Buffalo, NY (WBEN) The call to make Chippewa strictly for adults 21 and older is being made, some businesses along the district are in favor, but only if it's done right.
Jay Manno of Soho and Frankie Primo's +39 says this proposal has existed for the 27 years that Soho has been open. "It comes up every couple years," says Manno. "I'm for it if it's done correctly. One of the ways that we talked about it, and one of the compromises that we discussed, was maybe branding one night of the week, preferably Thursday night as college night, and branding it that way for the whole entertainment district. And then, obviously, 21 and up would be Friday, Saturday, special events, that kind of things." He says aesthetics is another part of doing it right. "Closing off the street in a manner that looks inviting, having the wayfinding signs, having the archways that say Chippewa Entertainment District, and doing it the right way like they do in other cities with their entertainment district. If you make it nice, you're going to get nice crowds," adds Manno,.
Chris Ring of Rec Room also supports at 21+ on Chippewa. "It's something that we've been helping push for the last basically four to five years in the district," says Ring, who says he's not anti-underagers. "We just think there's a time and a place. Even us at Rec Room, we house a little over 100 all ages concerts a year, but we do so with a 10 p.m. curfew. We just think that from that 10 p.m. on, we call it the witching hour, 10 to 4 a.m. Should be exclusive for adults." He says two shootings that have happened involved those under 21. "We just don't think there's a place for it. And the teenagers that we are seeing come down are not leaving. They just congregate on the sidewalks, they grab open containers, they do parking lot parties. They have no intention of basically patronizing any of the businesses, and all they're doing is really creating congestion, loitering, kind of creating some chaos downtown," says Ring.
He agrees with Manno that the easiest answer is controling the street. "Have two egress points, one on each side of Chippewa, Delaware, Franklin. You get ID to get on the block. We have private security help patrol the street. You either go inside a bar or unfortunately you have to leave. It's no longer a public sidewalk; it is a private entertainment corridor. We think that will eliminate 70 percent of the issues that we're seeing downtown right now," says Mannon.
Ring says an event he organized proved it can work. "We had an event on Chippewa called Home by 10, which is a dance party targeting the 30 to 40 year old audience. We sold over 2,000 tickets, shut the street down exactly like I'm saying, with entry points at each side, private security in the middle, police at the ends, and we had zero issues. And the thing that was unique about it was the average age was probably 45. I think people think of Chippewa as just a young person's spot to go to, and that may be the case 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. the late night hours. But proving the concept that when it can be done, it can be managed properly. People can get in and out of the district super easy. There's no issues, having people out in the street bar hopping just proves the point that a 21-and older district is something that can thrive and makes the adults that maybe have once you know abandoned Chippewa or thought it was just you know they were too old for the street feel a little safer and more comfortable coming back because they know they're not going to be in a bar with an 18-year-old," says Ring.
Buffalo PBA President John Davidson says it's going to be difficult to enforce anything that the restaurant industry isn't necessarily behind. "I'd be interested to see how they feel about the crime downtown Buffalo and what is pushing that crime, whether it's underage people or it's the parking lots or it's maybe derelict buildings. I don't know the answers to that, but I just know that it's a comprehensive problem, and I don't know if any one solution is going to solve the problem. But we're at the Buffalo PBA. We're all ears on people trying to find a way to come up with a solution to make the city of Buffalo safer," says Davidson.
when it comes to enforcement, Davidson says his force is already stretched thin. "I don't know how much more they even have at their disposal for a chip wall. And to enforce this, again, I think it would be more along the that would be on the the restaurant industry and the bar industry to maybe manage it because I don't know how we would enforce it without having to demand people tell us their age," adds Davison.
But not everyone agrees. Bottoms Up and Venu say the alliance bars and businesses in the Chippewa district are NOT for the 18+ ban and it was never even discussed with the majority of them. They say 22 business have signed a letter to the Common Council against it.
Manno says it has to be done right for it to work
Manno says it has to be done right for it to work
