in Black
belongs to the people. Yet again and again, vacancies are treated as Health is an incredible source for Rock and Post 1346 in Grand Is-
opportunities for political chess moves rather than democratic participa- all things relating to caring for your District 3 land are extremely important to the
tion. A small group of insiders meets – Soviet Politburo style – behind mind. Erie County Legislator communities they serve and go
closed doors, taps a successor, and the public is expected to accept the Mental Illness affects approxi- Michael H. Kooshoian above and beyond for not only our
arrangement as inevitable. mately 1 in 5 adults across the veterans and service members; but
Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Jeremy Zellner, who seems to United States and is identified as also, the residents that simply want
have mastered this distorted process, has become the target of fellow the second largest concern in Erie on the website a place to belong.
democrat NY Assemblyman Jonathan Rivera. Rivera is running in a County after obesity. The Depart- www.erie.gov/eriepath. By bringing awareness to men-
primary June 23 against Zellner who had maneuvered himself into a seat ment of Mental Health is extremely Other agencies that can be uti- tal health, we can end the stigma
on the NY State Senate upon the election of then Senator Sean Ryan as committed to providing tools and lized by residents include a 24 hour that often comes with talking about
mayor of Buffalo. education that are necessary in hotline through Crisis Services our mental and emotional struggles.
Defenders of the system insist these appointments are legal, efficient, combating the various spectrum of (716) 834-3131, a separate 24 hour It’s especially critical in establish-
and necessary for continuity. Perhaps they are. But legality is not the same mental health issues. Their website line for addiction (716) 831-7007, ing an open environment where
thing as legitimacy. Efficiency is not democracy. The right to vote is not https://www3.erie.gov/mentalheal and Spectrum CARES Team for children and young adults can talk
supposed to be conditional on whether party leaders find an election th contains all types of information families and children (716) 882- about feelings they are experienc-
inconvenient. and printable literature in multiple 4357. Help and information can ing before it becomes a problem.
What makes this trend especially corrosive is the cynicism it breeds. languages to ensure that all resi- also be provided by dialing 2-1-1. Stress is almost impossible to
Voters already suspect that politics is rigged in favor of connected insiders. dents have equitable access. As May concludes with Memo- avoid today and while you may not
Every time a vacancy is filled without a competitive public election, that Through the Live Well Erie rial Day, it’s imperative to note the think it’s something worth discuss-
suspicion hardens into certainty. Citizens are told their voices matter most program, the county has also devel- services available to veterans. Our ing – it can easily lead to signifi-
on Election Day – except, apparently, when party bosses decide otherwise. oped an app for your phone called gratitude for their selfless devotion, cant problems. Having the tools
bravery, and sacrifice only goes so
EriePath. Not only does is provide and resources to work through is-
far and it is crucial to ensure mental
information about how to assist sues that seem small can be helpful
Students imagine possibilities adolescents struggling with mental wellness services are made avail- in the long run.
able to this vulnerable group. The
at Richardson Olmsted Campus health issues, but it also includes veteran’s crisis line is available As always, I welcome you to
information for adults, information
24/7 by dialing 9-8-8 and selecting reach out to my District Office at
on housing, employment, childcare, (716) 832-0493 if you need assis-
from page 1 option 1. The Office of Veterans
“We see ourselves as a food pantries, medical care, social tance navigating the many pro-
ing, many of the windows were bro- laboratory for projects like and senior services available Services under Erie County’s Vet- grams available through Erie
ken, and pigeons were flying in. throughout the county. Information erans Service Agency is available County to ensure your mind stays
There was enormous potential.” these as we work to about this useful app can be found to assist with questions about how healthy.
Focus on light and movement reactivate the campus.”
The students, in teams of two or Paris Roselli, president of the
three, were given the opportunity to Richardson Olmsted Campus SCC proposes to reduce Rt. 198 to two
imagine demolishing the interior
structure and the two circulation signed the first floor as a space for lanes, use other half for pedestrians, cyclists
cores, while keeping the façade and cultural events, tied into the Lipsey
roof intact. Guitart instructed them
Architecture Center Buffalo that is from page 1 opportunity to partner on bringing for Forest Lawn Cemetery as well,
to think of space in a sectional way. scheduled to open next year, along this to the state.” he says. There would be opportuni-
All the units were required to dou- safer way. There would be multi-
with the nearby Burchfield Penney The suggestions of the SCC ties to reconnect streets that were
ble the standard ceiling height or Art Center and the Buffalo AKG modal connectivity and on-street might seem like an impossible pipe disconnected when the highway
have some sort of height variation. parking within the shoulders of the
Art Museum. dream, but a change of this magni- was built in addition to connecting
“This would allow their work to “This sequence of cultural build- (westbound) lanes, using on-street tude has already been done, suc- streets that don’t already connect
avoid a pancaked solution – a purely parking as a traffic calming tool.”
ings justifies a ground floor with cessfully, in Western New York -- with Niagara Street, like Bradley
horizontal set of floors,” he says. some flexible program that could With the state focused on the Rt and this isn’t about the removal of Street and West Avenue. All of this
“They would have to think how 33 project and not providing a
connect with these sequence of oth- the inner loop in Rochester. is designed to help reconnect
those floors interact, sometimes er buildings that are related to cul- more solid timeline for changes to Within 50 years, Niagara Falls neighborhoods and provide more
physically, sometimes visually. In the Scajaquada Expressway, the
tural issues,” Guitart says. “This built the Robert Moses Parkway access to the park and the commu-
many cases, they also needed to allowed us to think circulation for SCC thought making these sugges- and had most of it removed, says nities around it while also bringing
consider how light goes through the tions would be “an opportunity to
visitors versus circulations for resi- Greg Delaney, a clinical associate down the speed on the Scajaquada
units and the ground floor, produc- dents, which I considered an impor- sort of do a pop-up intervention to professor in the School of Architec- roadway. An estimated 10 acres of
ing a number of very interesting test the concepts and, again, start
tant discussion, especially as the ture and Planning at the State Uni- space could be returned to Dela-
sectional solutions.” building toward the character that
proposals had to integrate private versity of New York at Buffalo. ware Park by removing the ramps
To begin the collaboration, Gui- the Region Central plan heading,”
spaces versus public areas.” “As early as 1977, it was al- to Delaware Avenue, Delaney says.
tart contacted Paris Roselli, presi- Dold says. “Even if this is to set
The studio culminated with a ready partially removed,” he says He knows the big pushback will
dent of the Richardson Olmsted something up for a short-term peri-
series of large-scale models and a of the parkway, built in 1968. be from drivers and notes the de-
Campus, whom he says has been od, to be able to study what hap-
final presentation in Crosby Hall. “Sometimes we have to admit our creased speed on the Scajaquada
incredibly supportive and excited pens when you take the roadway
The public can view the students’ mistakes (and) there’s so much Expressway several years ago re-
about the project. down. You can learn from that. I
designs in an exhibition on the first consensus about the Scajaquada sulted in a decreased number of
Roselli, who joined the Richard- think this is the beginning of the
floor of the Richardson Hotel’s Ol- being a mistake, (both) the Hum- cars on the road already.
son campus at the end of 2022, says conversation and it’s an idea that’s
msted wing throughout the summer. boldt and Scajaquada being these “The surrounding communities
he welcomes collaborations with coming out of the (community)
In addition, a book detailing the big urban mistakes that all the sur- wish that meaningful change had
UB. stakeholders and being somewhat
design studio and the proposals, rounding communities have suf- happened a long time ago and wish
“We see ourselves as a laborato- “My Neighbor Upstairs: Eight proactive.” fered for.” that this highway had never been
ry for projects like these as we work A spokesperson for Mayor Sean
Housing Proposals for Richardson This is not the kind of thing that built. But it was, and it’s still here,”
to reactivate the campus,” he says. Olmsted Campus. A Model for Ar- Ryan, which the SCC says has been happened overnight, he cautions, he says. “The difference now than
“The student designs highlight what made aware of the proposal, tells
chitectural Reuse in America,” edit- noting that the decision was made even 10 years ago, 15 years ago, is
might be possible through an adap- ed by Guitart, will be published this the RiverRock Times the adminis- to remove the parkway in 2001 and there are so many more examples
tive reuse reimagining.” tration “has not yet reviewed the
summer by Buffalo Heritage Press, what’s currently in place was com- every year of highways being re-
In this case, it’s housing, which an imprint of City of Light Publish- proposal. We do not have any up- pleted by 2020, but a lot was com- moved, not just in Niagara Falls
Roselli says they would like to see dates regarding the request to be
ing. pleted in between, in phases, to and Rochester, but nationwide,
integrated into the fabric of the cam- It’s coming out at a time when designated lead agency” on any increase pedestrian use. highways being downgraded or
pus. changes to the Scajaquada Express-
the Richardson Olmsted Campus is “All of this came out of conver- partially or fully removed. I’ve
“This level of creativity helps enjoying a renaissance of sorts, fol- way. sations with the design committee done research on this because I
others, including our developer Dold says this proposal has not
lowing a halt caused by the pan- of the SC about how to move, how teach in this area. What is the com-
partners and funders, see what demic. yet been presented to the GBNRTC to do something meaningful, but munity pushback? What are the
might be possible in a way that can- as there are “too many variables at
“These structures are really in- using the existing infrastructure challenges here? And we were not
not be conveyed by conversation credible,” Guitart says. “The cam- this early stage and New York and not spending a ton of money,” able to find a case of removal
alone, as we try to take back the State would need to determine the
pus is making an amazing effort to he says. where, after (a roadway)was re-
campus building by building,” he bring these abandoned buildings cost as it is their road.” His organi- Removal of the ramps to Elm- moved, there was an eruption of
says. zation is “starting conversations
back to life. Of course, it’s not easy. wood and Delaware avenues in par- frustration. Once (a roadway) is
Contributing to Richardson It requires a lot of investment. But I with the city of Buffalo as a mem- ticular would create more on-street removed, and people find their new
Olmsted renaissance think it’s a fascinating moment.” ber agency of the GBNRTC, “de- parking for Delaware Park and ways through the city, you see the
Guitart and the students de- Source: University at Buffalo termining if and how there is an could open up connectivity options benefits.”