Four years after 10 Black people were gunned down in a supermarket on Buffalo's east side, construction vehicles now sit parallel to city buses picking up passengers on Jefferson Avenue. The $35 million Jefferson Avenue Corridor investment is underway, with new sidewalks, lights and trees planned for the stretch that has long stood as a symbol of what happened there on May 14, 2022.
State Sen. Sean Ryan said the corridor is getting attention it has not seen in a long time. He said the first phase will take two years, but crews are starting from one foundation to the next, a sign that the work is meant to be structural, not cosmetic. For a neighborhood that has lived with the memory of the shooting for years, the sight of heavy equipment marks a rare promise turning into dirt and concrete.
That promise matters because the attack forced Buffalo to look in the mirror. It was described as the result of years of segregation, discrimination and redlining, and the shooter chose the east side because of how many Black people called it home. The area was also described as a food desert with vacant storefronts, and for months after the shooting, residents were bused to nearby grocery stores after Tops was remodeled and reopened two months later.
Local leaders say the Jefferson Avenue work is meant to bring business, wealth and opportunity for generations to come, but the east side is also watching how long that takes. Zeneta Everhart, president pro tempore of the Masten District for Buffalo Common Council, said she lives on the east side and knows how many promises came after 5/14. She said government is slow, that it needs to move quicker, and that residents are already telling officials what they need while papers keep moving from desk to desk.
Everhart has put together resolutions and brought people together to talk about access to empty school buildings, along with community centers and programs for kids. Work is also underway at a former church and resource center on the corner of Ferry Street and Humboldt Parkway for a community hub. She said people love to hear about hope, but if they do not see shovels in the ground, what is the point of talking about it?
Her son, Zaire, is one of the three people who were shot and survived the 2022 mass shooting, which gives her comments a weight that politics alone cannot. Four years on, Buffalo is finally moving earth on Jefferson Avenue, but the test is whether this stretch of road leads to lasting change or becomes another reminder of how long the city took to answer its own wound.
