Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) – Efforts by the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park to save and preserve the USS The Sullivans and USS Croaker have been well underway over the last few years. However, city government appears to be holding the process up after the park was able to secure much-needed funding.
President and CEO of the Buffalo Naval Park, Paul Marzello says shortly after the listing of the USS The Sullivans in the Buffalo Harbor in April of 2022, funding to help preserve the World War II era vessel started flooding in.
“Sen. [Chuck] Schumer came to town and he pledged $7.5 million. Crystal Peoples-Stokes came back with another $500,000, so we had $8 million in 2022. In 2024, Gov. [Kathy] Hochul comes to town, she pledges $10 million, then the city, county and state, they pledge another $3 million. So now we’ve got $13 million from 2024 and another $8 million, so we’ve got $21 million as of last summer to get the project moving,” said Marzello during an appearance with Brian Mazurowski and Susan Rose on WBEN. “So the question we get every day, and our board is very frustrated with the kinds of answers that we can provide is, ‘You’ve got the money, why isn’t anything happening?’ And the simple answer is, the City of Buffalo owns the ships and has total control over how to spend the money.”…