The Broadway Market and Arts for Learning WNY, along with the support from City of Buffalo Common Council Member Mitch Nowakowski, are introducing a series of Family Art Days, featuring live music and art activities for kids.

The series – taking place every Saturday in June – is the perfect way for families to explore the artistic side of Buffalo, at the city’s oldest public market – The Broadway Market.

From book making to jump rope making, there’s something for every family to enjoy.

Best of all, the live music and art activities are free, and open to all ages.

The schedule of events is as follows:

Saturday, June 10th 

Music by Kevin McCarthy, 12:30 – 3:30 

Recycled Art with Cass Argeros 12:00 – 3:00

Book Making with Laura Chenault 12:00 – 3:00

Balloon Art with Janice Spagnola 12:00 – 3:00

Saturday, June 17th 

Music by Judd Sunshine of the Hill Brothers 12:30 – 3:30 

Button Making with WNY Book Arts 12:00 – 3:00 (lead image) 

Jump Rope Making with Stitch Buffalo 12:00 – 3:00

Recycled Art with Cass Argeros 12:00 – 3:00

Book Making with Laura Chenault 12:00 – 3:00

Balloon Art with Janice Spagnola 12:00 – 3:00

Saturday, June 24th 

Music by Kevin McCarthy, 12:30 – 3:30 

Recycled Art with Cass Argeros 12:00 – 3:00

Book Making with Laura Chenault 12:00 – 3:00

Balloon Art with Janice Spagnola 12:00 – 3:00

The post Arts for Learning and Broadway Market announce Free Family Art Days Every Saturday in June appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

Throughout the month of June, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy (BOPC) will be educating the community on its efforts to eradicate invasive species within the parks system. Events and activities include buckthorn harvesting and ink making, invasive species walks, and a native species scavenger hunt.

In recent years, invasive species have become more and more of a problem, as they have entrenched themselves into the regional landscape. From the emerald ash borer to Japanese knotweed to the spotted lanternfly, there is no dearth of invasive enemies to deal with. For that reason, BOPC is dedicating the month of June to the fight against invasive plant species.

Invasive species (flora) create monocultures. They often:

Produce leaves sooner which shade out native plants

Have more extensive root systems which tap into water sources

Release chemicals into the soil which can stop other plants from growing

As part of a concerted effort to identify and eradicate invasive species, BOPC is welcoming eight volunteers (19- to 24-year-olds) from AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) who will help to remove invasive plants, restore native plants, partake with community engagement and education, and lead volunteer groups.

“Invasive Species threaten the ecological integrity of our parks, they detract from their beauty, safety, and the Olmstedian values. Removing them and reestablishing our native plant life will be great in the immediate and for the longevity of the parks,” said Kristie Munson, Volunteer Coordinator and driving force behind Invasive Species Month. “It is important we involve the community and empower them with the right knowledge and tools to continue their work against invasive species. Community ownership in the project will support the ongoing effort to address these issues and challenges in perpetuity.”

Invasive Species Month activities calendar and sign-up link can be found here: Volunteer Opportunities.

Lead image: Japanese knotweed | Image – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region on Flickr

The post Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy Launches Invasive Species Month appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

Renowned new music festival & conference returns under new artistic director Jonathan Golove 

The Switch~ Ensemble is to perform on June 9 / Source: switchensemble.com

The manifesto of the International Composers Guild, founded in 1921 by composer Edgard Varese with the aim of protecting contemporary composers facing diminishing outlets for the presentation of their works, contains some dramatically declarative language. 

“The present day composers refuse to die,” Varese wrote, in part. “They have realized the necessity of banding together and fighting for the right of each individual to secure a fair and free presentation of (their) work.” 

Fans of the late American composer Frank Zappa are familiar with Varese’s words, for Zappa paraphrased them in the liner notes of the 1966 Mothers of Invention album Freak Out. It’s likely that the experimental composer Morton Feldman, who became a Professor of Composition at the University at Buffalo in 1973, was familiar with Varese’s words as well, for they might be seen as the creed behind the creation of the June in Buffalo Festival, which Feldman spearheaded in 1975.  

When June in Buffalo returns to UB’s North Campus June 6-11, Varese’s words from a century ago will still resound and offer a philosophical framework for what is at this point one of the longest-running and most impactful new music conferences of its kind.  

“Free and fair presentation” of new works remains JiB’s core goal, and this year, some 25 student composers from around the world will hear their works performed by internationally renowned musicians and be afforded the opportunity to engage in mentoring and coaching sessions, detailed rehearsals, and critical responses to their works from distinguished composers and mentors like Ann Cleare, Robert HP Platz, Mathew Rosenblum and Melinda Wagner. 

And for the first time since 1986, when UB Distinguished Professor David Felder began what would turn out to be a 36-year run leading JiB, the festival will have a new Artistic Director, in the form of UB faculty member and cellist-composer Jonathan Golove.  

June in Buffalo artistic director, Jonathan Golove / Source: University at Buffalo

Golove is well aware that, in taking over an esteemed position with an incredible history, he is standing on the shoulders of giants.  

“This position is very much aligned with my interests, as a composer and musician and educator,” Golove says. “The very first thing I came to Buffalo to do was to be a participant and performer at the 1994 June in Buffalo. So this is very close to my heart and to my beliefs and interests. 

“The festival, as begun by Morton Feldman, was quite a different kind of affair, and it has assumed legendary status. He brought some amazing figures to Buffalo, but it wasn’t so formalized as an annual event. When he stopped doing it, after 3 years, and then David Felder eventually assumed the mantle, JiB began to take a very discernible shape.  

“In many ways, what David did was to give the emerging composers a much more participatory role. He made it part of the project that each one of them has a piece of their music performed, and they go away with a recording, having worked through their compositions with these distinguished senior composers and musicians, who act as mentors.”  

Arditti String Quartet is to perform on June 10 / Source: realarts.eu

June in Buffalo offers one of the few available opportunities for emerging composers to hear their work performed by world-renowned musicians in such a setting, and then to get immediate feedback on that work. 

How important is it for young composers to hear their works performed? Vitally so, according to Golove.  

“There are few such opportunities, and those opportunities are absolutely essential for young composers of new music, but the truth is that the success of June in Buffalo has been emulated elsewhere, and there are more programs in different parts of the country that are similar to it now than there have been in the past,” he says.  

“So in a sense, it’s a more competitive environment for us than it used to be. But though there are some imitators, most of them are not going to have, say, the Arditti String Quartet, who are returning this year, or a concert by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, which is something that has become a time-honored part of JiB.  

“So there are things about what we do here that are very distinctive.” 

Golove never lost touch with his first June in Buffalo when, under the leadership of Felder, he felt the thrill of being welcomed into a world populated by musical heroes. In fact, it’s a core tenant of his vision of the festival, moving forward under his own leadership.  

“That sense of what this was all about, from the perspective of a student, that I learned when I came to my first June in Buffalo in 1994 – that’s one of the things I would really love to maintain about JiB,” he says.  

“I don’t ever want to lose that. You know, you always have competing demands on an event like this, and one of them is that it is a public event, and you hope that it will be well attended and that there will be some attention paid to it in the public sphere –  that’s all very important.  

“On the other hand, what I believe the pure purpose of June in Buffalo is – and this does go back to the Morton Feldman years – is that, it’s a place where composers come to talk amongst themselves about what matters to them. And while there, they are in the presence of spectacular musicians who are completely and totally dedicated to doing this kind of thing. This the very air they breathe!  So in that context, you can discuss what you feel is important in what you’re doing as a composer and you don’t necessarily feel the need to make a public statement about it.  

“That core – composers talking amongst themselves about the things that are important to them, and then hearing and sharing their music – that’s something I’m dedicated to preserving.”  

June in Buffalo takes place June 6 – 11 on UB’s North Campus. This year’s lineup of artists includes the return of the London-based Arditti Quartet; the Slee Sinfonietta, UB’s chamber orchestra in residence; the Talujon Percussion Ensemble; and the [Switch~ Ensemble]. The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra will open the festival on June 6. The complete schedule is available on the UB Center for 21st Century Music’s “Edge of the Center” blog.  

The post At June in Buffalo, ‘the present-day composer refuses to die’  appeared first on Visit Buffalo Niagara.

It’s been a hot minute since we talked about all of the art and cultural advancements at Silo City – a 27 acre campus that sits on ancestral land of the Haudenosaunee peoples.

When we discuss art and culture, we must also discuss the reclaimed natural setting that encompasses and embodies the former industrial site.

The Lyceum – a holistic urban land management nonprofit – is the official operational entity that acts as steward of the reclaimed Silo City land. The nonprofit is run by Executive Director Maris Grundy, who works hand-in hand with the Lyceum’s Director of Arts and Culture, Olivia McCarthy, and Director of Ecology, Joshua Smith.

The Lyceum (Ancient Greek: Λύκειον, romanized: Lykeion) was a temple dedicated to Apollo Lyceus (“Apollo the wolf-god”). It was best known for the Peripatetic school of philosophy founded there by Aristotle in 334 BC.

This modern-day “temple without walls” is a site where observation, learning, and philosophical pondering takes place directly on the grounds of the campus – much as Aristotle did back in 334 BC. Whether it’s observing the habitats of bees and butterflies, learning about the Buffalo River Watershed, or philosophizing on the importance of the art within the Lyceum, a magical experience awaits. For those who want to seek out fascinating information pertaining to local history, arts, culture, and ecology, the Lyceum is the perfect place to take it all in.

Lyceum management includes:

The enlivening of post-industrial soils with compost

Growing native plant communities

Collaborating on land-responsive installations and performances

The Lyceum is based on multidisciplinary regional land management principles via restoration ecology, deliberate community building, skills-based training, artistic expression, research, and place-based leadership.

Social and ecological elements are included in decision-making that is inclusive, informed, and adaptive with the goal of resilience.

It is for these reasons, and more, that the team at Silo City has opted to create a set of summer public hours, where people can explore everything that the Lyceum has to offer. The free, self-guided walks allow visitors to seek out fascinating site-based works, as well as some of the most thoughtful eco-minded green-spaces in the region.

The free self-guided walks will be available:

Wednesdays 3pm-7pm | Starting Wednesday, June 14, through September

Select Sundays 10am-noon (June 18, July 16, August 20, September 17)

Coming soon: A donation-based audio element is in the works, and will be launched in coming weeks (suggested $10 donation). The funds raised from the audio element will allow Silo City to continue on with these important and innovative exercises that are helping to transform the campus into one of the most unique environmental and cultural sites in WNY.

More information about public hours can be found at: www.lyceumsilo.city/public-hours

Onsite are several points of interest that highlight the unique place-based urban regeneration happening at Silo City, summarized below. These points will be available for viewing while on the self-guided public hours.

Art Points of Interest

Elevator B (2012)

Courtney Creenan, Scott Selin, Lisa Stern, Daniel Nead, and Kyle Mastalinski
Elevator B functions as a man-made bee habitat, site-specific installation, and educational point of interest at Silo City. Elevator B was a collaborative effort between the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning and Rigidized Metals Corp., who donated the building materials for the project. This 22-foot habitat was inspired by both the neighboring grain elevators as well as natural honeycomb structure.

Inside Elevator B lives an actual honeybee colony, protected in an innovative ‘bee cab’ made of wood and glass. In addition to protecting the living body of the colony, the bee cab allows visitors to view the colony and beekeepers to access it. It was the intention of Elevator B’s designers to not only build a home for the bees but also provide visitors with a way to learn more about bees and their place in Silo City’s larger ecosystem.

Riddle Sticks (2019)

Dylan Burns

Riddle Sticks is a site-specific sculpture that embodies the unique relationship between art, ecology, and history that Silo City aims to cultivate. Riddle Sticks is made up of steel Rigidized tubes of varying heights and diameters that welcomes visitors and enhances the site’s visual texture. Riddle Sticks also serves as an interactive point of interest that, when activated with a mallet, brings to life a unique array of sounds and vibrations.

The title ‘Riddle Sticks’ is a site-referencing play on words as a ‘riddle’ is a wooden mesh tool of the Victorian era that was used to sift grain. So, in addition to referencing the history of grain at Silo City, Riddle Sticks also metaphorically sifts the landscape.

Celastrus Scandens (American Bittersweet) (2020)

Gareth Lichty

Lichty’s sculptural practice includes manipulation of manufactured and natural materials such as garden hose, construction fence, field marking tape, grass sod and non-invasive plants. As with Lichty’s other piece on-site, Warp, Celastrus Scandens (American Bittersweet) blends the vernacular of suburban infrastructure while exploring industrial and handmade techniques. Celastrus Scandens (American Bittersweet) is made up of material pulled from the derelict silos at Silo City and highlights the structural twists and turns of vines. The steel sculpture overhangs a pit where grain was historically conveyed into the silos and then lifted via scoops to the top, with the climbing vine of the piece’s namesake, American Bittersweet, climbing over the impressive structure.

The Trellis (2020)

UB School of Architecture & Planning Students: Sneha Arikapudi, Leticia Avila, Mark Bajorek, Vincent Bianco, Garth Burke, Leah Carpenter, Huaxiu Chen, Sonali Debas, Ben Ezquerra, Hope Forgus, Alejandro Frank, Bhalendu Gautam, Wade Georgi, Lizzy Gilman, Natalie Harack, Gwyn Harris, Lydia Ho, Lovepreet Kaur, Katie Lass, Heather Leslie, Mitchel Mesi, Christian Perrone, Forrest Rall, Brenna Reilly, Nathan Roukous, Yukta Satpute, Tom Schunk, Robert Sullivan, Christa Trautman, Debbie Urban, Chris Welch, Adara Zullo | Faculty: Laura Garofalo Khan, Joyce Hwang, Nicholas Rajkovich

The Trellis is a piece co-created by students of the UB Architecture and Planning Department in collaboration with Joshua Smith, Director of Ecology for Rigidized Metals. The work centers on a 60-foot diameter trellis composed of donated stainless steel viper tubing, each bent in a specific and unique way. The tubing is not usually used for structure, which left room for exploration in the planning and fabrication of the form. The planters at the base of the tubes were filled with willows and native vines* that have been woven into the trellis structure, training the plants to create a fantastic gathering space for events, education, and outreach.

Again (An Into the Weeds Project) (2022)

Marlene McCarty
with Ecologist Josh Smith

Again (An Into the Weeds Project) grew from a 2019 earthwork project also constructed at Silo City entitled Into the Weeds – A Deliverance Garden. This most recent iteration is a participatory earthwork sculpture made of salvaged concrete slabs, construction sand as soil, and a selection of local powerful plants.* Revealing the biodiversity potential of growth in seemingly inhospitable environments, like post-industrial sites, Again expands upon themes of plant-human empowerment: sexual and reproductive health, ritual, and even death. Plant species chosen for Again (An Into the Weeds Project) evoke conversations surrounding waste, poison, possibility, and the coming together of destruction and regeneration.

River Hill (2022)

Dara Friedman
With ecologist Josh Smith

River Hill is an elevated labyrinth and pollinator garden with a design that is meant to mimic the meander of the Buffalo River. The land-art work invites guests to walk the thoughtfully designed path, physically wind and unwind, and embrace new insights and perspectives from within. The piece also intends to gift food, color, smell and experience to pollinators, birds, and people alike. The labyrinth is planted with hardy native plants that support pollinators.* A five-foot-wide pathway of mown yarrow and chamomile is punctuated with granite boulders and black locust logs. The labyrinth, a sacred, ancient, and living form works to help us come into close relationship with nature, the divine, and the nature of ourselves.

Ecological points of interest

The Pond

The pond was originally constructed as a catchment basin that collected and cleaned the runoff from the neighboring parking lot. Although now it is rain-fed rather than functioning as a green infrastructure installation, the pond is a wetland microcosm containing native plants and creating habitat for the organisms present. Insect pollinators, water birds, amphibians and mammals use the pond as a necessary oasis for both seasonal activity and as a migratory stopover. *

The Meadow

Amidst Silo City’s iconic concrete structures there exists a natural refuge and ever- evolving urban greenspace. The Meadow serves as a popular point of interest thanks to its open landscape and large shade bearing Cottonwood tree. These features provide a harmonious space for gathering and contemplation.

Many of the plants found at the Lyceum are native plants, important to supporting sustainable regional biodiversity. Numerous plants are native ecotypes and were grown within the Lyceum at Silo City’s native plant nursery.

Maendeleo Soccer Pitch

Home of the Buffalo Maendeleo Soccer Club, Silo City’s soccer pitch speaks to the idea of movement, play, and holistic land management throughout our campus. Areas of recreation and designated activity offer a balance of use at Silo City that provides the public with space to enjoy an urban greenspace filled with exploration, creativity, and varied ecological use.

What To Know Before You Arrive

Public hours are free to the public.

All visitors must fill out a safety waiver either online (below) or in-person.

Parking for public hours in Silo City’s greenspace is along Ohio Street (see map here or plug 630 Ohio Street into your GPS or Maps app).

This is a post-industrial site, choose footwear accordingly.

Public hours are not rain or shine. If we must cancel our public hours due to inclement weather, we will update our Facebook & Instagram at least 30 minutes a head of time.

No outside food or drink is allowed at this time.

Access to Marine A is not part of Silo City green space public hours.

Visitors can stop by Duende, the bar & restaurant on campus, starting at 4pm on Wednesdays but there is no access by foot from the greenspace to Duende at this time. Learn more about Duende at www.duendesilo.city.

Public hours conclude and the pedestrian entrance will close promptly at 7pm on Wednesdays and 12pm on Sunday.

The post New to You: Public Hours – Lyceum @ Silo City appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

“Fool Us Once, Shame On You; Fool Us Twice, Shame On Us.”

(This is Part I of a Three Part Article)

Since the very first shovel hit the ground, the Kensington Expressway has been the center of controversy – controversy for its destruction of the city’s urban fabric – controversy for its disruption of neighborhood life – controversy for its concentration of noise and toxic pollutants into a narrow channel – controversy for draining the lifeblood from some of the city’s most important business arterials – and finally, controversy for its savage obliteration of Olmsted’s grandest parkway.

Nevertheless, in spite of all this, Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, recently joined a cohort of New York politicians at the Buffalo Museum of Science to add federal dollars to the state’s billion+ dollars of new investment into what is largely regarded as one of the city’s great historic blunders. Amidst requisite photos and backslapping, politicians painted a glowing future for the bloated 6-lane tunnel/cap scheme being proposed by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT).  A scheme presented as the only “viable” course of action for Buffalo’s transportation future.  To those with any knowledge of Buffalo’s past, that sales pitch should sound frighteningly familiar.  It was, in fact, the very same sales pitch used to cajole us into construction of the calamitous cement ditch we deal with today.

Having met with substantial resistance to its Scajaquada Expressway (198) machinations from a more affluent West Side, NYSDOT has turned its attention to the Kensington Expressway (33) and what it, no doubt, hopes to be a more vulnerable, and hence gullible, East Side. Here it hopes to wear down community residents into acceptance of its tunnel/cap “ultimatum” as the best that can be hoped for.  This, even though it is obvious that surrender to such a Hobson’s Choice will insure the presence of the Kensington Expressway for another 50 years.  In addition, it is a “solution” that will vanquish any future possibilities for the authentic reestablishment of Olmsted’s historic Humboldt Parkway with its elegant grove of shade trees; the trees that NYSDOT so boorishly ripped out to make way for the ruinous misadventure that is now widely regarded as a prime example of discredited mid-twentieth century planning.

For every complex and difficult problem, there is an answer that is simple, easy, and wrong.

H.L. Mencken

Most unfortunately, unlike its halted West Side foray, NYSDOT opens its East Side assault with the support of a very influential and politically powerful ally.  

It is difficult to talk of the Restore Our Community Coalition (ROCC) without first granting the organization the copious praise and gratitude it has most deservedly earned from the entire city of Buffalo.  Since its founding in 2007, ROCC has worked with tireless patience and admirable persistence to successfully keep the Humboldt Parkway issue before the public eye.  Over that stretch it has also succeeded in gaining impressive political support.  And, in the person of current chairperson, Stephanie Barber-Geter, it would seem to be blessed with quite personable and capable leadership.

All of that said, however, in its unyielding support for NYSDOT’s “quick-fix” Band-Aid hustle, ROCC is dead wrong.  We cannot allow the past good deeds of an organization like ROCC to lead us into another regrettable decision; a decision that will permanently saddle us with one of our great mistakes of the twentieth century and severely limit our options in the twenty-first.

ROCC leadership has decided to use its considerable accumulated political power and influence to push the readily available “solution” NYSDOT is trying to sell.  Ideally, we should assume this decision by ROCC leadership accurately reflects the outcome that a substantial majority of tunnel area residents truly regard and accept as the most desirable.  It shouldn’t go without notice, however, that an October 15, 2022 Buffalo News article did feature quite varied opinion among the area residents interviewed on the matter1.

Still,If ROCC leadership is truly expressing what they believe to be an overwhelming majority viewpoint they would deserve admiration for acting in the best interests of the people they claim to speak for.  This would be the case were it not for the fact that NYSDOT’s tunnel “solution” will have dire consequences for all the other communities bordering the 33 as well as for the City of Buffalo as a whole.  What is posited as justice for some only comes at the price of great injustice to many more.

NYSDOT openly admits the number one objective of its tunnel/cap proposal is maintenance of the current expressway traffic flow exactly as it is.  After the gargantuan taxpayer expense this undertaking will entail, you can be assured any future talk of ripping it all out for expressway removal will be off the table for decades. 

Fruitbelt Destruction (Chris Hawley – Facebook)

The Fruitbelt Neighborhood and all those other communities bordering the 33 from Sydney Street to the Bailey Avenue border had better get used to living with the scourge of this noxious thoroughfare.  If this collaborative effort between NYSDOT and ROCC succeeds, the expressway won’t be going anywhere for generations to come.

As for those Humboldt Parkway residents unfortunate enough to be situated outside the area to be covered, project promoters hope to appease any sense of injustice by blathering on about a soon-to-follow “Phase II.”  Theoretically, this would extend the tunnel to link with a properly restored, surface-level, Humboldt Parkway west of Delevan Avenue.  Such correct restoration west of Delevan is the current preferred choice of the Greater Buffalo/Niagara Regional Transportation Council (GBNRTC) in its vision for the future of the 198. 

What Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes and other promoters neglect to detail in their “Phase II” palliation is the fact that the Scajaquada Creek lies directly below the expressway surface at Northland Avenue.  The presence of the creek in fact, is exactly why the current project ends where it does.  It was recognized that dealing with the issue of the creek would have presented a vastly more complex engineering challenge; one that would have spiked costs to a prohibitive level.  According to a Buffalo News Editorial, engineers with the Department of Transportation warned that the excavation required for such an extension would have caused “utility conflicts and environmental challenges, including possible flooding from the Scajaquada Creek drain2.” Elsewhere the News reported that NYSDOT officials maintained that such an extension could have raised the cost by “billions” and required years of additional studies3.

All of this without even considering the matter of the labyrinthine Delevan Avenue Interchange and problems presented there. 

As one would expect, it an obvious top priority of NYSDOT to keep the tunnel air clean and safe for automobiles at all times.  To such an end, NYSDOT intends to install multimillion dollar mechanical equipment to remove poisonous air from inside the tunnel.  As for residents living above the tunnel, they are left to rely upon assurances from politicians and NYSDOT executives that such equipment can be adjusted to protect them as well.  They will have to trust that the equipment can effectively and consistently filter any concentrated expressway poisons from leaking to the surface above.  However, there have been comments made that would seem to indicate that this filtration project is somewhat experimental in nature.  Sanjyot Vaidya, a design engineer from NYSDOT’s Western New York office, stated to the Buffalo News that “purifying the air has never been done before in a project like this.4” In 2019, even ROCC Chairperson, Stephanie Barber-Geter, remarked to the Buffalo News that cleansing exhaust fumes is not really something any city has yet figured out.  “So we really have to create something,” she said.5

Photo courtesy of Christopher Hyzy

Accomplishing that will come at no little cost. To begin with demolition of present-day houses (quantity and location unspecified), along with the consequent relocation of residents, will be required. Construction of large facilities to house treatment equipment will follow.  The design of such facilities is to be determined.  These facilities will require access by truck for regular removal of treated refuse.  In addition, five filtration structures, each sixteen feet in height, will be located down the center of the proposed lawn.  In one proposal fourteen “air-intake” grates, measuring twenty-by-five feet each, would be placed in verges along the sidewalks.  What, if any, air filtration would be provided for tunnel air which would logically seem to escape from such grates was not mentioned.

And what does all this represent for taxpayers?  The annual maintenance charges for this mechanized hodgepodge are estimated at 12 million dollars.  

Meanwhile, the present day highway, with its entire present traffic load will continue – business as usual – at both ends of the 4500 foot tunnel.  Any notion that the poisonous air emanating from this highway will not continue to drift over the “protected” neighborhoods is pure fantasy.

Finally, Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes likes to trumpet revived commercial districts (i.e., Jefferson Avenue, Filmore Avenue) as a result of this tunnel/cap project.  The extent of that revival has to be questioned due to the fact that the continued presence of the highway through the tunnel will allow the same cars to bypass the same commercial districts that the expressway was blamed for helping to vacate in the first place; as a ROCC Fact Sheet puts it: “Thriving commercial corridors (Jefferson and Filmore Avenues) and respective businesses succumbed as their regular traffic and customers were rerouted onto the Route 33 Kensington Expressway, completely bypassing them.”  That situation will not be changed.

It is possible to save the future, by rescuing the past.

Aside from these logistical contentions, this billion+ dollar structure will end forever any possibility for the rightful return of a stolen historic treasure.  Olmsted’s Humboldt Parkway was a resplendent three mile corridor that once provided for a glorious uninterrupted walk among magnificent shade trees; trees which presented themselves in a constantly changing drama of seasonal display. 

That elegant walk not only provided for an uplifting physical connection between Delaware Park and MLK Park but served as an important symbol of unification between the West Side and East Side of a great city.

Olmsted and his Plan for Buffalo (Buffalo & Erie County)

Frederick Law Olmsted is among the greatest, if not the greatest, of American landscape architects.  What particularly distinguished his Buffalo opus among the many achievements of his prolific career were not the individual parks he designed but the connection of those parks into a continuous park system.

To accomplish this, Olmsted applied the first widespread use of his new concept of the “parkway.”  These essentially functioned as linear parks which allowed all citizens to enjoy a continuous park experience both on their journey to the parks and while traveling from one park to another.  While the West Side’s Chapin, Bidwell and Lincoln Parkways have been meticulously preserved, the greatest of his parkways, Humboldt Parkway, was horrifically ripped out to make way for the Kensington Expressway.

The reckless desecration of Humboldt Parkway for the construction of the present day “car sewer” is to our collective shame.   It is the shared responsibility of our ongoing stewardship to see that what we allowed to be so profanely destroyed is authentically restored to Olmsted’s original grand design.  ROCC’s “afterthought substitution” of a 4500 foot lawn with some plantings and “dinkified” trees interrupted regularly by large ventilation towers is far from that.  It is, in fact, a banal accommodation to the continued presence of the expressway and an insult to the Olmstedian grandeur it feigns to “resemble.”  The West Side would never tolerate such a denigratory replacement for the sublime shade tree corridors of Chapin, Bidwell and Lincoln Parkways. The East side deserves nothing less.

Earliest concept drawings, in some cases dating back more than a decade, proffered a highway cap as a possible means for the restoration of Olmsted’s Majestic Humboldt Parkway; thenceforward, ROCC leadership has remained affixed to that concept.   However, dramatic developments in the years since that time have served to undermine such a vision. 

First, it is now widely acknowledged that the shallow soil necessitated by a tunnel structure would not allow for the planting of the large shade trees that are signature to Olmsted’s parkways.  Secondly, a significant inner-city highway removal movement has come into being and spread across the globe.  

The current bloated tunnel proposal, being peddled by NYSDOT and ROCC, will permanently deny the citizens of Buffalo from ever again seeing the Olmsted masterwork of which they have been so long deprived.  With this in mind, the constant bandying about of phrases like “restoration of Humboldt Parkway” by politicians and cap proponents along with prominent display of historic photos of the original parkway at press conferences, meetings and in promotional literature must stop.  It is deceptive almost to the point of deliberate falsehood.  To put it in the words of the Executive Director of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy (BOPC), Stephanie Crockatt6: “If they are not really bringing back Humboldt, then let’s not talk about it that way.”7

This is the end of Part I of this article.  Part II will look at some of the controversial methods that have been adopted to foist this costly scheme upon a largely oppositional public.  In addition, questions will be posed as to a proper role for the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy in all of this.  Part III will focus on where we go from here. Consideration will be given to some alternate approaches and actions that, hopefully, could result in a more just, and less wasteful, solution for all.

For further reference – previous articles by Edward Marriott

Great Streets make for Great Cities

Great Streets Make For Great Cities II – Humboldt Parkway

Footnotes:

1. Mark Sommer, “ ‘They cannot replace what’s gone’: Route 33 residents split over restoration plan,” Buffalo News, October 15, 2022.

2. The Editorial Board: Kensington plan should move ahead while funds and support are available, Buffalo News, December 14, 2022.

3. Mark Sommer, “Concept of Kensington tunnel with green space on above-ground deck advances,” Buffalo News, December 20, 2022.

4. Mark Sommer, “East Side office opens for Kensington project: Public feedback ‘crucial to its success’,” Buffalo News, November 10, 2022.

5. Rod Watson, “The quest for ‘everything’ endangers Kensington Expressway tunnel plan, Buffalo News, December 11, 2019.

6. Stephanie Crockatt stepped down as Executive Director on May 18, 2023.  Chief Financial Officer, Beth Downing, will be stepping into the role as Interim Executive Director while a search for a new Executive Director is being conducted.  All quotes appearing in this article attributed to Stephanie Crockatt appeared in the Buffalo News prior to her departure.

7.  Mark Sommer, “Kensington Expressway project comes into focus, but some say ‘generational’ plan falls short,” Buffalo News, July 26, 2022.

The post <strong>Our Way – <em>AND – </em>The Highway</strong> appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

On Thursday, June 15, Buffalo Urban Development Corporation (BUDC) invites people to attend a Smart Street Design public meeting to discuss existing street and infrastructure conditions, while exploring the benefits of Smart Streets. As the world advances to more “futuristic” forms of transportation modes, our city’s infrastructure must keep up with the swiftly changing times. What might seem like a good idea right now, might not be a good idea ten years from now. Therefore, the best thing to do is to get ahead of the curve, by researching best practices.

Buffalo’s Race for Place is about “advancing the City of Buffalo and the Western New York region by supporting talent attraction and our modern workforce through the creation of innovative and attractive environments—both indoors and out.”

Interested in improving the conditions of infrastructure downtown? Consider attending this event that will help to guide millions of dollars in new infrastructure investment into the core of Buffalo.

“This effort is a big deal for talent attraction and infrastructure development in the City of Buffalo. Buffalo’s Race for Place is an outside-the-box strategy that demonstrates the type of aggressive response that regions must undertake to stay relevant in the global race for talent, while at the same time ensuring economic equity and inclusivity.” – Brandye Merriweather, Vice President, BUDC

The upcoming Smart Street Design public meeting is being “intentionally held in the street – while planning to activate it in different ways to get people to see how their streets might function differently for them. This won’t be your typical public meeting.”

Location: Mohawk Street, between Washington and Ellicott Streets

Time: 5:30pm – 7pm

“Douglas Development will be at the event to share its plans for the future of the Mohawk Ramp and the broader Electric District, which includes hundreds of new apartments, new commercial space, and a mobility hub. They’ll also discuss a plan for a shuttle downtown. In sum, Mayor Brown invites the community to stop by early to support our downtown restaurants during happy hour, then stop by the event to learn what Buffalo is doing to build a smarter and more livable downtown community, and finally end the night at Fountain Plaza enjoying local favorite Strictly Hip.” – Brendan R. Mehaffy, Office of Strategic Planning and Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency (BURA) Vice-Chairman

The overall focus if the Race for Place initiative includes:

Advancement of the downtown infrastructure plan, streetscape improvements, and placemaking in key investment corridors and nodes

The strengthening of anchors located along the Main Street “Knowledge Corridor”

Progressive land-use policies that prioritize traffic calming, demand and load management, and pedestrian and bicycle friendly activity, as well as promotion of public transit usage, and continuation of Cars Sharing Main Street

Implementation of additional Smart City technology solutions and capabilities within such corridors and beyond

Additive public safety solutions to further community and new resident confidence

Increased urban vibrancy and activation through implementation and feedback inputs from citizens and employees/employers (via City of Buffalo, Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, and community outreach)

Integration with existing talent attraction activities, organizations, and region-wide campaigns, such as Be in Buffalo

After the public meeting, attendees are encouraged to stick around downtown, to eat and drink at nearby restaurants (Big Ditch, Tappo, Deep South, Casa Di Pizza, etc.) Also, at Fountain Plaza, Strictly Hip will be playing, as part of Buffalo Place’s Thursday & Main concert series. Additionally, there will be a food truck, as well as e-scooter and e-bike, and other Smart City tech demonstrations.

Anyone that is interested in performing chalk art demonstrations or any other performance art at the public meeting should contact Crystal Middleton, Director of Planning and Zoning at the City of Buffalo.

To learn more about the Race for Place initiative, click here.

The post Save The Date: Smart Street Design Public Meeting appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

The world is still reeling from the death of culinary great Anthony Bourdain. In Buffalo, we fondly remember his visit to a number of establishments in 2009. We also still have an even greater connection to the renowned chef, thanks to the on-again, off-again presence of Bourdain’s Russian sidekick, Zamir Gotta.

These days, Gotta travels the world, reaching out to people who have been affected by the ravages of suicide. In September of 2022, Gottar’s own son committed suicide – a bewildering circumstance that compounded his grief from Bourdain’s tragic loss in 2018.

If there’s one thing that we can say about Gotta, who calls Buffalo his second home, it’s that he is a real fighter, through peaceful measures of course. His love for this city and the WNY region is relentless. Despite numerous setbacks, including the loss of his son, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Gotta makes numerous trips back to Buffalo… and to Ellicottville, NY.

Over the last few years, Gotta struck up a business relationship with Steelbound Brewery & Distillery, to produce small batches of his prized Zamir vodka, which he refers to as an “elixir of happiness.”

“Steelbound owners are peacemakers and understand my mission, so we are still producing small batch of my elixir of happiness,” says Gotta. “Zamir vodka is available thus far only at their locations in Springville, Ellicottville, and Dunkirk, as well as Queen City Wine & Liquor in Buffalo. My ideal plan is to promote peace with my Steelbound-like-minded-friends outside NY State – they are preparing distribution paperwork for Louisiana, Ohio, and Florida. Everything is possible, charting to peace!”

On Thursday, June 8, Queen City Popped Culture, Steelbound, and Gotta are co-hosting “A Toast to Anthony,” from 5pm-9pm at Steelbound – 6600 US-219, Ellicottville, NY 14731. This is a non-ticketed event, featuring food by celebrity Chef Om, with music by Primo – broadcasting on energyradiobuffalo.com. Free CBD massages by Jess – powered by iN:FuSD. There will be a live art auction (David Simpson and the artscollaborative.org) to support Mental Health Advocates of WNY.

For anyone who has ever been touched by Gotta’s jovial nature, kindness, and love for Buffalo, or who share his hope for a more peaceful and pain-free world, feel free to pay a visit to Steelbound, and raise a glass to the memory of Anthony Bourdain.

If you are feeling alone and having thoughts of suicide—whether or not you are in crisis—or know someone who is, don’t remain silent. Talk to someone you can trust through the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988 or chat the lifeline.

The post A Toast to Anthony Bourdain with Zamir Gotta @ Steelbound Brewery & Distillery appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

There are few properties in the WNY region that can compare to 193 Elk Street – a fabulous Gothic revival cathedral and rectory in South Buffalo. When I first paid a visit to this cultural oasis back in 2020, it was known as Elk Tree Gardens & Castle. At the time, the owners were busy transforming the nave, the various rooms, and the grounds, into a cultural mecca for artists and musicians. It is interesting to note that the nave has City-approved plans for an event and entertainment space, if that is the direction that a new owner is interested in taking the compound.

There’s a lot more to this sale than meets the eye. Not only can a new owner play around with 20,000 square feet, situated on 1.8 acres of land… there are numerous spaces to work with including the rectory with 4 1-bedroom apartments, 5 full baths, and 7 additional rooms and offices. A handful of intertwined vacant lots are also part of the deal.

For anyone that has ever dreamed of living in a castle-like setting, this property offers that and more. For anyone that has ever considered running an over-the-top entertainment complex, there’s room for that too. Or… for anyone that has thought about creating a little Gothic-inspired village with cottages surrounding a “castle”… this is your chance.

The current owners have put a lot of thought, and work, into the property, to showcase the former church and grounds in a way that lends to the imagination, there is no doubt. Now, they are looking for someone who can appreciate the vision for the circa 1888 structure that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

193 Elk Street is a stone’s throw from the Buffalo River and Larkinville. Savarino’s McDermott Lofts is located to the right of the former church. The property is perfectly situated in close proximity to numerous destinations. It also possesses the type of potential that is only limited by one’s imagination – a place to work, play, live… and dream.

“… in-ground pool, hedge mazes, gardens, stages, patios.”

Those were just a few of the ideas that were once on the table. While not everything that the current owners dreamed about came to pass, they did manage to create building blocks upon which everything else can be assembled.

193 Elk Street is on the market for $1,200,000.

Get connected: Gurney Becker & Bourne

Listing agent: Carmelo Parlato

parlato.carmelo@gmail.com

716-335-2227 (Office)

716-335-2227 (Cell)

The post Opportunity Knocks: Gothic Revival Cathedral & Rectory in South Buffalo appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

Marrano Homes is constructing the final phase of homes in the 103-lot Colvin Estates subdivision in North Buffalo.  The homes are being built on Rachel Vincent Way between Colvin Boulevard and Starin Avenue with a mid-development connection to St. Lawrence Avenue.

Red = Sold, Blue = Reserved, White = Available

The final phase of homes includes 37 lots.  Twelve are sold, five are reserved and Marrano is building four homes on spec for quick delivery to buyers. Of the four completed homes in this phase, sale prices have ranged from $570,000 to $594,000. 

Marrano has fifteen different floorplans that can be built in Colvin Estates, including a ranch plan, Discovery XIV. It features two bedrooms and approximately 1,300 sq.ft. of living space with the option of adding a loft or third bedroom on a second level.

Get Connected: Marrano Homes, 716.809.8685

The post Construction Watch: Colvin Estates appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

Authors: Brian Smith, Executive Director Citizens Campaign for the Environment & Jill Jedlicka, Executive Director Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper

Legislation currently being considered by the New York State legislature, known as the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (S.4246/A.5322), would begin to reduce plastic pollution in our Great Lakes and increase recycling, all while saving taxpayers money. 

The bill requires large corporations—not local governments and taxpayers—to cover costs for reducing and recycling the packaging waste they create and generate revenue from. Currently, producers of packaging bear no responsibility for managing the waste they generate. The cost and impact of end-of-life for these products inevitably falls upon taxpayers, municipalities and our environment. A recent analysis by the Product Stewardship Council found that this bill could save taxpayers over $6.5 million annually in the City of Buffalo alone. 

Recycling in general is a broken system. It is not working as planned and any municipalities are struggling with the costs put upon them by producers of this waste. Most plastic packaging is not actually being recycled and ultimately ends up in landfills. Until the technology is developed to adequately protect our air and water, the false solution being promoted as so-called advanced recycling or chemical treatment and burning, is not a safe nor realistic recycling alternative. 

This bill would encourage any packaging that cannot be eliminated to be designed to be and actually be recyclable, resulting in a dramatic increase in New York’s recycling rate. While New York has an abysmal recycling rate of just 17%, countries that have adopted this policy achieve recycling rates upwards of 80%.

Contrary to talking points used by those opposing the bill, the policy would not increase the cost of our groceries or other consumer goods. In reality, this type of policy has been in effect for decades in Europe and Canada. Multiple economic studies of real-world policies show there has not been an increased cost to consumers. 

The proposed bill, that has received diverse support from agencies, community groups and businesses, has been years in development. In that time, the plastic problem has only gotten worse. For example, at Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper’s recent Spring Sweep, over 1,500 volunteers collected 9 tons of trash from 40 sites along our waterways and shorelines in two hours.  Over 80% of the litter was plastic, including over 4,000 plastic food wrappers, over 2,700 plastic bottles, and countless other cups and containers.

We are drowning in plastic pollution, and it is time for corporations to take more responsibility for the pollution they create. A reasonable policy to hold corporations responsible for the excessive plastic packaging they create is a proven, cost-effective solution that must be passed by the legislature. 

Photo by Brian Yurasits

The post Our Waterways and Communities are Drowning in Plastic Pollution appeared first on Buffalo Rising.