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Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown was on hand Thursday night to celebrate the West Side Bazaar’s grand opening of their international kitchens, and to discuss the work People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH Buffalo) have done with the community.

At the private event, held at the West Side Bazaar on Grant Street, the mayor followed a handful of speakers from PUSH Buffalo, who were there to celebrate, thank and update the community on various topics and projects.

One of the West Side Bazaar’s goals has been to open a kitchen where different cultural cuisines could be made and sold. This event celebrated the accomplishment of that goal, with six vendors selling dishes from Ethiopia, Myanmar, Thailand, Peru and even some traditional American cuisine.

The West Side Bazaar is an international small business incubator located on Buffalo’s West Side, an ethnically diverse residential and commercial area.  Dedicated to providing a safe and accessible environment for vendors, the West Side Bazaar hopes to help foster grassroots business in the community. Through business coaching, financial mentoring, low interest loans, networking/marketing opportunities and steady customer traffic, they hope to be able to see each business grow and thrive, bringing more people to a neglected part of the city.

Attendees filled out a number of “Open When” cards, which ask residents to complete the sentence “Buffalo will be open when…” and add a thumbprint to signify their hands too, are involved in opening the city.  Mayor Brown filled out a card, embracing the spirit of the night, and wrote: “Buffalo will be open when we embrace diversity as one of our greatest resources.”