The late founder of Record Theatre is being honored by the City of Buffalo. A section of Main Street, near the original store, has been named Leonard "Lenny" Silver Way.
Dozens of people, including family and friends, gathered at Main Street and Lafayette Avenue Friday morning for the trailblazing sign's unveiling. Silver died in March at the age of 90. The Main Street store closed this past summer after 41 years in business.
"You know a state can only be as great as the people who live in it and, clearly, Lenny Silver was one of those great people. Not just because he was a good man but because he was a good businessman with persistence. And he stayed a long, long time, doing business in a community that some had forgotten," said Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes.
When the store opened in 1976, Silver billed it as "The World's Largest Record Store." Common Council President Darius Pridgen said Silver brought national and international attention to the city.
"Before there was a resurgence of Buffalo, New York, there was a man who believed in Buffalo, New York, and located [what] is now a historic building in the City of Buffalo right here on Main Street," Pridgen said.
Honoring Silver, Pridgen said, "was a no-brainer."
"It should have been done years ago. I wish we could have done it while he was alive."
