2015-J1598
LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION supporting the efforts of the collaboration of
people and organizations, the Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transpor-
tation Council, and the New York State Department of Transportation to
move forward with the project to cover the Route 33 highway, and bring
new investment and transformation to this east side neighborhood and to
the City of Buffalo
WHEREAS, Buffalo's East side was once a vibrant, lively, and thriving
neighborhood; and
WHEREAS, The Humboldt Parkway, a magnificent tree-lined Frederick Law
Olmsted-designed streetscape, once served as the connector of The Park
(now Delaware Park) and the Parade (now Martin Luther King, Jr. Park),
and was a neighborhood where people wanted to live and raise their fami-
lies; and
WHEREAS, The Humboldt Parkway was known previously to the east side of
the City as what Bidwell Parkway is now to the Elmwood neighborhood, a
grand place to live and a gathering place for the community; and
WHEREAS, The construction of the Route 33 highway ungraciously removed
this magnificent tree-lined streetscape and replaced it with a high
speed roadway, rudely dividing this thriving neighborhood, fracturing
the community, and ultimately precipitating the decline and disinvest-
ment of this area; and
WHEREAS, A collaboration of neighborhood associations, citizen groups,
residents, churches, and other organizations desire to see this east-
side community healed, restored, and transformed; and
WHEREAS, This collaboration of stakeholders sees the original
construction of Route 33 as the root of the problem, and the recon-
struction of the Parkway, by way of adding a cover to the "bathtub
section" of the highway, as a major step forward to bringing this trans-
formation about; and
WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to help transform
the City into a thriving urban area, with every neighborhood full of
life and known as a great place to own a home, go to school, develop a
business, and raise a family; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
support the efforts of the collaboration of people and organizations,
the Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council, and the New
York State Department of Transportation to move forward with the project
to cover the Route 33 highway, and bring new investment and transforma-
tion to this east side neighborhood and to the City of Buffalo; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council,
and the New York State Department of Transportation.