I'Jaz Ja'ciel

Buffalo

Multimedia Journalist at Investigative Post

Data Girl. Journalist. Flower Child. Social Spider. The Wave. Reporter at Investigative Post. President of the Buffalo Association of Black Journalists.

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Articles

Activists, officials criticize Buffalo's inaction on lead poisoning

3 weeks ago | investigativepost.org | I'Jaz Ja'ciel

Andrea Ó Súilleabháin, executive director of the Partnership for the Public Good (center) joined by community advocates and state elected officials Jon Rivera (left) and April Baskin (right). Photo by I’Jaz Ja’cielLocal housing advocates and elected officials are condemning Buffalo’s failure to spend over three-quarters of a $2 million federal grant dedicated to removing toxic lead paint from city homes.
Buffalo inaction on lead puts federal grant money at risk

1 month ago | investigativepost.org | I'Jaz Ja'ciel

Lead hazard remediation training at Environmental Education Associates. Photo by Andrew McLellan. The City of Buffalo has spent only a quarter of the $2 million in federal funds it has received to abate lead hazards in houses and apartments. Now, the program is coming to an end with less than two months to commit the remaining money before it has to be returned to the federal government.
IPost's Ja'ciel interviews expert about Buffalo food injustice for NPR

1 month ago | investigativepost.org | I'Jaz Ja'ciel

Investigative Post reporter I’Jaz Ja’ciel this week hosted a segment of Buffalo Toronto Public Media NPR’s What’s Next dedicated to food injustice. She sat down with Nnennna Ferguson, chair of the Buffalo Food Equity Network Advisory Board, to discuss food inequities in the Black community and how community-based solutions may help meet the needs of residents. The episode originally aired Wednesday, May 14 to commemorate the third anniversary of the Tops Supermarket Massacre.
Judge turned developer sued by New York attorney general

1 month ago | investigativepost.org | I'Jaz Ja'ciel

Brent Manor Apartments at 366 Elmwood Avenue, owned by APL Property Group. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’cielThe state Attorney General last week filed a lawsuit accusing a former judge-turned-developer and his property management company of misappropriating tenants’ security deposits. Anthony LoRusso and employees of APL Property Group used security deposits to fund the company’s payroll and other operations, according to the company’s former director of accounting, Ann Morelli.
Dozens of landlords, brokers accused of rejecting Section 8 renters

1 month ago | investigativepost.org | I'Jaz Ja'ciel

A text message between a tester and a real estate agent used as evidence in a housing discrimination complaint. Screenshot provided by Housing Rights Initiative. A non-profit watchdog group Wednesday filed complaints accusing 103 real estate agents, brokerage firms and property owners across the state of discriminating against Section 8 voucher holders. Thirteen of the defendants named in the 52 complaints filed with the New York State Division of Human Rights are located in Buffalo.
Site of Allentown murders was 'unsafe,' victims' neighbors say

2 months ago | investigativepost.org | I'Jaz Ja'ciel

Boarded window allegedly kicked in during deadly assault on St. Louis Place. Photo provided by Jordan Bidwell. Neighbors of Mickey Harmon and Jordan Celotto — the Allentown couple murdered in their home on March 4 — say the tragedy might have been averted if the building they lived in had been better maintained and secured. The couple’s landlord disputes that notion. Harmon and Celotto moved into the lower apartment at 5 St. Louis Place last September.
I'Jaz Ja'ciel guest-hosts NPR's What's Next?

2 months ago | investigativepost.org | I'Jaz Ja'ciel

Investigative Post reporter I’Jaz Ja’ciel recently signed on as a new guest host for Buffalo Toronto Public Media NPR’s What’s Next? — a program that discusses topics pertaining to Buffalo’s marginalized communities. Her first episode aired Thursday and featured Dr. Marcus Watson, an associate professor and program coordinator of Africana Studies at Buffalo State University, and two seniors from Buffalo State, Jay Phillips and Jadon Williams.
Notorious Buffalo slumlord Charles Dobucki arrested by police

2 months ago | investigativepost.org | I'Jaz Ja'ciel

2 St. Louis Place, owned by Dobucki. Photo courtesy of WKBW. Buffalo Police this morning arrested one of the city’s most infamous and elusive landlords, whose blighted properties have been the subject of community complaints, Housing Court cases and most recently a partial demolition order for a long-vacant Allentown building. Charles Dobucki was taken into custody at a Delaware Avenue auto shop in North Buffalo, according to Mike Read, spokesman for Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon.
Buffalo landlord settles housing discrimination case in Fruit Belt

2 months ago | investigativepost.org | I'Jaz Ja'ciel

The Mayflower, owned by Buffalo Management Group. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’cielA local real estate and property management company has settled a federal lawsuit accusing its employees and president of violating fair housing laws.
UB professor has bold plan to revitalize East Side census tract

Mar 27, 2025 | investigativepost.org | I'Jaz Ja'ciel

Henry Louis Taylor of UB presents plans for Census Tract 166. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’cielCensus Tract 166 — an economically devastated community situated in the heart of the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood — will be ground zero for a new approach to revitalizing the East Side. The census tract is peppered with 1,300 vacant lots, more than any other neighborhood in the city. Only 25 percent of its adult residents work, according to 2022 US census estimates.