The upcoming Mayoral election comes at the conclusion of an unearned fifth term from former mayor Byron Brown, now being served out by Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon.
We need a Mayor who can take the lead on longstanding challenges that face the city of Buffalo, leading from the front row and not just from glad handing and ceremonial ribbon cutting. One of many issues Buffalo’s next Mayor will have to contend with is the internal battle for the future of Humboldt Parkway, courtesy of the same political cronyism that everyone is tired of. Addressing the disconnection between a growing public desire to restore a historic parkway and the political reluctance to let go of an unpopular expressway will serve as an ethics test for a present-day Democratic party that can no longer afford to alienate itself from its own voters.
We need a Mayor with a solid understanding of the city’s legacy, who will bring the Restore Our Community Coalition and the East Side Parkways Coalition together on the common goal of restoring Humboldt Parkway. The path to this resolution must provide clear answers to the following questions:
Why should Buffalo continue to torment itself retaining an expressway that has only ever plundered local resources from the time it was built?
Present-day political leadership fails to acknowledge separate studies confirming poor air quality across the East Side directly surrounding the Route 33 expressway that has created long-term health threats among residents. Building a new three-mile tree canopy would be a naturally effective remedy, giving residents a green respite to improve their health.
Leadership also to acknowledge how dispersing traffic among East Side arterials (Kensington, East Delavan, Best/Walden, Genesee, Sycamore, Broadway, William) is the economic and environmental overhaul the city needs. Not only will this multi-faceted approach spur more economic development along these long-neglected corridors, they will also reinvigorate bus routes along these respective roads, giving city residents more access to public transportation options. In turn, this will eventually open the door to expanding Metro Rail to the Airport, a vital objective for developing a healthy transportation policy for Western New York. As per reporting from the NYSDOT, there are only 6,200 cars coming in and out of the city during morning and afternoon rush hours – not 75,000. But our political leaders do not know this, nor can they adequately articulate that, because they’re content with only repeating the NYSDOT’s own lack of informational transparency.
Leadership also fails to mention how even if the tunnel option ever came to pass, cars would need to utilize city street arterials anyway during the prolonged construction process, which would last up to five years. As far as the fears of carmageddon goes, that has already been disproven over the past decade from the 30 mph reconfiguration of Route 198. Despite DOT’s insistence that anything less than 40 mph would have been detrimental, the 30 mph configuration has not harmed the city’s traffic patterns in any way. It is a living example of how the human mind can find alternate travel routes when the time calls for it.
The upcoming Mayoral election comes at the conclusion of an unearned fifth term from former mayor Byron Brown, now being served out by Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon.
The complete Environmental Impact Statement that some leaders bemoan, yet is now legally required, is what Humboldt Parkway needs to generate the economic and environmental benefits that stakeholders are advocating for. Given how much of Buffalo’s history was sacrificed for promises that were never realized, why shouldn’t people advocate for the best possible economic and health outcomes for this revival project?
The Restore Our Community Coalition ignited public attention with an August 2015 March & Rally at MLK Park.
Leading up to last February’s court decision, NYSDOT put up an unconvincing defense at an October 2024 hearing, where they attempted to nullify Humboldt’s parkland status. Nowhere in that statement did they acknowledge how Humboldt was specifically designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to connect Delaware Park and Martin Luther King Park as part of a citywide park system. Nor did they acknowledge how the Hamlin Park neighborhood was built in the 1910’s as a testament to the quality-of-life Humboldt was bringing to East Side neighborhoods.
Neither the DOT nor anyone else would dare question the parkland status for Chapin, Bidwell, and Lincoln Parkways, all of which entwine West Side neighborhoods to Front and Delaware Parks the way Humboldt once did for the East Side between Delaware and Martin Luther King Parks. Even when considering the tunnel option, at no point did DOT ever highlight any examples from other cities (Seattle, Dallas, Phoenix) how it could have been feasible when concerns arose. Why then should we continue to trust the NYSDOT with their own judgement that puts cars above our health and livelihoods?
The environmental study for Humboldt is a time-sensitive requirement that needs a definitive timeline for its completion, and to that point, civic oversight to ensure that it meets the correct objectives for Humboldt’s revival. As of this writing, the DOT rejected a $100 million reserve for the Scajaquada project, coming two years after an extensive GBNRTC study concluded with substantial community input that called for its own EIS study. The project’s momentum was abruptly paused by the sudden dismissal of Brian Dold, a former Olmsted architect who was the lead voice for the Scajaquada initiative.
Why was the Scajaquada project stopped in its tracks and left to languish after gaining traction beforehand? How then do we know that the NYSDOT will not try to pull the same stunt with Humboldt’s EIS requirement, by withdrawing funding or delaying procedure from the next steps as they did with Scajaquada’s EIS?
Restore Our Community Coalition and East Side Parkways Coalition are community allies representing various walks of life who are fighting for the city’s future. The NYSDOT on the other hand, is a faceless bureaucracy that has shown relentless disregard for the city and its heritage for decades, by repeatedly overriding the city’s economic and environmental needs through their overwhelming chokehold on Buffalo’s transportation policies. They represent the governmental incompetence and indifference that has long frustrated voters from both sides of the political spectrum.
People want a green Humboldt Parkway that enriches the lives of city residents by reconnecting both sides of the pathway, by restoring air quality across the East Side, where children can play catch during the daytime, and where moms and dads can walk their sons and daughters to the Science Museum on weekends.
By now, our leaders must accept that the NYSDOT are friends of no one. The solution is clear: It is time to let go of the Route 33 Expressway in order to heal the damage and suffering it has caused the city.
By now, our leaders must accept that the NYSDOT are friends of no one. The solution is clear: It is time to let go of the Route 33 Expressway in order to heal the damage and suffering it has caused the city.
East Side Parkways Coalition hosting an October 2024 March & Rally, on the last surviving trace of the original Humboldt.
The journey for this project is a perfect example of why Buffalo needs a Mayor who can make a decisive endorsement for Humboldt Parkway’s full restoration. As a reflection of how the parkway bridges different neighborhoods through the heart of the city, our next Mayor needs to bring the Restore Our Community Coalition and the East Side Parkways Coalition together towards that common goal. That goal will need coordination among city and state leadership who will take time to read and understand reports and ask hard questions.
We need courage and resilience from within our communities to overcome any coercions or fear mongering against the Humboldt project. We need long-time residents to share more stories about Humboldt’s history. We need the Olmsted Parks Conservancy to speak up on the role they wish to take in a restored Humboldt. We need young residents to continue studying Buffalo’s history, and become active participants in block clubs, small business ventures, and community improvement projects around the East Side.
Our leaders cannot waste any more time shunning or antagonizing their own constituents. People are making it very clear from the current political climate that they want to mature from the internal self-sabotage of local Democratic factions, who are once again sinking viable candidates in the Mayoral race, and trying to pit residents against each other on Humboldt’s future. The question at stake is if our political leaders are preparing to leave us stagnant with economic and health inequalities for the sake of a status quo that has become increasingly unsustainable for the American public?
To anyone else tired of political cronyism and bureaucratic inertia, please call, email, or write letters to the Buffalo Common Council, Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes, and Governor Kathy Hochul to remind these leaders of the correct objectives for the Humboldt project that will keep the Environmental Impact Statement on track, and bring civic oversight to the process.
We need elected leaders who can read the room.