Slaughter Sees A Market Ripe with Promise

Buffalo News

By Mary Kunz Goldman

It’s one of Buffalo’s smoldering economic questions: Should the federal government invest $140,000 in ham bones and chicken feet?

To put it more politely, was it a good move for Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, to secure $140,000 in federal funding for the dilapidated but dear old Broadway Market?

Like many fans of the 115-year-old market, the congresswoman stopped in the Broadway Market and fell in love, not only with the place’s history and community spirit, but with its convenience.

“The Broadway Market’s best asset is parking,” she said, grinning. “Thirteen hundred indoor spaces!”

A year after the money came through, Slaughter is seeing the first fruits of her efforts. Spiffy forest green awnings adorn the front of the market. Banners on surrounding streets proclaim: “Broadway Market Village.” The NFTA has jumped on board, donating ad space on buses.

Next, the market will have a sparkling new kitchen, one that will enable guest chefs to give cooking demonstrations. “I’ve been talking with Buffalo’s top restaurateurs,” Slaughter says. “I want shoppers from Cheektowaga, Amherst and Williamsville to come here.”

The congresswoman is having coffee at Perison’s, the Broadway Market diner she says serves the best mushroom soup in the world. It’s around noon, and the market is seeing its usual modest lunch crowd. Few of the 1,300 parking spaces are occupied.

Slaughter wants that to change. With her bright purple jacket and loud Southern drawl, she’s like a one-woman jolt of energy.

“She’s a go-getter,” agrees Jim Malczewski of Malczewski’s Poultry, a longtime market mainstay that sells everything from rabbit to fresh butter.

“We’re holding our own,” Malczewski adds, “but we need more people here.”

It’s easy to grasp Slaughter’s vision of a rejuvenated, food-focused Broadway Market. Out would be the porcelain pigs and busts of Elvis. In would be ethnic food, specialty food, kitchenware and more of the meat, produce and baked goods the market has always been famous for.

“I’ve been talking with farmers,” Slaughter says. “I want fresh flowers here. I want this place hustling and bustling.”

Can it be done?

In the grand arena of government spending, $140,000 is a modest amount. Still, some people might say it’s a waste. Do most folks bother with the Broadway Market any more, except at Easter?

But Slaughter sees it a different way. Every Easter, she points out, 260,000 people visit the market. “That means they come not just from Buffalo but from the whole region,” she reasons.

She adds that a study commissioned by the Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s Project for Public Spaces suggests that the Broadway Market, with the proper attention, could pull in $10 million a year.

Other cities have made old markets new, revitalizing ailing neighborhoods. Richmond, Va., resuscitated a downtrodden part of the city by building up its 17th Street Market, which goes back to the 18th century. Seattle scored a coup with its hip Pike Place Market. “That area was a total dump,” says Susan McCartney of Buffalo State College’s Small Business Development Center.

McCartney, who has been working closely with Slaughter, counsels the Broadway Market’s potential and current vendors. She’s very optimistic.

A simple game plan could work. Fill the Broadway Market with merchants who have solid business plans and good value. Increase the security presence. Continue improvements already in progress.

After that, we can move on to Slaughter’s bigger dreams—which include a wine cellar in the basement, parties on the roof and a Web site hawking Broadway Market specialties like horseradish and duck soup.

The recipe has worked in other cities. It can work here, too.