Muslims Build Up the Neighborhood Around Mosque, Revitalizing Buffalo’s East Side

March 15, 2006

Source: The Buffalo News

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060315/1069205.asp

On March 15, 2006 The Buffalo News reported, "A group of 45 people, mostly Muslim, is about to embark on one of the biggest revitalization projects the East Side has ever seen. For the last six months, these investors - many of them congregants of the Masjid Zakariya Mosque on Sobieski Street - individually approached the city about buying 59 parcels of vacant, city-owned lots and abandoned homes. The parcels make up a 16-block area around the mosque. They were taking to heart a message the mosque's imam has been delivering for the last five years: If people want to be a part of the mosque's school and community, they should be a part of the neighborhood. 'We encouraged [mosque congregants] to buy houses here and to move into the area,' said Imam M. Ibrahim Memon. 'When we first moved here in 1993, [homeowners] were offering their houses and $1,000 or $2,000 cash to take it off their hands. Currently, the market value is $20,000 to $30,000'... The [Matt Urban Center], which is a community development corporation, is holding an open house on housing opportunities from 2 to 8 p.m. today. The session is providing the investors and other private buyers with one-stop shopping for information, [Marlies Wesolowski, executive director of the center] said."