Mayor Ryan Wants to Keep Buffalo's Parking Ramps โ And He's Asking Albany for Help
Rather than selling off city-owned parking garages to close a massive budget hole, Mayor Sean Ryan is looking to Albany for a borrowing solution.
Mayor Sean Ryan is pushing back on the idea of selling Buffalo's parking ramps, and he's looking to state government for a way out. The ramp sale had been floated as a way to plug the city's significant budget gap, but the Ryan administration would rather find another path.
The plan involves asking Albany to pass legislation that would let the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority โ the city's financial oversight board โ borrow money specifically for operating expenses. A recent analysis from the control board laid out the tradeoffs between a 10-year deficit bond and a longer 30-year borrowing arrangement tied to the ramps.
People who live and work downtown have been vocal about their concerns, and for good reason: handing the ramps off to an outside authority almost certainly means parking rates go up โ possibly sharply. Ryan's approach would keep that decision in the city's hands.