Booo... no Panos... he wants to tear down the architectural heritage that makes visits like that possible. Or has he had a change of heart?
Glad you liked your visit, please tell all your friends in New York City that there is life above the Bronx and west of the Hudson. But folks who tear down McKim Mead and White's Penn Station shouldn't blame us for our sins regarding the Larkin Building : )
All in good fun... please come back.
Every time i hear one of these stories, it makes me smile and think "if only more knew". i hope that the upcoming Wall Street Journal story mentions these assetts. Reading this post and the post on the WSJ story makes me wonder even more why only a negative story about Buffalo is worth publishing in New York Magazine. I suppose the magazine's attitude is that only bashing and negativity sell. Someone should forward the WSJ story to that joker when it comes out.
Over the years, I've been pleasently amused by the reaction of non-Buffalonians when I tell them about Buffalo's architectural treasures. Evidently the common perception of Buffalo is a city filled with all purpose-weather igloos surrounded by decaying factories and a football stadium. I have recommended the Preservation Coalition's website at www.bfn.org/preservationworks/ to non Buffalonians about Buffalo's architecture and history. The site is very comprehensive and the reaction is always one of great surprise from those who bother to followup on checking our history and heritage out.
Joan, what a great story! This is how it gets done up here...converting visitors into believers, one at a time. Thanks for being a Buffalo Ambassador!
I am truly vaclempt (sp). What a great piece (nice slide show too)
Almost everyone I know who visits Niagara Falls remarks on the shabbiness of the American side of the Falls. What will it take for NYS to wake up and appreciate it !?! Incredible.
Mr. Blackman's experience is fortunately becoming more common. Last year I was staying at a B & B near New York City as part of a three-part trip to see my family, to visit Cornell, and to spend some time in one of my favorite cities, Buffalo. I became friendly with a visiting British couple during that stay, and wrote them on a Martin House card after I returned home, telling them a very little about Buffalo. Although they'd lived in Texas for three years and seen much of America in connection with his job with British Airways, they'd never been to upstate (excuse me, Western) New York, and they'd only heard the Detroit-like stories of Buffalo. Just a few weeks ago they wrote to say they'd made their first visit to Niagara Falls, Ontario and New York (deeply shocked by the condition of the American side), and spent a couple of days in Buffalo. They were astonished by the city's buildings and neighborhoods and cultural attractions-- and interestingly, like Mr. Blackman, commented on the lack of pedestrian activity. But their overall reaction was one of delight (they loved the food, too).
I know I will probably annoy a lot of people with this remark, but the final sentences of their description were: "It just doesn't look like most other American cities. We wish it greater prosperity, but hope it doesn't become another forest of faceless highrises."
P.S. Tell your State legislators (Sheldon Silver et. al) not to block State tax credits that would help Buffalo restore and maintain its treasure trove of old buildings. Not only do we need downstate tourists, we need them to take their state representatives to task for enacting policies that strangle Upstate.
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