Bills fever brought to Allen Avenue by King Josh’s mural in the Falls

Jan. 14—NIAGARA FALLS — Josh Allen’s likeness has been popping up on buildings, in store windows and at street corners in Buffalo and other communities across Western New York as the Buffalo Bills quarterback has continued his journey from promising rookie to one of the premiere players in the NFL.

A local artist, a Buffalo businessman, and a building owner helped to bring the City of Niagara Falls into the public celebrations of all things Josh.

Glenn Goodberry, an artist from the area, and Paul Kudela, the property owner, collaborated with Zoom Buffalo to create a mural honoring King Josh. The mural was placed on the side of Kudela’s building at the corner 24th Street and Allen Avenue.

The artwork — which depicts Allen wearing a king’s crown — was created by Goodberry, a 38-year-old Falls native and digital artist.

Goodberry is a big fan of hip hop music and said that he was inspired by the late rapper Notorious B.I.G.’s Allen as a king concept. After the 1997 release, of an enduring portrait in which Biggie wore a crown while standing in front of a background of red satin, Biggie became the “King Of New York”.

Goodberry claimed that he had the idea to give Allen an identical likeness back in 2020, when Allen was getting media attention because he reminded members of the media corp that the New York Jets’ and New York Giants’ names include “New York”, but they both play in New Jersey. Only the Bills have a stadium within the Empire State.

Goodberry explained that there was a lot of disagreement over who was the best team in New York. “The Buffalo Bills, right. Josh Allen was being called the ‘King in New York’, so I referred it to as ‘Josh Allen’, King of Buffalo.

Kudela is a Niagara Falls School Board member, and a Niagara Falls Police Officer who come from a long line Buffalo Bills-loving family. He suggested that Goodberry and him work together to make “King Josh” into a mural.

Kudela stated, “I went to his Facebook and saw that design. I liked it.”

Kudela, Rich’s father, inherited the property. Rich used it to store his business Rich’s Expert door.

The location — on Allen Avenue — seemed like a great fit, according to Kudela who wanted to put together some type of public art recognizing Allen whose likeness has been used to add a little Bills flavor to places like Allentown in Buffalo. In honor of Allen’s propensity for leaping over defenders, Hertel Avenue was named “Hurdle Avenue” last October. An image of Allen leaping on Chiefs defender Justin Reid was included with the name change.

Kudela stated that Rory Allen, a friend of his own, runs Zoom Buffalo, which specializes in creating murals from pieces of art.

“I replied, “wait! I have a building on 24th Street and Allen Avenue. “I thought, “Why don’t we put a Josh Allen mural on this building?” He said, “Find a picture and I’ll put it up.”

Goodberry and Kudela stated that the mural attracted lots of attention over the past weeks. They were primarily drawn by Bills fans who stopped by to get their photos taken there. Kudela’s Facebook video has had more than 10,000 hits.

Kudela claimed that Ryan, his 5-year old son, is a huge Bills fan. He is the latest member of a long line Kudela relatives, which includes his father and uncles who were all Bills backers.

Kudela, speaking of his father, said that he was certain he would love it.

Kudela posted on Facebook that he had fun at the expense Bills fans, who are the opponent in Sunday’s AFC Wild Card Game. As a reminder to his friends, who are Dolphins fans, he photographed photos of them near the “King Josh” mural.

He stated that the back and forth between the sides has been going for years, and that his idea of heckling his proDolphins buddies began weeks before he knew they would be meeting in round one.

“It’s all a joke and for laughs. He said that everyone laughed about it.

Goodberry is also a Bills fan who remembers the pain of their four consecutive Super Bowl losses in 1990. He said that Allen is the right fit for Buffalo, because he was not the top draft quarterback coming out of college. Goodberry stated that Allen has proved many doubters wrong in the years since he was picked by the Bills.

He stated that Allen’s play has attracted a lot national attention to the team, and the community in a way not seen since Jim Kelly’s days as the quarterback.

Goodberry spoke of Allen, saying that he represents Buffalo with his faith and humanity, humility, and willingness to do all he can win. He’s winning football games and I think that’s what that means to us.

Goodberry has been a long-time artist and digital artist. His portfolio includes many other Buffalo- and football-inspired pieces. Some of these have been worn on T-shirts and hats. Redbubble, an online art marketplace which helps artists sell their work, also hosts a Goodberry website. You can find the site at www.redbubble.com/people/OneNineApparel/explore?page=1&sortOrder=recent.