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Image provided by: University at Buffalo
* ? Merchants suffer a. Businessmen recount mass transit obstacles of other major cities by Dan Holder Spectrum Stuff Writer hold-up in registration. Some men made comments about passing females. Once they cleared the sign- in desk, all similarities to students quickly were stripped away. These people were here to talk about their money. Big money. Inside the gold and yellow Embassy Room, the merchants got their coffee and sat down. Sitting behind the table and podium facing them were representatives from the Better Business Bureau, the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority (NFTA), the Department of Transportation and the Small Business Adminstration. Things are going to get worse before they get any better. That was the message area businessmen received last night at a seminar on the impact of construction of Light Rapid Rail Transit systems on businesses in other cities. The seminar, sponsored by the Buffalo Better Business Bureau, took place Tuesday night in the Embassy Room of the Statlcr Hilton. Aproximately 100 merchants arid tenants of businesses along Main Street paid ten dollars a ticket to hear the news. older Tuesday night’s seminar sponsored by Buttalo’a Better Business Bureau Merchants and bualnesamen heard about the Impact of the LRRT construction businessman dialogue, Stein advised the Buffalo community “Remember—Patience, endurance, and vision,” indicating the years of frustration during construction delays. dropped about 50 percent. It is now at my 1970 level.” he related. “But, my rent has doubled, because I’m near a subway location.” He went on to tell of the many businesses who“suffered and survived through the entire construction time, only to lose their businesses when the city tore down entire blocks of buildings for new construction. The contractors spent a lot of time and money underpinning buildings that later were torn down.” » After Stein’s talk, Baltimore businessman Stony Jackson addressed the audience. A Hollywood vision of the young, up and coming executive, Jackson spoke with a slight Southern accent. He owns a building located on a street being torn up for the LRRT. ‘‘You walk out of my front door, Decked out in three piece suits and severe dresses, the men and women waited in line outside the room, sounding like college students. They greeted friends and yelled at line cutters. Alot of gossip accompanied wondering about the Suffer and survive Following a short introduction by the NFTA Director of community Affairs Bob Winston, a clothes merchant in downtown Washington, Dick Stein told his story. Mostly a businessman to The small, middle-aged merchant told of the many difficulties encountered during subway construction, especially loss of customers. “Business for me has THC STROH MI WIRY COMPANY, DETROIT, MICHIGAN ® 1971 and you fall down a 90 foot hole. If they told me what to expect, I could have saved thousands. This trip will have been worth it, if 1 can save someone from going bankrupt.” Federal help Both men then fielded questions from the floor after their prepared presentations. Someone asked about relocation money coming from the Federal government. Jackson confessed that he didn’t know of any businesses getting money in Baltimore, while Stein told a different story. “They said we could recievc up to $25,000 in movirtg expenses, if the construction hurt the firm. I moved my women’s clothes section out to my suburban store, and got the $25,000. It cost me $75,000 to make the move.” The audience agreed it was important for local -businesses to meet the LRRT contractors, and discuss problems. “It’s important to go out and talk to him,” Stein confided. “Shake their hand, go buy them a cup of coffee. It’s easier to talk to the actual builder than to go through the contracting board.” Despite the atmosphere of gloom, both businessmen had notes of optimism. “The safest spots in Washington will be in the subway stations, the most dangerous are at bus stations,” Stein predicted. “We’re beginning to sec the light at the end of the tunnel,” Jackson added. As the questions ended, the professionals took over. During their question and answer session, New York State Department of Transportation representative Joe Tocke pointed out that the Washington subway construction, planned for 22 months, actually took 60. He then stressed that Buffalo has learned a lot from the experiences in cities other than the ones represented, including Toronto and Atlanta. /// y / ///. VS' S 7 “As soon as they get to the top, they've made their point... then they're going to drink it.\ As the speeches ended, and questions faded away, the meeting broke up in small workshops. There, merchants were able to question the experts one-on-one, bringing up the more personally related questions, these ranged from lawsuits against National Fuel Gas for property damags to the future of the Theater District. As the meeting died out, the merchants filed out one at a time, to return to their businesses in the morning, with their many uncertainties reduced to specific problems. For the real beer lover.
