By Frank Brutus

Picture a once-thriving business strip dotted with the skeletons of burned-out buildings, police sirens that regularly pierce the night, or benches painted with the images of innocent civilians who have become collateral victims in the turf battle between warring drug dealers. Tacky plastic dispensers on some street corners hold explicit flyers that advertise “B” list escort services. Maps direct pedestrians to the nearest hospital. Bus shelters, street lights and even the the drooping trees appear as if they have been repeatedly struck by long-range surface-to-air missiles. Faded and stained banners let visitors know they’re entering a very special district.

These were just some of the visions painted yesterday by graduates of Erie Community College’s Urban Technician program who have volunteered to help “brand” a stretch of Fillmore near Leroy as Buffalo’s “Little Baghdad.” The team of five made ambitious presentations to city officials and organizers of the annual “How Much Worse Can It Get?” neighborhood revitalization competition sponsored by Common Council President David Franczyk.

The students served up dozens of ideas to highlight Fillmore’s image as the region’s “Little Baghdad.” Not only is Fillmore home to every major gang leader on Buffalo’s East Side, but there are also about two dozen abandoned houses on the strip that have been marked as “condemned” by the City’s Regional Blight Task Force.

“It’s easy to make the comparisons of this Buffalo neighborhood to Baghdad. Especially the Baghdad that existed just after Saddam was deposed and the looting and violence went unchecked for weeks,” said student presenter Ronald Churchill. “The way the missiles rained down over the capital, before the Green Zone was built. That Baghdad.”

While some think the “Little Baghdad” theme should be developed along a one-mile stretch from Broadway to William, the design team focused on the smaller area between Main Street and Kensington that, according to Franczyk, evoked a “special sense of hopelessness and terror.”

Murals honoring imprisoned gang members, pavement markers commemorating victims of stray bullets and other amenities could help cultivate Fillmore’s image as a unique district where the rule of law doesn’t seem to apply, students said. Adding Dollar Stores, corner beer vendors and other customer-friendly features like self-serve Lotto machines would also attract visitors and even help promote tourism and gambling.

“It would encourage people to stay longer and linger in the area,” said Urban Technician Dan Brady. “Most visitors to this neighborhood drive through at high rates of speed and would never even contemplate pulling over to see what might be on sale at any of the corner shops. Unless, of course, they’re from the suburbs and come here to buy drugs.”

Local leaders were impressed.

“Where do you start? They’re all such great ideas,” said Parm Washington, president of the Fillmore Businessman’s Association. Washington said event organizers have already helped finance the spray-painting of anti-police graffiti along Fillmore, and they would be eager to continue playing such a role but he stressed that public donations will be “essential to get these proposals off the drawing board and onto Fillmore Avenue.”

Ellicott Council Member Brian Davis, challenging other Council members to step up their support for “Little Baghdad,” presented to Mr. Washington a personal check for $100,000.00. “Don’t cash it until Friday, though,” he said.