Yesterday (Christmas) in #Buffalo it was sunny and 57°F / 14°C.

Last year (also Christmas) it was #BuffaloBlizzard:

• https://toot.cafe/@aardrian/109569739440138690

• https://toot.cafe/@aardrian/109576066521796199

• https://toot.cafe/@aardrian/109582139120264407

Also lots of pre-leftover food from zero attendees to my Christmas dinner. But lots of exercise shoveling and clearing neighbors’ furnace vents.

I would hope that Buffalo authorities waive these fines levied on Bangladeshi mutual aid workers.

' Some 30 to 40 volunteers evacuated [more rhan 500 ]people during the blizzard, removing them from hazardous conditions and providing them warm shelter and food.

But they ran afoul of the travel ban and got caught in a ticketing blitz meant to keep drivers off the streets. '

#BuffaloBlizzard #MutualAid #TravelBan #Bangladeshi

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/bangladeshi-community-rescued-sheltered-and-fed-hundreds-affected-by-blizzard-and-racked-up-driving-ban/article_344297d2-8799-11ed-9935-7f850480b1b6.html

For those of you wondering if last week's #BuffaloBlizzard was the first instance of Byron Brown's seeming incompetence as mayor, my reply is: Far from it.

http://investigativepost.org/2022/12/29/is-byron-brown-the-worst-mayor-in-america/

My landlord finally paid someone to dig us out, so I was able to go on a walk around my neighborhood today. It looks nothing like it did during and just after the #BuffaloBlizzard. It looks like a fairly normal winter day in my neighborhood. I want to emphasize that, because what I'm talking about in this post isn't a singular failure to adequately respond to a once-in-a-generation blizzard. I'm talking about Buffalo's repeated and regular failures to take care of its people.

Here's what Byron Brown, probably the worst mayor in the U.S., had to say about snow removal just prior to the blizzard: “That’s been talked about before. We’re not looking at that right now. It might be brought up by others, but to implement a sidewalk snow removal plan is going to cost the residents more money. There’s a cost to it. So if people want to pay for it, we can do it, but it’s going to be pretty expensive.” I hate Byron Brown.

Buffalo doesn't remove snow from sidewalks. Individuals do. What this means is that in order for you to be able to use the sidewalk, someone has to decide to make that possible for you. I want to talk about what that means. Pics and commentary in the thread below.

I didn't truly appreciate how intertwined societal systems are, until I worked on COVID emergency response. Everything we wrote and designed, we asked "How could a business use this this flyer/poster/webpage?" It came naturally while working closely with folks from the SF Dept of Public Health.

What happened in #BuffaloBlizzard and the late travel ban breaks my heart. 💔

https://wapo.st/3G8dFzk