1061 Allen Street (January 2023)

Two men have been arrested on burglary charges at the former Crawford Furniture Building in Jamestown.

The Chautauqua County District Attorney’s office said that 37-year old Robert Clark of Conewango Valley and 33-year old Justin Myers of Jamestown have been indicted on 3rd Degree Burglary, 3rd Degree Attempted Grand Larceny, and two counts of 5th Degree Conspiracy.

According to the indictment, the two men were arrested in an incident at 1061 Allen Street on, or about November 16, 2022. This is the same time period as the fire that destroyed the former factory.

Clark and Myers have both been arraigned and have May 31 set as their their next appearance in Chautauqua County court.

1061 Allen Street (January 2023)

The corporation that owns the former Crawford Furniture Building that burned down in a fire in November 2022 is expected to plead guilty to code violations.

City of Jamestown Corporation Counsel Elliot Raimondo and Allen Street Development LLC Attorney Daryl Brautigam appeared in Housing Court Friday, April 28 before Judge George Panebianco.

Brautigam informed the Judge that he is advising his client at a pre-trial hearing scheduled for June 2, 2023 to enter a guilty plea on two tickets.

Jamestown Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said these tickets are for on-going violations at 1061 Allen Street that go back several years in regards to junk and debris issues as well as other code issues that preceded the fire on November 16, 2022.

Raimondo said this plea will allow the City to seek damages against the corporation, “After the fire, the city had to pay H.H. Rauh Contracting $100,000 for an emergency demolition just due to the fact that the site was so unsafe during and immediately after the fire for any individuals to near there. That said, anyone who drives on Allen Street and past 1061 Allen will still see that there are massive, and what we would say is Superfund type site, that needs to be cleaned up at the site of the fire.”

Raimondo said the city has received quotes for over a million dollars for that clean-up. He added that the owners also owe over $90,000 in back taxes for the past five years.

The pre-trial motion on June 2 also will determine if Richard Rusiniak has any personal liability as one of the principal owners of Allen Street Development LLC. A sentencing date for the guilty pleas will be determined at the pre-trial and that future date also will include the hearing of contempt charges against Richard Rusiniak by the City for providing false statements in court.

Meanwhile, Surdyk said the Environmental Protection Agency is still assessing the site. She said their involvement with the site in the years before the fire has been a benefit to the city, “I think the fire could have been much more damaging and catastrophic had they (EPA) not been able to achieve some compliance with removing some of the chemicals and hazardous materials from the site. We do know there were still some hazardous materials that remained at the time of the fire, but like I said, it could have been much more catastrophic than it was.”

The DEC and EPA are each pursuing independent actions against the property owners.

Surdyk added that Jamestown Police have not charged anyone with setting the fire but said she believed they did have suspects in the case. WRFA contacted Jamestown Police Chief Tim Jackson about the matter but had not heard back by press time.

Local officials join U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer at the site of the former Crawford Furniture Factory that was destroyed in a fire on November 16, 2022. (January 11, 2023)

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer visited Jamestown Wednesday to announce a plan to help clean up the former Crawford Furniture Factory site following a devastating fire this past November.

Schumer, standing with officials in front of the former factory at 1061 Allen Street, said he is calling on the Federal Environmental Protection Agency to launch a full investigation, “But we now need them to quickly assess the public health risk and determine how bad the pollution is here and exactly what kind of clean-up efforts we’re going to need, especially after the fire. I’m asking them to complete this ASAP. Once they determine it’s a health risk, that frees the Federal dollars. And as I’ve said, I’ve got billions of dollars in the Infrastructure bill for projects just like this.”

Schumer said the EPA has already assisted the city by installing a fence to secure the property after the fire and had been working prior to the fire to remove several barrels of hazardous materials from the site.
He said city taxpayers should not have to bear the burden of the estimated clean-up costs for the site which are in excess of $1 million.

Schumer said the Superfund tax has been reinstated which will help the EPA, “So once the EPA pays for it, they can go after the people who own the property, the people who were negligent and let the fire occur, and recoup the money. And they can sue them. That law had expired and we got it back in place, so even the Federal taxpayers ultimately wouldn’t have to pay for this.”

Schumer said once the clean up is completed, the EPA’s Brownfields program can come in to help restore the site for future use.

Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said that Allen Street Development LLC, whose principal owners are Richard and Patricia Rusiniak of Cheektowaga, did not have insurance on the building.

She said the City will also be continuing their cases against the Rusiniaks, in an attempt to recoup the cost of the emergency demolition. They also are leveling charges of contempt against Mr. Rusiniak for providing false statements in court. These cases are expected to be heard in Housing and/or City Court later this month.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

City Council Housing Committee (December 5, 2022)

The clean-up cost following the fire at the former Crawford Furniture building on Allen Street could cost over $1 million.

Director of Development Crystal Surdyk informed the City Council Housing Committee that Allen Street Development LLC, whose principal owners are Richard and Patricia Rusiniak of Cheektowaga, did not have insurance on the building. She said the city’s goal is to work to make sure taxpayers do not foot the clean-up bill and are pursuing accountability of the owners.

Surdyk said the city is continuing to coordinate with the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department of Environmental Conservation. She said the city has requested the EPA consider the site for their “removable” program, “They’ve been involved, they’ve been engaged the last year and a half. There were several barrels of hazardous materials that were removed from the property over the course of the last year and a half. It could have been a much more disastrous event than it was.”

Surdyk said the EPA has also assisted already by installing a fence to secure the property. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The New York State Department of Labor’s labor statistics department is reporting 8,900 manufacturing jobs in the county for the month of December – marking the lowest number on record. According to the Post-Journal, a total of 2,500 manufacturing jobs have been lost in the past eight years.

Both local and state officials say the loss in manufacturing job is mostly attributed a number of local companies that were bought out by national and international companies, and then either closed down the local operation or moved it to another state.

Some of the manufacturing plants that have either closed down or relocated in recent years include the Zurn Industries in Falconer, Crawford Furniture in Jamestown, Premier Lakewood, and Carriage House in the north county, which was the largest job loss in the county during the 8 year period.

Both State Senator Cathy Young and Congressman Tom Reed, along with other local and regional leaders, have said the growth of manufacturing jobs in the region is a top priority while they are in office.

The former Crawford Furniture Atlas Division building underwent emergency demolition Tuesday following a partial roof collapse on Monday. (Image courtesy of Andy Palermo, Facebook)

JAMESTOWN – Demolition crews were busy Tuesday at a vacant former warehouse, manufacturing operation and furniture outlet store that experienced a partial roof collapse.

According to the Jamestown Post-Journal, the emergency demolition of the former Crawford Furniture Atlas Division building at 40 Winsor St. was necessary due to the danger the partial collapse created for immediate area. A section of Winsor St. was closed off as an emergency demolition took place.

The cause of the collapse is not known, but officials believe the recent heavy rainfall may have caused stress to the roof, eventually making it give way and taking a portion of the exterior wall with it.

A controlled demolition of much of the remainder of the building is expected during the next couple weeks, once the contractor receives permission from the state.

The liquidation sale started at noon, with thousands of hardwood furniture pieces at 40 percent off wholesale prices. The sale will continue today and tomorrow, with an additional five percent being removed from prices each day until items are 75 percent off. The dock sale is scheduled to run from noon to 8 p.m. for eight days, ending Thursday, April 19. It then will publicly auction “substantially all” of its property, including five pieces of commercial real estate, intellectual property, leftover inventory, and various other materials, machinery and equipment at 10 a.m. April 21 and 24.

Crawford Furniture received approval last month from a U.S. Bankruptcy Court Chief Judge to hire Blackbird Asset Services LLC to liquidate its remaining possessions.  In its court filing, Crawford said it lacks the funds required to satisfy its operating expenses and cannot reorganize its financial affairs.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August of 2011, seeking to reorganize, close its retail stores and refocus its business on producing quality furniture for sale through other retailers. From Oct. 6, 2011, through Jan. 30, the company sold goods only to its own stores for their going-out-of-business sales.

MAYVILLE – The committee responsible for overseeing spending and revenue in Chautauqua County will meet this morning in Mayville to go over the first week of deliberations for the 2012 county budget. The Legislature’s Audit and Control Committee will meet at 9 a.m. to review the recommendations that were made in other committees earlier this week. The legislature is looking for ways to reduce the $239 million dollar in spending that’s been proposed by County Executive Greg Edwards. The plan calls for a property tax increase of 12.6 percent over this year to offset an $18 million shortfall. During his budget presentation on September 28, the Edwards said State mandates from Albany were largely to blame for the proposed tax hike.

HOYT SPEAKS AT ANNUAL CHAMBER DINNER

MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce held its annual awards banquet last night in Mayville with Sam Hoyt – regional president of the Western New York Empire State Development Corporation – serving as the keynote speaker. Hoyt commented on the state’s new 2 percent property tax cap, saying it would have a significant impact to all those living in the state. In a report from today’s Jamestown Post-Journal, the regional president said the new tax cap is vital because of the high property tax bill paid by state homeowners and businesses.  Hoyt said one-third of property taxes are paid by businesses. He said the new tax cap will help save businesses a half-billion dollars a year.

Along with Hoyt’s speech, the chamber honored several individuals and businesses who’ve contributed to their community and the county during the past year.  The chamber presented its Person of the Year Award to Kenneth Strickler of Jamestown. Most recently Strickler has served as director and chairman of the board of the Jamestown Savings Bank. He is also a past president of the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation and the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce, and is involved with several other organizations and initiatives as well.

In addition, each of the community Chambers of Commerce selected a community service award recipients for 2011. Ann Weidman of Mayville was selected by the Mayville-Chautauqua Chamber of Commerce and Mike Metzger of Bemus Point was chosen by the Jamestown Community Chamber of Commerce.

CRAWFORD FURNITURE PLANT RE-OPENS

JAMESTOWN – Crawford Furniture plans to close all five of its retail outlets to help reorganize after filing for Bankruptcy. That’s according to a report from the Buffalo news, which says the Jamestown Furniture Manufacturer will be ending its direct-to-customer sales initiative and returning to its original model of manufacturing furniture for sale through outside distributors.

Production at the company’s Jamestown factory, which shut down in August, started back up Monday with 100 laid-off workers called back to the job. Crawford also contracts outside vendors to supply certain furniture products.

Crawford sells to roughly 200 smaller, independent furniture dealers around the nation.

DENIM DAY HELPS TO RAISE FUNDING FOR BREAST CANCER

MAYVILLE – If you see a few more county workers taking part in “Casual Friday” today, it’s because employees in Mayville and other locations will be wearing Denim to help celebrate Lee National Denim Day. The day is designed to help celebrate 16 years of fighting breast cancer. Chautauqua County is gearing up to participate in this grassroots program which has raised more than $83 million for breast cancer research. The day simply involves employees from around the country making a donation to the Women’s Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation in exchange for being able to wear jeans to work.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY INVITES PUBLIC TO CHERRY CREEK INN

CHERRY CREEK – The Western New York fall foliage season is just about at its peak, providing residents the perfect opportunity to take a pleasant drive through the country and to the eastern edge of Chautauqua County.

On Sunday, Oct. 16, the Chautauqua County Historical Society will be hosting a fall luncheon at the Historic Cherry Creek Inn in Cherry Creek, N.Y. Not only will visitors have an opportunity to view the beautiful splendor of fall as they make the trip to the quaint village, they will also receive an education on history of the town and the surrounding area. Cherry Creek Town Historian Sharon Howe Sweeting – who also

serves the owner and operator of the Cherry Creek Inn – will provide and insightful and interesting history of the Inn and its surrounding community.  The event will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16. Please reserve by Oct. 10 by calling 326-2977. The cost to attend is $15 per person, which will help to cover the cost of the meal.