This post was inspired by an email I received criticizing not only the neighborhood, but my efforts here…I don’t really try to do these type of posts, but felt I had to.
Sometimes I get the feeling that people would simply like Polish history of the neighborhood to fade away…while other parts of our fair city boast some incredible things, the heritage of B-F is something we should always embrace and use as part of the mix to help the neighborhood.
Through all the deterioration of what see on streets of B-F, the remnants of its past are equal parts of its history and future. When I go to church at Corpus Christi, I sit in pews where my ancestors watched the baptism of my grandmother 94 years ago…when I go to the Central Terminal, I am in a place where people went off to war and welcomed people home or where many in my family worked…when I walk through the Broadway Market, I am walking with the ghosts of my ancestors.
The architecture…when you are in the neighborhood, look at the buildings…look at the Matt Urban Center, Saint Stan’s, the Polish Union, the Central Terminal…these are but a few examples of the tremendous stock of incredible buildings in B-F.
B-F is unique in that though we have seen other neighborhoods totally slip in Buffalo, there is a certain energy that remains which hasn’t allowed the area to entirely fall. A lot of that feeling comes from the pride of people like me and people like you who understand the importance of what its past meant to Buffalo. There are a number of living and breathing institutions in B-F that reflect the resiliency of the Polish culture…always down, but never out.
So to the naysayers, I am sorry if you think helping here is a waste of time…I take a lot of pride on where I come from and how the neighborhood shaped me as a person…luckily, there a lot of people who feel the same. If you don’t think it is important, shame on you…to me, it is just a way to make yourself feel better for just simply walking away from your past.
Broadway-Fillmore’s past can help pave the way to its future.
ALIVE!
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Right with you Chris. I take pride in the Polona Historic District for the same reasons. The district will survive through efforts like your. Current development might be slow but outlets like BFA help to educate people on what make BF special. Thank you.
I agree. The neighborhood is not what it used to be when I lived there. I lived on Sweet Avenue for 30 years, but moved 5 minutes away into Cheektowaga 14 years ago. I did not want to move but I and my family had no choice. I still am very active at St. Stans Church, visit the Broadway Market every week to shop and have lunch. Even though I moved, I am still in the B-F neighborhood a lot. I blame the politicians, like the Common Council member of the Fillmore district and president of the common council and people who do not take pride in their own homes and make the neighborhood look the way it does. When we lived their we took pride in our home. And Extreme makeovers will not help unless the people who live there take pride in their properties. My ancestors would flip if they saw the neighborhood the way it looks or they would flip to see their homes, if their homes are still standing. My old house on Sweet Avenue looks like a dump surrounded by empty lots. What a beautiful neighborhood and street it was back in the 60’s and 70’s and even 80’s when I lived their. Hopefully the Broadway Market will come back to a better life and the people come and shop there all year long and not only at Easter, and the people return to the beautiful churches, not just at the holiday times but always. Broadway Fillmore Alive keep up the good work.
In my experience, the people who criticize are the people who make excuses for not being involved.
Chris, I moved away because of ministry. Yet I have never, despite being away, stopped supporting in any way the BF neighborhood and Polonia. Christmas gifts are purchased via internet from Polish vendors in Bflo and shipped to loved ones; I support Corpus Christi where my grandmother, too, was baptized at the saintly hands of Fr. Justin Figas. In any and every way possible I support Polonia and BF despite me work taking me elsewhere. I fly back just to attend events. I say this not to boast, but to say it is possible to support even from a distance. Your efforts and the efforts of BFAlive are demonstrations of love and hope. If anything this world needs it is love and hope. Further, your efforts prove that not everything is disposable. To summarily walk away from that which has value because of what it IS as opposed to what the economy finds as its worth, is nearly sacmental in nature. Our heritage, our background is where we found Christ, where we found fait, where love was nurtured and where life was not only lived but celebrated as part of that love, faith and recognition of the Lord’s presence in a piece of oplatek, in the gathering of friends at the Market and in the pews of Corpus Christi and other Polonia churches. In other words, BFAlive is not only working to support and preserve an area of real estate, but working to preserve values that are too easily tossed aside. If faith and values and personal history can be easily dismissed, it is no wonder we fight to even respect life.
To those who criticise, I say: Remember the story of the pearl of great price. To you this may be of no value, but to those who recognize the value, we are willing to “sell everything and purchase the field” – in other words, we will use our energies, talents and, boosted by our faith, work to clean off and present the pearl for all to see.
Chris,
In our conversations you have said that you want to keep BFA away from editorializing, maybe you should reconsider.
A post like this is important. People who read BFA should see more.
Steve
Mine’s the same story. My entire family lived in the area by the Terminal way back when, the last ones only recently selling out or dying off. I appreciate everyone’s efforts and wish I could do more to help.
Ron,
I’m with you, but to blame the Fillmore District Council Member for the condition of properties in the neighborhood is waaay off base. I’ll sit down and have a coffee with you and explain why if you’re game.
Andy Golebiowski
Andy didn’t you work for the Fillmore District Council Member?
If you don’t think the Fillmore District Council Member shares in the blame, then you must be wearing blinders.
How long has he been in office? The time has been equal to the district has fallen the most.
Yes I did, Thomas, and proud of it.
If you only knew how much effort we put into legislation, chasing slumlords, routing unruly tenants, haranguing the city to take care of it’s own properties, funded worthwhile projects, pushing for demolitions where they were really necessary, getting the administration to do their job and on and and on…
The only powers a Councilmember has is to pass a budget and write laws. Do you have any real suggestions about budget items or legislation that would help the neighborhood that haven’t been tried already ?
I can’t turn back the clock to when I worked there, but I would have invited you to work in the office as an intern to see what really went on on a daily basis.
Andy Golebiowski
I have written this somewhere on B-F-A before, but B-F is way past the blame game. Blame isn’t going to solve problems.
Amen, Chris. Blame is a salve and a sabre; never a move forward, nor a vehicle for healing.
Chris: I live in Nutley, N.J. My mother was born and raised in Buffalo before she married my father and moved to New Jersey. Many of her family members still live there.
We visited Buffalo all the time when I was a little girl, and I loved it. I have been back often since – and while seeing the neighborhoods go downhill in some places just breaks my heart, I applaud anyone and everyone who tries to restore them and bring back some of what was there. I was also back at St. Stan’s not long ago. It’s so beautiful, and my parents were married there, too!
Keep up the good work, don’t listen to the Doomsday folks! I love Buffalo and my family, and I always will. I have wonderful memories. God bless you and so many others for your efforts in keeping them alive.