Buffalo NY - Broadway-Fillmore Post Apocalypse

[benp]

No neighborhood in Buffalo fell harder or had greater population loss than the former Polonia neighborhood, centered near the intersection of Broadway and Fillmore Avenue, beginning in the 1960s through the early 2000s.

The history of the neighborhood goes back to the mid-late 1800s, when Polish immigrants arrived and settled in the area, as it was close to the stockyards, railroads, and factories that hired the tens of thousands, and had plenty of cheap "workmen's cottages" that provided inexpensive and available housing for the large and growing Catholic families. Broadway for decades became Buffalo's "Second Downtown" lined with shops and department stores, along with the bustling Broadway Market and dozens of Catholic parishes. The area remained firmly Polish for nearly 100 years, until the majority of Polish descendants began moving further east into nearby suburbs. By the 1970s and 80s, Buffalo overall had ceased to grow in population, and the older homes and neighborhoods saw fewer buyers, more poor tenants (primarily African American), and less maintenance on properties with as many as 50% to 80% of homes on some blocks becoming dilapidated enough to be torn down. This area is the closest to an "urban prairie" as Buffalo has seen (though not to the Detroit level).

But, starting just before 2010, the area began to stabilize as South Asian immigrants and families, primarily arriving from NYC, began moving in to take advantage of the extremely inexpensive homes (as low as $10k to $20k in the neighborhood around 2010) and built a community. Between 2010 and 2020 the population of the neighborhood grew by several thousand, with a couple of Census tracts north of Broadway the fastest growing in the city, and now majority Asian. The trend has continued in the 2020s, with new arrivals buying homes all over the city (though less than $100k is now rare), particularly the East Side, and opening new businesses nearly every day.

Broadway begins Downtown at Lafayette Square, and the "East Side" (or "East Buffalo") is roughly considered east of Michigan Avenue, which had been the traditional Black "Main Street" since the mid 1800s. The buildings at the corner of Michigan and Broadway date to pre-Civil War, and restoration of the buildings as Nash Lofts was completed in 2022.

View toward Downtown and Nash Lofts

Broadway Downtown by bpawlik, on Flickr

Nash Lofts

Nash Lofts by bpawlik, on Flickr

What is now the Broadway Garage (used for storage and maintenance of Street Department vehicles) began life as the Broadway Arsenal in 1858, expanded in 1884, and decommissioned in 1907 to become the Broadway Auditorium. Through 1940, it hosted political conventions, sporting and music events, including NBA and NCAA basketball, championship boxing matches, and hockey with the world's first artificial ice surface. After use as a barracks during WW2, it became used primarily as storage for city vehicles through today. This year the city sent out an RFP to developers interested in re-use of the building, with TBD responses to date.

Broadway Garage by bpawlik, on Flickr

St. Mary's Lyceum (built 1909) on Broadway. The adjacent church dating from 1848 was destroyed by fire in 1986.

St. Mary's Lyceum by bpawlik, on Flickr

Although most of the buildings fronting Broadway have been lost in the last 40 years, a few have been saved and restored.

Lost buildings along many blocks.

IMG_4680 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Ongoing restoration.

IMG_4678 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Restoration including new additions in comparable building styles for veterans housing.

HELP II by bpawlik, on Flickr


HELP II and HELP I by bpawlik, on Flickr

One step at a time, and with a garden.

IMG_4686 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4683 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Building from 1892 recently renovated and now occupied by local architecture firm.

IMG_4698 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Some restoration is just bringing old buildings back to a useful life, rather than preservation of the original design.

IMG_4702 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Sloooowly work beginning on this block. This is typical to what the blocks looked like 10-20 years ago.

IMG_4710 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Still waiting to see anything done.

IMG_4703 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Newer apartments (2020) constructed on the cleaned-up site of the former Buffalo Forge factory, which closed decades earlier. Townhomes are also being added to the back side of the block-large development.

IMG_4701 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4706 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Functional but not updated buildings along Broadway. Likely all floors are not usable or occupied.

IMG_4721 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Former Sattler Theater (built 1914) is undergoing a painfully slow and sporadic restoration and redevelopment process by a community based organization (that is always short of money).

Sattler Theater by bpawlik, on Flickr

St. Anne's R.C. Church (completed 1886) and adjacent apartments have been vacant since 2012.

IMG_4722 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4719 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4717 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Along this part of Broadway (closest to downtown) most neighborhood housing are either well maintained original homes (2 story from 1880s-1920s) or well maintained larger homes built after the 1990s on double lots. There are several vacant lots, and some of the infill recently has been attached townhomes or apartments. A few older homes are quirky.

IMG_4692 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4723 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4711 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Continuing east toward Fillmore Avenue are the neighborhoods that had the greatest loss of residents and structures, and also where the greatest numbers of new immigrants and others have commenced restoring and replacing a neighborhood that was once one of the most densely populated in the city.


IMG_4735 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4738 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4728 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4732 by bpawlik, on Flickr

St. Stanislaus Church (built between 1883-86) spires above a "telescope house" style home, which are ubiquitous throughout much of the East Side.

IMG_4739 by bpawlik, on Flickr

St. Stan's was and is the Mother Church for Polish Catholics in Buffalo.

IMG_4741 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4745 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4751 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4756 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4740 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4742 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Paderewski Street, just across Fillmore Avenue, leads up to the Central Terminal, which is currently undergoing major maintenance and stabilization, to be followed by extensive redevelopment that recently received state funding.

IMG_4760 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Fillmore Avenue has some completed and ongoing reuse and restoration, although there are several buildings that continue to remain vacant, underused, and neglected.

Torn Space Theater addition

IMG_4755 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Cigar Factory lofts - restoration and just completed new construction

IMG_4784 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Former library, now theater company

IMG_4783 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Former Schreiber Brewery building (built 1899), now being renovated and repurposed to house craft breweries

IMG_4774 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Random Fillmore Avenue

IMG_4765 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4767 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4777 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4768 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4775 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4781 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4770 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4771 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Not sure if this is a sculpture or served a purpose moving boulders.

IMG_4786 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Home on Wilson Street.

IMG_4788 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Wilson Street urban farm.

IMG_4787 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Transfiguration Church (built 1896) undergoing attempted remediation after seeing massive decay and damage. The parish closed in 1993, and church purchased for $7000 in 1995 by current owner.

IMG_4789 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4798 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Islamic schools are growing as South Asian families and others move into the area, and as former Catholic schools have closed.

IMG_4793 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Sycamore Street

IMG_4795 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Grand churches are often wedged among small homes on tight streets. Some former Catholic and Christian churches have been repurposed to serve other faiths.

IMG_4790 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4801 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Masjid Zakariya, formerly the Holy Mother of the Rosary Polish National Cathedral, built in 1904, and converted to mosque beginning in 1994. The Polish National Church was a breakaway group from St. Adalbert's R.C. Church that had disagreements, sometimes leading to violence, with the Roman Catholic Church in 1895.

IMG_4803 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4804 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4805 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4806 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4810 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Typical workers cottages on a mainly intact well maintained street, most dating between 1860 and 1900.

IMG_4811 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4814 by bpawlik, on Flickr

St. Adalbert Basilica (built 1891) - among the several churches built in the neighborhood by Polish immigrants

IMG_4815 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4817 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4818 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4820 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Former bakery on neighborhood side street.

IMG_4827 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Back on Broadway, east of Fillmore Avenue, many new businesses and services have opened up in recent years as the neighborhood is seeing an influx of new people.

IMG_4829 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Former Dom Polski hall now serves the entire community as the Matt Urban Center

IMG_4830 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Former department stores and warehouses have been converted to health care, offices, small business collectives, and community support facilities

IMG_4832 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4858 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4835 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4838 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4860 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4861 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4862 by bpawlik, on Flickr

A few more telescope houses.

IMG_4839 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4841 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4846 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4848 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Corpus Christi R.C. Church (built 1907-09) located near Broadway Market.

IMG_4840 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4854 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4842 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4853 by bpawlik, on Flickr

The Superman corner (corner of Clark and Kent)

Clark Kent by bpawlik, on Flickr

The Broadway Market has been a neighborhood institution since 1888, though the current building was built in the 1950s. The market has struggled for several years, and has been received state funding for upgrades in an attempt to increase the number of active vendors and customers. Most of its business occurs during holiday seasons.

Babcia's by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4863 by bpawlik, on Flickr

More inside the neighborhood


Dick's East Side Inn by bpawlik, on Flickr

Former Transfiguration Parish School (built 1914) now Darul Iman Academy for Girls.

IMG_4865 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4868 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4870 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4873 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4875 by bpawlik, on Flickr


IMG_4877 by bpawlik, on Flickr

Sign of a changing neighborhood

Sweet Madinah by bpawlik, on Flickr

end

[dc_denizen]

Very deerhunter

[EastSideHBG]

Nice!

[Coldrsx]

The amount of potential there is incredible and would be relished by almost any other city out there.

Are they doing any incentive programs to bring more investment and renovations?

[Wigs]

great posts as always benp Na Zdrowie!

Polonia, once one of the largest concentration of Poles besides Chicago
• Video Link

if you want to see more photos of how bustling Broadway Fillmore was (the end photo is sad of the last streetcar in 1950!)
My grandmother was raised in Fort Erie and used to walk across the Peace Bridge, get hit on by US border agents, take the bus to downtown or to Broadway and do shopping with her girlfriends. Then when she had a family would drive across the border and take my Uncle, mother and Aunt shopping to get goods you simply couldn't get in Canada even in Toronto at the time.
• Video Link

Buffalo once had one of the best streetcar systems in North America
https://skyrisecities.com/news/2017/...nging-fortunes

Coldrsx, the reason it looks so bad is because Buffalo (in its compact-by-North-American-standards 40 sq miles) went from 580,000 in 1950 to 261,310 by 2010. A staggering loss of 319,000!

Thankfully, the population is growing again. Buffalo grew for the first time in 70 years +17k thanks in part to many Bangladeshi families that have resettled the East side of Buffalo and former catholic churches have become mosques.
2020 population is 278,349 (Erie County grew by 35k!)

ps the Adam Mickiewicz library does have Polish books, but it's Buffalo oldest Polish social club c.1895 with a bar and a huge selection of Polish beers and liquor (at 1:56)
• Video Link
https://www.facebook.com/AdamMickiew...ramaticCircle/

Lastly, this 3 part series of a Buffalo city planner buying up one of the oldest bars on the East side to rehabilitate it once again is interesting
• Video Link

BenP also compiled many Google Streetview images showing the many improvements Buffalo has made in the past decade!
https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threa...733630/page-93 (post 1860)

[benp]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

The amount of potential there is incredible and would be relished by almost any other city out there.

Are they doing any incentive programs to bring more investment and renovations?

There are multiple incentive programs by the State and City, including historic tax credits, low income housing credits, and "Main Street" subsidies for storefront improvements. Even so, many property and business owners choose not to use them, and leave their properties vacant as it is difficult to profit due to high costs with rehabilitation and new construction.

With the influx of new people, there are few remaining vacant livable properties available in the area. Costs of new housing are at best double or triple market rate in the area, and the area has not attracted residents with sufficient income to afford them. Almost all of the new housing (completed or in work) in the area consists of subsidized apartments and townhomes, along with several conversions (typically vacant schools and a couple of former stores). Habitat for Humanity has also constructed multiple homes on several streets, and has also been involved in renovation of vacant damaged homes. The city has also partnered with some organizations to build concentrated groups of single family homes on nearly vacant blocks in an attempt to kick-start more development. These will be rented out or be available at below market rate to income-limited buyers.


East Side Infill by bpawlik, on Flickr


School 75 Conversion to Apartments by bpawlik, on Flickr

There are also 2 major big bucks activities that just received state funding (as an election promise), that may or may not help the neighborhood - investment in Broadway Market, and rehabilitation of the Central Terminal. Neither particularly "helps" the people that live there, so much as provide a draw to bring visitors to the community and spend more money.

FYI just a little further down Broadway past Memorial ("down the 'way") the street becomes much more sketchy, with more vacant and run down storefronts, and with daytime open air drug dealing and prostitution evident. The "good" news is that it has moved further away from Broadway-Fillmore, but there are still some elements of that evident closer to Fillmore (groups of men hanging out in front of storefronts, etc) that can affect some people's comfort level. The other "good news" is that many of the store fronts "down the 'way" are now also being filled with new businesses, and there are some new apartment conversion s occurring in that area also. The presence of large groups of South Asians in the area has certainly reduced the incidence and perception of crime in the area, which may help draw more outside businesses and people to the area.

[montréaliste]

That CORPUS Christi church is pretty impressive. There aren’t a ton of brownstone buildings of this scope around. The other churches are also notable.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

That CORPUS Christi church is pretty impressive. There aren’t a ton of brownstone buildings of this scope around. The other churches are also notable.

Most of the churches in Buffalo built by Polish immigrants are very impressive. While I haven't been in Corpus Christi I have been in the mother church of Polonia, St. (Stan's) Stanislaus.
It was about 15 years ago for a 'Doors Open' event. The friendly organist gave me and my friend a tour and told us that the stained glass was insured for over $1M USD. and then he left us "sorry guys, gotta go. The BIG show is about to begin" (Buffalonians usually have a great sense of humour)

If you're interested in church architecture, a former Buffalonian did a photo tour of most if not all the prominent Buffalo churches.
https://pbase.com/kjosker/churches&page=all

One of my favourites is St. Casimir in "Kaisertown" formerly a heavily German neighbourhood that quickly turned Polish with the waves of immigrants in the late 1800s.
https://goo.gl/maps/wuab6G5recWTwTbZ6

The most impressive is Our Lady of Victory. Father Baker received donations from Catholics across the globe to get it built. (video is a bit too fast w/the drone)
• Video Link

[benp]

I realized I didn't include any images from the actual corner of Broadway and Fillmore Avenue, so here are a few:

The former Union Stockyard Bank (corner, built 1909) is long-time vacant but owner has been maintaining property.

Union Stockyard by bpawlik, on Flickr

Former department store has been scheduled to begin conversion as soon as this fall to apartments and first floor commercial/other.

Neisners by bpawlik, on Flickr

Southeast corner includes low income apartments on upper floors.

SE Corner by bpawlik, on Flickr

Sign of changing neighborhood demographics.

This & That by bpawlik, on Flickr

Former Unia-Polska (now a church), and Welcome Wall on Fillmore

Unia-Polska by bpawlik, on Flickr


Welcome Wall by bpawlik, on Flickr

[geomorph]

Fascinating to see the various conditions the churches are in.

[xzmattzx]

Great pictures and coverage of the neighborhood and building history! I love photothreads like this!

I covered Polonia about 15 years ago, right around the nadir of the neighborhood. I happened to cover it on a cold, rainy April day, so the pictures were extra grimey, and the market was open for Easter purchases and decorated with pussy willows.

St. Adelbert's has the distinction of being the first minor basilica in the United States, getting that distinction in I believe 1901. So the church plays a huge role in American Catholic history, although no one really realizes it (even in Buffalo).

I remember reading about the Broadway Garage somewhere and seeing that it had the first artificial ice surface anywhere. There's another building where even people in the area don't realize what kind of history is around.

[benp]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Great pictures and coverage of the neighborhood and building history! I love photothreads like this!

I covered Polonia about 15 years ago, right around the nadir of the neighborhood. I happened to cover it on a cold, rainy April day, so the pictures were extra grimey, and the market was open for Easter purchases and decorated with pussy willows.

St. Adelbert's has the distinction of being the first minor basilica in the United States, getting that distinction in I believe 1901. So the church plays a huge role in American Catholic history, although no one really realizes it (even in Buffalo).

I remember reading about the Broadway Garage somewhere and seeing that it had the first artificial ice surface anywhere. There's another building where even people in the area don't realize what kind of history is around.

Its unfortunate that your images are no longer available on your old post (looks like it was in 2011). Around that time certainly seemed to be the nadir, as the home demolitions peaked in the first decade of the 2000s but were mainly over by then. Today, nearly all of the remaining homes in the neighborhood are occupied and well maintained, with dozens of new businesses, services, and places of worship re-filling vacant properties, especially along major streets like Broadway. Whether the momentum can continue may depend on increasing the available of residential properties, especially small single- or multi-unit infill on existing residential streets. A few such projects are in work, but there are hundreds of vacant lots awaiting cost-effective plans for use.

[north 42]

I’m getting a lot of Detroit and Hamilton vibes from this thread, definitely my kind of city.

[benp]

Neighborhood changes continue...


St. Anne (1886) by bpawlik, on Flickr

It was reported in the Buffalo News today that a group associated with the Buffalo Downtown Islamic Center has purchased the former St. Anne's Catholic Church, school, and convent, with plans to convert into a mosque and Islamic center. A former rectory at the complex that was converted to apartments in 1993 also was being sold to the group in a separate transaction, according to a diocese statement. Downtown Islamic Center plans for the neighborhood include an Islamic school and college for as many as 3,000 students, a shopping plaza and a Muslim funeral home, according to the organization’s website.

Per the News: “The rest of the property is normal vacancy disrepair,” said DeCarlo. “None of the buildings is in terrible shape. In fact, they’re all in really nice shape, so it’s just a lot of cosmetics, a lot of delayed maintenance that has to be caught up on.”

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/m...home-top-story

St. Ann will be at least the third Catholic church in Buffalo's East Side to be converted into a masjid, or mosque, for Muslim worship.