The Project for Public Spaces is doing a survey on the Broadway Market to determine where shoppers come from and other info.

Please take a moment to fill it out.

It can be accessed here—>

As you are contemplating the upcoming week, here is a question for you to ponder. Who stole the keeshka?

Have a great week!!!

This one from WGRZ

Please share with your friends because this is shaping up to be one great event!!!

http://broadwaymarket.org

When HSBC and First Niagara included the Broadway Market branch on the list of  offices they were forced to sell in deal with federal antitrust regulators this past November, I was worried about this branch’s future.

Not to worry, KeyBank will acquire the office located at 1017 Broadway as part of the deal.

KeyBank used to have a branch right inside the Market until it left in 2008.

Read more about the KeyBank, HSBC and First Niagara deal in the Buffalo News—>

Please join the Market on 01/21/2012 as they celebrate National Polka Month with Polka, Piwo , and Pierogi!!!

http://broadwaymarket.org

The Market will be open all week for all to finish up your shopping for all your Holiday Foods and Gifts!

http://broadwaymarket.org

The holiday food and craft fair features local wineries, specialty food vendors, holiday crafters and Broadway Market’s traditional holiday foods including hams, sausage, fish, Russian mushrooms, breads and sweets.  For additional information contact the market at 716-893-0705. The market is located at 999 Broadway and is open every day from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Parking is available in the parking ramp attached to the market.

Since 1888, the Broadway Market has been known for unique products and personal services, with meat and poultry stands, produce counters, bakeries, candy stands and restaurants. Family-owned businesses passed from generation to generation, continue to create some of Buffalo’s best loved foods.

(By Bernice Radle – Buffalo Rising) Have you ever been to, or heard of, the R&L Lounge on Buffalo’s East Side? Do you have any idea what the East Side of Buffalo once held, as far as small businesses, community centers, tight-knit neighborhoods? Have you read the “Last Fine Time” by Verlyn Klinkenborg?

Read full story—>

Read Full Story—>

As sometimes happens in my BFA world, I forgot to grab my video camera for the public meeting regarding the post office.  I did have however have my audio recorder with me.

The above audio is of Buffalo’s Postmaster, John Phelan.  He lays out the problems facing the United States Postal Service and why the Broadway-Fillmore Station is under review to determine if it should close.

About twenty people were at the meeting.  I spoke along with other people from the neighborhood.

The reoccurring message most of the public sent is how important the post office is to the community and the business district.

Patra Mangus…a neighborhood resident who also works in B-F and is a member of the Broadway Area Business Association, spoke at the meeting wrote this in her letter to the editor of the Buffalo News:

This is a very old community. Most residents rely on public transportation. Being a less desirable neighborhood, mostly low-income people live here. Like most communities, we deal with criminals who prey on the weak and elderly. The post office tells us to use the main office on William Street, which is not a practical solution. It would take two buses and $3.50 bus fare for me to check on my mail in my post office box. And even that location is part of planned closings.

Many of our older residents remember the Great Depression and don’t trust banks. Having a post office box allows them to receive their check, in their hands, instead of direct deposit in a bank. They purchase money orders to pay their bills and mail them—all at the post office. They don’t have to worry about their check being stolen from their mailbox on the house.

The post office should also take into consideration its carriers, who slog through unshoveled sidewalks and past vacant buildings, drug dealers and aggressive dogs. The more mail being put into the post office boxes, the less likely a carrier will be injured in a fall or endangered in some other way.

I appreciate the dilemma the post office is in, but the potential damage to our community is much too great to allow the Broadway Fillmore Station to close.

When I had the opportunity to speak, I spoke of how the decision to close the post office can’t solely be based dollars and cents (the Broadway-Fillmore Station isn’t losing money by the way) and that the intangible benefits to the neighborhood and business district need to be taken into consideration.  A post office being open means a lot to a neighborhood like Broadway-Fillmore which has seen its share of decline over the years.  Closing it works against its residents, people, organizations and businesses working hard to change things in the neighborhood.

I encourage you to give your input and ask the USPS not close the Broadway-Fillmore Station by writing to:

Facility Optimization Coordinator
United States Postal Service
1200 William St. Rm 205
Buffalo, NY 14240-9345