By Peggy Marone LG ‘02, Director

Press Release:

How many times have you driven in downtown Batavia and never noticed there are more than 20 murals between Jackson, Ellicott, and Bank Streets? The Leadership Genesee (LG) Class of 2024 discovered them during a ‘scavenger hunt’ activity on March 27, LG Arts & Culture Day.

One participant shared, “The scavenger hunt allowed us to really observe the murals. How often I drive by these murals and don’t really notice the detail or the extent of artwork on display. Some of the murals I have never seen or noticed (like the one on the fire hydrant). Art can be made anywhere!”

Leadership Genesee Our Arts & Culture Day works to raise awareness about arts initiatives and activities in Genesee County and reveal some of our cultural history and traditions. “This month's topic really encouraged me to think about my personal background and heritage. Our community is so diverse!” said one participant.

The group met at Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council (Go Art!) for the morning hearing from Gregory Hallock LG ’18, Executive Director, about how the organization has grown over the past several years. The organization is dedicated to developing the cultural life in Genesee and Orleans Counties by facilitating the creation, presentation, and experience of art, heritage, and traditions. The facility has a dance studio, podcast studio, displayed art, open mic sessions, Tavern 2.o.1 as well as offering community events. The class had the opportunity to tour the facility and participate in a Bollywood Dance session.

Terry Abrams LG ’07, Curator/ Collections Manager, Niagara County Historical Society, shared information about The Tonawanda Seneca Nation, our neighbors in Genesee County. Terry spoke of Seneca's history and culture and how their values remain strong and intact. Language, song, art, dance, and sports are all vital aspects of Seneca culture. 

After a tour of Main St. 56 Theater and learning about the initiatives from Batavia Players to bring additional live theater to Genesee County and offer options to kids for theater camps, the group visited The Harve in the Harvester Center. The Harve is a 7,000-square-foot hidden gem of art and music! Nestled within The Harvester Center with its entrance just through Pub Coffee Hub this vibrant venue is a haven for creativity and entertainment.

After sharing stories of their cultural heritage, the group participated in a drum circle led by Jackie Swaby, Executive Director of the Arts Council for Wyoming County. Jackie not only shared her expertise in drumming but the background and significance of drumming. The group ended the day by participating in activities to create their own stories through art. 

Leadership Genesee is a program of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County, an employer, and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities, and provides equal program and employment opportunities. 

For more information, visit LG’s website at http://genesee.cce.cornell.edu/leadership-genesee; “like” LG on Facebook at www.facebook.com/leadershipgenesee; or contact Program Director Peggy Marone at (585) 343-3040, ext. 118 or mem77@cornell.edu.

So, you’ve got a pretty adorable, or goofy, or otherwise photogenic pooch, eh?

Well now is your chance to see where all of that cuteness can take you by entering your faithful companion in the 2024 Pooch Playoffs, “a competition for the ulti-mutt cutie.”

Ashley Bringenberg, owner of the photography studio of the same name, is hosting the competition as a fundraiser for Western New York Heroes, which offers eight different programs that serve veterans in 14 surrounding counties, including Genesee. 

Twenty years ago Rob Credi set out to blaze a trail of business ownership with a couple other like-minded entrepreneurs, and they established a coffee shop in the middle of downtown Batavia on Main Street, hence its name Main Street Coffee. 

That was in December 2003, ending on New Year’s eve in 2008. Fast forward to August 2020, when Credi opened Pub Coffee Hub on the other side of town, Harvester Avenue, with a bit more experience, business acumen, and hard-won lessons under his belt. 

“It was more of a learning lesson than a success,” he now says of those earlier days, though he wouldn’t exactly label them a failure either. “It does feel good to know it existed in its timeframe and served its purpose." 

Ask Vianiliz Vee Echevarria Rivera what surprised her most about opening her own culinary business, and her answer is not about the long hours, tough customers or hard work.

It’s much more humble.

“Not expecting to be sold out four days in a row,” she said Monday after her debut opening week of Linda Borinqueña. “We were giving out little samples, and people were falling in love with our food. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. We’re taking it day by day.”

The creators of Enter Through the Coffee Shop @ The Harve, a unique, June-only art gallery at the Harvester Center, 56 Harvester Avenue, Batavia, held an invite-only pre-opening on Friday evening.

The public opening is tonight, Saturday, at 7 p.m., with the band FlashBamPow providing musical entertainment. 

The cost is $5 at the door.

Previously: Enter through the coffee shop for art and music @ The Harve

Friends. Family. And coming together.

The only thing missing is the delicious food, but Vianiliz “Vee” Echevarria Rivera and her mother, Elizabeth, have that covered. And the Puerto Rican natives plan to bring it to Linda Borinqueña, which means “a beautiful Puerto Rico.” The takeout restaurant will be housed in a new venture expected to open in June at 56 Harvester Ave., The Harvester Center, Batavia.

“My mom was the one who made all the meals. She made really beautiful breakfasts, and lunches and dinners. Over there, a lot of the foods are basically a lot of the rice, beans, yams, a lot of the meats over there are fresh, so that’s what we ate. She has an amazing hand for cooking,” Vee said Friday to The Batavian. “I watched since I was little, and the first time I actually made up white rice with beans on the side, I was 11 years old, and I was very proud of it.”

Likewise, Elizabeth learned from her mom, and the generational tradition was for the young girls to be kicked out of the kitchen by the adults until they were old enough to be helpful. Both mom and daughter admitted to getting the boot at 10, but once allowed back in, they never stopped making toothsome cuisine.

Dishes in Puerto Rico aren't so much about being spicy, Vee said, as it is about adding flavor. Sofrito is “a whole bunch of herbs and garlic, onion and peppers,” that are blended together and added to the food. It may also include cilantro and oregano, and — well, she wasn’t going to give away all the secrets, she said.

Just accept that heating up a can of black beans on the stove is not what beans and rice is. Even the rice is made differently depending on who makes it, she said. Her mom’s version doesn’t taste the same as Vee’s. Much of the secret is in the types of flavors used.

Or changing the type of rice.

“If you’re making a bean stew and use yellow rice, that gives it a nice flavor to it,” she said.

There’s nothing wrong with the culinary staples of this area, but for some diversity for what the Riveras offer, diners have to drive to Rochester or Buffalo, she said.

“There are a lot of Puerto Rican people in Batavia. This is a nice little change for the city,” she said. “As Hispanics, everything revolves around food. If I made a big pot of something, I’d bring it into work; it’s for everybody. It’s about family and friends coming together.”

The food style also blows the way of the Caribbean — can you smell the cilantro, coriander and bell peppers? — which also caters to the tastes of Dominicans and Jamaicans, she said, and hopefully to new customers trying it out for the first time.

Her take-out restaurant, under the roof of The Crapshoot Kitchen & Commissary, owned by Rob Credi, will begin with white rice, two types of yellow rice, roasted pork and roasted chicken, empanadas, beans and a dessert of vanilla flan, an egg custard with a caramel glaze.

“I’m very nervous, this is brand new for us, it’s a huge learning experience. Rob has truly been my mentor,” Vee said. “It’s to bring something new to Batavia. It will be family-run, with my mom and my sister Adrian. I will stay at the hospital during the day and work there at night.”

Her day job is to educate the public about cancer at United Memorial Medical Center. The 36-year-old more recently discovered her entrepreneurial side and has decided to bring her culinary passion forward as well. She has learned a lot about herself during the preparation experience, she said.

“To be happy with the process. Everything that you’re learning, allow other people to help you, and enjoy the process completely,” she said. “It makes (me) happy, it’s a happy feeling feeding other people and seeing their faces about what they tried. It brings you joy.”

Vee and her family plan “to stay faithful” to their business and to Credi’s, having signed up for monthly rent with intentions to be there for an extended time period to build up a customer base.

Linda Borinqueña will be serving lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday. More details about the restaurant opening will be publicized closer to June.

Submitted Photo of Elizabeth Rivera, Adrian Rivera and Vianiliz Echevarria.

A peace sign that was drawn on a window from inside a business space at the Harvester Center on Harvester Avenue in Batavia.

Photo by Howard Owens.

City Council gave the business owners a nod of approval for a liquor license during this week’s conference session. Batavia Police had no objections, according to the city clerk-treasurer.

That being said, their plans are still on hold due to the permit process, and they are waiting to hear back from the city, Michelle said Wednesday.

Plans are to include live music and a tasting room for brews, including Windy Brew, made in Strykersville.

After sending emails to city leaders and talking publicly at this week’s City Council meeting, Credi has gotten answers and a prospective meeting to further discuss his issues.

He has served as a representative of his Pub Coffee Hub and for other entrepreneurs in Harvester Center, which houses 75 businesses.

During Monday’s council meeting, Credi wanted to express his frustration and know why “no parking” signs were re-installed on the east side of Harvester Avenue, where he operates his coffee shop.

City Police Chief Shawn Heubusch informed Credi Wednesday that the signs “were never intended to be removed” permanently, Credi said. They were taken down temporarily as part of the Harvester road construction project and were to be returned upon completion of work.

Credi said he wasn’t surprised that it took quite awhile to return the signs, or that there was “no communication with us whatsoever.” He was, however, disappointed to find out, after believing that his street was going to reap some extra parking spots for customers, that it was just a matter of delayed action to re-install the "no parking" signs.

He also learned that similar signs on the west side of Harvester do not fall within City Code and cannot, therefore, be enforced by city police. To clarify, approving the City Code falls within the authority of City Council and not the police department.

“(Heubusch) has no explanation as to when or how they got there,” Credi said. “We are working to schedule a meeting for mid-January to look into the best way to address parking on both sides.”

Credi said he is “very pleased with the communication” from the police chief. He has, though, tallied another tick mark in “the disappointment column from the construction debacle,” he said.

For prior coverage, go to: 

Harvester Avenue businessman presses city for answers

Harvester Avenue road construction a slow-moving hindrance

File Photo of Rob Credi when he opened Pub Coffee Hub in July 2020 at Harvester Center, Batavia, by Howard Owens.

Rob Credi doesn’t really want to be that guy. You know, the relentlessly squeaky wheel who continuously complains about issues, in this case issues he believes have been created by city officials.

After sending emails to management and City Council previously during the Harvester Avenue road construction project, Credi tried again recently with another issue related to parking.

“My problem isn’t that we don’t have a lot of parking on Harvester, I know we don’t have a lot of parking,” he said Monday night. “It’s that they gave us more parking and then took it away.”

Only one councilman replied to Credi’s latest email, and suggested that he attend a council meeting.

On Monday evening, Credi addressed all city leaders explaining his and other business owners’ plight.

After more than two months of trying to operate a business while beholden to construction crews, torn up pavement and road closures that happened without any forewarning, Credi thought he saw a reprieve. After finally getting a new smooth road, he also noticed that the no parking signs had been taken down on the east side of Harvester Avenue, providing more parking spots for customers.

“I thought it was a nice little consolation prize,” he said during the conference session at City Hall. “The issue at hand is that we’re back to no parking. It’s the inconsistency of what’s being afforded my customers. Two times in the past three months the damage has already been done. My ask is what can we do to implement a structure beforehand so we can prepare for it and our customers can prepare for it?”

Credi, owner of The Pub Coffee Hub, sought answers when portions of Harvester were closed off to traffic, and his primary complaint was that he and other Harvester Center merchants weren’t informed of what was going to happen ahead of time so they could make alternative options to still serve their customers.

Now, with having extra parking and then seeing that yanked away, he again is frustrated that no one communicated it before putting no parking signs back up.

Not only does having two-sided parking serve customers better, but it helps to slow down traffic, he said.

Having owned a business in downtown Batavia, Credi compared his experience: there were no communication issues when in the heart of the city versus on the southeast side, he said.

He went to the police station to talk about the issue and was referred to City Council. Council President Eugene Jankowski on Monday pointed him back to the police.

"I think we need to refer you back to the police chief. Maybe we can revisit that," Jankowski said. 

Credi is to meet with Chief Shawn Heubusch, who said he needed to look into the road width and local law for allowing parking on both sides of a city street.

City Code lists all city roadways and their parking limitations if any. Harvester is cited as having “no parking from the west curb line of Harvester Avenue to a point 100 feet westerly therefrom,” and on the “east curb line to a point 50 feet easterly therefrom.”

For what it’s worth, there’s also a line about no parking allowed 25 feet east and west of both driveways in front of Carrols (from the 70s) restaurant, so it may warrant some updating.

Councilman John Canale, who owns a drum studio at Harvester Center, said he had concerns as well.

“I have experienced all the turmoil there, and one and a half weeks ago, before the no parking signs, it really opened things up, and doubled parking,” Canale said. “And then all of a sudden, the signs went back up. I would like to visit the idea of allowing parking on that side.

“I plead with you to do whatever you can to open up parking,” he said.

Councilman Bob Bialkowski, who had suggested that Credi attend the meeting, agreed. Batavia strays from many other small cities that don’t have locally owned businesses, he said, and it's important to preserve any locally owned small businesses that exist.

“I just think it’s vital that we do whatever we can,” he said.

Credi feels that he was heard and supported about the parking situation.

“I am now waiting on hearing back from the police chief for more detail on why things happened the way they did, ideally with some clarity on why it was open to parking for six weeks and then removed without notice,” he said. “Additionally, getting a definitive answer on enforcing the parking laws on our side of the street would be great.

“I do feel like my main point of improving communication between the city and business owners in the future before a major disruption occurs — for example, roadwork and the parking situation — was kind of pushed aside by council president Jankowski with no real answer as to what can be done to improve it,” Credi said.

File Photo of Rob Credi, owner of The Pub Coffee Hub on Harvester Avenue, Batavia, by Howard Owens.