The opening of State Assembly Member Pat Burke’s new South Buffalo office doesn’t just mean more space for press conferences.
It signifies being more accessible to the community, since the new space on Louisiana Street in the Old First Ward offers a more central location and has better street infrastructure than his old offices in West Seneca, Burke said.
“Where we were there was, there wasn't sidewalk. You'd have to drive there, right? Now, people can, they can walk here. They can take the bus here," he said. "You know, certainly, there's ample parking. There's a lot of opportunities. We are a front-facing office. We service the community, and this also gives us many more chances to do that, as well.”
It’s also a return to his roots. Burke has a great-great-grandfather who was a community leader more than a century ago and had offices in the Old First Ward, he added.
"He was a political leader in the old First Ward around the time of Theodore Roosevelt. So it was really kind of, it's kind of a long homecoming for me."
Burke wants his new office to showcase the area’s evolving identity and historic Irish heritage.
Local artist Tara Bystran-Pruski brings Burke's vision to life with a mural portraying Irish independence and labor leader James Connolly, as well as several important community roles like firefighters and farmers.
They previously worked together on a mural for the Buffalo Irish Center, but this opportunity provided a new experience.
“This was much more focused on the Labor Party, on the workers and immigrants that make America what it is," Bystran-Pruski said. "So, it was really exciting to have such, like, a unifying meeting behind the project. And then, I think I brought in the aspect of the land, with the trees kind of growing and entwining together.”
Trees like willow and maple weave throughout the piece, which is an important thread unifying the various people portrayed and help highlight the community’s melting-pot aspect, she added.
