Could the despicable shooting Saturday morning set back the progress made downtown over the last two decades? Yes, according to leading downtown developer and restaurateur Mark Croce. He says the Chippewa District is already in the midst of a slump and if safety issues are not addressed immediately, the hit to downtown’s office, retail, residential and entertainment sectors could be substantial and long lasting.
Chippewa, an attraction that introduced downtown as ‘fun’ and ‘safe’ to a generation of college kids and adults, laid the foundation for revitalization elsewhere in the central business district. Suddenly downtown living was ‘in’ and workers had a small reason to stick around after work. A livelier downtown became more attractive to businesses, particularly high-tech and start-up firms that typically have younger workers.
While this past weekend’s shooting happened in the 200 block of Main Street, Croce says the change for the worse along Chippewa has been evident for some time. In fact, he hosted a meeting of downtown bar owners several weeks ago to address some of the festering problems, anticipating the potential for violence.
Croce, with several entertainment district properties and businesses, has a lot to lose. He fears Chippewa could go the way of the Flats district in Cleveland. In that city, a once thriving bar and restaurant district on the edge of downtown is now just a shell of its former self.
The Flats’ demise was a combination of factors. Chain restaurants that anchored the district expanded to the suburbs no longer making the Flats a destination. In the early-1990’s, the City bought into a plan by the Wolstein family to remake and redevelop the Flats into a mixed-use neighborhood with office buildings, high-end condos and apartments. The mayor helped push out established businesses to make the way for redevelopment.
A melee at the 1993 Riverfest by groups of youth frightened participants prompting the annual event to be cancelled. The perception of the area being out of control and unsafe took a toll and snowballed. Perception became reality and as other neighborhoods became trendy, patrons went elsewhere. Wolstein’s project has yet to break ground and the Flats remain sleepy.
Chippewa’s future may lie in attracting a more mature clientele. Chippewa pioneer Mark Goldman’s recent decision to close his last two bars on Chippewa, Third Room and La Luna, may speed up the transition. The building’s future owner, a partnership made up of law firm of Kenney Shelton Liptak Nowak LLP and developer Angelo Natale, is expected to announce a replacement tenant for the space soon. Like remaining tenant Bacchus, the new tenant is likely to emphasize food over booze.
The main problem today, says Croce, is the younger crowd flocking downtown. Some are going to 18+ admission clubs while others are there for the ‘action.’ There’s been a high turnover of bar ownership and too many bars says Croce. With the over-saturation of bars, a few owners have attempted to cast a wider net by catering to underage patrons.
“I call them bad operators and there are a bunch of them,” says Croce. “They make more money serving the 18 and over crowd and are more interested in their short-term financials than the long-term success of the district. It has got to stop.”
Another major problem is the club promoters. “These promoters bring in their own security; it’s all about a money grab catering to the lowest common denominator,” says Croce. “Promoters that take a percentage of or all of the door charge are violating the law. The Mayor, Police Commissioner, clergy, State Liquor Authority, and the Governor’s office agree. These places need to change their ways or be shut down.”
“This is an adult entertainment district,” he says. “These kids have no business being inside or around these bars. The young crowd has forced out the older, mature crowd.”
The street has also been attracting loiterers not entering the bars, but cruising the strip “looking for trouble.”
“The issues have been brewing a couple of years,” says Croce. “I’ve been warning folks and here it is. Not enough was done in the early stages to curtail this activity. It’s a situation that is bound to fail.”
“We need a zero tolerance crack down on quality of life issues. There’s window popping, loud music, tinted windows, walking around with open containers, smoking pot, drinking in cars, and public urination- it’s one big street party for these young kids,” says Croce. “They come down for a free show and entertainment. Many aren’t even patronizing the bars. They often have nowhere to go, they’re unruly, rove in packs and are hard to control. They are also known to drink alcohol and do drugs in their vehicles wreaking havoc in some private parking lots.”
“It’s got to stop,” he says. “It’s absolute lunacy. We’re finally getting buy-in from the elected officials and community leaders.”
“We need to get rid of the bad actors throughout the city,” says Croce. “This needs radical attention. This isn’t only a downtown issue, it’s a larger societal issue.”
“The good news is that even after Friday night, we had a strong Saturday,” says Croce. “The problem is that it doesn’t take many of these events to lose confidence about safety. We need a strong response.”
Croce isn’t convinced a 1 a.m. bar closing time is the answer.
“This was random violence not related to the closing time,” he says. “It’s an attitude; it’s good people vs. bad people. From my perspective, I would consider an earlier closing time if applied countywide. It is a countywide law.”
One idea being floated is to change the closing time from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
Another initiative worth exploring is a moratorium on new liquor licenses in the entertainment district. The overall “pie” is getting smaller and this sometimes leads the weak operators to run their businesses in a less than responsible manner.
“We’ve worked hard to create a downtown where people want to live, work, and recreate,” says Croce. “They’re all intertwined. If you let the thugs take over you ruin it all. People understand more is at stake than just Chippewa. Ninety-five percent of the people are down here for a good time, the others are here to cause problems.”
Buffalo police are expected to have a stronger presence downtown, starting this weekend.
“We need the cops to be street cops,” says Croce. “Work to get the thugs off of the streets.”
“The good news is that the City of Buffalo really is still a safe and fun place to enjoy dining, entertainment, sports, nightlife and live theatre,” says Croce. “The Mayor and Police Commissioner are taking last week’s isolated event very seriously and have responded as quickly as practical to address the issues in an attempt to prevent this from ever happening again. I remain confident in Buffalo’s future and excited to continue to invest in this great city.”
Photos by Nathan Mroz.