Have You Heard of the Really Really Free Market?

Sorry, folks, if the organizers of this event had only applied for a permit or contacted someone from the neighborhood, they would have known the park is undergoing reseeding and other remediation this weekend.
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Guess that's why it's good to follow the rules and regulations and also contact folks in the neighborhood to see if they have any feedback or can assist.
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Johnson Park is in a heavily residential district and we have been working on getting some damage to the turf taken care of. There are many surface parking lots in the area that could be alternate spots. As well, since this provides a great many services to the Homeless, the City Mission has a large lot that would make it easier for those needing assistance without having to travel too far on foot as many have disabilities, as well.

If you've ever had a yard sale, did you really, really free folks know that the the first earlybirds to arrive are professional flea prowlers?
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One guy's junk is a pro guy's fortune.
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Dispite that, this sounds great!

...especially true if people are cleaning out grandma's old attic...

Yeah, but the festival gets permits, right?
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That's why they should have gone through the proper channels. Everyone else has to. They would have known work was being done.
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Make sense?

And - one other important note - if they had applied for a permit or contacted the neighbors, we might have been able to change the date for the park remediation.
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It's called courtesy.

I think its a fine line between positive community participation and "place ownership," and the need for control. Courtesy to contact people in the neighborhood yes, but again the neighborhood organizations are not the mob. Johnson Park is "your" park, but its not YOUR park.

As stated before, had the "organization" contacted either the parks department regarding a permit that the neighborhood has to get to hold an event like this or even the neighbors, they would have known:
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1 - That there is reseeding going on this weekend
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2 - That you need a permit
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3 - That they need to consider the residents of the park that may have certain needs - like the three residents currently going under medical treatment for cancer and their need for quiet (heard there might be music)or
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Question - What if another group had applied for a permit for an event on this same day? They would have gotten it and there would be a conflict similar to the one here, except we didn't need to have a permit to work on making the park better after damage done to it when another group used it for a staging area when the trees were planted on Delaware.
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We attempted to make contact through the Craig's List address and asked about the permit and who they were. Even in this article, no one is mentioned as a point of contact and they did not provide that information when they wrote back.
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There is no permit for this event. Had they applied for one, the parks department could have checked to see if we were going to work on the park this weekend and made an attempt to reschedule their event.
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In their national website they mention something along the lines of not working within the system - not good advice.
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And, all those who are shaking their heads - why not contact the group now and offer your space? C'mon - put your heart where your mouth is.

Yeah, how about the neighbors at Days Park or on Bidwell let them have the market there? How about Niagara Square or Lafayette Square? At least with Niagara and Lafayette Squares, there aren't houses so close. What's so wrong with people trying to keep their neighborhood clean and nice? Who is going to clean up after the market if they don't? Is that why they didn't get a permit or leave their names? Why the freaking secrecy? If they're trying to help out poor homeless people why did they advertise on craiglist? How many homeless have computers? The idea to have this at parking lots like churches or City Mission is the best one yet.

It sounds like everyone is making a big deal over hypothetical circumstances. I say let them try it and if it works great, and if not don't let them back. Also if you don't like noise or people around don't live downtown. why don't you offer to help instead of telling them it won't work?

These types of things are so weird. When I first attended the plant swap at Urban Roots, I brought some night blooming cirius plants expecting I could trade with someone else, but that is not how it works. I found out that you just put what you have in the pile and take whatever you want. I set my plants down, which were taken immediately, by someone who may or may not have brought anything, and doesn't even need to. I ended up taking some things, but felt pretty weird. This year at the swap, I saw prowlers, driving by slowly, looking to see if anything good was there, but it was better for me this year, because I took out this huge stand of day lilies I was glad to be rid of, and knew someone would use them, and I didn't expect anything in return, and if some professional retail plant shop is casing the plant swap to make a buck, I will let karma or (aphids) take care of them.

Let's try to clear things up:

--Organizers have failed to contact the neighborhood residents and association in a reasonable amount of time prior to the event. They were going to go today, Thursday, to distribute fliers and talk to neighborhood residents. It is indeed a courtesy to discuss the event with neighborhood and discuss relevant issues.

--"Proper channels" are often unnecessarily bureaucratic and restrictive. Requiring residents to acquire a permit to hold an event in a public space is authoritarian. Members of the neighborhood are the most affected by the event, and should have the most say in what is happening.

--There may be a website providing information about what the Really Really Free Market is, but there is no official organization. It is an autonomous event; people are free to organize, associate and participate however they like.

--the Johnson Park Neighborhood association emailed organizers from the Buffalo Free Market, but did not continue dialogue when organizers replied.

--there is no secrecy; again, this is an autonomous event. A group of people fairly transparently decide a time and a place, everything else is up to participants.

--this is not a charity event. It is not intended to just give stuff to homeless people. It is a community-building event whose aim is to have people freely associate, cooperate and share. Some people choose to bring more, some people choose to take more, in the end everyone benefits.

--organizers respect the needs and desires of neighborhood residents. The park will/would not be left in disarray.

One idea to remedy this situation is to move the event to a location very close to Johnson Park. Alternate locations are currently being scouted. Lafayette Square seems like a good alternative. Another idea is to reschedule the reseeding. This may be an inconvenience, but the Free Market can be used to recruit volunteers. Several people have already offered to help reseed after the event.

If anyone--especially neighborhood residents and Johnson Park Association members--would like to discuss this further, please email the Buffalo RRFM at

BuffaloFreeMarket@gmail.com

Mr. E:

Why not just move the event into Lake Erie. Its free just like air and no permits required.

From Mr. E:
--"Proper channels" are often unnecessarily bureaucratic and restrictive. Requiring residents to acquire a permit to hold an event in a public space is authoritarian. Members of the neighborhood are the most affected by the event, and should have the most say in what is happening."
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Response --Sometimes laws are good things. If they're bad, it's up to us to attempt to affect positive change. However, if you were to apply for a permit, the Parks Dept contacts us regarding any events to assure no overlap such as this.
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From Mr E:
--"the Johnson Park Neighborhood association emailed organizers from the Buffalo Free Market, but did not continue dialogue when organizers replied."
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Response --Actually, Mr. E,. the Johnson Park Restoration Fund emailed the Market folks on 6/2 at 5:43 pm when a new neighbor said he saw it on Craig's List. The Market folks replied on 6/3 at 3:18 pm and did not address the permit query and did not provide additional contact information. Clearly, we all know anyone can create an e-mail address, that's why we responded on the same day at 8:35 pm. Here's the text --
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"Thanks for writing back. One question you hadn't answered was if you obtained a permit for the event. As the neighborhood organization, even we have to when we have events on the park.
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Also, we would like further identification of who you are and how to contact you beyond e-mail if there is any damage to the park. You see, we are working on a $500,000 park remediation with education programs for kids, public classes for all ages (T'ai Chi, botany, etc.) and adding a running track for local schools and others throughout the city. We have also worked very hard along with a number of organizations including the city, county and even State Police in reducing the crime and drugs that once took over the park, so we have a great deal of interest in maintaining the integrity of over five years of work.
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To be honest, we're a bit concerned that no one from your group even attempted to contact any of the neighbors on this one-block street regarding your event. We could have helped - even donated items.
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So, please, consider sending us further contact information and the number on your permit for this event."
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Now, Mr. E., guess who didn't respond? The Market. I guess that's why we're very concerned. The transparency you speak of does not seem to be there. Do you understand?
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As far as rescheuling the reseeding, we depend on a number of folks (volunteers and professionals) and their schedules. And, it has to be done now. I really don't want this to sound stuffy, but this is Buffalo's first park and it's on GardenWalk each year. The folks who tend to it are very diverse in age, backgrounds, economics and more and it's a point of pride, not only in how the park looks, but how the neighbors, many of whom never spoke to one another before, living in single-family homes, Section 8 Housing, speaking different languages, have come together. We even had some kids from the apartment building "decorate" one of the Victorian Gardens with rubber and ceramic ducks and cars and trucks just before last year's Garden Walk - and the toys stayed where they placed them. It took well over five years to make the park safe for kids to play in - the same kids whose families depend on public transportation to get to a parklike setting. We hide chalk and little toys here and there and sit back laughing when the kids find them and put them to quick use. No, this is more than a residential park, it's a release and a safe place for urban kids to seniors - finally.
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One other thing that struck us as odd was the ascertation that the Market couldn't contact us before. All you have to do is Google "Johnson Park" and well over 10 pages of links come up along with contact information.
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And that's why we're concerned.

All the talk of bureaucracy and restrictiveness sounds like a convenient way of saying "we are lazy and inconsiderate" - courtesy seems to be another common theme here... as in have some courtesy before having a swap meet in someone's front yard...

Amen MR! The idea that getting a permit before you bring hundreds of people to a public location in a residential area is authoritarian really overstated and I would even go as far as to say common sense.

Keep up the good work in the park!

Not nihilists. Anarchists.

What a great concept, an event for the community by the community. I hope that everyone understands how great this could be.

Just an FYI, we cancelled the reseeding last night and a woman came up to us in the park - introduced herself - yes, a face and a name - something we requested before.
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So, we said, okay, just keep the swap along the Hutch-Tech side. They're out there now.

Ya know, all we asked for was transparency. So, when a woman came up to us in the park this morning and INTRODUCED herself, all was fine and the swap is on.
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That's what you do - introduce yourself and stop being so pseudo-anarchist.

Why pseudo? I'd bet the folks involved are actual anarchists. You know, they've been known to exist . . .

'cuz, Colin, when they get there, the mask is lifted.