friday december 12th 2008
Jay DiLorenzo on Preservation
RaChaCha
After the recent announcement of the formation of Preservation Buffalo Niagara, Buffalo Rising sat down with Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League of New York State.
BR: Tell us about your Buffalo connections. JD: I spent six years in Buffalo, where I studied Political Science at UB. Afterward, I went to Albany to take a fundraising position with the United Way. While there, I studied preservation at RPI, and that eventually led to a fundraising position with the Preservation League. Later, I had the opportunity to become president.
BR: How do you balance Upstate vs. Downstate at the League? JD: We get most of our funding from private sources, which in New York means a high proportion of downstate-based foundations and donors. Yet the foundation people who support us—and our board members from downstate—have a broader geographic perspective. They genuinely appreciate our heritage Upstate, for example the architect…
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buffalorising
Garden Walk Buffalo is one of the nicest, newest things to put Buffalo on the national map. The largest garden tour in the U.S., with more than 300 urban gardens, Garden Walk is once again looking to fund beautification projects for spring/summer 2009.
Preference is given to neighborhood beautification projects by block clubs and community garden projects, and this is a perfect time to start planning. Award amounts are based on the overall project cost - that must include matching funds from government, private contributions or volunteer sweat equity.
"Garden Walk Buffalo is committed to providing further benefit to neighborhood beautification projects within the area of the an…
queenseyes
Not being a cook, sometimes the small, but essential, gourmet production facility escapes my radar. It was not until just a few days ago that my girlfriend told me that she was heading to Gondola to pick up some pasta. I told her that I was somewhat familiar with the name of the business, but for the life of me I could not place where it was. So we took a drive over to Niagara Street to see exactly where it was located. Once I saw the corner house, I knew that I had been aware of the business though I had never stepped inside.
It was Maria Insalaco who greeted us - she was busy working behind the counter, though you could tell right away that she was accustomed to wearing many hats. I asked her how long Gondola had been around and she explained that her parents, Guido and Maria Colla, had started the business back in 1963 on Potomac Avenue. As she spoke, a steady stream of custo…
Elena Cala Buscarino
Dana Tillou, whose name is synonymous with fine arts, is offering "The Little Picture Show," an exhibit covering well over a century of regional art.
I have one wall in my gallery dedicated to a Western New York and Niagara historical print collection," Tillou said. "The feature section is just one part of the gallery, and it covers more than 125 years to present of original regional prints with a lot of local appeal."
Highlighting giclée prints of regional compositions and artists, there is a blow-up of an 1888 print of a print that depicts downtown Buffalo from the Lyon Grain Elevator*. "It looks north up into the whole city," Tillou said. "All the early boats are in the river in the foreground, the tugs and such."
Tillou made the 4-foot print from its 18-inch original. "You can see it all - the towers, the steeples. It's a great view - the artist had a bird's-eye view…
thursday december 11th 2008
CityLove Loves Buffalo
Thomas Tarapacki
If you’re looking for a T-shirt that's attractive, unique, and let's everyone know how much you love Buffalo, visit CityLove at 830 Elmwood Avenue. Tony Maggiotto has a clothing shop that reflects the owner’s love for everything Buffalo.
It seems that everyone in WNY likes a Buffalo T-shirt, and CityLove certainly has those. Whether you want to show your support for a local sports team, offer an opinion on a community issue, or simply express your pride in being a Buffalonian, the collection at CityLove is for you. The T-shirts have innovative designs that proclaim things like, “I LEFT MY HEART ON ELMWOOD,” “I Believe in Main Street,” and “Peace Bridge Planning Committee.” The designs at the shop are not only from CityLove, but also from “Feel The Buffalove” and “Buffalo Sports Tees.”
West Coast Perspective
Gates Circle is getting a grassy knoll. It will be on the site of the Park Lane where Uniland Development has begun demolition of the shuttered restaurant. The developer unveiled plans for a 23-story condominium tower for the site in 2006. Delayed by lawsuits and a shaky economy, Uniland tells the Buffalo News that they "hope to break ground in 2010." Demolition of the circa-1974 Park Lane was approved in October.
buffalorising
We're working on building a new buffalorising.com and we anticipate we'll be ready to launch it before the holidays. It's been nearly 2 years since we launched the current site and it's time for a change. And we're hoping it's change all of our users can believe in.
Why The Change? The current site is built on a Movable Type publishing platform with a number of proprietary add-ons. With current traffic levels, the site's infrastructure is too slow and cumbersome for users so it needed to be changed. Yes, we've heard your feedback.
Beyond technology, however, we also wanted to change the site to allow for more content in more categories. With the new site, we'll be moving to a different channel structure. Instead of City, Events, Arts & Leisure and Yum, we'll have an expanded list of channels including City, Regional, Dining, Entertainment and Real Est…
Huewayne Watson
The University at Buffalo School of Architecture and planning has hopes of leaving its mark throughout the city. Robert G. Shibley, professor of architecture and planning has been the director of the Urban Design Project (UDP) since founding it in 1990. For over ten years, Urban Design Project has teamed together faculty and urban design students with local governments, communities and community-based organizations to serve the communities of the Niagara-Buffalo city-region. The project has recently received four new awards for its work in developing plans for Buffalo’s urban center, waterfront, and Olmsted Park Systems.
The most recent award, The Planning and Analysis Honor for Excellence Award, was received on November 7 in Utica, N.Y. from the New York Upstate Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architecture, for The Olmsted City-The Buffalo Olms…
buffalorising
This afternoon at 3, in the Market Arcade Building at 617 Main Street, Buffalo First, Brian Reilly and dozens of small business owners will gather to unveil Buffalo’s very first, all-local coupon book.
The book features over 150 businesses from every neighborhood in Buffalo - businesses that are independently owned by residents of Western New York. In these tough economic times, independents need all the help they can get.
For a mere $10, purchasers have the opportunity for $2,500 in savings. In addition, the coupon book also features smart consumer tips that will help Buffalo make healthier and greener choices. There are also practical coupons for daily necessities such as groceries, clothing, and home supplies, as well as coupons for restaurants, theatres, coffee shops and galleries.
Boo…
RaChaCha
One of two important agenda items (see post below) for today's Buffalo’s Preservation Board meeting is an issue sure to catch people’s attention: Should the Darul-Uloom Al Madania Mosque on Sobieski Street be allowed to replace the historic spires with fiberglass domes? The mosque occupies the former Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral, and is a City of Buffalo designated landmark.
According to concept drawings submitted by the mosque, the spires—which were removed last spring after a windstorm under an emergency permit granted by Dick Tobe—are to be replaced with gold-colored fiberglass domes, atop fiberglass bas…
