Buffalo Rising

A Big FUSS: Supporting WNY's Small Farms--One at a Time

2012-02-07T21:05:23Z

Over the past several years the idea of eating local has become popular here and elsewhere, and with it the desire to experience foods fresh from the farm in our local restaurants. But without a distribution system in place for local farmers, as demand has grown, only a few farms have been willing or able to truly embrace the effort and challenges required to work with restaurants. Those that have stayed the course have found it to be a profitable and rewarding choice--chefs can appreciate the subtle adaptations a farmer can make in the growing process to really enhance a particular food, and anyone who has seen a field weather a serious storm can grasp the mercurial nature and risk inherent in farming.

The handful of farms whose food can be found in the best Western New York restaurants are fundamental to the success most of these restaurants enjoy. Chef Steven Gedra of Bistro Europa is known as one of Buffalo's most adventurous chefs, and while he is well-trained and a naturally creative person, he will tell anyone dining at his restaurant that much of his inspiration comes from the raw ingredients provided to him by his farm vendors.

Which is why he has committed himself to A Big FUSS, an event designed to aid a single, small family farm. A bad season, a major illness, a car accident, a broken piece of farm equipment--these are the things that can begin the road to ruin for a small farm. Can most farms survive one bad season? Sure. Can most make it through a bad season coupled with some other sort of family loss or tragedy? No. Can Buffalo's emerging restaurant scene afford to lose a single one of its year-round farm suppliers? Absolutely not.

So Gedra teamed up with Nickel City Chef producer Christa Glennie Seychew in order to develop an annual event where all proceeds would go directly to underwriting a single struggling farm. "Farmers are proud, and they aren't likely to accept charity, " Seychew said, "but every year I know of at least one farmer who is really at a tipping point. So why not fix it? This is the City of Good Neighbors, after all." So Gedra and Seychew have gathered several of their friends to stage A Big FUSS on Wednesday night at Artisan Kitchens and Baths on Amherst Street. Some of WNY's top chefs will be on-hand, and the silent auction sports some truly mouth-watering items (see below).

"The best restaurants in town get 15-25 requests for donations every week. I don't think people have any idea how much of the charity in this town comes straight from our restaurants," said Seychew. She and several area chefs worked to gather donations to support another local farmer last year, "I can't imagine a single year could go by when one of our 7,500 farms won't need our help, or couldn't move the local food scene forward with seed money for a greenhouse or another season-extending addition to their farm. So Steve and I are just going to make it happen, because we both see the direct effect that eating local has on our farms and on what we do."

DJ Cutler will warm up the joint; admission is only $30 (tickets available online or at the door). Both Gedra and Seychew are excited to say that almost all of the costs have been covered by them and their fellow locavores, so nearly all of the proceeds will go directly to one of Buffalo's best farms.

Donations made by: Bistro Europa, Sample, Shango Bistro, Lloyd Taco Truck, Merge, Chautauqua's Athenaeum Hotel, Carmelo's, Elm Street Bakery, Buffalo Cheese Traders, Tuscany on Main, Nickel City Cheese & Mercantile, Promised Land CSA/Oles Family Farm, Unfinished Farm, Painted Meadows, and T-Meadow Farm.

Auction items include:

2x Tickets to Nickel City Chef 20: JJ Richert of Torches vs. Chris Dorsaneo of Lloyd Taco
Cheese Basket from Buffalo Cheese Traders/Vermont Butter and Cheese
Salumi Basket from COPPA
An 11/x14 watercolor of The French Laundry by Vicki Warhol
A private lesson in Parisian macaron making from macarom master Sarah Wally
Sunday Tea for Two on the wrap-around porch at The Athenaeum Hotel
Dinner package from Sea Bar
A Deluxe entertainment package from WELCOME magazine
$125 Heritage Pork Family Package from T-Meadow Farm
2x tickets to Buffalo Museum of Science events "Love is a Crime" and "Get a Clue"

Playgrounds of the Future... Today

2012-02-07T18:26:39Z

Thanks to S. Hill for passing along a thoughtful note asking us to take a look at some inspirational playgrounds that are being designed all over the world. Of course there is something to be said for the traditional 'swing and slide' styles that we are still building in Buffalo - there will always be places for the oldies but goodies. At the same time, as we are trying to reinvent parts of the city such as Canalside where historic Military objects are commonplace, maybe there is room for a kids' draw that looks something like, say, an airplane? Or the Larkin District where creative ideas are running rampant.

There is a big push to get a children's museum downtown, and I'm all for the concept - the bigger the better. While a museum would be an incredible addition to the city's landscape, playgrounds will always be easy to access and free. Kids' imaginations are endless. As TV and video games vie for the attention of their minds, playground manufacturers are coming up with some ingenious concepts in order to draw kids back outside.

To see an image gallery and learn more about the the playgrounds of tomorrow, click on this PopSci article.

Holy Angels Church Continues Restoration Efforts

2012-02-07T17:29:18Z

The number of churches that have been forced to close their doors in recent years has been staggering. However, there have been some rare cases where churches have been able to reinvest in their historic properties and find a new life. Holy Angels Church at 348 Porter Avenue is one of those rare examples.

Built in 1856, the Roman Catholic Church has been in constant use since it was completed. The congregation was founded in 1851 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. They began as a seminary with humble beginnings in a converted barn located on the Terrace in downtown Buffalo. They began with 28 students and by 1852 they needed a more suitable location to continue their work. The leaders moved the seminary to what was then the outskirts of the city in the Prospect Hill neighborhood. Two abandoned buildings were included in the purchase a former poorhouse and an insane asylum.

The poorhouse was converted and renovated into their college and dorms while the asylum was transformed into a chapel. The Oblates served the poor Irish immigrants in the surrounding area, which at the time was practically a slum. By 1856 they began to construct the Church which stands today, but construction occurred sporadically due to financial problems. The building was dedicated by Bishop Timon in 1859, even though it still had not been completed. It was enlarged in 1874 including the addition of the transept, choir loft, and sanctuary which is how the Church appears today.

Subsequent generations have been good stewards of the rich history of Holy Angels Church, but considering the age the building, it has required serious maintenance and restoration. Enter Angelo Travale in 1999, who has helped raise money to proceed with a complete restoration of the beautiful Church. While Travale is not the only one to help guide the restoration efforts, he has been the man behind the scenes facilitating efforts to raise the necessary funds for restoration.

Events such as golf tournaments and fundraising drives have raised enough capital to repoint the failed mortar, replace the roof, stabilize the building, and propel the interior restoration. Currently about three quarters of the restoration has been completed, including the incredible murals which have been recently completed by Timothy Englert of Bryans Brothers Painting.

The interior of the church had been "modernized" over the years, meaning an almost total whitewash of the entire interior. Englert has brought brilliant colors back into the building including a new mural above the altar and intricately painted angel capitals on all of the columns throughout the building. Using a simple rag roll method, the white walls have been transformed to a warm shade of grey which complements the addition of new color very well.

Tim was kind enough to lead me through the building and pointed out some of the incredible ornament and elements on the interior. Much of the marble was imported from Italy and weighs so much that the floor was built with extra reinforcement to carry the massive weight. The two windows which are set in the curved wall of the altar were designed by none other than Louis Comfort Tiffany's company.

Holy Angels is a great example of how a group of dedicated people in a neighborhood which is seeing reinvestment everyday can bring new life to one of Buffalo's historic churches.

For additional pictures of the Church, check out my Flickr page, Views of Buffalo

Bold Ideas for Better Transit: Humbolt Parkways and Light Rail

2012-02-07T05:15:00Z

By Nicholas Miller

Last week I wrote about simple solutions that could improve Buffalo's public transit system. This week, I would like to present a bold idea.

In my opinion, Buffalo's Metro Rail is a mass transit success story. It has the NFTA's highest ridership and represents a fifth of the NFTA's total daily ridership. It is also fast and follows a direct route between several of the city's major destinations. It is also the least subsidized and most cost-effect component of NFTA's transit system and attracts a substantial share of discretionary riders (30%). I have spent a lot of time staring at maps of Buffalo trying to surmise at-grade right-of-ways for additional routes that could offer similar directness and speed. However, most routes either skirt neighborhoods (old freight lines, for instance) or do not seem wide enough for dedicated transit lanes and have frequent intersections (Genesee, for instance).

One day, it occurred to me that the Kensington and Scajaquada Expressways would offer fairly direct routes between many of Buffalo's neighborhoods, the Airport, Downtown and Buffalo State. They could also have minimal intersections and would be wide enough for dedicated transit lanes. I envisioned converting these highways into something resembling Shaker Boulevard in Cleveland, with a light rail line running down a central park median, but I kept the idea to myself, thinking it was probably too 'out there.' However, in the comments for last week's post about capping the Kensington, I saw that other people had the same idea (BurchJP, DeanerPPX). So, since I'm not the only person with this 'crazy' idea, here it is complete with renderings, maps and diagrams.

The project would consist of downgrading the Kensington and Scajaquada from highways into urban boulevards - not unlike Sheridan Drive, but hopefully with more trees. This would involve filling in the trench, recreating park medians and building a light rail line. I have provided a rendering of what this would look like at the intersection of E. Ferry and Humbolt Parkway. This option envisions two medians that would separate express and local traffic, but there are multiple configurations that could be considered. I've also provided illustrations of these choices.

This project would align with the goals of the Olmsted Conservancy to create a reinterpretation of the Humbolt Parkway. It would also allow the parkway to extend all the way to the foot of downtown, which some may consider an improvement over the original parkway. As the new boulevard approaches the airport, it could take on a more traditional highway configuration with additional lanes and a rail line running down the center. This arrangement is used on the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago, which leads to O'Hare and was also used for Portland's original light rail line.

Filling in the Kensington's trench was estimated to cost around $100 million. A light rail like this (which is really more of a streetcar) may cost as little as $10 - $15 million per mile. This plan would add about 14 miles of track and may cost as little as $140 - $210 million. Estimates of what it would cost to cap the expressway range from $350 to $500 million and that does not include the cost of necessary maintenance needed on these highways.

In many ways, this idea may be more feasible and practical than maintaining these expressways as they are or pursuing capping them. For one, removing the trenches will save considerably on ongoing maintenance expenses. This project would also qualify for various federal grants - grants for light rail, grants for bike lanes, grants for projects that improve air quality, grants for historic landscapes, and grants for highway projects. Further, by combining all of these various projects into one, efficiencies can be accessed during construction and engineering that will allow the project to be cheaper than if the NFTA and State were to pursue separate light rail and highway projects. Lastly, bigger projects are often more politically feasible than smaller projects. They gain attention, they become talking points and they are resume builders for politicians. This is why it is often difficult to get cities to patch up roofs on abandoned houses or mow empty lots, but seemingly easy to get money for enormous silver-bullet projects like aquariums or convention centers.

This is a big dream, but a practial one. It would add tremendously to Buffalo's light rail system, enhance the appeal of several neighborhoods, and improve mobility within the city. Many people may balk at the notion of Buffalo growing its light rail system or downgrading what they see as an important commuting thoroughfare. However, similarly sized cities like Salt Lake City have far larger light rail systems and a similar highway downgrade planned for Cleveland is estimated to only add 75 seconds to rush hour commutes. This project would also allow more choices for traveling to the airport and additional park and ride lots. More generally, projects like this leverage Buffalo's best assets (historic homes, parks, cultural assets) so that it can compete with other cities for the best and brightest workers and entrepreneurs.

Nicholas Miller graduated from the Ohio State University with a B.A. in Urban Geography and Economics in 2010. He currently lives in Detroit with his partner where he works in the GIS field.

BMHA Chooses National Architect for Choice Neighborhood Design

2012-02-07T05:10:00Z

The architectural firm responsible for Baltimore's Inner Harbor will design Buffalo's Choice Neighborhood plan Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority officials said Monday.

The $624,000 contract will result in a dramatic remaking and revitalization of the Commodore Perry public housing neighborhood by Philadelphia-based Wallace, Roberts & Todd (WRT). The BMHA Perry Choice neighborhood is bounded by South Park on the south, Smith Street to the east, Sycamore to the north and Michigan Avenue to the west.

WRT, which has long experience with Hope VI projects, designed the Lakeview Hope VI development on the Lower West Side in 1998. Working with WRT will be Buffalo-based Foit-Albert Associates.

"Buffalo is fortunate to be guided by WRT, one of the premier neighborhood revitalization architectural firms in America," said BMHA Executive Director Dawn E. Sanders. "WRT has the deepest experience and the highest achievement when it comes to modernizing and transforming public housing into residential oases that become signature properties for all who live in and near them."

The BMHA Perry Choice Neighborhood planning initiative is a collaborative led by the BMHA and the University at Buffalo Center for Urban Studies. Its goal is to develop a plan for transforming the Perry Choice Neighborhood into a vibrant community of opportunity. It will be designed to function as a springboard so residents earn a living wage and help children do well in school, graduate on time, and go on to college and/or obtain a job with a meaningful career ladder.

Last March, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that Buffalo was among 17 cities awarded the first planning grants through the new Choice Neighborhoods Initiative. Buffalo received $250,000 to begin transforming the Commodore Perry Housing neighborhood, the Woodsen Gardens neighborhood, and Kowal Apartments neighborhood into new viable and sustainable mixed-income communities.

The new mix of housing will be an essential component in a "complete" neighborhood transformation, where LEED neighborhood rating standards will be used to guide the creation of a healthy, safe and sustainable community. Green design will be used for buildings and creating walkable sidewalks, and pedestrian friendly streets that connects residents to places like community gardens, active live, work and play spaces, and visually beautiful landscapes. Green neighborhood infrastructure design will be used to ensure safe complete streets and access for all users: pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and public transportation users of all types.

The proposed Perry neighborhood redesign will emphasize the development of comprehensive support services and institutions essential to the well-being of residents.

"WRT is one of the leading planning and architectural firms in the country, and we are fortunate to have it on our team," said Dr. Henry Louis Taylor Jr., executive director of the UB Center for Urban Studies. "It brings a wealth of experience in dealing with HOPE 6 and Choice Neighborhood projects, which are LEED based. Its addition, the team will help with the development of a project that is truly capable of catalyzing the redevelopment and transformation of the Perry Choice Neighborhood."

After the planning process, the BMHA will then be eligible to apply for a $30 million implementation grant.

Entry Image: BMHA Willert Park replacement homes on Jefferson Avenue

Wines of the World

2012-02-07T03:33:42Z

If you're a fan of worldly wines and beer varietals and you would like to pay a visit to the newly renovated Statler City, then Rotary Club of Buffalo and the Buffalo Rotary Foundation have an event for you. The event is called Wines of the World and if you know anything about Rotary, then you know that the organization has changed the face of Buffalo through its fundraisers and its contributions to this city. Just think of Rotary Rink and Rotary Park - just a couple of the most noticeable contributions.

Each year Rotary of Buffalo hosts impressive events geared towards raising funds for worthy causes in Buffalo. Why not join friends and fellow Buffalonians for a relaxing evening of drinks and food in the impressive surroundings of Statler City? It's your chance to unwind and enjoy Wines of the World.

Wines of the World | Friday, March 2nd | Statler City | 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Tickets are $50.00 in advance and $60.00 at the door.

Take Back The Neighborhoods

2012-02-06T19:56:23Z

By Chris Phillips - Occupy Western New York:

We are Occupy Western New York, we began in late December when a number of Occupy Buffalo protesters moved to Lafayette Square and were raided 5 days later.

We decided it was best to move into the new phase of the Occupy movement and began occupying abandoned homes and foreclosed properties as a realistic way of addressing the WNY housing crisis. Some of us just returned from Niagara Square where they recently raided the camp with dozens of police officers and took everything down. Occupy Buffalo was given no grace period to remove their things in a timely efficient manner. This aside, we are doing renovations on an abandoned home, located at 1370 Michigan Avenue. We have the support of neighbors who want to see an improvement in the neighborhood. There are many repairs and improvements that must be tackled, and we are assessing each problem realistically in terms of funding. Many of us are personally pledging thousands of dollars to acquire the property and renovate it for as little money as possible, to set a model of community involvement as we tackle more houses in the future.

We have officially named this campaign Take Back The Neighborhoods, and we encourage people all over the region to stand up and join us in repossessing the vacant and foreclosed properties in their own areas. As a community we can stand together and provide everyone with the tools and resources needed to rebuild for very little money. We invite people to come in at any time, of their own accord, to join in helping to solve our own problems. We are developing an official repair list to be able to better tackle the workload ahead of us. We are establishing a strong, positive working relationship with people of all creeds, all walks of life, left and right, red and blue, black and white... We are considering a future campaign of home ownership that not only addresses the housing crisis, but rebuilds lives. We want to call it OWN Your OWN Home. Occupy Western New York.

Thank you for your efforts in promoting local business growth, and with enough effort I believe we can transform Buffalo and Western New York for the long term up and up! You can always find us on our Facebook page - we are working on getting a .org up and running full time. God bless.

In Love and Light,

Chris Phillips

Occupy Western New York

Photo credit: David Torke, fixBuffalo.

Showing my sensitive side...

2012-02-06T18:12:12Z

Ever since the Huffington Post article came out, showing the sensitive side of Buffalo guys, I have been irked about an image that went along with the article. While all of the other images showed pretty, colorful shots of respective cities, Buffalo was, once again, depicted as a cold, desolate place. Now I'm not saying that we don't have cold winters. We do. But that's what you get when you live in a city that has four seasons. We are not alone, though we are often perceived to be alone. Does the guy in the lead image (center) look like he's in a romantic mood? Or does he look like he's going to collect back taxes from your grandmother?

The more I thought about the image, the more I thought about how often we get the short end of the stick when it comes to national media. I ended up sending an email to Claire Gordon who wrote the article, and voiced my concerns, stating that if the photo was snagged from the Associated Press (which is often the case), that I would like to offer a replacement image as a substitution. Why? Because whenever AP is in Buffalo, chances are that the photographer is taking photos of the over-sensationalized Buffalo winters. It's not like AP comes to Buffalo to take photos of our vibrant summers. That's not what people want to see when they think of Buffalo. So, while Huffington Post was conducting a search for a photo of a sensitive guy in Buffalo, the Getty image of the HSBC Arena popped up and that is what was used to depict a sensitive Buffalo guy. While the article was flowery (in a good way), the photo was cold as ice.

Fortunately Claire accepted my offer and asked that I send a few of my own photos along - not necessarily romantic, but not snow-covered tax collector types (my apologies to the gentleman that was featured in the original photo). I chose to use photos that I took from the past few weeks. These are just normal guys doing normal things in Buffalo - nothing staged, nothing out of the ordinary... just some candid shots of guys enjoying themselves. Claire has told me that she is going to do her best to get the original shot of the guy walking away from the HSBC Arena changed. Whether this happens or not, this will not be the last time that Buffalo is portrayed as a permafrost city. That's unfortunate, but it doesn't mean that we can't speak up when it does happen. Often times there is an understanding writer who never even considered the impact of the photo that was chosen to go along with the article - especially when the subject matter in no way correlates with the image posted.

Buffalo NY

I also wrote a similar plea to www.gaycities.com regarding this article, though I never heard back from the writer.

Another Win For NYC Is Just Another Win

2012-02-06T13:56:22Z

By Rachel Mathews:

I really had decent expectations going into Superbowl XLVI as a Bills fan willing to cheer for the Giants as my adopted, second favorite, home-away-from home team. Sure it was the lesser of two evils to cheer for the Giants, especially after last week's Brady hotel comment debacle, but I also have a strong base of NYC friends who are born and raised Giants fans. I wanted to see what a city post-superbowl victory would be like, and I wanted to see my NYC friends in, what I had hoped would be, rare form. In what may potentially be a more isolated situation (although I can't help but think that it was not so unique), I have to say that as a Bills fan, I was truly underwhelmed.

The game was close enough to be exciting, and one would expect a game such as this to amount to insanity. You can imagine my disappointment when, ten minutes after the end, we poured into the streets of downtown Manhattan expecting to find chaos and crowds but instead found ourselves greeted with a few cheers and a couple nods of comraderie. My friend group, mostly all die-hard Bills loyalists, rallied behind the Giants with an enthusiasm unmeasured by actual Giants fans, just eager to see a team that they were relatively connected to make it to victory. Even if Buffalo never secures a win in the Super Bowl, I'd put money on the fact that we'd have a more passionate and emotionally invested response in the outcome than what I observed last night.

On the subway, one would barely have an idea that the Super Bowl even occured. I heard a few fans with Giants memorabilia exchange congratulations, but where were the chants and cheers that I expected to witness? At home, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to move a few blocks without hearing some rendition of the Shout song. In New York, all I heard were modest acknowledgements of success, something that must lose its luster in a city that experiences so much of it. As a Buffalo sports fan, I really wouldn't know.

On my trip home, I overheard one Giants fan say to another, "I have friends in DC, Maryland, Florida, all calling me saying congratulations, as if I won the game, as if I was Manning!" His incredulous tone struck me; in Buffalo, you would never hear something along those lines. In Buffalo, it truly is a team effort. If Buffalo were to make it to the Super Bowl (again), every one of us would feel like we played a part in the journey to get us there. No matter how distant the friend or relative may be, a call of congratulations would be met with high-pitched, jubiliant screeching, not skepticism. To be honest, in Buffalo, one could probably expect rioting before the game even began. We don't take these things lightly. We appreciate how hard it is to get to glory.

Aside from an excessive amount of food, nothing made this Sunday different from any other Sunday this season. Of course there was the occasional trash talking on Friday at the end of the work day, but come Sunday, the enthusiasm I witnessed among my NYC cohorts was on par with any other gameday.

Winston Churchill once said that "success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm". Lord knows that it is something inexplicable that drives Bills fans to rise every crisp Sunday in early fall with a fervent (and relatively unwarranted) hope that this season is OUR season. I don't want to say that the Giants didn't deserve this success, because by all means, they did. To see the Patriots defeated in the Super Bowl this year is in itself a small victory for Bills fans. But to be in a city that continually exceeds expectation and is known for its outlandishness, and to witness how unphased it could be by such a momentous occasion, was disappointing... but simultaneously, reaffirming. It reminded me how unique, committed, and unwavering Buffalo Bills fans are. It reaffirmed my sense that our overzealousness is something that, although at times may seem ridiculous, is a passion that binds us together in a way that only a city overcome by failures can experience.

I'm sure every Giants fan is proud of their team and excited by the fact that they are Super Bowl champs, but last night, all I could see was the way this celebration could never even come close to a post-Super Bowl championship celebration in Buffalo.

Until next year, Go Bills.

Photo: mmamania.com

Preservation Ready: The Churches of Buffalo

2012-02-06T13:42:20Z

Buffalo has an amazing and important collection of magnificent historic churches. It is a collection of great architectural heritage that ranks up there with any city in America and surpasses most. It is a heritage built mostly with the hard earned dollars and devotion of Buffalo's early working class residents. Much of this irreplaceable heritage is now being thrown away by WNY's current residents. I was scheduled to write this story back in December but somehow could not bring myself to do it. With the closing of so many churches over the last two decades the problem of what to do with these glorious buildings seems intractable. I believe that every religious group in WNY has closed facilities in recent years (and this is not only a WNY trend - it is happening across the country).

Most of the closings, however, have come at the hands of the Catholic Church. The Church's congregations are aging and shrinking, the ranks of available priests are thinning, and the big old buildings demand gobs of money and maintenance to keep running. Add in changing demographics, and the easy choice is to close and merge congregations. The church calls this latest series of closings a "Journey in Faith and Grace". I am not sure why you give something like this a name - especially this name. To me it seems like a cynical marketing gimmick to allow its members to believe they are doing the right thing. Of course the people of a closed congregation do not believe that they are doing the right thing. Those whose churches do escape the ax are likely relieved enough to buy into the faith and graceful tag line.

Churches are possibly the hardest buildings to reuse after the original use has expired. They are designed for such a specific purpose that they become true white elephants. That is not to say that they can't be re-purposed. Buffalo has several successful church reuse projects. The King Urban Life Center now known as the King Center Charter School is one of the earliest examples of a church being saved for a great new use. The former St. Mary of Sorrows Church came very close to being demolished prior to being saved. Yes, its demolition was obstructed and now Buffalo still has a gorgeous and unique (in the true meaning of the word unique) building that is productive and still inspiring. There are other examples of reuse, such as the two Karpeles Manuscript Museums located in Buffalo's Allentown and Fargo Estates neighborhoods. The one on Porter, now known as Porter Hall, was carved out of the former Plymouth Methodist Church. The other, North Hall, is housed in the former First Church of Christ Scientist building at North and Elmwood.

Each of these three previously mentioned examples allowed for the great sanctuary spaces to be reused, essentially intact in their historic forms. Other reuse scenarios required the buildings to be carved into smaller segments for use as offices or apartments - not the best option, but one that still allowed the buildings to be saved. Examples of this include the church at Elmwood and Ferry (recently restored from a fire) which was converted to offices a couple of decades ago. Also an older conversion was the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church at Bryant and Richmond which was converted into 16 condominiums back in 1994. The fact that these conversions happened decades before Buffalo's current positive development momentum began says a lot about how attractive these church buildings can be for redevelopment.

But let's not kid our selves. One of the common denominators of most successful church conversions is that the church is found in a prosperous part of town. Unfortunately the majority of church closings (quite often the most spectacular churches as well) are in Buffalo's poorest, most heavily declining neighborhoods. There is no market for new space in these neighborhoods and there is no large constituency of monied activists to fight for these buildings. Meaning that they are, for the most part, out of sight out of mind. So what is the solution? I don't know! I do know that moving them to southern US parking lot suburbs is not a solution. The problem of what to do with Buffalo's churches is probably the toughest and most important preservation problem in Buffalo. It is a problem that absolutely has to be solved. Buffalo cannot let these precious and irreplaceable artistic creations disappear.

Buffalo Spree featured three endangered Churches in its December 2011 issue. St. Adalbert Basilica at 212 Stanislaus on the East Side has recently been closed for regular services but remains a viable building (hanging on by a thread) - being used only as something called an oratory. The congregation has fought the closure, even gaining support in its fight from the Vatican. The Vatican, by the way, could save any one of these churches with the sale of a statue or two out of its vast Vatican collection.

Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Main near the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is a vacant shell. Former owners have completely stripped the building of its windows and interior detail. It is currently owned by Ellicott Development which promises that the building will be redeveloped (there is that good neighborhood thing again). The final church in the story is Transfiguration Church - also found on the East Side at 929 Sycamore. The building has long been abandoned but still has an owner who promises much and delivers pretty much nothing. Will this be the future of St. Adalbert? Miraculously, Transfiguration still contains most of its glorious golden hued stained glass and is still very much salvageable. How to do that? That is the $5,000,000 question. Even as I write, I do not know what the solution is, though I do have one thought about how to save them. Why not use them for their original purpose? Here is the thought... Close the churches in the prosperous neighborhoods in the city and suburbs where they are more likely to find a new use and ask your flock to "Journey in Faith and Grace" to the city's desperately poor and needy neighborhoods each Sunday morning. Would that work?

For more on this and other preservation issues in Buffalo checkout the Preservation Ready FaceBoook page

Pay tribute to the original chicken wing sauce

2012-02-05T20:54:21Z

Super Bowl Sunday is a big day for hot sauce companies like Frank's. The chicken wing has become symbolic food for football lovers all over the world, and thanks to Anchor Bar (inventor of the original chicken wing), Frank's has become a huge sensation producing a highly addicting wing sauce that fans all over the world say is synonymous with the flavor of the wing.

According to a recent NY Times article, the battle of the hot sauce companies is heating up now that Tabsco has entered the ring with its own version of chicken wing sauce. The article pays tribute to the Anchor Bar in a round about way by acknowledging that "Buffalo wings were first served, in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1964, [when] Frank's RedHot was an ingredient in the sauce." Of course Frank's' rise to fame, along with its market growth, would someday catch the attention of Tabasco (McIlhenny Company), which has just introduced its own version of Buffalo Style hot sauce - "Buffalo, New York, meet Buffalo, Louisiana.". The marketing battle between the two is apparent as both companies have injected huge capital into respective branding campaigns leading up to the Super Bowl.

Now from what I understand, Anchor Bar used Frank's RedHot to get the ball rolling, meaning that Frank's was integral to the conceptualization of original wing sauce. But they didn't invent it. So my question is, if Anchor Bar was the first (and presumably the best), and heavy hitting Frank's and Tabasco are capitalizing on the success of the growing sensation, then what do the two hot sauce giants have over the original? Presumably mega corporations behind them. Hopefully Buffalonians who tout the chicken wing as a homegrown favorite also recognize that there can be only one - Anchor Bar. If you're a fan of the Buffalo chicken wing, and you're devoted to a particular wing sauce, we would love to hear about it. Even if it's not one of the brands mentioned here (like the almost infamous John Young's wing sauce).

What's your favorite and why?

Buffalo NY: #5 city to find a sensitive man

2012-02-05T15:40:23Z

On a day that is dedicated to the gruff, chicken wing eating, army jacket wearing, Super Bowl watching Buffalo guys, it should also be noted that despite how 'rough and tumble' Buffalo guys may want to appear, deep down there is a sensitive side to them. According to The Huffington Post writer Claire Gordon, Chemistry.com has "...scanned its male users' responses to a 56-question personality test designed by biological anthropologist Helen Fisher, the site's chief scientific advisor and a professor at Rutgers University." The results? Well, Buffalo ranks as one of the top ten cities where you're likely to find sensitive guys.

Here's the map showing the top ten cities. Chemistry.com's chief scientific advisor, Dr. Helen Fisher states that, "Men do have a sensitive side. They want to please. But different men do it differently; and these 10 cities are packed with a certain kind of man, what I call BUILDERS -- men who express a constellation of personality traits linked with the serotonin system in the brain. Sensitive men, known as builders, are traditional. They deeply value loyalty, duty, respectability and proper moral conduct. They want to do the "right" thing. So builders go way out of their way to keep their social relationships running smoothly. So they watch, listen, and gauge what they need to do to help others and they do it naturally. It's these chivalrous qualities that make a sensitive man."

Saturday Stumper #11

2012-02-04T21:44:37Z

On the occasional Saturday I feature an obscure architectural element found in the city, to see if someone can figure out where it is. Buffalo is filled will all sorts of obscure architectural details and hidden items if interest.

There are no clues - just a photo depicting the item. I'm sure that there are a lot of BRO readers out there who have scoured the city and have seen just about all that there is to see. Others might learn about some real treasures found in the most unlikely places. Either way, I'll keep mixing it up from week to week to keep you guessing... hopefully.

Due to readers' request, the answer will be given on Monday, although the stumper series has proven that the readership is spot on with their guesswork thus far.

To see the previous stumper click here.

Indy: From Naptown to Super City

2012-02-04T19:40:00Z

I have long touted the sports strategy that Indianapolis used to revitalize its downtown as a model for cities to follow in terms of strategy led economic and community development. I really think it sets the benchmark in terms of how to do it, and it has been very successful.

Indy is hosting the Super Bowl on Sunday, something that is locally seen as a sort of crowning achievement of the 40 year sports journey. As part of that, the Indianapolis Star and public TV station WFYI produced an hour long documentary on the journey called "Naptown to Super City." I think it's a must watch for anyone who is trying to figure out to revitalize their own downtown. An hour isn't short, but given the billions of dollars cities pour into this, I think it's worth doing some homework. It tells the story of how Indy went from a deserted downtown where local Jaycees were licensed to take their shotguns and kill pigeons to one where the Super Bowl is being hosted today.

I'll talk more about the Indy strategy in a bit, but first the show. Click here to watch.

One thing this brought home for me is the true magnitude of the change. Perhaps I'm being a bit uncharitable, but Indianapolis almost literally started with nothing. It was never a major, important American city. It had no brand in the market. And it had a downtown that was all but dead. Everything they have today was built almost from scratch.

Why do I think the Indy sports strategy was such a good one? Two reasons: it was a good strategic area to go after, and it was backed up with very intelligent execution.

First, five reasons this was a good strategic goal to pursue:

1. It just fits the character of the city. Hoosiers love sports. The Indianapolis 500 and high school basketball were long established. It's something they could get behind in a way that they would never have gotten behind being the "vegetarian capital of the world" or something like that. It was authentic to the city. If you watch the video, you'll note how locals embraced the events that were held. That goes a long way towards explaining the success of the strategy. You have to be authentic to a place in your development efforts.

2. It was a whitespace opportunity where Indy could get first mover advantage. Today every city thinks they can make money off sports, but Indy really pioneered the notion that you could use sports as an economic development tool. There were a lot of firsts along the path, and that's one reason Indy was able to stake out a leadership position. Just as one example, Indy was first to do the "build it and they will come" model of building a stadium before having a team. As a result, they were able to grab the Colts, and do it in an era when you didn't have to mortgage your whole city to make a team relocation happen.

3. Being America's top city for sports events was a realistically achievable goal. I know this because the city achieved it. This is in great contrast to the umpteen cities who all claim they'll be the "best cycling city in America" or some such.

4. There were huge collateral benefits to sports beyond the direct economic impact of the events and the jobs they support. They bring people to the city to show it off to people who might not otherwise come. They enliven downtown and create events that locals might actually want to attend. They also have been an amazing brand opportunity. Just think of the Colts. How many times a week during football season does the word "Indianapolis" get said on TV? Probably hundreds if not thousands. Imagine if the city had to pay advertising dollars for that exposure? Yes, sports is expensive, but I think it could be justified just as cost-efficient marketing alone. Think about how much companies pay just to put their name on the stadium. How much more is it worth to put your city's name on the team or the event? Think about how much advertisers will be paying for a 30 second commercial in the Super Bowl? What's it worth for all those mentions of your city during the Super Bowl again?

5. It was an initiative that had the possibility of being truly transformative for the city. Again, I know this is true because it was.

I'm not going to claim these were actually the thoughts going through people's minds as the sports strategy developed or that it was this calculated. But all of these things were implicitly true all along, and I think clearly the people pushing sports must have gotten it on that at some level. So sports meets the first test of a great strategy in that it set out after a good strategic goal.

It was also something where there was a level of execution detail that far exceeded what most cities do. In business, it's one thing to have an idea. It's another thing to execute on it and achieve market leadership. It's still another to generate sustainable competitive advantage that keeps you there over the long haul. Indianapolis has managed to do all of these with sports. I'll highlight eight examples of how it did this:

1. It invested in world class facilities. A lot of these have remained top rated even long after they opened, like Conseco Fieldhouse, which is still ranked every year as the best arena in the United States.

2. Two, it laid out an entire district downtown around events hosting, with everything you need in close proximity - venues, the convention center, hotels, shopping, and entertainment. This is something that's already been widely commented on by Super Bowl visitors who are amazed you don't have to get shuttled around all over the place and that you can actually walk directly from the media hotel to the hotels where the teams are staying.

3. Three, because of this Indy is able to effectively "saturation rebrand" downtown for an event and otherwise cater to events in a way that few other cities can or will. In effect, the city has converted its downtown into a giant sound stage. Take a look at the pictures of the city. The whole downtown as been rebranded after the Super Bowl, including, for example, plastering a huge Lombardi Trophy images on the side of the city's premier hotel. You can debate the value of this to the city, but there's no denying its value to the NFL. How many cities are willing to do this to the extent Indianapolis is?

4. Indy created the Indiana Sports Corp. as the first ever non-profit management company for events. Today, everybody has adopted that model.

5. The city cultivated a large, experienced volunteer base for putting on events that is much more powerful than what others cities have.

6. Indy has been willing to take calculated risks in support of the strategy. Building the Hoosier Dome with no team to play in it - big risk.

7. It not only went after the events, it went after the sanctioning bodies that determined where the events would be held. The most important is of course the NCAA, but there are others too. This has resulted in Indy having a "cluster" of these organizations and direct access to the people making decisions that pays incalculable dividends. This is one area where the "face to face" discussions that occur in Indy gives the city a big leg up. It's not just better for selling, it gives Indy critical advanced intelligence about how these organizations are conceiving of their future events needs.

8. Last but certainly not least, this has been a sustained, 35 year commitment. It wasn't a party politics thing. It was a single project thing. It wasn't a flash in the pan idea. It was something that has been relentlessly pursued over the long haul.

Add all this up and it is easy to see why still today, three or four decades after it first started and after pretty much every city decided to go after these types of events, Indianapolis is still the best place in America to host a sports event.

I hope this gives you a flavor why the Indy sports strategy was so good and so successful. It's certainly something that's not without its failures and downsides. The fact that sports has consumed disproportionate civic resources is one of them, and one highlighted by the documentary. But on the whole, most people seem very happy with the results.

Something the video highlights at the end is one essential attribute for success that you can't plan for or make happen - luck. They ask questions like, what if the "Save the Pacers" telethon had failed back in the 70's? What if the seats in the Hoosier Dome had been the originally planned variegated colors instead of the Colts blue and white colors when Bob Irsay walked in to check it out? There were many critical turning points where without a lucky break, who knows if the future of downtown Indy might have been radically different in some way. It should give us some humility about the limits of our ability to simply will things into being. On the other hand, it reminds us that if you aren't in the game, if you aren't swinging the bat, you don't have any chance at all of hitting that home run. You have to play if you want to win.

Aaron M. Renn is a urban policy analyst and consultant based in New York City. His writings appear at his blog, The Urbanophile, and in other publications

Targeting Taggers: Part 1

2012-02-04T14:55:19Z

The subjects of tagging and graffiti ares one that are oft disputed and although many people can't agree on the topics, the taggers continue to leave their marks on this city. Normally when I see a stop sign with a tag on it I don't get too upset (it's a an ugly blemish that can be easily fixed). Unfortunately, I know that that tag will most likely lead to other tags... in other places. Often times, derelict buildings are prime candidates for getting tagged. It's considered the Broken Window Theory - blight will attract more blight.

In the past I have stated that I don't like tags, but I can appreciate beautiful graffiti. Tagging is pretentious, ugly and juvenile. Masterful graffiti is art. Recently I've noticed that a couple of wonderful brick buildings in the city have been getting hit with serious tags. One building sits at the corner of Main and Utica. The other is located near the corner of Bryant and Ashland. The building on Main Street was painstakingly renovated a year ago, which makes the tags even more disgusting. The building on Bryant is fully occupied and sits in a quiet residential neighborhood. It's attacks like these that contribute to bringing neighborhoods down, and it is my hope that The City does more to try to catch the culprits who continue to pollute Buffalo. Without stiffer penalties, taggers will continue to tag.

Interview with Joyce M. Emke Security Program Manager at Buffalo Place Inc:

1) What is the punishment for getting caught these days?

Each Judge has the right to punish as he/she sees fit. Most Judges will give probation and community service; however, several years ago, we did have one defendant get a prison sentence. You can check the laws: PL 145.60 Making graffiti - class A misdemeanor; PL 145.65 Possession of graffiti instruments-class B misdemeanor.

2) What should building owners and communities do when they notice graffiti and tags in their neighborhoods?

The property owners should make out a police report, take pictures of the damage, and make sure the date is on the picture, and email a copy of the picture to either Sam Lunetta or me (Joyce Emke). The Regional Anti-Graffiti Task Force reviews the pictures and keeps up with arrests. If the tagger is caught and arrested, we look through our files to find other incidents of his/her tag and we will notify the DA's office. Sometimes this helps to show the Judge that he/she is a chronic tagger. People should also call 311 to notify the city that the property needs to be cleaned up. If there is a block club, they should be notified as well. Property owners should make every effort to clean the property quickly and completely. Taggers may come back a couple of times but if the tag keeps getting removed quickly, taggers usually don't bother after the 3rd time.

3) Is there an organization that people can get in touch with to remove the tags, or is it the sole responsibility of the building owner?

It is the sole responsibility of the building owner. The city will remove it and charge the property owner. More information regarding this can be found in the City of Buffalo charter - 341-7.

4) How can we get tougher penalties for those who are caught?

There are many things we are looking at including meeting with the Judges to keep them informed about the extent of damage taggers cause. Property owners showing up in court with their neighbors or at least writing letters can also have an impact on the Judges. Always make out a police report and take pictures to make sure we can provide additional information to the DA when necessary.

5) Are we making progress in the realm of tag prevention, or are we spinning our wheels?

There have been many arrests in the past several years. The press is definitely covering graffiti arrests and issues more. People are more aware of what to do - although we have a ways to go. The police have had training regarding taggers as well as gang graffiti. It is a high hill to climb but we keep on moving.

6) Are there any taggers out there who have recently been caught? If so who are they and how were they reprimanded?

There are several cases pending. Two taggers are going to be sentenced in March.

7) Anything else? Here is something you may not know.

Check out City Ordinance 222-1 (4). Even if cashiers knew about this ordinance, it seems that many of the taggers either steal the paint or order from the internet. If you look up graffiti on the internet, there are so many sites that sell spray paint, computer programs, and display taggers' pictures of graffiti. In stores, you can find t-shirts, notebooks, pictures, and so much more with the graffiti style. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery as well as the Downtown Erie County Library have offered classes teaching graffiti. So, what's the difference between graffiti and art? Having permission to put your art on the side of the building will turn illegal tags into art. But, that's not what the graffiti culture is about.