Good news came to Buffalo's East Side today. Nine projects in the community will be funded with $11 million through the Better Buffalo Fund.
The fund is part of Governor Andrew Cuomo's Buffalo Billion initiative. Friday's announcement took place at the Community Action Organization on Fillmore Avenue, a recipient of the grant, which will assist others to help spruce up properties in that district.
"Nate Hare from CAO works tirelessly to help families improve the quality of their lives and achieve self-sufficiency. The grant that his organization is receiving will assist seven commercial property owners along Fillmore Avenue from East Ferry to Martin Luther King Park," said Empire State Development Commissioner Howard Zemsky,
The funding will also help with the renovation of more than 200 residential complexes and a mixed-use building at East Delavan and East Ferry. Officials say want to redevelop areas along main streets and transit corridors to prevent sprawl.
"It changes the dynamic of people running to rural communities looking for greenspace. People are now running to Buffalo looking for land to buy on the East Side," said Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes.
"The new Buffalo is the entire Buffalo, not just part of it. It's the entire city, which includes the East Side."