Buffalo, particularly the East Side, suffers from an absence of trees, lagging behind many cities of comparable size.
That could change after an announcement Thursday that underserved communities in Buffalo and Erie County will get greener, thanks to part of $1 billion in competitive grant money seeded across the country through the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Biden in August 2022.
Buffalo will receive $8 million, Erie County $5.2 million and the Village of Lancaster $255,000 to plant trees.
“Western New York, put on your work gloves, get out your shovels and get ready to dig in because over $13 million is on the way to help Buffalo bloom with thousands of new trees,” U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said in making the announcement.
Schumer said he pushed successfully to include a total of $1.5 billion in the Inflation Act legislation to plant trees nationwide, primarily in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods.
“Investing in helping green spaces in our neighborhoods grow not only improves quality of life and air quality, it increases property values, decreases temperatures and so much more,” he said.
“This is wonderful news,” Fillmore Council Member Mitch Nowakowski said. “My oddly shaped district is the poster child for the need for more tree plantings.”
Nowakowski said streets in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood are in great need of more tree canopy.
“As we struggle to…
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