Just as important as strengthening the East Side’s healthy food offerings is providing safe and reliable transportation options. This includes bicycling. The East Side is not only lacking in bike amenities and infrastructure, there is also a dearth of bikes.
Thankfully Buffalo is home to the East Side Bike Club (ESBC – affiliate of the Buffalo United Front) – a non-profit organization that promotes inclusivity, safety, and access to a broader and more cohesive bike culture in an underserved community.
Organizations that comprise the Buffalo United Front are: The Family, East Side Bike Club, Friends of Broderick Park, The Fathers, and Enough is Enough.
One of ESBC’s newest initiatives is the opening of a Community Workshop and E-Bike Library. The purpose of the new bike-friendly hub will be to get more people riding bikes, so that they have another transportation option at their disposal. By providing a place where cyclists can have bikes repaired and serviced (through community workshops), they will have a healthy and reliable transportation option when it comes to accessing jobs and essential services. The hub will also offer a variety of bike related workshops throughout the year.
The bike shop builds upon more than six years of work committed to repairing donated bikes and distributing the refurbished bikes to families and neighbors in need.
Adding to the excitement of the hub is the addition of the region’s first E-Bike Library! Community members from the neighborhood can qualify to borrow an e-bike for free, or they can access a selection of donated bikes, which have been serviced and repaired. Prior to opening the Community Workshop element in a commercial space, these types of clinic oriented services were accessed via a residential basement space, which was operational for six years.
“Seven years ago there were no organized bike clubs based in Buffalo’s East Side,” said George Johnson, who heads East Side Bike Club and its parent non-profit organization Buffalo United Front. “Learning and sharing together, as well as finding ways of including folks is how we’ve grown East Side Bike Club to what it is today.”
The establishment of the East Side Bike Club Community Workshop and E-Bike Library was made possible thanks in part to funding from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Legacy Funds, administered by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. The E-Bike Library pilot program is supported by funding from the National Center for Mobility Management’s Community Mobility Ready-to-Launch grant program.
The opening of the new bike hub is the latest chapter in this East Side bike movement, with greater things to come down the road. A schedule of hours of operations will be announced soon. In the meantime…
Members of the East Side Bike Club (ESBC) invite the public to join them in a grand opening cookout at their East Side Bike Club Community Workshop and E-Bike Library, 1 PM, Saturday, June 4, 2022. The workshop is located at 1057 Kensington Avenue.
In addition to revealing the bike shop and the services it will provide, members of ESBC will be distributing groceries and household goods, collected in the aftermath of the May 14 Tops Supermarket attack, to local community members.
ESBC’s weekly Saturday 10-mile community bike ride starting and ending at MLK Monument Plaza at MLK Jr. Park will precede the grand opening celebration, departing promptly at 10:00 am. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.
Get connected: www.esbcbuffalo.com | East Side Bike Club’s (ESBC) E-Bike Library