THE STORY OF THE FOOT OF PORTER AVENUE
The Club enjoyed a perpetual grant from the State of New York for “riparian rights” to occupy the offshore lands from Porter Avenue on the south to an extension of Connecticut Street on the north.  Perpetuity is a long time and to the members this meant that as long as they could withstand the storms of Lake Erie they would have a satisfactory location for the clubhouse.

There came a time, however, when a typhoid epidemic broke loose in Buffalo with destructive force.  To decrease the typhoid danger, the City decided to move its water intake from the Niagara River at the foot of Massachusetts Street to a site nearer the mouth of the Niagara River.  They decided to locate the new pumping station just south of Porter Avenue in the area that is now LaSalle Park but at that time was a low, sandy bathing beach.  In order to build the pumping station, Porter Avenue would be extended to the channel line, a wall built south along the channel line, and the area behind the wall filled in. 

In the course of construction the location of the BYC was found to be at a “decided disadvantage to the City.”  The Club was asked to move. Standing on its rights, it refused to move since it had undergone considerable expense in constructing its foundations and had the assurances from the City that it would not be molested. In attempting to force the issue the City found that it was occupying New York State lands and that the Naval Militia had a riparian grant extending northward to the line of Jersey Street.

The State of New York upheld the Club in its stand. At a 1909 meeting in Albany attended by the Lieutenant Governor, the Mayor of Buffalo, the Attorney General and the State Comptroller, it was decided that the State would not give a clear title to the City unless the City itself would move the Yacht Club to another site and provide equal foundations and facilities. The Yacht Club, in a generous and cooperative spirit, agreed to these conditions and, in addition, agreed to give the greater portion of its riparian rights on the north end toward Connecticut Street to the Naval Militia.  The City, in turn, agreed to lease a portion of the land on shore to the Yacht Club at a nominal rent and to provide access to the clubhouse.

Everybody came home from Albany satisfied with the agreement.  The City for its part proceeded to appropriate funds to carry out its part of the bargain. A resolution for the appropriation was duly passed by the lower house of the Common Council, but the upper house repudiated the verbal agreement, declaring it illegal, and refused to appropriate the necessary money to accomplish the task.

The work on the Colonel Ward Pumping Station was well under way and dredges were moved to such close proximity of the clubhouse as to endanger its foundations. The members became so agitated and concerned that several of them took it upon themselves to stand guard over the BYC property and even warned the captains of the dredges against damaging the clubhouse.

PURCHASE OF BUFFALO PROPERTY
For fifty years the existence of the lease at the Foot of Porter Avenue was a perennial source of concern.  Although the Club acquired  a fine facility it had no collateral value when it tried to mortgage the clubhouse to make capital improvements.  Since the clubhouse was on City land the clubhouse was deemed unmortgageable, and the Club had to face the reality that all improvements would have to come from membership dues, assessments and private loans.
In 1950, with three years remaining on the original lease, Commodore George Miller renegotiated the lease for another thirty years—running up to 1983. The ideal solution would, of course, be to purchase the property, but the land had been dedicated for park purposes and could not be conveyed without specific legislation from the State of New York.
Finally in 1973 the Legislature in Albany authorized “the City of Buffalo, Erie County, to discontinue the use of certain lands therein acquired, reserved or designated by the city for municipal and park purposes and to sell and convey such lands to the Buffalo Yacht Club”  and Commodore A.D. Palmer proceeded to complete the details with the City of Buffalo for purchase of the property.

Considerable maneuvering with the City occupied the next five years, and in 1978 under Commodore William Roche, the general membership agreed to changes in our Constitution that had previously precluded women from membership. They also approved at that time a memorandum of understanding with the City of Buffalo pertaining to the constitutionality of the Club’s membership policies.  Passage of these two items paved the way for the City of Buffalo to finally sell the previously dedicated park land to the BYC.  On April 26, 1978, Mayor James D. Griffin signed the documents selling the property to the Buffalo Yacht Club for $49,500.  The 118-year old Club at last owned the land beneath its clubhouse!