Thanks to all of the BRO readers who sent us emails with colorful Skyway sightings this week. 

If you've been prowling around the Inner Harbor, you too may have seen the test lighting that is being conducted by the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC). According to Kaitlin McGee Chmura, Assistant Project Manager ECHDC, the test pilot project is aimed at finding the most

This post originally appeared on Views of Buffalo
What was once a neighborhood movie palace is now another vacant lot on the city's west side. The former Marlowe Theater at 257 Virginia has now been completely demolished, leaving a massive empty footprint on the corner of Virginia and 10th streets. I previously covered the full history of the building

Mayor Byron W. Brown recently made an announcement revealing the steady progress we have made in becoming a greener city. Standing alongside DPW Commissioner Steve Stepniak in the Hennepin Park neighborhood, Brown publicly disclosed the most recent statistics of the "Buffalo Green Cart Recycling Program."
In the month of March alone, Buffalo's residents recycled more than 1,000 tons of material, setting a new monthly record for the program. This was a drastic increase compared to last year's total of 700 tons in the same month. 
"The

An Italian bakery is currently setting up shop at 218 Grant Street, adjacent to Sweet_ness 7 Cafe. Prish Moran, owner of the building and Sweet_ness 7, is beyond excited that the bakery is coming and feels that the addition to the street will help to further the momentum for additional businesses looking to establish on the West Side. The bakery is being called B. Ferrante's, and the family members behind the business are Sarah Gilmartin, along with her mum (Lucy) and dad (Pat). The three are embarking upon a culinary journey that will bring old world Italian edible delights to a neighborhood

Restaurateur Dave Forness, former owner of The Buffalo House and Hemingway's, is underway with the opening of a tavern located at 199 Allen Street (corner of Elmwood in the recently closed Gelsey's Fashion storefront). I spoke to Dave yesterday who told me that the establishment would have a similar look and feel to The Buffalo House, with many of the ornamental displays being repurposed for his new venture. He is hoping that The City allows him to install a char-broiler behind the bar, so that he can serve up hamburgers, chicken fingers and similar style bar food. If he does not get the OK for

When it comes to Thursdays, it just doesn't get more theological than Holy Thursday, marking the point in the week leading to Easter Sunday when most Christian faiths celebrate Christ's Last Supper.  (A notable exception being the Eastern Orthodox churches, which follow a slightly different ecclesiastical calendar -- this year, celebrating Easter on April 15).

According to that go-to source for all things theological, Wikipedia, today is also known as Covenant Thursday, Great and Holy Thursday, Sheer Thursday, Thursday of Mysteries, and -- perhaps most notably -- Maundy

As the Olmsted Park Conservancy continues to experiment with its Olmsted Organic and Olmsted Naturally practices, these types of initiatives help to improve wildlife habitats throughout our urban parks. That's exactly how Frederick Law Olmsted envisioned the parks - bringing the country to the city in order to improve the quality of life for residents. Part of that quality of life that Olmsted was introducing was aimed at creating naturally protected fields and forests for animals and birds so that they could co-exist

As the April 10 public forum for the Green Code nears, a new report released by the City's consultant team gives folks some advance reading material. A New Zoning Direction for Buffalo: Technical Report="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:

Meeting highlights include: inclusion of a children's museum experience in their plans for the City of Buffalo's waterfront within Canalside, take action against any business that unlawfully places signage on City property or otherwise advertises illegally, recognizing People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) as the designated developer and site operator of three City-owned properties: 99 Chenango Street, 335 Massachusetts Avenue and 339 Massachusetts Avenue.
(Lead

Following is an interview with Carl Schmitter, owner of Chateau Buffalo Ciderhouse & Winery (formerly Chateau Buffalo on Hertel Avenue). The interview contains news regarding the expansion of the business, news of a move to a new location and product development. We will be following CBCW as the business tests out wines at various outlets in Greater Buffalo. While you're doing your Easter shopping at The Broadway Market this weekend, be sure to pick up a bottle.
Carl, can you tell me more about the honey wine that you have recently bottled?
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If you're a runner, then at one point or another you've thought about running in the Buffalo Marathon. Not being a runner myself, I can't even imagine the thought of such a grueling undertaking. Despite the crazy amount of training involved, and the run itself, the Buffalo Marathon has been growing in numbers, as has the Greater Buffalo running community. This Memorial Day, runners will come from around the world to participate in the USA Track and Field Certified event, while taking in the city in a way that one can only do by foot. "Runners from across our region and beyond are

Where are you from originally? 
Buffalo, New York
What is your medium?
Painting & photography
How has Buffalo influenced your work? 
I have always lived in Buffalo so most of my experiences and memories involve Buffalo.  Buffalo's rich history inspires me to use the theme of individual and group histories in my work.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
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Until recently 448-452 Amherst Street was in fairly rough shape. The previous owner of the building let it slip into foreclosure and unfortunately nobody bothered to bleed any of the water from the pipes. The pipes eventually froze, and the property sat empty falling into total disrepair. The building was then picked up at a City auction, and the deplorable state of the inside was not realized until the sale was complete and workers were finally able to walk inside to take a look around. It was only when the water was turned on in the basement that they learned that the building had not been mothballed

By Matt Sabuda:
Nike introduced their new NFL uniforms this week. With the exception of the Seattle Seahawks, most uniforms didn't see much change.
The Bills have added a white collar to the jersey and a Bills logo to the pants. Since the Bills and the rest of the NFL are making tweaks, why not make a splash? It would be an innovative recognition of the Bills' unique international fanbase if they included a permanent patch on their jerseys that displayed both the American and Canadian flags. Below, it could read "Buffalo" under the

The last shop to inhabit 616 Elmwood was Moda, which has since moved to a much larger location on Hertel. Since that time, the Elmwood location has sat empty - upwards of five years I believe. Fortunately the property was recently purchased by Sinatra and Company and is being fixed up in preparation for an organic salon. Buffalo Rising featured Relle Salon back in October when it moved into its original space at the corner of Elmwood and Auburn (/city/index.html

As e-waste gets more abundant, it's even more important to make sure that we are recycling on a regular basis. If you're into recycling and you also like to help the community, you're in luck. There will be e-waste drop-off sites at Buffalo ReUse (April 21) and Green Options Buffalo (April 14). On those days, Sunnking will be donating partial proceeds to Camp Good Days and Special Times. The event is being called E-Scrap 4 Camp because the electronics collected on those days will help to fund programming for Camp

The four architectural and design teams in competition to design the new University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus have submitted their ideas for what the complex could be.  The competition is part of a $375 million plan to relocate the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.  It will be built at the southeast corner of Main and High Streets.  Partially

Last month the Buffalo Maritime Center gave us the opportunity to build a harbor ferry. This month the group is moving forward with the building of of bateau. Each of these vessels has its own distinct Buffalo flavor, and now that the waterfront is alive with activity, these awesome water crafts can be seen once more navigating the Inner Harbor, the Buffalo River, etc. Thanks to the devoted boat builders at the Buffalo Maritime as well as myriad volunteers and waterfront enthusiasts, boats such as the bateau

I've known artist Frank Cravotta for most of my life. As a matter of fact, Frank, who moved back to Buffalo from Baltimore in 2005, was the inspiration behind this series of artist interviews called 'Art Buff'. As much as I think I may know something about Frank's artwork, the wonderful thing about artists is the element of surprise. Did you know that Frank was the guy who painted the mural of the Niagara Square lion on Delaware Avenue? I didn't. The only reason I even found out was because I sat down with him to discuss his latest work of art called 'Wave 5' (lead image - commissioned

Preservation Buffalo Niagara is recognizing outstanding preservation projects and those contributing to preservation efforts at its annual awards ceremony May 30, 11:30 AM in the Statler's Golden Ballroom.  Award categories were established to acknowledge distinguished contributions to our community through preservation activity. Recipients will be recognized in several areas including: preservation craft; rehabilitation/adaptive use; stewardship; neighborhood conservation; planning/reconstruction; and