BUFFALO, N.Y. — On Wednesday, the president of Tops announced the company's plans to re-its Jefferson location at the end of July.
Since the mass shooting, back on May 14, there has been a lot of community feedback and controversy on whether or not that location should re-open its doors.
Buffalo Common Councilmember Ulysees O. Wingo Sr. says he believes doors should re-open.
"We have to do what's best for the community as a whole," Wingo says. "We have to respect the folks who came before us and who fought for that Tops when it took more than 10 years to get that Tops built."
There's no denying that this community is still hurting, traumatized, and grieving. But there's also no ignoring the reality this reality - 14208 is a food desert.
"That was a full-service grocery store," Wingo explains. " It had a bakery, produce section, meat section. The people of the Masten District used that store as their main source of food. And as it relates to the food security on the east side of Buffalo, there is no other major grocery store in the Masten District at all."
As for talks about memorializing the site in some capacity, Wingo tells 2 On Your Side, "It is a 'and' not 'or' conversation. We can do this and memorialize our beloved lost souls to this white supremacist domestic terroristic act, we can have both."
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