“It’s a big-time worry. There’s no leadership, no direction, there’s no one to basically manage it all,” said Peter Cichocki, president of Camellia Foods. “You need someone that’s a manager of retail operations like that to handle the situations down there.”
The situations include building maintenance problems, some of which have been left unfixed for an extended period of time, according to merchants.
“The front doors are still broken and they haven’t been repaired,” said Irena Woszczak of Broadway Opticians. “There are times when some basic toiletries are not supplied because we don’t have a budget. Basic cleaning supplies aren’t being provided regularly. Equipment that we do have isn’t being maintained and if it’s broken it’s not being fixed.”
Kerr had taken the role as executive director at the Broadway Market in January 2010, leaving the position that November. His contract with the Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corporation (BERC), which managed the Market, had expired that autumn. Kerr agreed to stay on for an extension but the City of Buffalo then dissolved BERC and with it Kerr’s position.
As sad as it’s for me to say it, maybe it’s time to consider closing the place down. I was in the Broadway Market last week and half the businesses weren’t even open.
The sad fact is that the place is a dinosaur. Like the dunosaurs, this place will soon be extinct. If we lived in a progressive region, a market like this would be thriving.
It could be so much more……if only our councilman would make it a priority.Once there is leadership I think the Broadway Market would blossom. There’s too much talk about having a market downtown. Make the Broadway Market a priority! The not for profit status could be re-established and grant money applied for to make the building more eco-friendly and promote local products. Promote having a “Local Only” shop that carries all the specialty items (soaps, pasta, jams, wine, crafts etc) that are sold during the busy Easter season. It would make them available all year long. Have a food fair…let people sample the wonderful foods available. Partner with a culinary program to offer cooking demonstrations, using local products. So much potential. It’s the oldest continually opened public market in the country. & we shouldn’t simply walk away from it.
Unfortunately Liz it is not in the hands of the Councilman. It is in the hands of the Mayor. The administrations reluctance to move forward in a bold decisive manner is a source of frustration for many dedicated individuals that are committed to the Markets reinvention. In fact Dave Franczyk seems to be one of the few true allies of the Broadway Market.
The inept mayor and the inept unesteemed member of the common council are at fault. WTF has Franczyk done? He is a career politican who sits on his hands until election time. He and the mayor need top go.
I believe Dave can push things along in the right direction. He’s not making it a priority. He’s too busy helping his friends with obscure projects & more not for profits.
Is this an opinion or do you have some facts to back that up?
In fact Councilman Franczyk has supported the market financially for years. In the last year and a half alone he pushed for the release of funds from a bond sale which resulted in over a million dollars dedicated to infrastructure improvements at the market. The actual use of that money however is up to the current administration. As far as “obscure” projects, please enlighten us with some specifics.
Someone gets thirty grand from the council president and then someone defends him to the hilt. As far as I’m concerned, someone has no credibility in defending the council president. Hackity, hack – don’t talk back.
The mayor, David Franczyk, and the so called leaders of reinventing the Broadway Market should be ashamed of themselves for what they have done to the market.
We had a manager who was making things happen who was pushed out the door by people who don’t have one single ounce of management experience. Look at the market now. I am look for a new location because I don’t know how much longer my business can survive here.
These comments are Buffalo in a nutshell. Everyone blaming everyone else without getting things done.