Category: Buffalo Neighborhoods

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

North and South Buffalo. The East and West Sides. But how many neighborhoods can you name that don’t fit any of those descriptions?

From the biggest geographical sections, to the dozens of micro-neighborhoods and hundreds of great intersections, each little bit of Buffalo has it’s own unique story, and many of those stories are right here.

Scroll to read more about Buffalo’s Neighborhoods or search for something specific…

Buffalo in the ’80s: The ‘other movie’ shot in Buffalo opens

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Buffalo saw plenty of Hollywood in the early 1980s. “Hide in Plain Sight,” starring James Caan, was shot here in 1979 and released in 1980. In 1982, Goldie Hahn and Burt Reynolds spent some time in Buffalo’s Parkside neighborhood shooting “Best Friends,” and also watching history at the Aud — both were in attendance the night Wayne Gretzky scored a hat trick shattering the NHL record for goals in a season.

The most celebrated film ever shot in Buffalo, ‘The Natural,” was shot with much fanfare during the summer of 1983 and released the following year. Buffalonians celebrated the 30th anniversary of the film’s release this year.

But while Redford, Close, Brimley and the crew were here shooting a baseball flick, an actor just as well known in 1983 — “Dallas” star Patrick Duffy — was in town shooting a music flick.

News Critic Jeff Simon takes a look at “Vamping,” starring Duffy, supported by a large contingent of Buffalo talent on the screen and on the crew.

April 30, 1984: ‘Vamping’

“While Robert Redford and one of the finest assemblages of acting talent in current film were all over the city and environs filming the $25 million film “The Natural,” (local film director Frederick King) Keller and star Patrick Duffy … were scrambling around filming on a budget that wouldn’t pay for the gasoline in Redford & Co.’s Winnebagos.”

Buffalo in ’40s: Albright Art Gallery opens series featuring Burchfield paintings

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

On April 28, 1999, News Reporter Tom Buckham took a look at a Burchfield watercolor that had come up for auction on a website “known as Ebay.” Fifty-five years earlier, the Albright (not yet -Knox) Art Gallery opened a series of comparisons between Burchfield paintings and photos of the scenes painted. Included in the series is a Wadsworth Street home in Buffalo.

The art center bearing the name of the renowned artist, who lived much of his life in Buffalo, has been a part of the arts renaissance in the city. In 2013, the Burchfield Penny Art Center, at 1300 Elmwood Ave., celebrated five years across the street from the Albright-Knox.

Camera, artist record scene differently

“The different languages spoken by the camera lens and the artist’s brush are illustrated in these two versions of the same scene in Wadsworth Street near Days Park.”

Buffalo in the ’90s: Coast Guard approves building twin span to Peace Bridge

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Douglas Turner reported from Washington that after some delay, the Coast Guard approved the building of a twin span to the current Peace Bridge.

Coast Guard approves building twin span

“The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday approved the Peace Bridge Authority’s plan to “twin” the existing 1927 bridge and will issue a construction permit to the authority in the next few days.”

Sens. Charles Schumer and Daniel Patrick Moynihan voiced disappointment, as they joined many other elected officials in seeking a signature span. The next day, Patrick Lakamp reported that Common Council President James Pitts was ready to sue to stop the building of a twin span. Years later, the planning continues:

City officials begin moving to block twin span

“Pitts also said he plans to invite authority officials to his next Super Span Signature Bridge Task Force meeting to talk about the easements the authority needs from the city.

“The easements are needed because the Peace Bridge twin would cross a parcel of city land.

” ‘If they want to talk about the easements, they have to come to the meeting,’ said Pitts, who views the session as a chance to discuss an alternative design with the authority.”

Buffalo in the ’70s: Courts crack down on Buffalo’s no-show employees

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Streets Department employees were accused of conspiracy in the alleged hiring of “no-show” employees and then in the alleged covering up of the fact that, for three years, an Ash & Garbage Division employee never showed up for work.

April 29, 1974: ‘No show,’ paid 3 years, never knew job, jury told

“A ‘no show’ employee was on the city payroll for three years before he learned what he was supposed to do and what door he was supposed to enter to get to his non-existent job, according to testimony given today in the State Supreme Court trail of Cyril O’Connell.”

Buffalo in the ’40s: Orphans & eye strain

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Most of what was written in the paper in 1944 had to do, in some way, with World War II. Even if not directly about the fighting, the backdrop of the war was apparent in every day-to-day task in Buffalo and around the country.

Thomas Webster was an orphan of the London air raids, and he moved into his uncle’s home on Weyand Street off Seneca Street in South Buffalo.

April 28, 1944: Boy who lost parents in raid likes new home

“Deprived of parents by the Germans’ ruthless bombing of London …”

Sattler’s, meanwhile, was offering ideas for helping those with eye strain brought on by second jobs for the war effort.

April 28, 1944: A second front for your eyes!

“If your eyes are feeling the results of extra wartime use …”

Buffalo in the ’80s: A step closer to a Hamburg mall

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Hamburg Supervisor Jack Quinn was one of the parties agreeing to a complicated land deal that exchanged some land, preserved some park space and set the stage for the $50 million McKinley Mall.

Land swap paves way for Hamburg mall

“[The project] is still on target for a June, 1985 opening. … Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Adam, Meldrum & Anderson Co. will be the key tenants in the first phase.”

Buffalo in the ’60s: Thumbs up for Williamsville toll move

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Gov. Nelson Rockefeller was expected to sign a measure approving the moving of the Williamsville toll barrier to Depew.

But not so fast. Today, the toll barrier remains where it was in 1969.

However, not all tolls are as they were decades ago. A campaign led by Carl Paladino in 2006 was successful in removing the Ogden and Breckenridge tolls on the Niagara Thruway, saving drivers on the highway at the time $0.75.

April 25, 1969: Move of toll barrier in Williamsville passes Assembly with ease

“The new toll booths would be placed at the ramp leading to Exit 49, Depew. Many commuters from Amherst, Clarence, Lancaster and Cheektowaga thus will be able to reach downtown Buffalo by paying only one 15-cent toll instead of two.”

Buffalo in the ’60s: Buffalo gets ready for spring

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Everyday Buffalonians, groundskeepers at War Memorial Stadium, and the mayor (helped by a future mayor) were featured getting outdoor spaces ready for summer in The Buffalo Evening News on April 25, 1969.

War Memorial was the home of the Bisons from 1960 to ’69 and from 1979 to ’87.

Mayor Frank Sedita and the man who followed him as mayor, Stanley Makowski, planted a tree in front of City Hall in celebration of Arbor Day.

Buffalo in the ’80s: Arguing gay rights in Buffalo

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

In a sign of the times, News reporter Gene Warner anonymously quoted professionals in Buffalo’s gay community. Names weren’t included, it can be assumed, for fear of reprisal and retribution. In 1980’s Buffalo, there was little outward gay pride. As Warner writes, “In Buffalo … where a ‘gay protest’ could be defined as an argument between two men in an Allentown coffee shop.”

April 24, 1984: Gay rights measure provides good lesson in Buffalo politics

“How did Buffalo’s gay community — normally so non-political that it responded calmly to Mayor Griffin’s calling homosexuals ‘fruits’ — pull off what New York City and California couldn’t (with passage of a new bill banning discrimination in city employment)?”

April 24, 1999: Is Central Terminal worth saving?

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Despite a lack of help and encouragement from government and private developers, community minded folks continued, undaunted, in their efforts to save and revitalize East Buffalo’s New York Central Terminal:

April 24, 1999: Terminal’s clocks get repairs

“Jeff Ingersoll swung in the raw wind outside the broken face of one of the New York Central Terminal clocks Friday, marking the start of a $15,000 project to restore time to the old landmark.

“Ten stories below, his admirers on the ground — a half-dozen preservationists and East Side activists — pointed to Ingersoll’s volunteer assistance on the clock restoration project as another example of the loyalty many people have for the building.”