Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - While there isn't much traffic of late to see billboards along area highways, some new billboards may be grabbing more than the attention of drivers as they go up along the I-190 and Route 33 Monday.
"RE-OPEN NEW YORK" the billboards scream out. "Cuomo/Hochul/Poloncarz Have Failed us."
The signs are the result of a GoFundMe effort organized by Timothy Walton. More than half of the $6000 goal to fund the billboards has been raised and signs were going up late Sunday.
Walton is a landlord and a previous small business owner. "We put up the gofundme and within six hours, we funded the whole campaign with billboards on the 190 and 33. We're over the goal - but as long as it gets funded , we'll keep it up longer or get a few more billboards," he said.
Walton says some business owners feel they're being left out in the cold. "When you put your whole life savings on the line, it's not about the inconvenience of staying home, its about not knowing if you are going to have anything to go back to."
On the GoFundMe page, Walton states: "Businesses are suffering and many people who’ve invested their life savings into their entrepreneurial dreams have been denied any support and freedoms to reopen. The leaders of NYS have failed us."