Stay The Course, Community: Hope Is on the Way!
by Betty Jean Grant
Betty Jean Grant
On this cold, January morning of a new year and with a newly elected mayor for the first time in 20 years, this writer is hopeful that a New Day is in store for the city of Buffalo. Many people reading this will probably be surprised that I did not just focus on the East side of this city like I generally do. But in travel ling around the city, especially on the lower Westside, when I was campaigning for the Legislature, last year: I came across the same levels of dis investment, neglect and abandonment on the lower westside that residents on the eastside of Main St. have been subjected to for decades!
One only has to travel down the Ferry St. commercial corridors, from Bailey Ave. to Grant & West Ferry St. to see that the poverty, blight and the lack of a citywide, intervention strategy and a unified comprehensive plan to inject badly needed resources into underserved areas on both sides of Main Street has put the few remaining businesses on life support.
The businesses that made up the West Ferry/ Grant St. commercial corridor were healthy, successful and were thriving as late as several years ago. But with the closing of the McDonald Restaurant on West Ferry St., in 2023, and the loss of the only pharmacy in the immediate area, when Rite Aid closed all their Buffalo stores; the residents of that particular neighborhood are now experiencing what we East siders have endured for decades!
On January 1, 2026, a new mayor of Buffalo was sworn in as our next mayor for at least the next four years. Mayor Sean Ryan has an extensive background in neighborhood and com munity improvement initia tives that have improved housing affordability and access to homeownership opportuni ties. His tenure as a New York State Assemblyman and later, a New York State Senator in the state legislature, will also allow him to ‘hit the ground running’!
Buffalo needs a lot of Tender Lov ing Care if we are going to revitalize this city and improve the personal, economic and social conditions of all its citizens. We are going to need the support and cooperation of the entire city community and the other elected leaders, to help our new and capable mayor to turn this city around to a state of civic and financial well-being that will work for all that truly want this city to once again, thrive.
We citizens can help by forming block clubs and neighborhood youth assistance groups to help reduce crime and increase positive engage ment activities. We also can improve the level of political involvement by conducting voter registration drives, voting; or even running for public office ourselves if we are not happy with those, we have elected to repre sent us.