As many of you already know, Jack Rabbit is an inclusive restaurant/bar/music venue that has been operating on Elmwood Ave in the City of Buffalo since May of 2021. We are passionate about supporting local musicians, artists, food vendors, and breweries, promoting diversity and inclusion, and have had the privilege of serving thousands of patrons who love what we represent and bring to the community.

We are looking to host two outdoor events each year, on a Saturday in the parking lot behind our building from 4 pm to 10 pm and we need your support! This year the City advised that we needed to apply for a Special Use Permit, rather than a Special Events Permit. Your support is needed. .

In the summer of 2022, we produced two live outdoor shows and they were both incredible. The first was in May for our first-anniversary party, featuring Handsome Jack, Deadwolf, Grosh, and the Love Underground - all local Buffalo bands. The second was on Labor Day weekend with hometown heroes, Aqueous on Saturday - bringing in some touring acts with support from locals, then Nerds Gone Wild on Sunday. 

For these projects, we hired all of the best professional local companies to help with the production. People from around the country attended our events, and they all had a great time. We are keeping all of this money in our local economy. We aren't feeding evil companies like Ticketmaster, nor are we contracting with out-of-state production companies. We pay musicians top dollar. By doing this, we ensure that everyone working in support of these events can thrive and keep building our community to be the best it can be.

As amazing as our shows have been we do have some opponents, and though they are few, they are loud. They have made exaggerated claims, asserted outright lies about our business, and have been relentlessly filing false complaints against us. We've invested thousands of dollars in our building to mitigate the complaints voiced by a few of the neighbors. We also voluntarily close our windows at 10 pm despite being allowed to keep them open until 11 pm and yet the handful of neighbors continue to make patently false allegations against us. Our goal is to continue to make our neighborhood a destination for locals and visitors for years to come.

This block in particular has been a hub for community gatherings as long as it's existed. On any given day you'll see people picketing for causes they believe in, you might see a concert in Bidwell Park, a huge foot race, or locals lounging and relaxing in the parkway. On Saturday mornings you'll see a bustling farmers market being built up and broken down each week, all summer long. 

There is one thing all the greatest cities in America have in common - New Orleans, San Fransisco, New York City, Nashville, and Austin just to name a few - wherever you go, music fills the air. And people travel far and wide to enjoy these epicenters of culture. Why would Buffalo not want to add its name to this list? 

We currently employ 65 people. Sixty-Five people, supporting themselves and their families. We've paid local musicians over a quarter of a million dollars, ensuring they can afford to continue to do what they love. We've donated tens of thousands of dollars to local charities, contributed meals to local food banks and we've served thousands and thousands of delicious meals to our patrons.

We were one of the first places open to the public during the blizzard of 2022 where we served a free hot meal to anyone in need and kept our fireplace cranking for those without any power at home.
We are only applying to do two 6-hour outdoor music events per year, each on a Saturday from 4 pm to 10 pm, on private property, with limited capacity, professional security, and with the same or more stringent requirements in place than the City requires for any other special event - including the dozens of outdoor concerts held on Bidwell Parkway, Soldiers Circle, and Porch Fest. There will be no street closures and no use of public property for these two limited events.

We believe in supporting the local community. We believe in promoting, music, the arts, culture, diversity, and inclusion in our community. We will continue to strive to do what we love and support what makes our community and this neighborhood great. We are asking for your support by signing our petition to help us obtain a special use permit for outdoor live music twice a year, on our property, in the City of Buffalo. If you believe in supporting local businesses and musicians, please sign this petition to show your support. Together, we can make a difference and continue to bring love, joy, and music to our community, further cementing it as the best place to live in Buffalo.