West Side Bazaar

September 24, 2019 / 17:58 / 25 Grant Street / West Side Bazaar / Traveling to the City of Buffalo on the New York State Thruway from the east there is a green rectangular sign with white letters: “Buffalo,” underneath which is “An All America City” / I have seen and have been puzzled by this sign since a child / I did not know the National Civic League (the organization that awards the title); I did not know America, much less how all its composite elements could be embodied by one place / Decades later I still do not know, but there are days I gain insight, fitting one more piece into the puzzle / One of those pieces – perhaps a corner piece, so significant in strength – is the West Side Bazaar, a microcosm of Buffalo’s immigrant and refugee milieu / Since its opening on March 3, 2011 in the Upper West Side neighborhood, this collection of retail and food shops have welcomed immigrant, refugee, and native Buffalonians into its cordial and spirited space / I come here to experience the world – as much as can fit in the space at 25 Grant Street / At the time of recording and after meandering the mosaic of Burmese, Mexican & Puerto Rican, Ethiopian, Indian & Pakistani, and Chinese conversation and cuisine, I sat down to enjoy a Thai beef salad across from my mother //