Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, was bearing gifts when she visited the East Side of Buffalo on Monday.
The congresswoman secured $1.77 million in federal funds for five projects ranging from infrastructure improvements and arts education to a variety of community and economic revitalization efforts.
Slaughter provided $472,000 for the Broadway-Fillmore Corridor Revitalization Project, which plans to demolish 40 to 50 abandoned buildings to make way for new housing.
“This is a major, major piece in our efforts to revitalize the Broadway-Fillmore area. If you’re going to be building new homes, it’s hard to ask people to work, live and play with derelict homes around them,” said Marlies A. Wesolowski, executive director of the Matt Urban Center at 1081 Broadway.
The center’s community development corporation is spearheading a project to build new market-rate homes, while revitalizing existing homes and making housing available for low-income buyers – all centered around a 16-block area bordered by Broadway, Walden Avenue, Loepere Street and Rother Avenue.
