Despite the hard times that have hit most of us, one very popular Albright-Knox Art Gallery event lives on. The “Art of Hip Hop,” lost funding for this year, but the successful and popular event will now carry on with the help and support of the community and various cooperative marketing partnerships. This will be the 4th year for the Art of Hip Hop at the Albright-Knox, taking place on Friday, August 28th from 4 PM-9 PM as it continues to honor the history, creativity and culture of Hip Hop. The Hip Hop celebration will feature some of Buffalo’s most promising…
Author: Buffalonian4life
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recognized Buffalo business owner Lenny L. Johnson recently for his achievements in building his construction company from the ground up. Johnson was named Region II Minority Small Business Person of the year; the region consists of New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Johnson, joined by a partner and $7,500 started a two-man residential plumbing business. Today that business is now a multimillion-dollar construction management enterprise. Johnson is now president of L&D Johnson Plumbing and Heating, located on Delevan Avenue. Johnson and his business partner, Donald Johnson, joined the plumbing…
CityView Property’s Genesee Gateway project at the intercept welcome of downtown Buffalo is rapidly speeding toward completion. Windows have replaced boards, while scaffolding is in place with workers fixing outer walls and brick facades. A giant crane is spotted, towering over the circa-1850’s historic building landscape, bringing steel to the mid-block gap in the Genesee Block’s urban fabric. Steel is starting to rise in the center of the long-anticipated project where a new infill structure will provide elevator access to the floors of the adjacent historic buildings. Dozens of construction workers are on site each day. CityView expects the $12 million project will be completed by…
A former elementary school in South Buffalo will be converted to senior housing under a $9 million plan unveiled yesterday. The Holy Family Senior Housing Development Project will contain 30 one-bedroom apartments and five, two-bedroom apartments in the three-story structure. The 35 apartments will be affordable to persons of low- and moderate-income who are 55 years of age and older. Above: Congressman Brian Higgins, Mayor Byron W. Brown, Assemblyman Mark Schroeder and County Legislator Tim Kennedy, gathered together with Father Jim Cunningham, administrator of the Church of the Holy Family, to announce the plans for the former school. Holy Family Elementary School is located at 1901 South…
Buffalo was once the booming Queen City of the Great Lakes as the nation’s largest inland port. Lake and canal ships flocked the inner and outer harbors. Some described it as another city on the lake, with thousands of lights flickering on the waters of Lake Erie. Along with numerous boats and barges, came large passenger steam ships, many manufactured in Buffalo, docking at the city’s bustling waterfront. Steam ships like the Canadiana (far left in entry photo), traveled to many destinations, primarily connecting downtown Buffalo and Canada, including Crystal Beach Amusement Park. So what happened to these gorgeous ships that once transported thousands and…
Construction of a $291 million facility in the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is near. The Buffalo City Council yesterday approved the sale of a stretch of Goodrich Street, from Ellicott Street to Michigan Avenue, to Kaleida Health. The acquisition will help facilitate better patient access for the organization’s new Global Vascular Institute, which will be built north of Buffalo General Hospital. The ten-story building will house Kaleida Health’s merged cardiac, stroke, and vascular operations plus an expanded emergency room. The merging comes after the order of the closure of Millard Filmore Gates Circle Hospital, which is scheduled to shutter its doors within the next few years. The new building will also house…
Heart of the City Neighborhoods has received a $1.5 million award from New York’s Housing Trust Fund Corporation to build eight units of green, affordable housing on the city’s Lower West Side. The proposed development will be located on what is currently vacant land at 294-302 Hudson Street. The two townhouse-style buildings designed by Stieglitz Snyder Architecture reflect the neighborhood’s historic character and will contain four apartments each. It will include four 2-bedroom, 900 sq.ft. apartments and four 3-bedroom 1100 sq.ft. apartments. Off-street parking, landscaping and green space are planned. “With Buffalo residents paying some of the nation’s highest utility…
Possibly the funniest (and funnest) athletic events in the history of all Buffalo sports, the .5k Stiletto Run has got to be seen to be believed. It started off as a small charity event last year and has instantly blossomed into a large-scale race followed by a swinging post race party. Oh the sights. Hairy guys in wedding gowns, buff girls, jocks, preppy guys, sexy dresses, accessories, tattoos, stockings, shades, young, old, good sports, sporty goods and a ton of three+ inch heels. It’s amazing how natural some of the guys looked as they bolted for the finish line. And…
Not all closed churches are doomed. An east side congregation purchased a shuttered Catholic church on Bailey near Walden Avenue today. New Life Harvest Church of God in Christ bought the Holy Name Roman Catholic Church complex at 1947-65 Bailey Avenue for a miniscule $130,000. Holy Name (my childhood church) was closed as part of the controversial “Journey in Faith and Grace,” a strategic planning and spiritual revitalization initiative launched in June 2005 to respond to shrinking population, changing demographics, declining attendance, and fewer diocesan priests. As a result of the Journey in Faith and Grace, the diocesan parish restructuring…
Congratulations to Don Zinteck, Wayne Geist and Michael Morin for pulling off a super successful Friday night opening of ZGM Fine Arts, Buffalo’s newest gallery. I spoke to Don at ZGM’s inaugural exhibit opening, and he couldn’t have been more pleased regarding the reception of his fifteen year old effort. The gallery started as a house. Then it transformed into a synagogue. Eventually it became a destination for spiritualists. Most recently it was used as a photo studio before finally reopening as a public gallery. I believe that the gallery transformation couldn’t have been any better fitting. To walk into…