As we enter Holy Week, it feels like the whole neighborhood leans a little closer to its Polish roots. For me—and for so many Poles with family ties to Buffalo’s East Side—this week is something we hold dear. The Broadway Market runs, the Polish Catholic churches, the Adam Mickiewicz Library, Arty’s Grill, Dyngus Day Parties… these aren’t just places. They’re touchstones. They connect us to the people who came before us and to the culture they carried across an ocean.
We really are the keepers of that history.
People often talk about the East Side in terms of what’s been lost, but I see it differently. Poles from across Western New York should embrace the places in Broadway Fillmore that still stand as living links to our immigrant ancestors—reminders of where they came from and what they built. I can’t count the number of times I’ve sat in St. Adalbert Basilica, Corpus Christi, St. John Kanty, or St. Stanislaus and felt that depth, that continuity.
Our ancestors came here from Poland with hope and determination, searching for a better life. And in these churches, markets, and gathering places, you can still feel their presence—quiet, steady, and proud.
Please support Polish heritage sites on the East Side and around Western New York.
WESOŁEGO ALLELUJA!
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