Been Busy

I haven't posted in quite awhile just been very busy and I need a new digital camera so till I get a new cam I'll try to post some old pictures . There is a lot going on in the Neighborhood with church closings garden walks and summer projects so when I find the time I'll try and post something new. This week in BR/R history- On July 15th 1950 Buffalo's 13th annual soap box derby was held for the first time in Riverside, July 16th 1950 Black Rock / Riverside centennial was observed, July 19th 1978 the 50th annual BR picnic and play day @ Crystal Beach was held . Michael Geraci and Albert Weber were honored as the oldest members. "My pet rock is Black Rock"

School 60

The kids in the photo are of Buffalo public school children around the turn of the century { last century of course}.

Fresh look for an old place.

Gondola's over at the corner of Niagara & Austin is getting a fresh paint job it's looking good and almost done this is a before picture I will update with some new pics when the job is completed .

"Thats what your supposed to do"

Thats what Dennis {PHOTO} said to me this weekend as I took a walk around the Neighborhood taking some pictures. I met up with Dennis near the old Engine 15/Creeley homestead at Amherst and East Streets more on the Firehouse at a later date. This Wen May 23rd 6:15 pm at the North West Buffalo Community Center you to can take a stand and join in on the conversation with the GNPA. This weeks meeting is with Tops store Manager Dave Zoldos about the many many Tops shopping carts that are left all over the BR/GA area on a daily basis . Dennis and his family life long Black Rock resident's once considered a move out of the city but stayed and instead of complaining about Quality of life issues he has quietly been doing something about it "Thats what your supposed to do". Like myself he says it's not about him it's about the community so he does his part as a resident not expecting his name in lights and not expecting Extra credit. So when you see Dennis or the many others like him that make our Community a unique and proud place to live don't ask what are you doing that for? how much you getting paid for that? Stop grab a brush or a broom and lend a FREE hand "Thats what your supposed to do". B.R.A

Where / What was it ? in Black Rock New York.

SG Collection

Now & Then in Black Rock NY

SG Collection

Atwater House raised for 9 parking spots? WTF!

'A New look for the Advocate'

Trivia: Do you know where these buildings once stood?

Photo: S.G Collection

Buffalo ReUse

TAKEN FROM BR The final debris were cleared away last night from 26 Lombard St., where just days ago another house stood neglected in its East Side neighborhood. But, thanks to Buffalo’s newest non-profit, this house fell by deconstruction, not total demolition. So instead of wasting away in a landfill, many of the home’s remains will find new life in other corners of the city. And the lot where the house once stood will likely become a garden for its very happy, horticulturally-blessed neighbor.

Volunteers with Buffalo ReUse took down the house, their first deconstruction attempt, in just four days. With 6-8 volunteers working each day, through the rain and mud, the group completely dismantled the building to ground level and successfully recycled 1,000s of pounds of material. All the salvaged material will be on sale at their Ellicott Street warehouse this Sunday.

The crew worked under the supervision of national deconstruction consultant David Bennink, of Re-Use Consulting, who has been guiding the founding members along their journey. He has clients from coast-to-coast who are trying to change the way societies look at their buildings and their resources.

Michael Gainer, executive director of Buffalo Re-Use, brought Bennink in to teach the new group techniques for deconstruction, which will continue to evolve with each new project.

"Now we know we can do it,” Gainer said upon completion Monday. “It's challenging but meaningful work. I think we're really ready to put this idea into motion and fulfill our mission."

The very triumphant, yet very tired, group will set out to dismantle their second home, on Wasson Street, on May 18.

Buffalo ReUse’s warehouse at 459 Ellicott St. will be open from noon to 3 p.m. this Sunday, May 6. Check here for a list of their salvaged inventory.

Tenant Market

TenantMarket helps you find the right tenant fast by matching your property listing with actual renters' profiles.

Black Rock Academy PS:# 51 set to RE open!

• Black Rock Academy PS:# 51 is set to re open for the start of next years academic school year and remain open for at least 2 years. The purpose for the reopening after closing nearly 3 years ago is do to the major remodeling of nearby Riverside Institute of Technology High School set to begin this summer and be completed in 2-3 year time frame and the need to temporarily house the nearly 750 students.
• While School #51 is not large enough to house the entire population of R.I.T it will comfortably hold the Freshmen and Sophomore classes of about 400 students.

• While this is good news for one of our vacant Neighborhood buildings it is only temporary and is offset by the closers of other large facility's as i first wrote about {HERE} in the area such as St. John the Baptist R.C Church 60 Hertel Av. Or the soon to be closed St. Francis Xavier R.C Church at 149 East St.
• A comprehensive plain is needed for these large pilers in the Community some plans that have been successfully include the Nearly Demolished former St. Mary of the Sorrows Roman Catholic Church 938 Genesse St now the King Center Charter School. And the nearly completed Artspace Lofts 1219 Main St on the city's near East side. Link to other completed Artspace projects. Follow the construction of Artspace Buffalo {HERE} .

The Nickel City is indeed the Dyngus Day Capital of the World...no doubt!"

"In my travels and performances throughout the United States I have enjoyed the excitement of Dyngus Day in several cities and towns, however, no where is this holiday celebrated unilaterally and dynamically as it is in Buffalo, New York. The Nickel City is indeed the Dyngus Day Capital of the World...no doubt!" Lenny Gomulka, Polka Music Hall of Fame, Leader of Chicago Push, www.ChicagoPush.com

After a 20 year hiatus, Dyngus Day returns to the concourse of the Central Terminal! The parade, which begins at 5pm at the Broadway Market, will end at the terminal, where the merriment will ensue. If you don’t want to go to the parade, don’t worry, our doors will open at 5pm and the party will go on until 11pm.

“Those Idiots” and Lee Ron Zydeco will be providing the musical entertainment. Flying Bison will be offering a special Dyngus Day beer and Ulrich’s Bistro Europa and the K Sisters will be providing the food. Official Central Terminal merchandise will also be available.

Admission price is $8 and will get you into the parties at St. Stan’s and the Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle (Mickie’s) or free with proof of admission from either Mickie’s or St. Stan’s. Come on out and enjoy the party of the Spring. You don’t have to be Polish to enjoy the Dyngus Day tradition!

The New Urbanism

An alternative to modern, automobile- oriented planning and development ROBERT STEUTEVILLE

Through the first quarter of the last century, the United States was developed in the form of compact, mixed-use neighborhoods. The pattern began to change with the emergence of modern architecture and zoning and ascension of the automobile. After World War II, a new system of development was implemented nationwide, replacing neighborhoods with a rigorous separation of uses that has become known as conventional suburban development (CSD), or sprawl. The majority of US citizens now live in suburban communities built in the last 50 years. Although CSD has been popular, it carries a significant price. Lacking a town center or pedestrian scale, CSD spreads out to consume large areas of countryside even as population grows relatively slowly. Automobile use per capita has soared, because a motor vehicle is required for the great majority of household and commuter trips. Those who cannot drive are significantly restricted in their mobility. The working poor living in suburbia spend a large portion of their incomes on cars. Meanwhile, the American landscape where most people live and work is dominated by strip malls, auto-oriented civic and commercial buildings, and subdivisions without much individuality or character. The New Urbanism is a reaction to sprawl. A growing movement of architects, planners, and developers, the New Urbanism is based on principles of planning and architecture that work together to create human-scale, walkable communities. New urbanists take a wide variety of approaches — some work exclusively on infill projects, others focus on transit-oriented development, still others are attempting to transform the suburbs, and many are working in all of these categories. The New Urbanism includes traditional architects and those with modernist sensibilities. All, however, believe in the power and ability of traditional neighborhoods to restore functional, sustainable communities. The trend had its roots in the work of maverick architects and planners in the 1970s and 1980s who coalesced into a unified group in the 1990s. From modest beginnings, the trend is beginning to have a substantial impact. More than 600 new towns, villages, and neighborhoods are planned or under construction in the US, using principles of the New Urbanism. Additionally, hundreds of small-scale new urban infill projects are restoring the urban fabric of cities and towns by reestablishing walkable streets and blocks. On the regional scale, the New Urbanism is having a growing influence on how and where metropolitan regions choose to grow. At least 14 large-scale planning initiatives are based on the principles of linking transportation and land-use policies and using the neighborhood as the fundamental building block of a region. In Maryland and several other states, new urbanist principles are an integral part of smart growth legislation. Moreover, the New Urbanism is beginning to have widespread impact on conventional development. Just as Starbucks raised the quality of coffee in competing restaurants and cafes, mainstream developers are adopting new urban design elements such as garages in the rear of houses, neighborhood greens and mixed-use town centers. Projects that adopt some principles of New Urbanism but remain largely conventional in design are known as hybrids. The New Urbanism trend goes by other names, including neotraditional design, transit-oriented development, and traditional neighborhood development. Borrowing from urban design concepts throughout history, the New Urbanism does not merely replicate old communities. New houses within neighborhoods, for example, must provide modern living spaces and amenities that consumers demand (and that competing suburban tract homes offer). Stores and businesses must have sufficient parking, modern floor plans, and connections to automobile and pedestrian traffic, and/or transit systems. With proper design, large office, light industrial, and even "big box" retail buildings can be situated in a walkable new urbanist neighborhood. Parking lots, the most prominent feature of conventional commercial districts, are accommodated to the side and the rear of new urban businesses. The size of lots are reduced through shared parking, on-street parking, and shifts to other modes of transportation. Another difference between the old and the New Urbanism is the street grid. Historic cities and towns in the US employ a grid that is relentlessly regular. New urbanists generally use a "modified" grid, with "T" intersections and street deflections to calm traffic and increase visual interest. That blending of old and new is the basis of the adjective neotraditional, a term that carries a lot of baggage, especially with modernists, who see it as an architectural "style." However, it is more of an urban design approach that borrows from the past while adapting to the present and future. The very fact that new urbanists must meet the demands of the marketplace keeps them grounded in reality. Successful New Urbanism performs a difficult balancing act by maintaining the integrity of a walkable, human-scale neighborhood while offering modern residential and commercial “product” to compete with CSD. New urbanists who cannot compete with conventional development or find a niche that is poorly served by the real estate industry are doomed to failure. The difficulty of that balancing act is one reason why many developers choose to build hybrids, instead of adopting all of the principles of the New Urbanism. Some new urbanists think that hybrids pose a serious threat to the movement, because they usually borrow the label and language of the New Urbanism. Other new urbanists believe that hybrids represent a positive step forward from CSD. Principles of the New Urbanism The heart of the New Urbanism is in the design of neighborhoods, which can be defined by 13 elements, according to town planners Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, two of the founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism. An authentic neighborhood contains most of these elements: 1) The neighborhood has a discernible center. This is often a square or a green and sometimes a busy or memorable street corner. A transit stop would be located at this center. 2) Most of the dwellings are within a five-minute walk of the center, an average of roughly 2,000 feet. 3) There are a variety of dwelling types — usually houses, rowhouses and apartments — so that younger and older people, singles and families, the poor and the wealthy may find places to live. 4) At the edge of the neighborhood, there are shops and offices of sufficiently varied types to supply the weekly needs of a household. 5) A small ancillary building is permitted within the backyard of each house. It may be used as a rental unit or place to work (e.g., office or craft workshop). 6) An elementary school is close enough so that most children can walk from their home. 7) There are small playgrounds accessible to every dwelling -- not more than a tenth of a mile away. 8) Streets within the neighborhood form a connected network, which disperses traffic by providing a variety of pedestrian and vehicular routes to any destination. 9) The streets are relatively narrow and shaded by rows of trees. This slows traffic, creating an environment suitable for pedestrians and bicycles. 10) Buildings in the neighborhood center are placed close to the street, creating a well-defined outdoor room. 11) Parking lots and garage doors rarely front the street. Parking is relegated to the rear of buildings, usually accessed by alleys. 12) Certain prominent sites at the termination of street vistas or in the neighborhood center are reserved for civic buildings. These provide sites for community meetings, education, and religious or cultural activities. 13) The neighborhood is organized to be self-governing. A formal association debates and decides matters of maintenance, security, and physical change. Taxation is the responsibility of the larger community. New urbanist prototypes Seaside, Florida, the first new urbanist town, began development in 1981 on 80 acres of Panhandle coastline. Seaside appeared on the cover of the Atlantic Monthly in 1988 when only a few streets were completed, and it since became internationally famous for its architecture and the quality of its streets and public spaces. Seaside proved that developments that function like traditional towns could be built in the postmodern era. Lots began selling for $15,000 in the early 1980s and, slightly over a decade later, lots prices had escalated to about $200,000. Today, some lots sell for close to a million dollars, and houses sometimes top $3 million. The town is now a tourist mecca. Seaside’s influence has less to do with its economic success than a certain magic and dynamism related to its physical form. Many developers have visited Seaside and gone away determined to build something similar. Since Seaside gained recognition, other new urban towns and neighborhoods have been designed and are substantially built — including Haile Village Center in Gainesville, Florida; Harbor Town in Memphis, Tennessee; Kentlands in Gaithersburg, Maryland; Addison Circle in Addison, Texas; Orenco Station in Hillsboro, Oregon; Mashpee Commons in Mashpee, Massachusetts; and Celebration in Orlando, Florida. Designers are also using the principles of the New Urbanism to build major new projects in cities and towns. In the mid-1990s, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) adopted the principles of the New Urbanism in its multibillion dollar program to rebuild public housing projects nationwide. New urbanists have planned and developed hundreds of projects in infill locations. Most were driven by the private sector, but many, including HUD projects, used public money. New urbanist projects built in historic cities and towns includes Crawford Square in Pittsburgh, City Place in West Palm Beach, Highlands Garden Village in Denver, Park DuValle in Louisville, and Beerline B in Milwaukee. Meanwhile, leaders in this design trend came together in 1993 to form the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), based in Chicago. The founders are Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Peter Calthorpe, Daniel Solomon, Stefanos Polyzoides, and Elizabeth Moule, all practicing architects and town planners. CNU has since grown to more than 2,000 members and is now the leading international organization promoting new urbanist design principles. Disney builds a town In June of 1996, Disney unveiled its 5,000-acre town of Celebration, near Orlando, Florida, and it has since eclipsed Seaside as the best-known new urbanist community. In some respects, the New Urbanism and Disney have been uncomfortable bedfellows. While using designers and principles closely associated with the New Urbanism, Disney has shunned the label, preferring to call Celebration simply a “town.” Meanwhile, the movement may have benefited from all of Celebration’s publicity — but not without a price. Disney has come under attack for what some perceive as heavy-handed rules and management. For those who would attack the New Urbanism as insipid nostalgia, Disney is a fat target. The fact remains that Celebration’s urban design is generally of high quality and by most accounts serves residents very well. Ray Chiaramonte, a former resident of Celebration who has since moved to a different new urban community, had this to say after his family moved to Disney's town: “The entire focus of our lives has changed. Instead of doing everything some place other than close to home, we now can eat, do errands, celebrate special occasions and just hang out near our own home. The changes are most dramatic for our children, who now have a freedom they never had in our old neighborhood.” In the 1991 book Edge City, author Joel Garreau wrote that Americans have not built “a single old-style downtown from raw dirt in 75 years.” Celebration was the first real estate project to break that trend, opening its downtown in October, 1996 (Seaside's downtown was still mostly unbuilt at the time). Since then, scores of new urban projects have followed suit with their own downtowns and mixed-use districts. But the new urbanists still have plenty of work to do. They must continue to design and build retail centers to compete with CSD nationwide. They must capture a broad portion of the residential market. New urbanist developers must get better at making their neighborhoods affordable. New urbanists also must prove, over time, that their ideas are superior for both revitalizing old cities and towns and building new communities. If they can accomplish these goals — and many projects now offer hope that they can — the New Urbanism is poised to become the dominant real estate and planning trend of the 21st century. Robert Steuteville is editor and publisher of New Urban News. This article was updated July 8, 2004.

Sportsmen's Tavern

Artvoice has a nice video story about The Sportsmen's Tavern 326 Amherst Street Black Rock New York. Good times for all and many types of music never a cover charge. {calender of events.}

What's with the pilers from the Skyway?

• Did somebody throw this rendering together over a night or was 10's of thousand's of dollars spent to do this. Whats with the Concrete pilers there ugly.
• $150 Million in taxpayer money for a retailer that sells a product that you can only use for six months out of the year doesn't seem right.
• In 1995 $150 in taxpayer money would have moved the Niagara section of the thruway inward to the Railway lands.

Buffalo ReUse

I hope this guy doesn't win the lotto

Click on photo to make larger Quote taken from Free New York Blog

“Flippers”, as most practice today, ARE Sleazy.

"Jim–Doc Breem used to “flip” houses back in the 70’s. But not the way it’s done today. He’d buy them cheap, but rehab them using his own labor, time and materials, then either rent them out or sell them for a marginal to medium profit, depending on how much he had to put into the place to begin with.

Buying a property unseen, and selling it on E bay to some unsuspecting noid for profit is sleazy, no doubt. Worse yet, buying the property, stripping out the house of anything valuable, THEN selling it to some unsuspecting noid is the problem that Buffalo has.

Another problem Buffalo has is there are too many houses for the number of people left living there. Jim’s neighborhood is relatively new for Buffalo, it’s mostly a post WW2 built up area–but still makes it over a 60 year old neighborhood.

My mother’s house in Riverside was built in 1889–it was the 2nd house built on what was the Esser Farm. My dad remembers going out to that farm from Greeley St with his grandad with a horse and wagon to buy fresh eggs and chickens. But Much of the housing in Riverside was built in the era.

Many of the houses in Black Rock were built before 1870. My aunt’s house at 280 East St had the clapboards installed with wooden pegs instead of nails, and still had the gas jets in the walls for gas lighting. Now THAT’s old. But I digress.

If I hit the powerball tomorrow, one of the things I’d want to do is go into a neighborhood like Riverside, and start a new trend. Buy up all the houses on two streets (with backyards facing each other), tear all the houses down, and start over again. New Sewer and water lines, electric, phone and cable/internet lines underground, larger lots, and slightly larger, more comfortable homes that working families could afford. Gated and privately secured until I could afford to buy the next two streets.

The other big problem I see in neighborhoods like Riverside and Black Rock is absentee landlords. I know Joe Golombek agrees that they have ruined what was in our youth a vibrant neighborhood. When 3 of the 4 corners of Tonawanda and Ontario have gone from the Riverside Men’s Shop (at that spot for over 100 years), Rung’s Furniture (there almost as long) and Schnitzer’s Hardware (there for 80 years) to an empty storefront and 2 Rent-to-Own Stores, you know there’s an absentee landlord problem.

Section 8 tenants do no better a job of keeping up a neighborhood in rented homes than they did in public housing. It’s not theirs, and the government pays for them to live there, so why should THEY give a crap? So they don’t. And the neigborhood goes to hell. It’s truly a shame."

While what most of what is said is the truth the quote "Gated and privately secured until I could afford to buy the next two streets." how is a Gated Community good for the neighborhood ? I like many others choose to live here I am in a position to live pretty much where I want to I CHOOSE to live in a house that is 116 years old with a small garden no garage for the car your average 33' X 99' lot small front yard. I like most of my Neighbors owners and renters alike and most like me if I wanted to live with "New Sewer and water lines, electric, phone and cable/internet lines underground, larger lots, and slightly larger, more comfortable homes that working families could afford. Gated and privately secured until I could afford to buy the next two streets." I would move into a mac mansion in the Suburbs and live in a gated community close to someone much like yourself we probably wouldn't talk much but if we did we could talk about the OLDEN days in the hood and how great it was and how much of a shit hole it is now we can Monday morning QB about what we would do and what should be done and we can talk about those rental properties that we have in BR/R and how the ROCKERS trash them and how lucky we are that we don't live there damn they should level that whole place and start over again. But before we knock down those old drafty money pits we should strip out all that old woodwork and put it in one of those new Vinyl Victorians.

That green box on the corner

• Well it's a different color now Today I took two gallons of different color paint mixed it up and painted those Telephone company boxes on the corners of Dearborn & Austin and Dearborn at Amherst anybody wanna take bets on how long they will go before there tagged again.