This weekend I ventured outside of Kaisertown and attended the soft opening of The Market Bar located at 232 Gibson Ave- right across from the Broadway Market in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood on the East side. The bar is seated 2.83 miles from my home in Kaisertown, but it may as well have been 100 miles. The change in neighborhood from Kaisertown to Broadway-Fillmore is astounding, and not in a good way. While geographically they are pretty close, they have other similarities. Both have traditionally housed working class, Polish residents. Both were built around thriving retail strips (Clinton and Broadway, respectively) and mixed use buildings. Both are on the Eastside and boast a rich history in the building of blue collar Buffalo. In both neighborhoods, I have spoken to business owners who love to relish in the old days. They are filled with nostalgia and a longing for their old neighborhoods with its bakeries and beautiful churches and gin mills on every corner. The current state of Broadway-Fillmore is pretty bad and anyone can see by walking just a couple blocks that urban blight has eaten the neighborhood alive.
Yet, while I am regularly encouraging people to just throw caution to the wind and set up a small business on Clinton Ave, I have never done so for Broadway. Why? The likelihood of success seemed less than feasible. When I went to the Market Bar on Friday night, all I could do was marvel at the sheer balls the owner had to re-open the place. And invest real money. And real time. So. Much. Time.
The bar is beautiful. You should go there just because it’s lovely and fun and energetic- everything a bar should be. But you should also go there and give some thought to what has happened in that building and neighborhood over the years. You should go there to support the very first steps of a neighborhood revitalization. The more attention that this little blues bar can hold onto, the better its chance of surviving and of thriving. Tell people about it and go see it for yourself.
But there’s more at stake here than the Market Bar. This neighborhood also houses the Broadway Market. Year round. The Broadway Market is open year round. Yes, yes…it’s an Easter tradition. There’s no reason that something that is so well loved during Easter couldn’t be well loved the rest of the year. Do you know how many special events are held at the Broadway Market? Oktoberfest, Halloween Fest, Wine Fest, and Kriskringle Mart are all taking place before the end of 2014 at the Broadway Market. It’s important to support the market outside of the Easter season. Not doing so is part of the reason why the neighborhood is in its current state.
And the bars. What must it be like to be Ronnie & Lottie of R & L Lounge on Mills Street? Or the wonderful family that still owns Arty’s on Peckham Street after more than 40 years? And all of the other little gems that are hiding out in this area? These business owners have stuck it out through some tough times in Broadway-Fillmore. Can’t Buffalo do better than a quick stop on Dyngus Day? Would it be impossible to go there to watch a Bills game? Or to create your own East Side pub crawl with friends and family? Imagine the result, if instead of looking at Broadway-Fillmore as a once a year, Easter week stop for pussy willows and Paczki you made an effort to go there for something. A drink with Lottie or some produce from the Broadway Market or some blues music at Market Bar. Maybe just for some wonderful stories and to create a new tradition.
Perhaps you consider this overly optimistic. Maybe you’ll consider it a challenge. I just hope that you’ll consider it.
By Lisa Menchetti @lmench – Buffa-lifer & owner of Gridlock Lacquer. Sandwich enthusiast. Pitbull lover. Bills season ticket holder. Kaisertown resident and blogger. http://ktownbuffalo.tumblr.com/
