Buffalo Rising Online

Oct 4th, 12:03am By Eli George

Today from 10 AM until 1 PM stop by Urban Valet Dry Cleaners at 620 Elmwood Avenue to see what some might call a rare sight – a young person who cares about voting. 18-year-old Ari Goldfarb is setting up shop to get the word out – it’s important to vote. After signing up all the students he could in his high school, he’s hitting up the local business in an attempt to notch even more voters into his proverbial belt.

Christine Pyne is the owner of Urban Valet and was more than thrilled to allow Ari access to her store on Saturday. She says, “Michelle Goldfarb (Ari's mother) asked us to do it on Ari's behalf while he was in school last week and we accepted. I was all over it. They get all the credit for this idea. We want our neighbors to vote. Promoting voting is a no brainer - better leadership can only improve our city and our country. But Ari has initiative. That's the kind of energy found every day in Elmwood Village.”

Though Urban Valet takes part in a Pride every year, this is the first time they have had something like this for their neighbors and customers, and Pyne says that they’d be more than happy to do it again. The Goldfarbs have been faithful customers at Urban Valet for ten years and Pyne can not speak higher of them. “I wish I could clone them. The world would be a better place,” says Pyne.

She says that Ari’s mother is constantly involved with some program or another and is always looking to get donations to benefit one of the many organizations she helps out at. With a mother like that, it is easy to see why Ari would feel the need to spread the word. Hopefully he is able to get a lot of potential voters at Urban Valet, though he may find that many of the customers are already signed up. Whatever the case, Pyne says “I still want ALL to register. Everyone counts.”

It hasn’t been decided whether Ari will be in the store or in Urban Valet’s drive-up. Pyne says she will be giving him free reign on Saturday to do whatever he needs to do. So if you haven’t registered to vote yet and need a form, walk, bike, or drive on over to Urban Valet, meet Ari, and get registered before the deadline passes. For those who don’t know, to register by mail, you must have the application postmarked no later than October 10th and it must be received by a board of elections by no later than October 15th.