1681 Fillmore Avenue has been waiting for the wrecking ball for
years. It’s been on the official top ten list to be demolished since at least
May, 2012. Meanwhile, it’s wide open and dangerous, filled with tires, toys,
wooden pallets and broken furniture. Filthy vinyl hangs from the ceiling like
depressed flags. Evidence of gang activity shows in the graffiti throughout.
This place, once a carpet store, has none of the structural beauty of many of
Buffalo’s other abandoned places. It sits in a residential neighborhood, open
and unprotected, just begging for a teenager to start a fire or fall down a
broken staircase. When the city finally gets around to tearing 1681 down, I
will not miss it.
I’ve actually found many toys in this space. Here is a Batman
figure in an assemblage I call Batman vs. The Joker. I painted the graffiti at
the building’s entrance on the side panel. If anyone knows the meaning of NSF!
please let me know. Thanks!
