URBAN BLIGHT NIAGARA MOHAWK CALLED ON TO REMOVE 100 UNUSED POLES.(Local)

Byline: Catherine Clabby Staff writer

Harold Rubin is growing impatient.

Eight months ago, the outspoken Center Square Association president sent Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. a list of locations in his largely gentrified inner-city neighborhood where old utility poles remain standing next to new ones.

It's not just a few. One Niagara Mohawk official said his crew is aware of about 100 of the creosote-soaked poles that need to be pulled from the curbs in the historic area and surrounding neighborhoods.

"Why does it take a year to take the poles down?" asked Rubin. "They're supposed to take the pole out and replace the sidewalks."

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