wednesday may 14th 2008
Hoyt Calls Public Hearing
Eli George
Yet another opportunity for Buffalonians to voice their opinions, albeit a little more complexity is involved then there was with the last opportunity. Assembly member Sam Hoyt will be hosting a public hearing this Friday, May 16, to review the 73 recommendations made by the New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness (LGEC).
The report by the LGEC was released in April and can be viewed here. The fifteen member board, which Hoyt is a member of, was created by executive order and conducted their review over a period of 12 months.
Their findings include several recommendations that will be advanced as state legislation. Some of the major recommendations are the centralization of several local government functions, encouraging the sharing of services and the consolidation of costly duplicative government services.
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buffalorising
Steven Stepniak, Peter J. Merlo, P.E., and Drew Eszak are the Mayor's newest appointees.
Stepniak was named Commissioner of Public Works, Parks and Streets after being the acting commissioner since August of 2007. Before that he held positions as the Senior Engineer for the City of Buffalo Division of Engineering, and Director of Street Cleaning and Snow Removal.
Merlo the new City Engineer, is a licensed New York State professional engineer, and was employed at R&D Engineering, P.C. from 1995 through March 2001, before joining the Division of Water in 2001 as an associate engineer. He was named principal engineer in 2005
Drew Eszak, the interim City Planner in the Office of Strategic Planning was most recently the Erie County Commissioner of Environment & Planning. As interim, Eszak will hold the position for the next few months while a search for a permanent City Planner…
Elena Cala Buscarino
Senator Hilary Clinton is urging the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to give "full consideration" to the Broadway Fillmore Neighborhood regarding their application to become a Preserve America community.
From the release: “The Broadway Fillmore Neighborhood has played a pivotal role in the history and culture of the City of Buffalo,” said Senator Clinton. “Since the 1880s the neighborhood has helped to define Buffalo’s national identity and cultural heritage, and it is home to renowned and historic architecture. Naming the Broadway Fillmore Neighborhood as a Preserve America community would help preserve a piece of Buffalo’s culture and tradition for future generations of Americans.”
In a letter to Ronald Anzalone Director of the Office of Preservation Initiative, Preserve America …
queenseyes
When you think about destinations in the city of Buffalo what do you think of? Do you think of Allentown? Or Hertel? Or Elmwood? If developer Ed Hogle has his way, Buffalonians will one day look to Rock Harbor Village as one of those destination points. In recent months, Ed has been working feverishly to design a privately funded, universal student village that is scheduled to break ground in the very near future. Phase 1 of the project will consist of 300 beds along with build-outs for student dining, interaction, study, entertainment and activities. This phase will also see the addition of a totally 'green' sculpture parking lot. These features are all part of a 1000+ student village where renters and owners will have access to a café, an in-house theater, as well as an indoor/outdoor entertainment complex.
The ecologically friendly and safe student environment will incorpor…
Elena Cala Buscarino
Michael Miller is the new President of the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation (CTRC) after serving 5 years as a board member. Miller succeeds Russell Pawlak who recently stepped down after 8 years as president.
"This is one of my passions in life, and I want to see this project done in my lifetime," Miller said of the efforts to turn the terminal into a mixed-use facility that will house offices, restaurants and include light industrial use of the baggage building. "It's so large a project. Our goal has never been to restore it to the sole function of being a train station, but if we can build foot traffic, the terminal will have purpose again and could possibly be used for Amtrak and light rail."
The terminal, which is structurally sound, according to Miller, suffered most of its demise in a 12 year period starting in the early 90's. The damage that was done involved…
West Coast Perspective
Thieves stripped $100,000 worth of copper and other metal items from Bethune Hall at 2915 Main Street. According to the owner, Meyer Landau, and reported in the Buffalo News, the theft occurred sometime between November 11 and Sunday. Landau is based in Brooklyn.
Landau purchased the four-story building adjacent to Bennett High School for $384,000 in April 2006 through an auction conducted by the State. At the time of purchase, Landau announced plans to convert the building into loft-style apartments, artists' studios and offices. Foit-Albert Associates was retained to draw up plans (below). Four months later the property was put up for sale.
tuesday may 13th 2008
Hunt Real Estate - Like Night And Day
queenseyes
I've been watching with great interest the Hunt Real Estate development at the corner of Elmwood and Breckenridge (see story). For many years a group of us picked up the crap at that corner because the previous landlord and a certain business did not care about the property. We found old city street signs discarded in the overgrown grass, and we tried to keep the graffiti to a minimum. The acid etched graffiti on the front display windows meant that replacement glass was needed. But no one cared enough to spring for the money to do the things that really needed to be done.
Then along came Hunt Real Estate. Hunt has made this corner respectable again. And if you think the place looks good from the outside, the inside is pretty nice too. There are wood floors and pendant lights... and a beautiful seati…
queenseyes
After reading Steel's post on David from Fix Buffalo, I happened to run into him at Caffé Aroma. He was in the midst of planning the '08 Tour de Neglect. Now that people have gotten their bikes tuned up, they should start preparing for these grueling tours. Grueling not due to the amount of riding, but grueling on the brain - by the time you are done with the tour your head is spinning with all of the East Side achievements and possibilities.
As of moments ago, David, a long time East Side resident, had chosen this summer's dates for the tour. If you are not familiar with the tour, then here are a few of the details from David:
"2008 is now officially scheduled and sponsored for 2008. Meet-up and return at the Sonic Café (across from Art Space on Main St…
queenseyes
The other evening I happened to run into Mike Higgins, former fireboat captain of the Edward Cotter, and he shared with me a vision of what The Cotter home could some day look like. It seems as if there is a big push to build an appropriate home for one of Buffalo's greatest treasures. The historically designated, century old Cotter fire-boat, is the oldest operational fireboat in the world. It has battled fires on the Lake Erie shores for over a hundred, and in that time it has been put through the ringer.
This boat has gone through name changes, retirement issues, paint jobs, enormous amounts of damage, victories, and even changes in living quarters (see photo). Proponents of the fireboat have painstakingly researched the history of the vessel in order to show that this boat, which still services Buffalo, deserves a home that suits its character. I spoke with Vincent Benbenek…
queenseyes
I'm already comforted to know that a new coffee shop opened yesterday on Elmwood (see original post). Not because I need more coffee... it's more about a business coming onto the street and occupying a space that has been empty for many years. I must say that I didn't realize how much of a dead spot that storefront actually was until the café opened. Now the fabric awning is up, the lights are on and there are people in the window. What a difference.
The interior reminds me of the type of café one might find in a college town. And since Buffalo is considered a college town by many, the business should thrive. It's not crunchy like many college café scenes - the inside is fairly sparse with exposed an exposed HVAC system. The lighting is really well done too. There are no dominant light sources. Rather you will find lit food displays, backlighting, low-light overheads... very…
