Buffalo is a city full of great architecture.  I've taken thousands of pictures in recent years of downtown and the waterfront, striking vistas, industrial ruins, stately mansions, beautiful churches, working class neighborhoods and everything in between.  Most of us are familiar with our architectural landmarks, but do we really pay attention to the detail found on the buildings we oftentimes take for granted?  It's the mosaic of the good, the bad and the ugly that make up Buffalo's cityscape.

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If you've ever thought about playing croquet at Delaware Park, but for whatever reason have not quite gotten around to it, The Olmsted Conservancy and the Buffalo Croquet Club are hosting an open house to get people out playing the game. Buffalo has a long history when it comes to the games of croquet and lawn bowling, and The Parkside Lodge is 'living' proof of the games' past popularity.

Only in recent years has croquet been making a comeback, thanks to the restored lawn bowling fields and clubhouse. There's even a great

Oakland Place is one of Buffalo's most beautiful streets.  It's home to many architectural treasures including the controversial residence of Bishop Kmiec.  Oh, and JP Losman lived there. Now here is your chance to own a piece of historic Oakland Place with a new listing of a beautiful 5 bedroom Victorian for $899,000. 

The house, built in 1910, is 5,767 square feet and contains 5 bedrooms, 4 full baths, 1 half bath, and a swimming pool.

Last Friday, Newell and I sat with WBFO's Mark Scott for Buffalo Rising's weekly Round Table.  There was a lot to talk about Obama's upcoming visit and the Farmers Market opening. But, Brad Wales of UB's Small Built Works made the grade yet again with the recent addition of the handcrafted benches to 18th Street Community Park.
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Cincinnati's Union Terminal and the Buffalo Central Terminal are alike in many ways.  Each is located some distance from their respective central business districts, they're both mammoth complexes that handled about 200 trains per day, and both were designed by New York architects Alfred Fellheimer and Stewart Wagner.  Cincinnati's station has been repurposed however and is now a focus of that city's cultural universe.

Cincinnati's Union Terminal was dedicated

Buffalo is a city full of great architecture.  I've taken thousands of pictures in recent years of downtown and the waterfront, striking vistas, industrial ruins, stately mansions, beautiful churches, working class neighborhoods and everything in between.  Most of us are familiar with our architectural landmarks, but do we really pay attention to the detail found on the buildings we oftentimes take for granted?  It's the mosaic of the good, the bad and the ugly that make up Buffalo's cityscape. 

Each week I'll put up a photo from the city- some hard, others easy-

It's not often that you hear that The Benjaman Gallery is hosting an art exhibit. That's why I felt that I should help to get the word out regarding an unexpected show coming to the venue. The upcoming show is also partially due to one of the gallery's new directors, Emily Johnson, who recently moved back to Buffalo from Manhattan. It was while living in Manhattan that Johnson began acquiring pieces of work by acclaimed artist Irene Zevon who lived at the Chelsea Hotel for 50 years.

The modernist painter's works can be found in the permanent collections of major galleries throughout

If you're into cycling, or maybe you've thought long and hard that it's time to get a bike, then here are some fun bike news flashes that might interest you. These days you hear about people blessing a lot of things... dogs, beer, etc. Until now I never heard of anyone blessing bikes, which is something that they are doing over at Lafayette Presbyterian Church. Reverend Drew is even allowing cyclists to bring their bikes and gear into the church in order for them to be blessed (Sunday, May 16 at 12:30pm). If you think about it, blessing a bike is probably

It's not often that I find myself listening to 91.3 WBNY at 6am in the morning on a Sunday. That was the case a couple of months ago when I tuned into Tom Connolly's radio show called The Grain Elevator Express. At that time in the morning, there's not much that would have appealed to me, regardless of the sound, but I did suddenly find myself turning the volume up on the dial. It was a sound that I had not heard before, which surprised me because I am an avid listener to WBNY. The voice I was listening to was ethereal - the music was light with an almost otherworldly sound to it. I found myself

By George Thomas Apfel:

I still vividly remember the day I excitedly announced to my 4th grade classmates in Miss Heintz' class at PS 21:  My family was moving to Las Vegas!  The announcement was followed with oohhs and aahhhs and I was one very excited 10-year old.  I stopped by my old neighborhood on Homer Avenue to bid farewell to my best friend Jim Shaus.   Fast forward 47 years and now I'm saying farewells once again--this time to my Las Vegas friends as Friday May 21 I will once again be a citizen of Buffalo.
 
I became terribly

If you're at all familiar with Delaware Park, then you are probably familiar with Hoyt Lake, Marcy Casino and the Japanese Gardens. Those who frequent the park are also aware that there are lesser known wooded areas that have been going through some drastic changes, especially the ones along the Scajaquada Expressway. The Olmsted Park Conservancy has been busy removing the invasive species that have been growing in amongst the trees.

On the opposite side of Hoyt Lake, there is another wooded area called Rumsey Woods, that is about to undergo a similar effort. The difference is that

It's that time of year again to point at the big blue wall found at the corner of Main and Delavan. I believe that it was Steel who first wrote about the eyesore a few years back. Since that time, the wall has not changed, but much has changed around the wall. Bits and pieces of Main Street are coming back to life, signaling to others to get on-board with additional aesthetic improvements. Of course Main Street has a long way to go, but with UB and Canisius helping to lead the way, the districts along Main will continue to improve.

I spoke to John Hurley, now President of Canisius College,

Discover the Botanical Gardens at the 1st Annual Indie Market at the Gardens, tomorrow May 8th from 10am to 3pm for FREE, while shopping with or for your Mom just in time for Mother's Day. BIM is showcasing 25 local artists to shop from plus a free kidspace to make a Mother's Day card from recycled materials and a raffle to benefit the Botanical Gardens.

The perfect Mother's Day outing to shop and enjoy the sweet aroma of beautiful flowers and plants in Buffalo's own Botanical Gardens for FREE!  This show is free and open to the public.  
Please visit the Indie Market's

UB might have dropped the ball with Buffalo CarShare, but when it comes to watching out for the falcons that live on South Campus, they are doing a tremendous job. I mean that with all sincerity. I was impressed when the university first launched the Falcon Cam, showing the daily life of its resident birds in series of six-second pieced-together clips.

That electric eye on the falcons was impressive, though not nearly as impressive as the streaming live camera that

In one year, the small, vacant house at 139 Howell Street in Buffalo's Black Rock neighborhood was transformed into a livable, fully renovated home known as "Quad Space."

Four UB architecture students, Paul Dudkowski, Dan Stripp, Michael-John Bailie and Ernest Ng, were entering their second year of graduate school

As we turn our eyes towards the summer concert season, we'll be bringing you coverage of some of the bands that will be playing in Buffalo over the next few months.  Many Buffalonians are excited for another chance to see The National at this year's Rockin' at the Knox.  As BR readers know, The National will be playing the Albright along with Rufus Wainwright.

The National, as we said before, is an indie

This is the third Fashion Maniac post in the series. To see the first post on rocking scarves, click here. And the second on rain gear, click here.

Features Editor:  Claire Geist
Contributing Writer: Giovanni Centurione
All Photography & Managing Editor:  Cheryl Gorski
Stylist: Molly Hoeltke
Casting Director: 

One of the reasons that I find Allentown so interesting is that there are little hideaways around each corner where people do the most unexpected things in the most unexpected place. I'm not talking about the topless lady who dresses up in animal suits and performs skits in alleyways to raise money for endangered species (that's for another day). I am talking about places like the one seen here - martial artist Chad Jakubowski's raw industrial space that he has outfitted into a corner reminiscent of Fight Cub.

Chad has been teaching people how to defend themselves for years. Whether

By: Julia Gelsomino

Eli the Good, by award-winning author Silas House (Clay's Quilt, A Parchment of Leaves, The Coal Tattoo), delivers a beautiful and compelling American story about friendship, love, and acceptance.

In the year of America's Bicentennial, 10-year-old Eli Book sits at the base of his favorite tree, struggling to understand the complexities of a number of issues: his father's post-traumatic stress disorder; his caring but emotionally distant mother; his 16-year-old sister's developing dislike for the country; the mysterious arrival

Today, from noon to one, people from across Western New York gathered to pray on Niagara Square.  I was one of them.

I have to admit, I was uncomfortable.  It's not that I am uncomfortable with prayer--I pray daily, publicly and privately, for all sorts of things.  I was uncomfortable because of the politicization of the event, because Niagara Square is an odd place to pray, and because it felt like it might be more a show of devotion to country, rather devotion to God (both are fine, in my opinion, as long as they are properly ordered.  The square, however, had plenty