This week on the Buffalo Rising Roundtable, WBFO News Director Mark Scott and I were in Studio B all on our own to talk about the past week’s events. (The podcast is the entire 20 – 30 minute show as opposed to the 5 minutes WBFO broadcasts, so give it a listen.)On the first three subjects: the landmarking of 771 Busti, the Olmsted Parks Conservancy’s future role in park maintenance, and Buffalo ReUse’s new board of directors, I commented that we could call this the “Up in the Air” segment of Buffalo Rising’s Roundtable because much remains to be seen. Will the…
Author: Dan Fisher
Take four master’s students in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture, one In Rem house bought at auction, and a two-year program that challenges the students to create a living environment, and you have “Quad Space”. The students who created it are Michael-John Bailie, Paul Dudkowski, Ernest Ng and Dan Stripp, and they invite all to attend a viewing on Saturday, October 17th, from 12 to 5 PM. According to Ng, all of the master’s students were split into different groups: sustainable urban environment, inclusive design, situated technologies and material culture. Ng explains that he and his partners, as…
Community groups, environmentalists and politicians work together to bring an end to high levels of deadly benzene at Tonawanda Coke.Last week we brought you this story from members of the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York (CACWNY) concerning Tonawanda Coke. This week CACWNY has teamed up with the Coalition for Economic Justice (CEJ) to call to call the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA) to account for subsidies provided to a subsidiary of Tonawanda Coke. Specifically, the groups have expressed outrage against the ECIDA’s decision to subsidize Braxner, LLC, a subsidiary of the Tonawanda Coke Corporation. Sunday, The Buffalo…
The sign in the top image could easily have the word “destroyed” changed to “saved,” at least on the part of the City of Buffalo.In a long awaited move regarding the Columbus Park – Prospect Hill neighborhood, the City of Buffalo’s Common Council voted unanimously to grant the Wilkeson House landmark status in a 9 – 0 vote.The property (left), owned by the Public Bridge Authority, is one of several that the PBA has opted to demolish in making way for a new truck plaza at the mouth of the Peace Bridge, and PBA General Manager Ron Rienas has long…
Last night marked the opening of an exhibit at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum that showcases artifacts from Corpus Christi Catholic Church, a predominantly Polish-American church on Buffalo’s East Side.Included in the exhibit are photographs from BRO friend Chuck LaChiusa, the man who created the “Buffalo as an Architectural Museum” website* that we refer back to again and again for building pictures and histories. In fact, here is Chuck’s Corpus Christi page, with a very informative history article by Jim Napora. Karpeles? Chuck has a page for both the present and the former location. If there is a building if…
The City of Buffalo’s Acting Corporation Council, along with various other City departments, met with a group from the Olmsted Conservancy last week in a meeting that was more discussion, less negotiation, according to Olmsted Board of Trustees Chair, David Colligan. The meeting comes on the heels of the County turning over control of the Olmsted Parks to the City of Buffalo.”The City is in an information gathering mode now,” Colligan says. “At this point in time, they’ve done nothing to allay or increase our fears.” Colligan also says that now that the conservancy has supplied the City with volumes…
Confused about health care reform? The University at Buffalo hopes to pull the plug on general misunderstanding. “U.S. Health Care: In Search of a Cure” will be the topic of discussion for a panel of experts in the field. The event is free and open to the public. Moderated by Jerry Zremski, Washington bureau chief for The Buffalo News, a panel of experts will discuss US health care reform at 7PM on October 29th in the Drama Theatre in the University at Buffalo’s Center for the Arts on the North (Amherst) Campus. It will be followed by a question and…
The Comfort Zone Cafe at 1002 Elmwood Avenue is breaking through their side wall in order to enhance offerings to their already satisfied and burgeoning client base. According to Manager Zenia Barrett, daughter of owners Cindy and Chuck Barrett, the new digs will attach the current storefront to the former *Cosefini space, via archway.The menu isn’t changing, but the new room will have couches and love seats to go with the free, unlimited wifi Comfort Zone offers. “We’re keeping our current space for people who want to sit and eat, but in addition to the lounge area, we’re going to have…
Erin Doyle is a young filmmaker living in Buffalo, and next Wednesday, she’ll release her pilot-length film, Vlog, at the Market Arcade Theatre on Wednesday, October 21 at 7PM. Vlog, shot in Buffalo, is a satyrical look at being a 20-something in the highly-branded, consumerist internet generation, something that should be of specific interest to our BR audience. (Trailer embedded below.) Vlog, short for “video blog,” looks at the unwanted attention brought to Doyle’s character, a copywriter named Rachel, when her roommate posts an unflattering video on her blog, bringing Rachel at least 15 minutes of questionable fame. Doyle is a…
In advance of the 6PM public hearing on October 20th, the Canal Side generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) is available for viewing at the Buffalo and Erie County Library Downtown Branch, Empire State Development Corporation Offices, or at www.eriecanalharbor.com The hearing will be held at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1285 Elmwood Avenue, and is accessible to disabled persons Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), as Lead Agency on behalf of its subsidiary corporation, the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC), will be holding a public hearing to receive comments on the draft generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) prepared for the Canal…