“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” to quote Charles Dickens, author of “A Tale of Two Cities,” a book about the French Revolution.

Two articles published in The News on Aug. 16 could not have better illustrated that fact. One article described the numerous tax breaks going to buyers of condos and townhouses in Waterfront Place and the Avant development. The City of Buffalo will forego receipts of $10.1 million in tax revenue in the name of creation of luxury housing for the rich. The city will get only some $190,000 per year out of an $83 million investment.

Meanwhile, Donn Esmonde wrote a column about an Urban Blight Tour. It described poverty, urban decay and a general lack of leadership on the part of the mayor and the Common Council. For many people living on this route, in these neighborhoods, it is “the worst of times.”

Until our city leaders address these issues— poverty, blight, joblessness—with urgent dispatch, Buffalo will remain, “A Tale of Two Cities.”

Mark D. Elias

Buffalo