Welcome to Broadway-Fillmore Alive! Our mission is to work together with community
groups, businesses, residents, churches and other organizations to help
promote, preserve and revitalize the Broadway-Fillmore area.
I heart 703 Fillmore. It is on Fillmore just south of Broadway. Long before being the First Holy Temple Full Gospel Baptist Church, it was the Masiel Furniture store built in 1925.
In the pictures above, you can see some of the detail…look at the old awning framework and some of the awning still left.
I am glad the building is in use.
It is another little rough around the edges gem of a building in B-F.
January 31st, 2012 | by Christopher Byrd | 7 Comments
William Campbell is planning big things for the future of brewing in Buffalo. Bill is the owner and founder of New Buffalo Brewing Company, an upcoming microbrewery looking to introduce a variety of high-quality beers to the area. Currently the company is in the development and testing phases of their beer with a proposed opening date of August 2013.
When I found out they are looking for a home, the old Schreiber Brewery on Fillmore near Broadway popped into my head.
I passed along info about the building to them and BFA friend Tracy Land provided some interior pictures from a tour she took of the place a few years ago.
This building could meet their needs and potentially be a huge win for the neighborhood.
Now let’s see if we can get them from point A to point B-F…
January 23rd, 2012 | by Christopher Byrd | 0 Comments
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.
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
October 26th, 2011 | by Christopher Byrd | 0 Comments
(Pete Gallivan – WGRZ) For four decades, a bronze-colored statue of a bison greeted visitors to Buffalo’s grand Central Terminal.
It was a symbol of the city as well as the building. It also became a meeting place. People picking up loved ones often said “we’ll meet under the buffalo.”
After the terminal closed for good the statue was left behind, then during the many years of vandalism, it was knocked from its pedestal and smashed.
Now that the restoration is progressing and visitors are coming through, one of the most asked questions has been “where’s the buffalo?”
Some properties on the list won’t be at auction, but it does give you good look at the number in foreclosure.
It is a three-day auction beginning Monday in thein the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center…the homes, businesses or vacant lots will be offered for sale to the highest bidders.
For more information about auction and a full listing of properties throughout the city, visit the City of Buffalo’s website.