Author: Michael J. Billoni Mayor Byron Brown has called for a public hearing on Jan. 19 to discuss a location in Buffalo for a new $25 million train terminal. Pat Whalen, a visionary who worked in logistics for UPS and helped to create the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, is now the Executive Director of the Niagara Global Tourism Institute in Niagara Falls, N.Y. One of Whalen’s charges is to fill more hotel rooms in the winter when occupancy falls from sellouts to 30 percent full. Thus, he has created a unique “Stay Another Night” promotion where guests would spend the second day visiting…
Author: BRo Guest Authors
An ode to the Buffalo Bills – a team with a playoff drought lasting 17 years – one of the longest playoff droughts in NFL history Author: Aidan Ryan The Jersey of Depression A Winter Song from the AFC East I thought, once, on a Sunday night, stuck between “Close it out, or keep it open?” that if only living with depression could be like living with the Bills, I’d be OK with choosing life. If depression came in seasons and started with a draft selection of another second-string quarterback If depression ended with a Super Bowl watched for ads that…
Author: Rich Sampson This weekend, the Buffalo News shared a commentary by Patrick J. Whalen of the Niagara Global Tourism Institute, suggesting that plans for a new Buffalo Amtrak station be put off until the reliability and time of Amtrak’s trains in New York State improves. Mr. Whalen cites low ridership numbers at both existing Amtrak stations and frequently delayed trains as not worth the sizable investment required for a new station. Mr. Whalen’s intentions seem to be well-placed, and the data he references are accurate. There’s no doubt Western New York would benefit from more reliable and frequent intercity…
Author: Carl Francis Penders “I felt like I’d stepped back in time a hundred years,” I said recalling my magical feeling, taking my first ever steps on the Chautauqua Institution’s grounds. “It has that Oz like quality,” replied Dennis Galucki, a man who gets an idea and then gets it done, as evidenced by his 2005 trip to Portland to ask Richard Moe, then president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, “What would it take to bring this conference to Buffalo?” Moe’s “Give me a good reason” reply caused Galucki then the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier’s director…
Author: Rebecca Reilly Terrill Ware got knocked down. He had a good job and then one day he was in a car accident. The accident gave him two bulging discs in his neck which necessitated surgery to replace them and two years off from work. Managing the pain and learning to function again was only the beginning of the story. Months of inactivity had left him with terrible eating habits, high blood pressure and an enormous weight gain. Injuries compounded by weight gain are an awful combination. The pain makes it difficult to work out, the weight gain is demoralizing.…
Author: Jonathan Zangara [Buffalo Rage Community] With great esteem the Buffalo Rage Community makes its return with their newest event Amplify 2.0 this Saturday, December 10th! This time around they’ve teamed up with SE² Silent Disco who will be bringing along a fully functioning Silent Disco! Like a Phoenix triumphantly rising from its ashes the very best of Western New York’s musical talent will be represented by Wooli, Dusty Bits, Xotec and so many more. All of your dance music needs will be sated with this multi-genre 3-Floor spanning event at the Dnipro Ukrainian Center. Performances will feature lighting from…
Author: Chris Candelaria A common way we see a portrait of homelessness in our community is the “Panhandler”. Panhandlers often are found in an area with high traffic such as at a stop light, or in front of stores, restaurants, or other places of business. We see these individuals in the community when commuting to work or passing through the city. We see the sign, which draws our attention; the figure of an individual fixed in one position; as well as the face that looks like it has seen its fair share of hardships. Panhandlers are at times viewed as vagrants,…
Author: Suzanne Jaszcz The holidays are in full swing and with that comes a host of merry making activities to be enjoyed with friends and family. One such festive outlet is the New Phoenix Theatre production of Pinocchio. The story follows the adventures of a magical wooden puppet that longs to be a human boy. This particular production is based on the original story of Pinocchio not the Disney version. There is no Jiminy Cricket in this show instead you get to meet characters like Talking Cricket (played by Mary Moebius) and a host of other colorful characters. The show utilizes…
Author Mark Lazzara: Wearing ugly holiday threads continues to take the nation by storm. Do not just leave your hideous Christmas Sweater at home. Share it with the world, not just your faithful friends and kin. This is your time to show it off. It appears that most folks have one or two of the Yuletide tragedies. If you are looking for a place to display your most favorite ugly sweater, consider Broadway Market as the perfect venue. Come to the Broadway Market on Saturday December 10, and show off that loud and proud knitted masterpiece that you must hide in…
Author: Britt Call A little more than a month ago, I accepted my current role as the Greg D. Tranter Collection Manager at The Buffalo History Museum. You may say that I am in training to become the ‘resident Buffalo Bills expert.’ I am responsible for the cataloguing – what we call ‘accessioning’ – of the Buffalo Bills collection donated by Greg D. Tranter that was announced to the public at the end of April 2016. It isn’t just any “Buffalo Bills collection” though – in its entirety, it includes 100,000 artifacts and archival objects and it has been reported on…