VISIONARIES: Newell Nussbaumer
Posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010
by block club
Byron Brown was elected Mayor of the City of Buffalo, but it’s another man who many point to as the natural born leader of one of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods, the Elmwood Village.
Newell Nussbaumer, who is most often seen on his bike, taking photos of buildings and talking it up with the street’s many storeowners, wears many hats. What is most remarkable about Nussbaumer is his ability to make something big happen from seemingly nothing. He is a ringleader, and he loves it. -BS
What did Elmwood Avenue look like when you opened your store, Thunder Bay, in 1993?
The infrastructure hadn’t been completed on Elmwood. The curbs were a mess. The sidewalks were a mess. The best example is where Globe Market is now. That was called Needle Alley [because of the heavy drug use]. I could tell you where all the shoplifters lived, where all the drug addicts lived. It was really crazy. But I also realized that the competition in other cities for opening a retail store, which I had never done before, was terrible. I went and talked to a bunch of storeowners on Elmwood, and 99 percent of them told me to run. They told me, ‘Don’t invest in Buffalo. Don’t invest in Elmwood Avenue. Get out, go anywhere you can.’
What did you do once you had moved in?
We decided to take the graffiti off the walls, pulled the old shrubs that were dead. We just did it. People started noticing that somebody was actually paying attention to this street. We started a monthly music concert in Needle Park, just to do something. We started raising just a little tiny buzz that attracted other businesses.
That’s impulsive of you.
No, it’s just totally common sense. Anybody back then could have looked around and said what’s wrong with the street. And they probably could have pinpointed three or four things that were easily fixable that you [could have gone] out and there to fix. But most people wouldn’t, or they might notice that there’s blight or they might not know exactly what to do.
What did you do when you faced a problem too big to handle?
We never had one. You’ve just got to go in knowing that you’re going to tackle it. If you know what you’re good at and you know what you’re not, that’s half the battle. If you think you can do it all, then you’re screwed.
How much easier is it today than it was back then?
Thank God for the internet. [When planning the upcoming Powder Keg Festival,] I went out and found 50 photos from all around the world from winter festivals, photos that I felt lent themselves to Buffalo. I spent probably five days looking at photos, anything I could find. I went and I put a name next to those images of somebody in Buffalo who I felt could create that image. Then I called those people and I asked, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘Do you want to be a committee member for getting this image to come to reality?’ Out of 50 people, I had 50 people that said yes.
