Multiple reports of gunshots in the area of Jackson and Central

Good thing there is no gang activity in Batavia.

At least it wasn't State St. or Lewis Place

Unreal. I was coming home from my game and it was like Grand Theft Auto out there...This city needs to stop worrying about how nice the courthouse looks and wine walks and start cleaning up the trash coming into this city. The house on Jackson near Kwik-Fill - needs to be addressed. The scum that hangs out near Southside Deli needs to be addressed. I went in there today to get something to eat and the trash that came in there with their pants down around their ankles buying cigar wrappers - wtf?

Let's not even start about the garbage on the west end that goes into Walmart.

Mr Chilano, allow me, please, to remind you that SNAP benefits, formerly called food stamps, cannot be used to buy non-food items such as cigar wrappers. There are other types of benefits that can be used to buy such, and an identical card is issued for all different kinds of benefits. Only the cashier can tell which type of benefit is being used for any given purchase. An observer can't tell by looking whether SNAP or some other benefit is being used. If you choose to judge and label the 'scum', please be sure you are correct about your target person, in deference to those of us non-scum folks who receive SNAP benefits. Thank you!

Any one using a "card" that is not a real credit card to buy "cigar" wrappers is a scumbag. Go ahead and refute that statement.(Don't trip on your pants.)

HAHAHAAHHAAAAA... HOPE THEY CAN COUNT ROUNDS.... 7..6..5..4..3..

dont take it out on the help. most of them just wanna work.( the gas station )

How about the fact that thank god noone was hurt.

Leslie & Barb,

Where in Chris Chilano's post does he even mention an EBT or SNAP, or ANY card for that matter?

I think you two should take a reading comprehension class, soon!

Raymond - I thought the same thing, but he may have edited his comment.

well, here comes the transition of batavia's older neighborhoods. this is disturbing.

There must have been an edit since the Chris's post and Leslie's post are out of chronological order if you look at the post times. Another example of why there needs to be a time limit on editing. It makes for very confusing reading and I'm sure Leslie got some undeserved thumbs down due to the editing.

Just to remind folks -- Howard and I never edit readers' posts. They either stand on their own or are deleted altogether when necessary (which is rare). But as this thread points out, people can and do edit their own posts.

My reading comprehension is just fine. The initial comment was edited.

leslie, since you are a self admitted SNAP card holder, I suggest that you change your attitude and show some respect to the people who are paying your bills and feeding you.....I myself, a tax payer do fund your SNAP credit card in one way or another....thank you

David, in what way did Leslie fail to be respectful? As far as attitude, what accounts for the contempt displayed in yours?

david is little more than an internet troll. feel free to ignore him. whatever you do, don't feed him.

I think some here need to realize that there are many working families that use SNAP cards to feed their families. With jobs paying less and less and have you to gone to the store lately? We are a family of two and I pay over 100.00 for groceries a week.... I can't imagine what a family of 4 pays.

It is true that SNAP can be used for only food items, it cannot be used for beer, cigs or paper essentials. Now of the person is receiving TANF I believe it can be used for that because that is cash money and no restrictions on it. But then again all of that could have changed since I worked at DSS. And also the last I knew you have to have a drug test before you got TANF....if I am wrong please feel free to correct me.

He doesn't mention SNAP, what he does mention is food stamps, which are now called SNAP. As I said in the post. As for whoever advised me not to trip over my pants, I'm an old lady and wear dresses, not pants. I might also point out that both Barb and i posted in a polite tone, I had hoped for any response to also be polite and maturely reasoned.

Ah yes I see that other posters are right, the references to food stamps have indeed been removed from Mr Chilano's post. Thank you most sincerely, Mr Chilano, for accepting the correction.

Getting back to the original post ladies and gentlemen..... Things in Batavia have changed and it's only getting worse...I think I mentioned that a month or so ago....the sad part is a lot of the scum that live here are dealing with the trash from buffalo and Rochester and bringing it our way...it's too bad everyone just couldn't go out and get jobs and live normal lives instead of playing the system , selling dope, or being gangsters...., it just doesn't work that way in today's society...babies having babies and becoming statistics on the system....and we wonder why our health insurance is so high....stand by for your new deductibles people....it's going to get ugly.. For you system abusers out there...no worries....it's all good...you will be taken care of....And your welcome!

I've been saying this for quite some time now-Batavia IS going in the toilet with all the transplants from the bigger cities. Look at how many tattoo shops are opening up-look at Main St. when you drive down it-see how many tattoed up females you see pushing a stroller,pregnant,texting on their I-Phone w/ a cigarette hanging out of their mouth-see all the 20 somethings walking around,middle of the day. We have a robbery of the 7-11 the night before,now a shoot-em-up going down. Anyone wanna place bets on when a murder over a bad drug deal will happen? I see guys walking up to cars in Washington Ave. area doing their fist-bumps-or hand greetings-whatever to hell they do-pretty much on a daily basis-I try not to look,as I don't need to make eye contact,but I'm willing to bet most of them are deals going down.Notice how businesses in the past few years on south side on Ellicott St. aren't open for long? Molasses Hill,NY Subs,City Styles,lost track how many places have gone in and out of where Krtanik's used to be,etc.....

lets face the facts people....Batavia is getting pretty bad and it's mostly due to the scum that is filtering in from the Rochester....I don't know if it's so much buffalo scum but definately roch......I think maybe an increased police force and more patrolling of the trouble areas in this city might help

Very Well Said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There has always been bad activity of some form in Batavia, just as there is in ANY other town. We are just living in a different generation. Read some books dealing with Genesee Countys history and you will find plenty of mention of gunshots, murders and people disappearing with no explaination dating back to the turn of the century. For some reason these "gangs" are glorified in movies, tv shows and books. Whether it is due to the ethnicity of the people involved or not, I will not say. But I DO know that the citizens of the town at that point did NOT welcome that presence either. They were not "protective" or "loyal", they were killers, theives and bullies. The only difference was they wore tophats instead of baggy pants and hoodies. Those criminals were every bit as bad, and victimized innocent people, and their "jobs" were usually holding small businesses hostage by demanding weekly payments. In other words, living off from other people, which is what those criticizing the welfare system accuse others of doing. So it has always been in existence and because those of us living here today did not live through it, we seem to think that this is something new.

I believe this city has progressed alot. I DONT feel the crime is being ignored, it is a problem just as crime in any town is. But there are so many changes, organizations created and improvements made just since I moved here in the 90s. It is not just sitting here getting stagnant as some towns unfortunately have done when they feel crime has gotten the best of them.
So if you LIVE here, you ARE part of Batavia. It's up to all of us to make this city what it is or can be. We all have different things to offer. Which doesn't mean we should be fighting crime or that we deserve to be victims, none of us do, but there are certainly worse places to live. And we each live here for a reason right?

This is why I love you and your posts. You are a true advocate for our area. You have the rare talent to "boil down" a situation into its simplest elements so we can all wrap our heads around it.

Thank you, Howard

People are always complaining about the gangs or whatever. Around 1980, I remember the owner of the then Dairy Queen, on West Main Street Road, saying how he would never move here because of the out of control crime in the streets in Batavia.

I like Howard's question on how many have ever volunteered to do anything or have attended the new Vibrant Batavia meetings? If you are really that concerned, there should be a big turnout at the next Vibrant Batavia get together.

VERY good point John. Everyone needs to pull together and make use of our resources. And there are more and more resources becoming available thanks to people who are putting themselves out there. Everybody can be valuable if you make an effort. Standing back and looking at the big picture, it's a pretty good little city.

And these shootings on Jackson or State surprise anyone? Until the city stops encouraging Rochester, Buffalo, etc to move their problems to Batavia, shootings will only get worse. There are only so many people any one town can absorb. Statistically, it's a no brainer. Bring a hundred, get one shooting. Bring a thousand, get ten shootings. Don't like it? Then 1) tell your council person to do something about it or 2) move.

Wow Howard, well said.

Bob, Batavia has gotten worse over the past three decades but, no different than everywhere else. I do remember growing up and Batavia had a group of kids who called themselves, "The Bone Crew" or something of that nature. Yes, drive by shooting are new but, murder has not been on the rise in Genesee County that, I can remember. We had are share growing up with the drug deal going bad in the Black Creek, the two bodies found in trash bags by Snowplow Operators back in the 80s. The 2002 or 2003 killing in which a Rochester Drug Dealer kidnapped a dealer of his from Connecticut and had him executed in Stafford a 100 feet of my parent's property line.

Things have gotten worst everywhere but, Genesee County is still relatively safe. I do not hear of any Police being killed. One last thing Bob, I have several tattoos does that make me a criminal? I know several tattoo artist and I do not view them as being criminals or being doorway or gateway for scum coming into Batavia. Welfare is more of a problem in Genesee County than Gangs.

You see more women pregnant because of the lack of protected sex and welfare paying for extra babies. Just like my ex-sister in law who has nine kids and does not work and collects welfare. The worst thing about it, is she neglects them. I believe all 9 have dental issues with their silver plated teeth because, she does not enforce hygiene onto her children. She is a scumbag herself.

Bob Price, tattoo 'guns' shoot ink, not bullets. The tattoo industry is growing exponentially, the increase in shops is a response to an increase in demand. Its happening everywhere, not only in Batavia. It allows artists to make money, who otherwise would rarely have the opportunity to make a living from their artistic ability. An increase in people getting tattoos does not mean theres an increase in crime, it means there is an increase in individual freedom and personal expression.

You have your opinion,I have mine. Tattoo yourself all you want. Batavia is what it is. Never lived in City of Batavia,never will. John Woodworth-congrats on having 9 tattoos-not for me,but I'll bet you paid for all of them w/ money that you EARNED,not money from the taxpayers.

who says this was a drive-by shooting anyways? Might just be a couple of idiots shooting into the air. Lots of jumping to conclusions here, but that's not anything new.

I love this Gangs are coming here mentality. Got news for you people read some history. There have been gangs around this part of the state since prohibiton. NY and Chicago may be well known Mafia cities but as some of our older citizens know, they were just as numerous in Buffalo Rochester and even Jamestown, You can bet there were many around here too.....

I see that James edited out the tattoo references, just as Chris edited out the snap benefit references.

I wonder if Howard would mind if people began to copy/paste original posts when this happens, just for the sake of clarity. Either that or maybe limit the time allowed to edit a post.

Has been many times recently that there was head scratching and confusion because of comments that were removed after people responded to them.

how do you know the shots were fired from the car? All guesses.

What I would like to know (maybe I missed an update)...Do the police have anyone in custody or leads to prevent these same people from doing this again?

Thanks Howard. I guess I am just a little surprised that they are not reaching out to the community asking for information or leads. Just seems like it has been kept very low key for something that in my opinion is a very serious matter.

I grew up on the south side of town as a child and teenager and we played outside until the street lights came on and then when they came on, we played hide and seek in our yard after dark and surely never had to worry about stray bullets flying around.

I moved back to the South Side of town because I have such fond memories as a child and want my daughter to grow up with those same kinds of memories.

It is all very scary. I pray that they find whomever did this and make an example of them so others know that this is not acceptable behavior.

I couldn't agree more Kyle. Talk to some older citizens of this area who remember being a kid here. I have listened to stories from several elderly friends of mine who remember being a child and having to stay inside when "certain people" were in town, and remember the whispers between their parents when things would happen. It was here........ HIstory books will attest to all of this. It's been here for a long time, as I noted in my post earlier, just dressing differently and being called by a different name. Somehow the crimes of those earlier days have been glorified. "MAFIA" is for whatever reason an exciting term, while "GANG" conjures up the term scumbag. Violent crime is violent crime, whether you are wearing a tophat and suit or jeans and hoodie. NO matter what your ethnicity, or occupation, or gender. This by no means takes away from the seriousness of the situation, no one wants to feel threatened or unsafe in their own homes. But I just think we need to get away from bashing the city as having a NEW problem.