BUFFALO, NY — In the heart of Allentown business owners, city leaders and LGBTQ+ advocates tell 7 News there is a resurgence of business that makes Allen Street special.
After many bars like Q-bar, Roxy's and Funky Monkey closed due to COVID-19, 26 bar co-owner Michael Moch tells 7 News, he is excited to have another LGBTQ+ bar on the block—Edison's Proof and Provisions.
26 is located in the former Cathode Ray bar that closed back in 2022, now under new ownership from former bartenders, it has seen great success.
"It was great to carry the Cathode Ray legacy on, but we are just part of the community that is in Allen too, this is has always been the area historically where there was a concentration of gay and queer bars. We want to have options and things to go, and its great that we can see that starting to come back because this community deserves that"
Allentown has historically been where most of the gay bars in Buffalo have originated.
Buffalo Common Councilman of the Fillmore District Mitch Nowakoski met with 7 News reporter Jaurdyn Johnson in front of Edison's Proof and Provisions, in the former Q-Bar, and shared his excitement to see something old, made new.
"I think its the story of Buffalo and the story of Allentown that you can pick yourself up and dust yourself off and reinvent yourself, to see it now after its construction to bring it back to life is so important for all of us,"
Giving a space for LGBTQ+ folks all year round.
Edison's Proof and Provisions is set to open at the end of November.
