Buffalo Rising Online

Make sure to check out the video from local film maker - John Paget of pagetfilms.com - it's all about this amazing museum.

http://www.riverwired.com/video/urban-cyclist

Free market economics at work. Sadly, Buffalo is stuck in a perpetual "hand out" mentality where everyone wants someone else to step in and save them rather than saving themselves. When everything is predicated on a grant, tax incentive or other hand out, it really speaks volumes about this region's ability to take care of itself.

As for the museum, I believe my friend bought a vintage bike from the owner a few years back and he owns more than 40 bicycles himself (doesn't live here), some very historic racing, speed record and Tour bikes. But in his community, where cycling is very popular, they would have banded together with their own money to buy this museum, and it's a cold weather city like Buffalo so no excuses why more people here aren't into cycling. Buffalo lacks the private wealth to support cultural initiatives like this. Look at the theatre's having problem, historic problems with the BPO, etc. Things only happen with public taxpayer support, and it shouldn't be that way.

The ultimate deaccessioning...

It is too bad that we do not have the money to support this project. It is a loss and important, but there are still far more important things for us to focus on.

Are things that bad that people get excited over the prospects of a bike museum???

It's not too late, and it's hard to believe people aren't chipping in to save the bikes. If I didn't know better, I'd start wondering if maybe only very few people truly care in their hearts if the bike collection stays here. But I know that can't be, so there must be another explanation of this impending heartbreak.

If the 18,000 who go to just one Sabres game offered $225 each, there's $4 million. Can it be that WNYers care more about going to just one hockey game than about having a bike museum? Is that possible? Or if 70,000 attending a Bills game chipped in $58 each, that would be over $4 million too.

Come everyone, just $58 from 70,000 people. On Elmwood, you can hardly buy even a half of one upscale sneaker for $58. Puts things in persepctive. If some generous expats chip in, we can get it down to $50. That's less than six sandwiches at the beer store.

If it turns out people are just too greedy to contibute, isn't this something one of our governments should buy for us anyway? Isn't that what those are for? We don't ask for much. Please Mr. Collins, Mr. Brown, Mr. Paterson, Ms. Hillary. Please don't make us beg. We'll be good, we promise. We won't ask for anything else ever again - we swear! We're begging you to please not make us beg for these bikes. Please. We're begging. Thank you. Oh um also... hate to ask, but while we're on the subject could we also have a building to put them in? And some workers for it? Please? Just a few. We're begging. Thank you.

Paul - to get the contribution down to $50 each for 70,000 people here, we'll need a total of just $500,000 from whatever expats can help. That will all add up to $4.0M even. Please spread the word. Wow I feel like a community organizer! Hmmm, I wonder...

Jeez, I bet a bike museum would bring tourists from all over the world to Buffalo. Maybe they can build thge world's largest ball of twine next to it and have a tourist locatiuon that the whole world would be jealous of.

Dak - Hillary almost got $1 million of tax money for that Woodstock Museum last year. Doesn't this sound like four times as good a use of money as that would have been?

George's twine idea sounds good too. Imagine the potential catshow-tourism synergies. Anyone from Schumer's office reading this???

Maybe the Wendt Foundation could have used the money they wasted on a lawsuit to stop the $333 million casino/hotel development to keep the bike museum in Buffalo.

Snore, who cares. Noone goes to this anyway...let it go overseas and the guy on the right can laugh all the way to the bank...Good for him. His ass will be retired in sunny florida drinking Patron shots

way to go Sam Hoyt!

no one goes to it because it is in an obscure place in Orchard Park. Put it downtown in the harbor and it would probably get a much higher draw.

sbrof...$4million worth of visits? Highly doubtful my friend

Maybe it was rude of me to mock this whole thing, but really isn't it crazy to think something like this would be financially viable? With all the other issues going on - many nonprofits having money troubles, existing cultural orgs shrinking and struggling, county budget very shaky and state budget even worse, the area already very highly taxed... spending millions of dollars on a set of old bikes and a building to show them in would just be crazy.

If this guy wanted to as a hobby make his collection open to the public or donate a few to an existing museum, then fine. But it sounds like he wants to make money somehow. Selling them is the only smart way to do that. For QE to call it "our museum" in the article seems strange. The bikes are a private collection owned by Mr. Burgwardt, not some community property of Buffalo's. Wish him luck. It might have been an interesting thing if it happened to work out in some low cost way, but it didn't and hardly anybody will consider this a big loss to the area.

When I lived in Buffalo, took advantage of the beautiful summer weather and bicycled throughout the city....an exceptionally awesome means of discovering the architectural treasures, parkways and the waterfront potential! I can, therefore appreciate the passion for wanting to preserve another piece of Buffalo's history....and if I'm not mistaken, Angola once had a bicycle factory. In my humble opinion, it seems to me that any chance for the bicycle(s) to be kept in Buffalo would be to incorporate this element (bicycles) with another venue: i.e. the bicycles would be an element of a broader museum; a unique restaurant; the Main St. mall. In the mean time....there must be a creative means of "hanging on" to these treasures until the perfect opportunity comes along. There's certainly several people (either with money or know-how) in Buffalo that can keep your dream alive.....keep the faith!

the south bought a historic church, now the bike museum is on it's way out. has it gotten that bad that more than just people are leaving the area now?

Im with the skeptical party on this one.This is a private collection let him sell it if thats what he wishes to do. If he was a generous benefactor he could donate or long term lease this collection to the city for next to nothing and the city or a private group could arrange to find donations and locations to put together a museum. But to expect the city or private funds to purchase this grouping of bikes for 4 mil and then call the previous owner a good guy for keeping them in buffalo seems very silly.and the term museum is not appropriate for this mans intenttions is inaccurate at best. this is a bussiness enterprise first a draw for buffalo second.

Non-profit tax-exempt corporations get grants. Private individuals with private collections do not. That may be the start of the problem.