Pride festivities are now heating up. Throughout the week, we’ve already seen a handful of sensational activities, including the Big Gay Sing, Gay 5K Run, Chroma: Art Exhibition, and Flex. Later today (Saturday, June 4) is when the party really gets going, starting with Momentum, Canalside’s “big, fat queer nightclub” (opens at 8pm). On Sunday, the Pride Parade steps off at noon, beginning at the corner of Elmwood and Forest. Marchers will ultimately make their way to the corner of Elmwood and Allen. Then, at 1pm, one of the wildest outdoor celebrations in Buffalo kicks into high gear – the Pride Festival at Canalside. The year’s host…
Author: Buffalo Rising
It’s official, the Holiday Inn at 620 Delaware Avenue is closing in early September. Employees were told of the pending closure a month ago but operator Hart Hotels did not confirm it until today. The Buffalo News has the scoop: Hart Hotels, which manages the 167-room Holiday Inn, said it will close on Sept. 5 after its lease to operate the hotel was not renewed by the building owner, Benderson Development Co. “We’re the operator. We’re the tenant,” said David Hart, the president of Hart Hotels, which has been associated with the operation of the Holiday Inn since it first…
Buffalo could soon benefit from the ride sharing conveniences of Lyft and Uber. A bill sponsored by NY Senator James Seward to require ride-sharing drivers to carry liability coverage of at least $1M when driving paying passengers just passed the state Senate Insurance Committee. This is similar to the level of liability companies like Lyft and Uber are required to carry in many other states. A bill passed out of committee in the State Senate, but still working with the Assembly to get a bill going. Seward is “cautiously optimistic” the full Senate and Assembly will pass the legislation before…
Some before and after are hard to believe and the transformation underway at 50 Plymouth Avenue is one of them. Chris Goulet and Michele Palma have turned a formerly drab Pepto-Bismol pink house into a headturner in the Kleinhan’s neighborhood. The circa-1874 Italianate style home is not only sporting an attention-grabbing new color but most importantly, round-top windows and door. Unofficial neighborhood historian Chris Brown shares some detail on the history of the house: Long-time Buffalonian and Niagara Square resident Steven Austin and his wife Lavinia purchased a 66 by 115 foot lot on Plymouth Avenue, 99 feet south of…
During the second week of June, the classical guitar steps out of the shadows and into the spotlight, as eight up-and-coming classical guitarists come to the region from all over the world to compete in the 2016 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition. Western New York has a strong relationship with the instrument. JoAnn Falletta, music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, got her start on classical guitar. Joanne Castellani and Michael Andriaccio are an internationally-recognized guitar duo, heads of the Fleur de Son record label, and teachers who are based in Amherst. Well-known guitarist Mir Ali also makes his…
Buffalo has made it in the ‘pages’ of Harper’s Bazaar. It appears as if there is a hometown connection going on here, but that just means that this city is getting some extra tourism traction. Just after The Hamptons getting mentioned at #1, writer Carrie Goldberg* throws Buffalo in at #2 for good measure… followed by Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and a litany of other fashionable getaways. It looks as if we’ve already ended up at the top of the list, which means that we should be pretty content with the summer offerings around here. Hopefully this rundown gets some traction…
For those of you who fancy yourselves urban explorers, there’s a fun-yet dated video/TV documentary that showcases a number of majestic architectural wonders that the city has to offer. Although the video was produced before the Memorial Auditorium was demolished, there are plenty of current take-aways that are still of interest in this day and age. The video features a bunch of throwbacks buildings – one that is no longer (video primer – The Aud), one that is in flux (Central Terminal), one that should be getting more attention (Church of Transfiguration) and one that has slowly been gaining some traction (The Silos).…
That didn’t last long. A potential buyer of One Seneca Tower has backed out. Harvey Kaylie signed a contract to purchase the nearly empty property in Mid-May but backed out after not finding investors to help with a planned $100 million redevelopment. Word of the deal falling apart began circulating late last week. The Buffalo News has the scoop: Local broker Rick Reckkio confirmed Thursday that his client, New York businessman Harvey Kaylie, canceled his planned acquisition of the 38-story building. Reckkio said Kaylie remains interested in the project, but couldn’t do it on his own, and hadn’t found any partners.…
Luminina, operating as Hope Chest, will be hosting the highly anticipated Dragon Boat Festival at RiverWorks on Saturday, June 18, 2016. If you’ve never seen a dragon boat up close, RiverWorks if the perfect viewing spot for such a race. Not only is this an exciting event, it’s also for a very worthy cause – the organization helps breast cancer survivors to learn about proper nutrition, and offers emotional support to those who need it at critical times. On top of all of this, Hope Chest teaches breast cancer survivors how to train for the big race, which has become an incredible…
The thought of purchasing your first home can be intimidating, to say the least. In order to break the ice, and make the experience a bit more approachable, We Are Women Warriors (see FB) is hosting a home buyers seminar later today (Wednesday, June 1, 2016) at the Frank E. Merriweather Library – 1324 Jefferson Avenue, from 5:30-7:45 PM. If you are currently spending a chunk of change renting, you’re pretty much just tossing your money out of the window. That same amount that you pay on a monthly basis could be going towards an investment in a house… and…