So Artvoice decided to trash the Buffalo News…again…for being against the NFTA wanting to make the NF airport-a commercial airport. Basically Artvoice wants the NFTA to spend money on a new airport because they can. The only arugement made really is that the BNIA runway is too short to handle international carriers. AeroMexico among some other airlines are interested in flying to the Falls and obviously can not fly into Buffalo since the runway is so short.
Hey look, I’m a genius so I came up with this
SPEND THE MONEY ON A FRICKIN RUNWAY EXTENSION AT BNIA INSTEAD. KTHXBYE.
and perhaps spend the leftover on a Light Rail extension to the airport? Sounds good to me.
Jesus, what metro region our size has two airports? BNIA has been a great success story and increases passengers each year with new flights added all the time. The new NF airport would be TWO gates. TWO. Um…we have enough gates for at BNIA and we just need the runway to extend out another 2,000 feet to handle international flights.
Afterall it is “Buffalo-NIAGARA International Airport”
owned by the
NIAGARA Frontier Transit Authority

[smacks head]

Artvoice just likes to see nice looking things pop up in the city that are uneccesary like this thing and the new Peace Bridge.

I’ve been occupied with some crazy personal stuff latley so I apologize for the infrequent updates as of late…I’m still distracted so I’ll give you all a little post.

Here is a picture of the Olympic Towers. One of my favorite buildings and an extremely underrated one. It blends in perfectly with all the other architectural gems around like the Hyatt on Genessee and the Electric Tower and Gold Dome nearby. Despite this, no one seems to know about it.
I originally looked for it in 2003 when I discovered there was more to Downtown than City Hall and the HSBC Arena. With my “Buffalo Place”map given to me at the info desk I went to the Convention Center to ask where it was. The man had no clue. I asked my cousin who had been working Downtown for seven years at that point and he had no clue either.
Turns out it was RIGHT next to the Convention Center where I originally asked for its location.
Anyways so I accidentally came accross it a month ago and returned recently to admire it. Seems like its a fairly upscale apartment/office building with a nice fitness center. A lot of people talk about how terrible the Convention Center is for Buffalo. Not only did it block off Genesee and not only is it ugly but it blocks off completely the Genesee St. entrance which is quite beautiful but unknown to nearly everyone.

So one day when you’re nearby the Financial district of Downton, stop by the Olympic Towers right next to the Convention Center. Buffalo architecture at its best…and slightly unknown (which I guess makes you cooler since its not loved by the mainstream).

As I promised earilier in the year, every month we’ll get you some pictures of the the new projects occurring in Downtown since a lot of our readers are displaced Buffalonians.

COBBLESTONE
This is from the back facing the H-O Oats elevator

This is from the front facing the side of HSBC Arena

This building is going to look awesome when its finished. Can’t wait to see how the remaining two buildings next to it look when they start renovating them.

ERIE CANAL HARBOR
This one excites me the most. I didn’t go downtown that much until 2003 when I believe they started this project. This year they’ve really got things rolling quickly. And I’m getting pretty annoyed with a fenced-off harbor for all these years too.

The HealthNow building has had no construction on it yet, really.But it looks like since February they have gotten the entire site ready to build now.
The Pierce Apartments haven’t had much progress either since the last picture
Ditto for Granite Works

Although its a personal story, it involves Buffalo in a few ways so I shall share…

Last Saturday I was ready to get my plane back to Buffalo from Baltimore-Washingtown International. As I walked through the gate a Southwest Airlines employee called out my name as well as a name that sounded familiar…”Rashad Baker”.

For you Bills fans out there, you should know he’s a free saftey for the hometown team. So Southwest decided that they had to bump the both of us off our flight. By the way-Rashad is a great guy…too bad I had to meet him under such stressful circumstances.
For the next three hours Rashad and I strategized for ways to get to Buffalo before the next morning-Flights to Syracus, Albany, Rochester, Amtraks from NYC…everything booked. Eventually I gave up on any hope of getting home so I spent the night at my parents again. As for Rashad-I’m sure he found a way home.

So Greyhound was the only way to get home before Monday. And after the bus ride from Maryland to Buffalo I have a new found appreciation for Buffalo. Especially the Bus Depot that I used to think was sub-standard but from seeing some 10 stations along the way its clear that ours is top notch.

The Pittsburgh one was connected to a prison so I got to see an awesome array of interesting characters who were celebrating their first few hours of freedom I assume. The others were small 50’s-looking gas stations that happened to have a Greyhound bus sign on the side. The Erie PA one was alright except it was locked because the guy who was on duty had to pick up his girlfriend.
After the 12 hour bus ride through some sad looking parts of the rust belt…man…that drive on the skyway into downtown was amazing. A real city! A nice looking city! My city!

So thats my story.

It’s nice to be back, thats for sure. After a week in a region (DC area) with fast-paced growth and a rediculously strong economy-I had enough. So after an air-travel nightmare Saturday I had to end up taking the Greyhound back. On the way we went through Pittsburgh and while I was there I noticed something that every major to mid-major city has but we don’t…
Company signs on skyscrapers.
It sounds simple, and even pointless on the surface but I really think It would greatly enhance the appearance of the city.
Almost every skyscraper in Pittsburgh had the company’s name prominently displayed near the top of the structure. The closest we have to that is a painted-on logo on the HSBC Tower.

Click for a larger picture
The original Marine Midland building had a sign up top, the Liberty Mutual did as well. I think it helped the appearance of downtown.
To be honest I think the only two buildings that should really have it would be the HSBC Tower and the M&T Building built in the 60’s.
Imagine seeing “HSBC Bank” or “M&T Bank” illuminated for all to see as they pass through the city. Sometimes its the little things that can really go a long way in the appearance of the city…just look at the Shea’s theatre sign-really adds a bit of hutspah to the silent downtown we call our own.

Click for a larger picture
PS…I’m not sure if it was the Greyhound route or what but being on the Skyway and seeing all the beautiful buildings we have to offer makes me so thankful I’m from Buffalo and not any of the towns between Buffalo and Baltimore. Pittsburgh’s financial district is beautiful but it lacks that special character that Buffalo has and always will have.

Finally.
Finally.
Paladino’s Court Street building has been approved and there are no more legal obstacles in the way of getting the damn thing done. So now Paladino has until the late 06 to begin construction. So if this gets built this means the Carl only has 999999967 of his properties in Buffalo left to complete/start construction (Not that I mind seeing a depressing-looking, boarded up Courtyard Mall and Baker’s Shoe store in the heart of Downtown).
You go girl.

So I was watching the “Colbert Report” (which makes the Daily Show boring) and Steven was doing his segment on the SAT scoring scandle. And would you believe it-he cited a quote from a Buffalo News interview!
A
BUFFALO
NEWS
INTERVIEW.
Probably the 1st time in a generation in which an article in our hometown’s paper is discussed outside of the WNY region on TV.
Kudos.

Now just make a frickin website worth visiting with blog features. Kthxbye.

So I went to the Sabres-Caps game on Tuesday in Chinatown, DC and it was great for many reasons. If you watch the highlights, on NHL.com just listen to the crowd reactions when the Sabres score. It was incredible. And this isn’t Carolina, people! 1,000 Buffalonians in full force.
Ugh…its too bad they couldn’t live in their hometown. I’m sure it’s not because they wanted to leave…those passionate “Let’s go Buffalo” chants throughout the night was all the proof I need to know they miss their hometown.

…back in the B-Lo on Saturday. Back to regular posting on Monday.

Okay so I’ve been in DC since Sunday and will be in the nation’s capital until Saturday so the updates will be limited. But I do come bearing some good news for Downtown Buffalo! That abandoned Shoe store (Howard’s?) on Eagle is going to become a restaurant thanks to the owner of the Electric Tower

buying up the property with an intention of appealing to the workers of his renovated class A office tower. Good to see one less eyesore downtown!

So whats in store for me today? Well how about some leftover Bocce’s Pizza from Saturday and a Caps v. Sabres game tonight!
it’s like I never left

In today’s Buffalo News we see that Erie Canal Harbor Corp. is going to release a short/long term plan for the developement of the long dead waterfront. From what I’ve seen it looks pretty nice. Best part is the creation of the “Harborfront Market”. Someone on a blog once proposed moving Broadway Market to the DL&W Terminal. That sounded nice outside of the fact the Broadway/Fillmore would be as nice to visit as Somalia after the Market left. Before we see a new president (2008), we are supposed to see a market, BassPro, Great Lakes Musem, Hotel, and two commerical buildings on the waterfront with bridges, more commercial buildings, further development of the historical features of the harbor and new residential buildings before the war on Iraq ends (2026).
I noticed that there is no more “Inter-modal Transportation Center” that people like Sam Hoyt were so adamant about. It was supposed to happen during the days of planning for the “Adelphia Communications” Tower and was still in the plans with Bass Pro but I guess we’re all happy with having a tool shed further down Exchange Street as our train station to go along with our old “Auditorium” light-rail station that looks like it was built out of very large and colorful “K-Nex”.
Overall its a nice plan. But being a Buffalonian-I’ll believe it when I see it. To their credit, we have never seen plans this fully developed for the waterfront. It probably will not parallel Baltimore’s or San Diego’s during our lives but at least it will no longer be something to be ashamed of.
Can’t wait for that Harborfront Market to open up….sounds pretty sweet.

**map courtesy of Buffalo News