Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Friday was cause for celebration for many members of the East Buffalo community with the announcement of the $1 billion Kensington Expressway project getting the go-ahead from the federal government to move forward.
With official approval from the Federal Highway Administration, New York State has been given the green light to advance to the final design phase of the project, and potentially allowing construction to begin by the fall of 2024.
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However, there are those who oppose the transformative project, for one reason or another.
Some East Buffalo residents and activists feel the $1 billion dedicated to this project could be better utilized elsewhere throughout the community rather than going into Route 33 through Humboldt Parkway.
However, it's not as simple as just redistributing the dedicated money to other uses for the community. The money for this project is solely transportation money, which may not find its way back into the community if this project is squashed one way or another.
"To lose $55 million from President Joe Biden, to lose $1 billion from the State of New York that was hard fought for, and to lose the momentum that has been created in the energy of this community all because a handful of naysayers want to stop progress? No," said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul following Friday's expansive announcement with the Kensington project. "We've done this before. We in Western New York are notorious for letting the voices of a few dominate the will of the majority. I will not let that happen.
"It's not dedicated to any other project in Western New York. I have a shortfall right now, I have billions of dollars of capital projects that are high need. I moved this up on the list when I became Governor, because I understood the need and the symbolism of what this would mean if we could reconnect this community that was divided because of racist policies back in the '60s. I'm saying this is our moment, we must act now."
A significant push to get the necessary funding and resources for this massive project in East Buffalo has come from the Restore Our Community Coalition (ROCC). Sydney Brown serves as the new Chair of the coalition, and says this money for the project has been a product of 20-plus years of hard work and dedication.
"Those dollars, Buffalo needs to realize we are fortunate to be one of six cities that actually got these types of resources. There was a lot that it took for it to even come to New York State. For it to get to New York State and to not be in Downstate, to actually be in Western New York. We should be celebrating this," said Brown following Friday's announcement. "This is a time to celebrate, and not to be divided and trying to forget about a decade of people, community members advocating for this.
Brown knows the coalition has been actively pursuing all that has been needed in order to make this project a reality, and reconnect communities that were separated several years ago. She feels for anyone trying to shuffle the deck chairs with the resources allocated to this project, at this time, would simply be disrespectful.
"ROCC has spent more than 30 years formulating their list. We're going to the grocery store, so we're formulating our list, and we've got specific items that we know that we need and are beneficial. We don't have everything that this store has, but it's a starting point," Brown explained. "We are at the cash register, we don't have the funds for it, but now someone comes and says, 'You know what, I'm gonna pay your bill for you.' Now, instead of allowing somebody to pay our bill, they want to push us aside and go on their own shopping spree with only months of saying what they think is best. And what have they done for the last 20 years?"
Meanwhile, others feel the Kensington Expressway should not be reimagined in the way this project would make it out to be. They simply want to fill in the highway, allowing for Humboldt Parkway to return to its previous glory before the expressway was constructed.
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However, Brown knows there's a large amount of people who rely on the Kensington Expressway on a daily basis. She says filling in the Kensington Expressway will cause more harm than good, when it comes to congesting the region with even more traffic. This is especially the case for anyone who may be in need of medical care.
"You try to fill this in, you cut off the safety," Brown said. "We have a medical corridor, the Oishei Children's Hospital, if you need someone from, I'll say, the suburbs to get there and you have to try to navigate, let alone when traffic is heavier, minutes saves lives. And I'll say, I've looked at it because I utilize the 90 and the Kensington, and it's more than a five-minute difference, sometimes it might be two if there's not a lot of traffic. But when it's a lot of traffic, we're talking about 10, 15, 20 minutes. We don't want to cut off the life of people who need the medical center and hospitals that we have. It's not possible."
Brown says ROCC wants to be progressive and understands the changes in the community when it comes to all modalities of transportation. However, she says the volume of traffic now does not logically warrant filling in the Kensington.
Brown adds that most of the people who oppose this project don't look and act like those living in the East Buffalo, which frustrates her when people question the coalition on what may be best for the community.
The purpose of the Kensington Expressway project in East Buffalo has largely been geared toward reconnecting communities along Humboldt Parkway that were separated by racial urban development policies. While this project is not the be-all and end-all, Brown feels it's the start of hopefully something greater for the community as a whole.
"There is so much more that we need to do, and we need to unite," Brown said. "Since this is Black History Month, there's an African proverbs that say, 'If you want to go quick, you go alone. But if you want to go far, you go together.' Let's continue to go far, because we're gonna go together. Let's unite, break out of the silos and work. This is such an opportunity, a springboard for our community; it is a social justice issue, and we can really right the wrong, and the harms that the East Side of Buffalo - I'll say the Black community, in particular - has suffered from decades of disinvestment."
Brown adds it's not just the highway, as she also brings up redlining and other systematic programs that called the degradation and disinvestment on the East Buffalo community.
"Our education needs help, our children need help, the houses need help. There's funding for housing, but it's not enough," she said. "There's a Legacy City Project the City of Buffalo is leading out on to deal with 100 homes and 100 new hubs. It's just a scratch of the surface. Let's unify our energies, our research to demand. We got $1 billion, we probably need $10 [billion] more for the East Side to really be restored. Let's put our energies into those things."
Additionally on Friday, Gov. Hochul directed the State Department of Transportation (DOT) to commence a study this year on additional potential enhancements to further reconnect the community, all the way up to the Scajaquada Expressway and Delaware Park.
When it comes to what ROCC wants to see, Brown says it's the connection of Martin Luther King Park to Delaware Park, but understands it will all come in phases.
"Most people thought it was pie in the sky that this would never come to pass. And now that it has, now that there's money, now people want to say how it should be done. But it has always been a phased approach, because Olmsted, this part of Humboldt Parkway was the grandest of the parkways of the whole park system," Brown said. "And I'll say for ROCC and the community as a whole, there's other portions of the parkway system that were never developed. We want to see it all developed, but you've got to start somewhere."
Another purpose of this project will be the reintegration of green space in the Humboldt community.
While some may argue the capping of the Kensington Expressway will create concern with the emissions emitted at the end of the tunnel, state and federal officials say everything will remain well within regulations when evaluating the studies.
"This is not a negative to the environment. This plan that the commissioner has come up with, and that the community has agreed to is not a negative environment. In fact, it's making the environment better. Talk about environmental justice, this is environmental justice, for real for real," said State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes during Friday's announcement. "You couple environmental justice and economics in the same sentence, we have a healthier people and a wealthier people. We're going the right way with this. And I know they're gonna be still some challenges, I'm ready to take them on as well."
As for Brown, she says the return of green space in that community will improve a number of aspects to improve the overall quality of life for residents.
If you look, there's data that has proven, scientific proof that says green space - high blood pressure and other stresses that people of color have dealt with for centuries - as Frederick Law Olmsted's vision was, green space allows people to have a calming, relaxing space. Doesn't matter what your race, your complexion, your socioeconomic status. And also to be able to walk, exercise is beneficial for people," Brown reasoned. "With green space, trees will help with the carbon footprint, as far as oxygen and carbon dioxide, as far as the exchange. It's going to have a health impact. I can't say the degree, but I know it will be helpful.
"Also, just aesthetically. I'll say anybody, if you're in clutter, if you're in bars, things that are negative or have a negative connotation, it messes with your psyche. To be able to walk out your front door and to see a beautiful park, and also to be able to enjoy more green space. The backyards in front lawns of Buffalo aren't the largest, but they have green space right there that you can go and relax, and also meet with other community members. Community is more than just building, streets and infrastructure. It's really about the people, and developing the people and reconnecting those relationships. It's all about relationships, and this deck is just something that helps to foster that bridge and that gap that has been put in our community uninvited."