Flock, Pulp 716 is closing on October 31, 2023.

This news, dropped yesterday, sent shockwaves throughout North Tonawanda and Lockport. Pulp has become a staple of these communities, and to hear of their sudden imminent shutdown was effectively a gut punch.

Spoilers before we get any further: this post isn’t going to necessarily be about Pulp 716.

It appears as if the wheels of time are tearing away at our collective nostalgia. Netflix has stopped their DVD program this week. Tom Donahue from WECK retired yesterday after 51 years on radio. Rick Jeanneret passed away a few weeks ago. Demolition on the Eastern Hills Mall is set to begin next year, the Boulevard is about to be seized on eminent domain, and the Outlets are in a limbo state.

Personally, 2023 has been a year of upheaval. I got a new job, and fairly shockingly, I don’t technically lay my head down in Niagara Falls anymore.

Now, in the midst of all of this upheaval, Pulp 716 is closing.

This collapse of nostalgic comfort hurts, but it unites us with generations of changes.

Is this what they feel?

The generation still angry over the demolition of Old Falls Street?

The people that miss the Wintergarden? The Rainbow Center? The Festival of Lights?

Is this the marker? The sign of a generation becoming old?

Now that we’ve gotten that existential bombshell out of the way, let’s look to our present.

Niagara Falls is starting to grow again. Businesses like Archives Pub and Daredevil Records (the latter of which I have spent much quality time in) are creating new community meeting places. North Tonawanda’s Farmers Market was voted as being the best in the US. Lockport is finishing up its tenders monument. Howard Simon retired from Bills radio and became a tour guide.

The nostalgia of the future is being created now. I hope these new spaces last a very long time: that the generations of the present and future can build memories for years and years to come.

But of course, I’m still going to miss Pulp 716.

-Sheepie ❤