By Carol Fisher-Linn
An Easter Tradition…
Buffalo’s Broadway Market has been a fixture on her East side for much longer than I can remember. My mom took me there from the late 1940’s when it was an entirely different market. It had outdoor vendors along Gibson Street as well as a long, narrow building with inside stalls until1956 when the original permanent building that we know today was built. We got our poultry and essential duck products and fresh vegetables and fruits outdoors and already cut and prepared meats (Polish hams, kielbasa, kiszka, cold cuts), breads and baked goods, traditional easter eggs and butter lambs, gifts, etc. indoors. This diverse, charming, loud, crowded, bustling, colorful old-country market has been located at the same site since 1888 – 138 years. Imagine!
From “Houses of Worship: A Guide to the Religious Architecture of Buffalo, New York,” by James Napora, “The area around Broadway and Pine constituted the nucleus of the earliest Polish community in the city. Prior to the formal establishment of the Polish community around St. Stanislaus Church in 1873, almost 500 men, women and children resided in homes along Broadway, Pine, Ash, Walnut, Spruce, Sycamore, Genesee and Carroll Streets.”
With so many years of history, one gets to wondering how it got there. From the onset, this Broadway-Fillmore area was always a place to buy goods. The area was multiethnic with Poles, Germans, Italians and other diverse populations. The rich essence of the area cultures was of mingled flavors of the neighborhood, but it slowly evolved to be predominately Polish. They needed a central market in this neighborhood. The nearest fresh food market was in the city on Washington Street. Yes, they had local grocers/stores but those stores lacked the ability to obtain and keep fresh produce.
summer for a $45M face lift. When complete, there will be no
central escalator; it will be a one-story operation.
Photos/Suzie Ditcher
A banker owned some land on Broadway and Fillmore. He was approached by investors wanting to open a market on that open land. The first attempt failed but after petitions and a stirring of the pot by land developer Joseph Bork and a petition of 1000 signatures, the idea fell in place. The Broadway Market was about to be born. Initially an open-air market, on March 24, 1890, the East Buffalo Market was completed, officially named The Broadway Market. Much of this information is from a site by Gregory Witul c/o Am-Pol Eagle.
I have my own memories of the Market, beginning with riding the trolley with my mother until we had no choice but to be trusting of the new buses! As early as age ten, I was going myself to fetch items for our soup (they dispatched a duck as I waited), kielbasa from inside and then cross the street and head to Sattler’s to pay on mom’s lay-away of household gadgets or clothing. Once she laid away a bonnet for herself that she paid on weekly until she could ransom it for Easter. A memory my daughter, Kalinda, and I share was one when she was about 7 or 8 and on a pre-Easter market excursion with her Gram, my mom. While standing six deep (common) at a favored meat vendor, Kalinda decided to sit on the floor. All she remembers is a sea of legs. Most intriguing were the older Babcia’s (grandmoms) in their squat, sensible shoes and their seamed stockings that must have come from their ancient stash. Looking up, she’d see a sea of babushkas.
Things change. These days plans are full swing underway at the market to begin renovations this summer. Like $40-$45 million dollars’ worth. Empire State Development (ESD) provides a project update on next steps for construction that will begin transforming Buffalo’s Broadway Market into a sustainable and vibrant year-round food and shopping hub. Broadway Market Management, Inc. (BMMI), a new not-for-profit corporation, has been established, in coordination with ESD, to operate the city-owned public market building, and is on track to go before the City of Buffalo Preservation Board for a certificate of appropriateness for the rehabilitation of the market. (esd.ny.gov)
Meanwhile, enjoy the old Market, especially in this pre-Easter season. Google Broadway Market Easter schedule 2026 and you will find everything to know about their hours, entertainment and vendors. Remember, you can’t leave the market without pierogi, kielbasa, a butter lamb, Polish kucha, a sweet bread, (you’ll stand in line) and the famous pisanki (decorated eggs to celebrate the new spring), and don’t forget the pussy willows for Dyngus Day (Monday after Easter). Of course, enjoy the Polka music while you shop.