There’s. no such thing as a good pothole. Or is there? On her daily walks, Deborah Lynn Williams and her friends have come across a number of potholes and sidewalk fractures that have been decorated by the Buffalo Pothole Bandit.
These super cute, imaginative, and effective artistic solutions to filling dreaded fissures, cracks, and craters along streets and sidewalks in Buffalo is most welcome. Not only does the Buffalo Pothole Bandit help to prevent trips and falls, and flat tires, he/she also brings smiles to the faces of passersby. One of the intricate works even has operational LED lights. A couple of others are actual boxes with lids, asking to be opened.
“We saw the ground lit up ahead of us,” said Lynn. “First thought was it was some kind of safety light for something. When we got up close, we saw this great little art piece. The piece that says Open Me was a little public, present. It was a nice, fun thing to come across and it engaged us right away. Little things can give you a big smile and we need more of that.”
Unlike taggers, who deface properties throughout the city, the Buffalo Pothole Bandit is performing a community service. It would be nice to see an entire brigade of Pothole Pandits let loose in various neighborhoods to perform these random acts of kindness.
The sporadic filling in of potholes reminds me of the Guerrilla Gardener movement that was popular in Buffalo around 15 years ago. It would be nice to see more of these types of guerilla movements take hold, whether it’s planting a rogue pop-up garden, or filling in disheveled sidewalks with bejeweled and ornamental curios and trinkets, similar to what we’re seeing here.
Hopefully, we have not seen the last of this mysterious Pothole Bandit, who is dedicated to fighting blight in this city, one dastardly pothole at a time.