If you’re planning on heading out and getting a Christmas tree this holiday season, please leave the axe at home. Urban Roots is teaming up with Riverkeeper, Grassroots Gardens and Olmsted Parks to, once again, offer up an alternative that can help your home, the city and our planet. Why not consider investing in a living tree? “Living trees improve the air quality of your home,” says Patti Jablonski-Dopkin, General Manager of Urban Roots Community Gardening Center. “And eventually your community. They absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen as well as mediate air temperature and humidity. When you bring a living tree…
Author: arenn
Each holiday season the Historical Society offers unique ways to give your favorite Buffalonians special gifts that tell the story of our city. This year our friends are featuring one day where you will find Buffalo-themed gifts including a number of Pan-American items. Local artisans will also be on-hand with additional wares. On that day, 20 local authors will be signing books – it’s a great way to meet the experts who continue to publish on topics such as cooking, neighborhoods, children’s books, regional and military history, novels and picturesque coffee-table books. This year’s authors include both new and seasoned authors,…
It’s 2011 and ‘pond’ hockey fever is finally taking hold. Instigated in years past by the Labatt tournament, and more recently fueled by the Buffalo Pond Hockey Committee, the outdoor winter sport, which had been virtually nonexistent, is alive and well in the city. Yesterday, committee members gathered at the Parkside Lodge in Delaware Park to build two skating rinks – one will be dedicated to hockey play, while the other will be open to the public for free skate (see history). The idea to build two rinks was hatched earlier in the year when committee members agreed to organize…
As we gear up to hit all of our favorite shopping destinations this holiday season, don’t forget to support the fledgling boutiques, restaurants and gift shops that are new to the city. It can be easy to fall into ruts when we all have our favorite places to purchase presents, but if you’re not out there exploring, then you’re going to miss out on some very unique items. Fierce Accessories has opened on Elmwood, and owner Junide Brice is excited to introduce her fashion accessories to an adventurous clientele looking for stylish trends ranging from interchangeable magnetic Miche bags to…
Fashion Maniac: Keeping tabs on Buffalo’s fashion industry, including models, catwalks, retailers, designers, stylists, visual merchandisers and jewelers. The Vampire’s Kiss: The Legend, The Myths, and The Fashion of Vampirism by Phillip D. Johnson Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who are said to subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person. Although vampiric entities have been recorded in many cultures such as the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Ancient Greeks, and Romans, and may go back even further to “prehistoric times”, the term vampire was not popularized…
Buffalo First! knows how tough it can be to be a small business. It also understands the importance of keeping your money circulating in the local economy – something that doesn’t happen when you shop at a chain or (especially) on the Internet. If you must shop at a chain this holiday season, at least do it in person at a business that hires locally. But… if you really want to make a difference, and you want to support the local economy, why not start by attending one of the ‘shop local’ seasonal events coming to a neighborhood near you? Buffalo…
Another boost for the West Side comes in the form of a neighborhood park and playground. The project is centrally located in close proximity to People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) properties and gardens, the Butler-Mitchell Community Center, as well as the Massachusetts Avenue Project’s Growing Green Garden and aquaponics hoop house. Phase II of park progress sees the playground relocated towards the back of the property with additional landscaping and park benches. The main entrance will also be reworked with an archway. One of the basketball courts will be removed and transformed into greenspace. Phase II plans (see below) also…
Although e-Cafe has actually relocated to 487 Main Street, it is situated only a couple of doors down from Main (St)udios (corner of Main and Mohawk) thus contributing to the momentum of the 500-block. The cafe recently moved from its original location fronting Washington, just around the corner in a more obscure location (the Lafayette Court Building – see post). The move adds needed vibrancy to Main Street while giving the beautiful Carmina Wood and Morris Building a worthy tenant. The interior of the cafe is wide open, with exposed brick, bistro seating, a window bar (supplied with desktop computers and…
This evening, from 6pm-10pm, members of the arts community are gathering at the 500-block of Main Street to create artwork that will then be showcased in various vacant storefront windows. I spoke to organizer Erica Eichelraut, one of the coordinators of the Main (St)udios, who told me that this concept was created to draw more people to the area, make it more pleasant for those already in the district, and add vitality and life to a corridor that is on the brink of being successfully marketed as an alternate arts destination. From Erica:”We have been talking about this for a…
I never thought that I would be happy to see a new parking meter. After spending the last couple of years dealing with the big blue solar ticket-dispensing meters, the one that you see here could ultimately be its replacement. The big blue ticket dispensers are not very practical compared to these new machine heads (that replace the top section of existing meters). Right now there are 50 demo models out on the streets of Buffalo. If you like them, let The City know.I talked to a parking meter attendant this morning who told me that he liked the new…