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Downtown Buffalo is still trying to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Posted on by L. Dreeye
Downtown Buffalo is still trying to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — If you’ve switched from an office job to remote work during the pandemic, you’re not alone. But the shift in many cities, such as Downtown Buffalo, has resulted in fewer people on the streets, leading to a decline in foot traffic.

I have heard from many different voices in the city about this struggle.

Jay Manno

Jay Manno

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Like many restaurants, Frankie Primo’s +39 and Soho Buffalo owner Jay Manno has struggled with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I really had no choice. I have children, grandchildren, responsibilities. And, you know, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” he said.

Before the pandemic, he said, downtown was bustling.

“Well, I mean, we were both open seven days a week, all day, every day,” he said. “Because there was so much action.”

But he said that since the pandemic, Soho has eliminated dining and only opened on weekends for lunch and brunch.

“Frankie Primos, I’m very lucky. We had a really big lunch. We’ve been able to keep it open a lot more during COVID than anywhere else,” he said.

Dottie Gallagher

Dottie Gallagher

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Dottie Gallagher of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership said 20,000 fewer workers are heading downtown.

“The number of people coming into the city center has dropped dramatically, and remote work is part of that, but it’s not only affecting the buildings, where remote workers are losing culture and business and all that, but it’s also affecting all of these ancillary businesses. “, she said. “Sue’s World Deli and a decoration that those people can’t survive in and downtown can’t survive if it doesn’t have the traffic it needs.”

Lisa Hicks

Lisa Hicks

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Lisa Hicks of the city’s Office of Strategic Planning also spoke about the study during a recent Buffalo Common Council committee meeting.

“The situation is not recovering, the number of people returning to work is changing very little,” she said. “We don’t know if there will be a full recovery any time soon, and it’s not what we expected.”

Mitch Nowakowski

Mitch Nowakowski

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Fillmore District Councilman Mitch Nowakowski, who represents downtown Buffalo, said he has proposed converting vacant downtown office space into housing.

“If we can successfully transform them, we will be talking about long-term sustainability of the urban core,” he said. “If we’re going to make change affordable and actually get it done, our state representatives need to bring home the bacon in the next legislative session to make that change happen.”