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Post-coronavirus, Buffalo City Hall may never be the same

The mayor envisions that many employees may never return to their offices and continue to work from home. He thinks that’s a good thing.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo's iconic city hall has stood largely unchanged for nearly 90 years.

However, due to lessons learned during the coronavirus outbreak, it may look a whole lot different in the future, if Mayor Brown has his way.

On an average day, before the onset of coronavirus, about 1,000 city employees worked inside of Buffalo City Hall.

In March, under a state order aimed at hoping to reduce the spread of the virus, the building was closed to the public, and many essential workers were ordered to work from home.

“We’ve seen great productivity from people working at home," Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said.

So much so that the Mayor Brown believes that even after the coronavirus is a distant memory, many employees, perhaps hundreds of them, may never return to their City Hall offices.

“This is something we are exploring to be permanent," Brown told WGRZ-TV.

He also sees some advantages for the city.

“We believe that we could create a dynamic where fewer people would be coming to City Hall every week. There would be less cars on the road, there would be less energy usage in terms of heat and electricity. … And for those that have been concerned about parking, more parking would be available in downtown Buffalo,” Brown said.

Such changes would require the cooperation of the unions representing city workers, but Brown claims that some employees are enthusiastic about the idea, particularly those who believe they might have more flexibility in their work hours and spend more time with their families.

Prior to the outbreak of coronavirus, City Hall already had a good deal of empty space, mostly due to workforce reductions over the decades and the advancements in technology where you simply don't need as much physical space to operate.

Should the trend continue, however, the next question becomes would the city consider moving operations somewhere else entirely,  and leasing—or even selling, its Art Deco landmark.

“We would not sell it. We would continue to maintain the iconic and historic City Hall recognized all over the world," Brown said.

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