BUFFALO, N.Y. — A few days more than two months after 2 On Your Side started asking officials why the Tifft Street Pier was closed, repairs to the pier are underway.
The pier, which was built in 2014, was closed in the fall of 2015 after a seiche damaged the floating dock at the end of the pier.
After a bit of a kerfuffle and finger-pointing, the City of Buffalo commenced repairs to the pier on Monday.
"We're looking forward to hopefully completing it next week to reopen the Tifft Pier," Buffalo Department of Public Works commissioner Nate Marton said.
The New York State Department of Transportation started building the pier in 2012 and completed it in 2014. In May, a DOT spokesperson told 2 On Your Side the department had transferred ownership of the pier to the city.
The City of Buffalo rebuffed that claim and says they have no paperwork or documentation transferring the pier.
2 On Your Side obtained multiple emails from contractors working on the pier that outlined several design flaws to the pier. The biggest concern, according to the emails, was the floating dock and the 80-foot gangways that led to it.
"We removed the floating dock and then the gang ways that go down to those as part of our work," Marton said.
Marton says the costs associated with the repair will range from $25,000 to $35,000.
"The city of Buffalo will take ownership of it and then maintain it from here on out," Marton said.
After WGRZ's initial reporting in May, U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins staff held a meeting between the city and NYSDOT. From that meeting, according to sources, the plan to fix the pier was negotiated.
Another pier that had been closed for all of 2023 is also reopen.
According to the New York State Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, the Gallagher Pier was reopened on Thursday. The Gallagher Pier closed after it was damaged during various storms over the winter.