Byron William Brown II (born September 24, 1958) is an American politician who served as the 62nd mayor of Buffalo, New York from 2006 until his resignation in 2024.

After several roles as a legislative aide, he was appointed to the Erie County cabinet-level Director of Equal Employment Opportunity post.

While he had considered a potential medical career,[3] Brown graduated in 1983 with a dual Bachelor of Arts in political science and journalism.

Brown quit after a short tenure and took the New York State Troopers exam before becoming Chief of staff for Buffalo Common Council President George Arthur for two years.

"[13] The Buffalo Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1991 honored him with the Martin Luther King Jr. Award for community service.

[16] In his first attempt at public office in 1993, Brown ran for the third district of the Erie County Legislature against incumbent William Robinson and George "Butch" Holt, who had Eve's endorsement.

[17][18] In June, Brown was notified that he must resign his Erie County cabinet-level post in order to run for public office and he did so in July.

Although Brown began the race without organized political support, he earned endorsements from many veteran non-Western New York politicians such as H. Carl McCall, Andrew Cuomo, and Hillary Clinton.

[36] When the casino was completed in 2003, he was on the seven-member commission that was to apportion the state's agreed 18% share of the slot machine revenue, amounting to approximately $40 million.

[39] In the 2004 New York State Senate elections, Republican nominee Al Coppola opposed Brown for the redistricted 60th District and garnered only 23% of the vote.

[43] New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer described helping Brown win the Mayoral race as his "biggest campaign priority" in the last month and a half before Primary Day.

[52] In October 2006, the Seneca Nation and Brown came to terms on the final sale of a two-block stretch of city road that runs amid the 9-acre (36,000 m2) construction site.

[53] However, in January 2007, a federal judge ruled that the granting of permission to run the third casino by the National Indian Gaming Commission was improper.

[55] Brown was one of the original 15 mayors from United States cities such as Washington, Dallas, Philadelphia, Seattle and Milwaukee who convened at a meeting hosted by Michael Bloomberg and Thomas Menino at Gracie Mansion to confirm their support for more serious attacks on the use of illegal firearms.

He was praised for his overhaul of city hall, his follow through on projects and systems, and his influence on statewide redistribution, but he was dogged by crime issues and his efforts for the planned casino.

The program may benefit the city because abandoned house costs it an approximate average of $20,060 over five years in lost taxes, debris removal, inspections, and policing.

[70] In a public relations controversy, Brown got caught in a fight against the movement to replace traditional lawns with front yard gardens.

[73] Brown had amassed an early lead amongst voters until several scandals involving former basketball star Leonard Stokes, including the questionable government support of his failed "One Sunset" restaurant and a perceived undue influence in mitigating Stokes's arrest for possessing a stolen handicapped parking permit, cut away most of his lead.

Many supporters considered boycotting the special election due to a perceived racial slight against an African American who seemed to be wrongfully shutout of the process.

Lenihan pointed out that neither of the previous state senators turned mayor, Anthony Masiello and James D. Griffin, was granted the right to pick their successor,[77] and he noted that Thompson had not been timely in entering the special election process.

[78] The Erie and Niagara County Democratic committees bypassed Thompson as their nominee in favor of Marc Coppola despite Brown's backing in the February special election.

Some thought that the New York State Governor would appoint a minority senator such as Brown, Gregory W. Meeks, H. Carl McCall, William C. Thompson Jr., José E. Serrano or Nydia M.

[94] Nonetheless, Brown's name was mentioned before Kennedy's and Cuomo's in a New York Times article paragraph about Paterson's final nomination decision thoughts.

[104] In 2016, Brown spearheaded The Unified Development Ordinance, also known as the Buffalo Green Code, which eliminated minimum parking standards in the city's zoning regulations.

[113] Since the Erie County Democratic Party has supported India Walton following her victory in the Democratic Party primary, Brown increasingly relied on support from local Republican officials and right-wing organizations which were opposed to Walton, including to assist with collecting signatures for a place on the general election ballot.

[117] However, on September 16, 2021, state and federal courts ruled against Brown, meaning that he would not appear on the 2021 general election ballot and would instead continue his campaign as a write-in candidate.

[122][123][124][125][126] Brown held a press conference on September 30, 2024, where he announced his intention to resign from office in order to accept a job as president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting.

[130] On the national level, he was an unheralded point guard in the 2008 high school graduating class,[131] and he went on to attend Queen City Prep in Charlotte, North Carolina.

[133] Byron Brown is a chapter president of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity,[3] a past President of the Buffalo State College Alumni Association Board, and at the time of his mayoral inauguration he sat on the Board of the Boy Scout Council of Western New York and the Community Action Organization of Erie County.

[135] In August 2008, it was revealed that Brown condoned a Buffalo Police Department policy of illegally withholding crime reports from public knowledge.