What It Looked Like Wednesday: West Side corner store, 1955

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

This corner store was at the corner of Dewitt and Helen, behind PS 19 (now the Native American Magnet School) on Buffalo’s West Side in 1955 — but it could have been on any corner, anywhere in Buffalo.

Buffalo News archives

The photo was taken as Mrs. Frank Ott was forced to close the store, because young hoodlums were driving away women customers with “foul language and insults,” while also stealing about $1,000 in merchandise over the course of a year.

From Iroquois, Carling and Genesee beer to Squirt and Vernor’s pop — and Rich’s Ice Cream — the place was crowded with groceries and merchandise that were unique to Western New York.

A reader points out that this storefront and the neighboring home were destroyed in a fire in 2014.

 

Buffalo in the ’80s: Cars into buildings, the prequel

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Over the last several years, cars crashing into buildings — particularly restaurants like Schwabl’s in 2014 and Kosta’s in 2015 — have led some to begin to think of Buffalo as the “cars crashing into buildings” capital of the world. Recent accidents have even been plotted into maps.

Western New York’s attention became focused on vehicles crashing into buildings in 2011, when a car driven through the window at Cheeburger Cheeburger on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst resulted in two deaths of patrons inside the restaurant.

At the scene of a car crashing into a bank several years ago, one police captain told me he doesn’t think these crashes happen more than they used to — it’s just that several high-profile cases have called our attention to these types of incidents and the fact that everyone is now carrying a phone in their pocket makes it easier to report on every case.

Buffalo News archives

A woman was seriously injured when a conversion van slammed into the side of the McDonald’s on the corner of Union and Main in Williamsville in 1989.

In fact, as long as there have been cars, they have been hitting buildings. Here’s another example from 1959.

For more on the trend, and whether Buffalo is actually unique in our number of vehicle/structure crashes, read Ben Tsujimoto’s analysis from last May.

Buffalo in the ’40s: The West Side prepares for war

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

The Connecticut Street Armory is an imposing presence on the West Side, known for decades more as a home for car shows, punk rock concerts, and proms.

But of course, it’s primary function remains as a home of the New York National Guard and the longtime home of the 174th Regiment. It was also there on Niagara Street where the 174th was activated to train for service as the country readied for World War II.

Armed men protected the gates of the armory 75 years ago today, July 13, 1940.

Buffalo in the 40’s: Frank Sedita’s Booze Shop

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

I found this postcard a while ago, showing two men standing in a West Side liquor store in the 1940s.

Anthony Tauriello and Frank Sedita. Buffalo Stories archives
Taurielllo & Sedita Liquor Store, 436 Niagara Street. Buffalo Stories archives

The Man on the left would become a congressman in the 60’s (Anthony Tauriello) and the man on the right would become Buffalo’s Mayor– Frank Sedita, the current DA’s grandfather.

Now that I dug out the card, I’m giving it to the Sedita family. Neat heirloom.

Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com
Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com