The recent joint venture between Kenney Shelton Liptak Nowak, Natale Builders and Frank Parisi to renovate the historic Calumet Building exemplifies an emerging transformation of downtown Buffalo's Chippewa Entertainment District. Once the city limits, red-light district and most recently, a center of Buffalo's nightlife, the area has recently attracted office users and mixed-use development.

When the law firm Kenney Shelton Liptak Nowak expressed interest in relocating to the

Mayday, Mayday Pop-Up Party at the Pierce-Arrow, coming this Saturday May 4th, will offer Buffalo's Music and Media Art lovers a glimpse of what they can expect as a benefit for the ongoing Pierce-Arrow Film Arts Center project (learn more), which is already underway to repurpose and revitalize the historic Pierce-Arrow administration building, located at 1685 Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, NY.
"Bringing the music community together with the film and media arts community is a no brainer - music

This Sunday, Lafayette Ave. Presbyterian Church's services will feature a conversation that I will be having with Sarah Kaiser(at the 10am service, which meets at the church) and  Cody Hashman (at the 6pm service, which meets at Ashker's Juice Bar), both of whom identify as atheists and work at the Center for Inquiry, as part of  "Interview an Atheist at Church Day".
We

The 2013 music offerings continue to roll out, with a look at the talented line-up at River Fest Park. The park is just a stone's throw from the Inner Harbor (see Facebook), and offers visitors a chance to relax on a wonderful law next to the Buffalo River, while catching some amazing local acts with the grain elevators as a backdrop. This is the perfect place to ride a bike to, following the bike trail that leads from Canalside, behind the DL&W Train Terminal, and to the front door of The Swannie House.

We're a little over a week away from the highly anticipated start to the 2013 farmers' market season. The Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market is scheduled to open on May 11 and with it comes all of the community's longstanding favorite sellers, along with some surprises. This summer, visitors to the market will be treated with a few new vendors including Blackbird Sweets, Bieter and Sons Farm, Plato Dale Farm, T-Meadow Farm and Eveningside Vineyards (among other vineyards that will be offering tastings). 
For those who can't wait to get their food home

Main Street in the Theater District is a bit messy these days.  But by early fall, cars will be sharing the 600 block of Main Street between Chippewa and Tupper streets with light rail vehicles.  The work extends the streetscape work that has already been completed on the 700 block of Main Street.  Mark Cerrone, Inc. is the contractor for the $8 million project.  

La Tavola (The Table), Hertel's latest entry in the North Buffalo restaurant scene, is only a matter of a couple of weeks away from opening. I spoke to owners Victor Cali (former pizzeria owner) and Patrizio Gentile (owner of Gecko's on Hertel), who told me that customers will be treated with homemade seasonal offerings, Neapolitan pizzas, pasta fagioli and ever-changing specials. Chef Chris Luccari has come onboard to make sure that guests are treated with house specialties that include homemade pasta (build your own dish) and even Italian creations with a Creole spin. 
Thanks

National Grid executives and employees were at Tifft Nature Preserve this morning planting over 100 new trees. 

National Grid's tree planting volunteerism is in conjunction with Tifft Nature Preserve's tree regeneration project which is being funded by a $300,000 grant from the Greenway Ecological Standing Committee (GESC).  The Committee is affiliated with the Niagara River Greenway Fund, established by the New York Power Authority as part of the re-licensing of the Niagara Power Project.

From May 30 to June 4, Buffalo will be hosting The National Veterans Golden Age Games - an event that is on track to draw upwards of a thousand participating Veterans and their families to Western New York. 
Thanks to the efforts of The Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission, a subsidiary of Visit Buffalo Niagara, the Western New York Congressional Delegation, the VA Western New York Healthcare System, and the National Veterans Golden Age Games Local Organizing Committee, the games are moving forward in full capacity, giving Veterans the chance to

This evening is the soft opening of Martin Cooks in the Horsefeathers Market building. The interior of the eatery has come a long way since we last paid a visit to the operation, and some of the food that I've had a chance to sample is out of this world. 
I stopped in last night to talk to owner Martin Danilowicz about the unusual (for Buffalo) dinner concept (lunch is next). Not only will the dinner concept be fresh in more ways than one, the truly open kitchen-meets-dining

Jonathan Casey, owner of Project716 (learn more), has announced that he is hosting his grand opening on Wednesday, May 8, 2013, and he's hoping that anyone interested in the works of local artisans stops by to take a look inside the design boutique. 
Since I last spoke to Jonathan, his showroom plan has altered course, thanks to a number of local artisans* that he has been introduced to since first announcing his plans to carry a handful of one-of-a-kind repurposed items. "I've decided that there is too

Going through some old clippings again, I came across these two early images, one a postcard and one an architect's rendering, showing the Metropolitan Transportation Center in Downtown Buffalo, run by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA).  It is a fancy name for what is basically a bus depot topped by the NFTA's headquarters. I believe it was built on land that had already been cleared for parking. 
The new bus station serving long distance buses opened in 1977 to great fanfare. It was hailed as a new way to do bus stations and was

Preservation Buffalo Niagara is recognizing outstanding preservation projects and those contributing to regional preservation efforts at its annual awards ceremony May 31, 11:30 AM at Kleinhans Music Hall. Buffalo Rising has been profiling this year's winners leading up to the event.
The Remington Lofts on the Canal encompasses over 170,000 square feet of space situated on the Erie Barge Canal waterfront in the City of North Tonawanda.  In 2007, Tony Kissling bought the property at 184 Sweeney Street with the vision to convert the daylight factory and powerhouse

"In their first WNY appearance in over 20 years and **ONLY** area appearance in 2013: One of rock and roll's most notorious and legendary bands..."
Coming to a relatively new outdoor concert site on Buffalo's waterfront, Guns N' Roses is set to take the stage on Wednesday June 5, 2013 - a concert that already has people talking about Buffalo's underestimated concert setting along Lake Erie. GN'R's band members are Axl Rose, DJ Ashba (guitar), Dizzy Reed (keyboards), Tommy Stinson (bass), Richard Fortus (guitar), Ron

Our friends at Larkinville have announced the line-up for the upcoming 2013 concert series, and it looks like it's going to be an action packed summer. With acts ranging from Terry Sullivan, The Albrights and The Tins... to Slyboots Drum and Dance, Flatbed and Steam Donkeys, the line-up is diverse with wide ranging sounds. 
The season kicks off on June 19 with John and Mary and the Valkyries (with the Ragbirds), and anyone that made it to last year's invitational concert knows what a fantastic show it's going to be. 
I hear a rumor that this year

Andy Goldsworthy is an internationally acclaimed artist like no other. Goldsworthy's medium is the earth. The artist has traveled the world creating art installations that are ingenious, sublime, and captivating. He has the ability to look at nature in a completely different way than most people. He has the knack to manipulate nature, in a sensitive, thoughtful and artistic way. Unlike many of his human counterparts, Goldsworthy pays homage to the earth, rather than disrupting it by exploiting it. To get

On May 4, 2013, Allentown residents are being asked to join in on a fascinating interactive art project called The City Lights Orchestra. The project is being presented as part of the MediaCities Conference planned by University at Buffalo. Artist Antoine Schmitt is heading up the task of turning Allentown into "A symphony of blinking, multi-colored lights" by turning city windows into colorful changing light sources that play off of one another, viewable by the public as a performance piece (see Facebook

It was only a matter of time before someone came up with the brilliant idea of organizing a waterfront pub crawl. Plus, the mode of transportation is the Queen City Ferry! Partiers will be able to visit AcQua, Liberty Hound, Swannie House and Templeton Landing, all while enjoying the waterfront ferry routes instead of hopping on a bus. 
On Saturday, May 18, 2013 from 12:00pm to 6:00pm, pub crawlers will embark from any one of the participating restaurants and pubs, and set out upon the waters in search of food and drink. $15 gives you unlimited access

Painting for Preservation is kicking off its third season with an exhibit at the C.G. Jung Center opening May 3rd from 6pm to 9pm.  The exhibit, Painting for Preservation: The Changing Atmosphere of Preservation, will be a living exhibit. Featuring seven core Painting for Preservation artists to start, the exhibit will grow over the course of two months as we add artists' work from the first four "art-ins" of the 2013 season.  In conjunction with the exhibit's opening, Painting for Preservation will hold its first event Saturday, May 4th from 9:30 - 12:30 at 23 North Street

The Deaconess Hospital complex at 1001 Humboldt Parkway (google map) is completely down and crews are working to remove the remainder of the debris. Once the site has been completely cleared a new housing development will begin construction on the site. Kaleida Health paid for the demolition of the 268,000 square foot hospital complex in order to pave the way for the Community Action Organization of Erie County (CAO) to create a new housing development, Deaconess Heights.  ="text-align: