Latest News

May 16, 2022

The New York Times: "The closing of the Tops market on Buffalo's East Side has created a 'food desert'"

By: Troy Closson | May 16, 2022 Across Buffalo’s East Side, many Black residents live in what is known as a “food desert” — an area with little access to low-cost, healthy selections. But when the Tops market opened on Jefferson Avenue in 2003, it helped fill a crucial need …

May 15, 2022

The New York Times: ""Nobody cares about us here': anguish and anger on Buffalo's East Side"

By: Troy Closson | May 15, 2022 They rallied at a Black Lives Matter demonstration on the concrete steps of a local park, calling for politicians to direct more resources to Buffalo’s Black residents living on the largely impoverished East Side. They tossed heavy bags of eggs, bread and water …

May 15, 2022

The Spectrum: "East Side community members mourn victims of racially motivated mass shooting"

By: Grant Ashley, Moaz Elazzazi, Kyle Nguyen, Kayla Estrada | May 15, 2022 Ten people were killed and three were injured in a racially motivated mass shooting at the Tops on Buffalo’s East Side Saturday afternoon. It was the deadliest shooting in Buffalo history.  Eleven of those …

May 15, 2022

The New York Times: "Gunman targeted Black neighborhood shaped by decades of segregation"

By: Anushka Patil| May 15, 2022 The high concentration of Black residents on Buffalo’s East Side — which the suspect in Saturday’s mass shooting said was his reason for targeting the area — is a direct result of decades of segregation and systemic racism, researchers …

February 3, 2022

WBEN: "Lawmakers weigh-in on call for community benefits agreement in new stadium deal"

By: Tom Puckett| February 3, 2022 When a deal on a new lease for the Buffalo Bills and new stadium is finally reached and announced, it will eventually make its way to the desks of Erie County and New York State lawmakers for review and approval. Without the details being yet known, some area …

February 2, 2022

WBFO: "Coalition calls for community benefit agreement tied to new Bills stadium"

By: Thomas O'Neil-White| February 2, 2022 A Community Benefits Agreement, or CBA, attached to a large-scale development project is an agreement that spells out what contributions could come back to the community impacted by the project. In Erie County, talk of a new football stadium for the Buffalo …

January 13, 2022

Buffalo News: "11 ideas Buffalo's Partnership for Public Good is pitching to improve the city"

By: Matt Glynn | January 13, 2022 The city of Buffalo should make more-productive use of the vacant lots it owns, said Jeanette Koncikowski, executive director of Grassroots Gardens WNY. "While the city has long evaluated repurposing ideas for its 8,000-plus vacant lots, they continue to …

April 26, 2021

PPG Announces James Baldwin’s America – A Reading & Discussion Series with Civic Educator Orlando Dickson

Are you interested in a space for thoughtful conversation on issues of race in America? Do you want to learn more about activist, novelist, and poet James Baldwin with like-minded, open-hearted people? Join us for our reading and discussion program on James Baldwin’s America, gathering four …

September 21, 2020

Ten Days Left to Complete the 2020 Census

There are ten days left to complete the Census at 2020census.gov. Happening once every ten years, the Census determines the demographics, funding and resources, and political representation for where you live. Do you want well-funded libraries, Head Start and free school lunches for kids in …

September 18, 2020

2020 Census: Tell us why you count!

Communities that don’t get fully counted in the 2020 Census will miss out for the next ten years. The Census counts. So do you. We're sharing a 2020 Census chalkboard on social media to spread the word that everybody counts. Tell us why you count, and why you've completed the …

August 4, 2020

Buffalo Common Council District Fact Sheets Now Available

While Census data is available for congressional districts, the U.S. Census bureau does not publish data for local political boundaries. We tried to fill this gap by creating a set of nine council fact sheets outlining key data for each district. This includes demographics, …

May 19, 2020

Mapping COVID-19 Cases and Other Local Data

While COVID-19 has impacted our entire region, according to recent testing data, it is hitting some areas harder than others. According to national and local research, COVID-19 has also affected certain populations of people, such as black and African American populations, more severely than …