Neighbors rid drugs from Garden Walk area

By Jeffrey Mayne
Bengal News West Reporter

               As temperatures continue to rise and memories of a frigid winter fade, Western New Yorkers have started to anticipate Garden Walk Buffalo, an annual event that highlights the city’s unique architecture, community, culture and nationally-renown penchant for gardening.              

               But just beneath the surface you will find a narrative of camaraderie teamwork and determination that galvanized the once-struggling Cottage District to blossom into one of the walk’s must-see destinations.  The Garden Walk takes place on July 25 and 26.

                 In 2009, residents of Summer and York streets found themselves engaged in a battle as multiple drug houses threatened the current and long-term vitality of the neighborhood.

                 Playing a part in the turnaround has been Manhattan native Ellie Dorritie, a retired postal worker who owns one of the Garden Walk’s featured properties just off the intersection.  Dorritie was among the first participants in 1995, just one-year after originator Marvin Lunenfeld gathered a handful of his Norwood Avenue  neighbors to tend to their gardens. Over the years, other Cottage District residents started planting and beautifying the landscape before unifying to drive drugs out of the neighborhood.

          After observing drug houses operating within the community, the epicenter being what residents refer to as the dairy building at the intersection, neighbors collectively activated the dormant Cottage District block club. The building carried a reputation for illegal activity through apartments in the front and both flanks.  Richard Potwora, who joined the neighborhood-wide effort to mobilize the block club and take control of the streets, points out that as an established Garden Walk destination, the city could not ignore the club’s plea for help. 

                 “Community members started noticing things happening, but we didn’t have a lot of time to sit around and watch everything,” Potwora said.  “Everyone’s individual calls alone wouldn’t do and that’s where the block club really stepped in.”

                 What the block club’s collective efforts identified was a pattern of absentee landlords, specifically at the 12-unit dairy building.  Residents responded by first approaching the landlords, before soliciting assistance from the city and housing court after the initial intervention went unresolved.  Dorritie says the block club was fortunate to have City Housing Court Judge Henry J. Nowak to hear their concerns.

                  Once the landlords were forced out, the neighborhood was posed for positive change, allowing the community to move forward and focus on their gardens. 

            Connie Stofko,  who publishes Western New York’s online gardening website says that the Garden Walk is a draw from both inside and the outside area.

          “The walk is huge," Stofko said. "Everyone knows about it, it’s referred to as the Garden Walk and people come from not just neighboring communities, but other states.”

          The Garden Walk is more than a two-day walking tour.  It is one of 12 garden-themed events that, along with bus tours, all fall under the same umbrella. 

          These days, a walk around the Cottage District yields anecdotes of residents working hard on their gardens and a tangible sense of community.  Next to the refurbished and thriving dairy building, now a symbol of transformation, neighbors pitch in with each other’s gardens, walk dogs and converse.  Potwora, who was the first to paint his house in vibrant color, spurred the purples, blues, pinks, reds and oranges that now adorn the network of houses.

          “My intentions  were to mirror the blooming plants around the properties," Potwora said.

Richard Potwora, on the appeal of the Cottage District:


 

                      Sitting in her backyard, a work in progress as the Garden Walk creeps up, Dorritie says there are a number of reasons why her garden draws walk participants.

               “Longevity and its unusual construction above ground,” Dorritie said.  “It was one of the first gardens in the area that laid claim to the hell strip, the area between the sidewalk and the street.” 

               But Dorritie will be the first to tell you that driving drugs out of the neighborhood was ultimately a group effort.

              As thousands of participants stroll through Garden Walk Buffalo at the end of July, Cottage District  residents’ hard work will be on full display.  But so will a neighborhood triumph that deserves just as much appreciation as the colorful foliage that has become an annual tradition in Western New York.

               The Garden Walk’s featured event extends from Delaware Park to downtown.  More information can be found at http://www.gardenwalkbuffalo.com