The corner of Oak and Eagle streets was like so many others in downtown Buffalo in about 1953: intact, still vibrant, but at risk. In this photograph, Eagle Street is seen from Oak Street looking west toward Ellicott Street. On the northwest corner of Oak and Eagle streets is Bingo’s Cafe, a tavern operated by Walter Lubelski after 1951—the Friday fish fry and locally made Phoenix and Simon Pure beers are advertised prominently. To the west is a rooming house, John Burke’s plumbing shop, the New York Telephone Co. garage, Comet Ring Manufacturing Co., and Ambor Press Printers. In 1961, the 21 buildings on 2.5 acres that encompassed this block—bounded by Ellicott, Eagle, Clinton, and Oak streets—would be targeted for eminent domain and clearance. That year, the Buffalo Board of Parking recommended the acquisition of the block for a surface parking lot. The site was “strategically located to serve retail, business, and civic activities,” according to parking consultant Wilbur Smith & Associates of New Haven, Connecticut. On July 21, 1964, Mayor Chester Kowal led a motorcade from City Hall to the new parking lot, officially opening the 404-car site. Today, the block is now the target of a mixed-use development project by Ciminelli Development.