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Places 🏙️ Buffalo New Yorkers, represent

From the July 17, 1881 Buffalo Commercial.

The_Buffalo_Commercial_Jul_17_1891.jpg


:wow:
 
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Dan said:
From the July 17, 1881 Buffalo Commercial.

View attachment 56313

:wow:
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Hey, I resemble those remarks! I come from a Black Rock Polish family, and I even worked for the Sewer Authority for 2 summers ("da zewers" as my family would call it). The workers may have worked at the old Pratt & Letchworth steel mill, known for hiring Polish labor and where my father and grandfather worked, and dates back to 1860 alongside other mills on Scajaquada Creek that replaced the shipyards there before the Erie Canal was built.
 
[OT]Heh, heh. Those Plainfield, NJ natives! They'll get you every time. Heh, heh.[/OT]
 
ExRocketSci said:
Hey, I resemble those remarks! I come from a Black Rock Polish family, and I even worked for the Sewer Authority for 2 summers ("da zewers" as my family would call it). The workers may have worked at the old Pratt & Letchworth steel mill, known for hiring Polish labor and where my father and grandfather worked, and dates back to 1860 alongside other mills on Scajaquada Creek that replaced the shipyards there before the Erie Canal was built.
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Articles from Buffalo's newspapers in the late 1800s and early 1900s often had a racist tone, at least when it came to Polish-Americans, Chinese-Americans (Buffalo has a distinct Chinatown then, along Michigan Avenue north of William Street), and especially Italian-Americans.

Buffalo_Evening_News_Mon__Jul_23__1883_.jpg


"1000 Polacks were engaged in fighting, wrangling, and talking in their jibberish language." Some top-notch writing (sarcasm intended) from the Buffalo Evening News, July 23, 1883.

The papers were a lot kinder towards black people, although pointing out their race in articles where it just wasn't relevant was common practice until the early/mid 1920s.

I've spotted a few ethnic jokes filling in the spaces between articles in old Buffalo newspapers.

I found only a few old rental or job ads that said "no colored", "no negroes", "no Hebrews" or "no Jews". Here's one from the Buffalo Evening News from January 28, 1917.

ben 1-28-1917.jpg


Beals & Selkirk Trunk Company, Detroit, Michigan. "NO JEWS. GERMANS PREFERRED." 𝕾𝖊𝖊𝖒𝖘 𝖋𝖆𝖒𝖎𝖑𝖎𝖆𝖗. Odd that the News even allowed it; Buffalo's press at the time was very respectful when it came to coverage of local Jewish community news and events.

There's more help wanted ads with "no Italians" qualifiers, although even then they weren't that common.
 
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"their gibberish language"

I know what they're talking about. My parents never taught me the mother tongue.
 
What I remember of the Blizzard of '77 ...
  • the relentlessly roaring wind hour after hour with gusts that sometimes shook the house
  • not being able to see the houses across the street (only about 100' between them) because of the blowing snow
  • the sense of isolation because I was home (I was a teacher and the schools had all been closed) but everyone else was trapped at work or on the road -- and in the days before cell phones, no easy way to contact anybody who was away from home
  • feeling like the cavalry had arrived when I saw the National Guard helicopters flying into the Niagara Falls Air Base after the wind and snow finally stopped
  • my brother and his buddy managed to drive from Cheektowaga where they worked back to the Grant-Amherst neighborhood of Black Rock where we lived in his buddy's 4WD Bronco on Sunday, stopping several times to help clear abandoned/stuck vehicles out of the streets. They made it onto the local news along with some other ordinary local heroes who pitched in to help others.
  • my aunt finally got home on Monday via volunteer 4WD driver after being trapped at her factory job on Grand Island since Friday
  • watching the news stories of the terrible fire on Virginia Street during the height of the blizzard on Friday night (I think it was Friday night) -- and its aftermath: the streets and sidewalks in the area encased in ice
 
ExRocketSci said:
Hey, I resemble those remarks! I come from a Black Rock Polish family, and I even worked for the Sewer Authority for 2 summers ("da zewers" as my family would call it). The workers may have worked at the old Pratt & Letchworth steel mill, known for hiring Polish labor and where my father and grandfather worked, and dates back to 1860 alongside other mills on Scajaquada Creek that replaced the shipyards there before the Erie Canal was built.
Click to expand...

My grandfather worked at Pratt & Letchworth for 30+ years. My uncle got a job at another Black Rock/Riverside stalwart: American Brass and consequently got my cousin and my brother jobs there. They were famous for hiring family.
 
Bumping this thread because we need more Buffalo in our lives.

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/appellate-court-temporarily-stays-demolition-of-great-northern/article_98f631fc-754d-11ec-8f29-7b2f8e16c8d4.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1 (Appellate Court temporarily stays demolition of Great Northern)

Locals are rallying around one of Buffalo's oldest piece of industrial architecture. Some say its an eyesore, some say its History? I say it should be stabilized and turned into an indoor skatepark!
 
Linda_D said:
What I remember of the Blizzard of '77 ...
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In January 1977 I was a freshman at Maryvale High School. I remember that we went to school that morning but by 11 am they scrambled the buses and sent us home when it became apparent what was coming. We got home okay; it was already blowing hard.

My dad was at his office on Cayuga Creek Road in southern Cheektowaga. He tried, unsuccessfully, to make it home. He when up Union Road but when he saw the backup at the rail viaduct at Broadway he pulled into a pizza place by Como Mall (now Appletree Business Park). It was warm and there was food. Things only got worse on the roads so eventually the pizza place closed and he and the other patrons went to the nearby Dunkin Donuts. The next morning volunteer firemen came around to check on people at all the businesses. The roads were all impassible still so they were on snowmobiles. One of them knew my dad and gave him a ride to our house (two and a half miles on a snowmobile in nasty conditions).

I remember that school was closed for two full weeks, not so much because of the snow (which was largely cleared in about a week or so) but because with the bitter cold there simply wasn't enough natural gas capacity to heat homes and schools. An offshoot of that was that NY State Regents exams (statewide final exams required to get a Regents Diploma) had to be given twice that year. I believe they had to create a second exam for each tested subject.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
There was a good article in yesterday's NYTimes about the Great Northern grain elevator in Buffalo:

Eyesore or Monument? Preservationists Fight to Save a Grain Elevator in Buffalo

View attachment 56429

I always like rural grain elevators along railroads, but this one absolutely dwarfs anything I've seen here in the Midwest.
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Grain from all over the Great lakes and the Midwest found its way here before getting shipped to international destinations. Wonder why it was abandoned? I mean, it's not like they stopped growing or shipping grain.
 
Maister said:
Grain from all over the Great lakes and the Midwest found its way here before getting shipped to international destinations. Wonder why it was abandoned? I mean, it's not like they stopped growing or shipping grain.
Click to expand...

Looking at shipping tonnage and bulk shipping ports, it appears that so much more of it travels down the Mississippi now and to ports along the Gulf of Mexico which would make sense since that's a much closer waterway to wear more of the wheat and corn is grown in this country now.
 
The whole point of Buffalo as a milling center was to receive grain shipped over the Great Lakes from the midwest, then process it down to flower to reduce tonnage that had to be shipped over the Erie Canal. Rail, and the building of mills further west, disrupted that business model.
 
Buffalo became a great flour milling center, lake port, and rail center because shipping grain by water has always been cheaper than any other method. Grain was shipped to end of the Great Lakes, off loaded in Buffalo, milled into flour, and then sent by rail to the cities to the east. The St Lawrence Seaway enabled ocean going ships to enter the Great Lakes, sail to Chicago, Milwaukee and other Midwestern cities, load grain, and sail back to Europe, by passing Buffalo and essentially killing off shipping, milling and rail industries in the area.
 
So does anyone like Rachel's Mediterranean Grill? They're opening a location in Fort Worth. Their location will be across down. Worth the drive?
1643639645373.png

1643639677705.png
 
So, I've been more-or-less following some Youtube channels on transit lately, and one of them decided to present what they'd do if they gave Buffalonian transit a makeover:

 
jsk1983 said:
Never been there, but don't think they were open when I lived in Buffalo (Williamsville). I recall the first location in Williamsville being across from my high school. Not sure if its still there.
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I've never been there, either, but the original location is still open. There's also one in OP/Hamburg.
 
Doohickie said:
So does anyone like Rachel's Mediterranean Grill? They're opening a location in Fort Worth. Their location will be across down. Worth the drive?
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I'm surprised they haven't opened a location in Ithaca yet. ITH is a big foodie town, and Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food -- really, any non-American/Western European cuisine does really well here.

They're following the usual pattern of expansion for small restaurant chains from Buffalo. Open up a bunch of local locations, and an oddball branch a couple thousand miles away. Corrolary: Ted's, Santora's, Spot Coffee, Just Pizza, Duff's, etc. I'm surprised there's not some weird Mighty Taco outpost in Sarasota or Plano, or an Anderson's in Bradenton or Rock Hill.
 
Dan said:
I'm surprised they haven't opened a location in Ithaca yet. ITH is a big foodie town, and Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food -- really, any non-American/Western European cuisine does really well here.

They're following the usual pattern of expansion for small restaurant chains from Buffalo. Open up a bunch of local locations, and an oddball branch a couple thousand miles away. Corrolary: Ted's, Santora's, Spot Coffee, Just Pizza, Duff's, etc. I'm surprised there's not some weird Mighty Taco outpost in Sarasota or Plano, or an Anderson's in Bradenton or Rock Hill.
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We have a Duff's in Southlake, about 30 miles from my house. I tried it. It felt too much like corporate franchise and not enough like Buffalo mom & pop (I've been to Duff's in the Buffalo area).
 
A story about Harvey Weinstein's years as a concert promoter in Buffalo:

quillette.com

The Transmogrification of Harvey Weinstein

I was a good friend of Harvey Weinstein during his early years as a concert promoter, before he became Harvey Weinstein, movie mogul. We subsequently drifted apart, and while Harvey went on to find astronomic success in Hollywood, I worked as the chief psychologist at the Massachusetts Treatment...
quillette.com quillette.com

The article is a long read, as most Quillette articles tend to be. It's worth the half hour or so you'll need to absorb it all, though.
 
People were tougher back then. "That's the smell of money! Folks will pay a premium for a view of that glorious black smoke!"

homes_near_industry.png


From the Buffalo Courier-Express, June 12, 1938

ellicotts_cream_city_becomes_planners_nightmare.jpg
 
Dan said:
People were tougher back then. "That's the smell of money! Folks will pay a premium for a view of that glorious black smoke!"

homes_near_industry.png
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Sounds like they were promoting the neighborhood's walkability. Buy your house here, you can walk to work. That kind of reminds me of a story my grandfather told me about when he was unionizing Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna- he said he came home (near Electric Avenue and Warsaw St.) on foot and had to take a different route every night to avoid the company thugs. He was not always successful.
 
This just in. Hope this doesn't become Lancaster Dome 2.0.

buffalonews.com

Buffalo Bills, New York State, Erie County reach 'ironclad' 30-year deal to build $1.4 billion stadium

The new stadium will be built directly across the street on Abbott Road, adjacent to Erie Community College’s South Campus, in what Gov. Kathy Hochul called “the largest construction project
buffalonews.com buffalonews.com

Quoting, due to potential paywall issues.

Buffalo Bills, New York State, Erie County reach 'ironclad' 30-year deal to build $1.4 billion stadium
Tim O'Shei, Jason Wolf

The Buffalo Bills are getting a new $1.4 billion home with New York State and Erie County footing $850 million of the upfront cost to build it.

After months of negotiations, the National Football League team has reached an agreement with New York State and Erie County to build an open-air stadium in Orchard Park. The pact includes a 30-year lease that Gov. Kathy Hochul described as “ironclad” in an exclusive interview with The Buffalo News, shortly before announcing the deal Monday.Under terms of the deal:

• The public will provide $850 million to fund construction, pending approval by New York and Erie County lawmakers, “which is far less than anyone had anticipated,” Hochul said, referring to frequent speculation that taxpayers could spend $1 billion or more, reflecting a percentage of costs in line with other recent small market stadium projects. Ongoing maintenance and capital costs will add nearly $13 million a year.New York is slated to contribute $600 million and Erie County $250 million toward construction.

• The NFL will provide a $200 million loan to Bills owners Kim and Terry Pegula, following a vote of league owners at their annual meeting Monday at The Breakers resort in South Florida. Up to $150 million of the loan is forgivable, repaid through the visiting teams’ share of Bills ticket revenue over 25 years, according to the terms of the league’s “G-4” loan program, which helps fund stadium construction and renovations.

• The Pegulas are contributing at least $350 million toward stadium construction, plus the $50 million they will have to reimburse the league. A portion of those funds will come from the sale of about 50,000 personal seat licenses to all season ticket holders, beginning around $1,000 apiece. The Pegulas also are “responsible for any escalation in costs” to construct the stadium, Hochul said, a detail the governor called “quite significant.”

Hochul, a Buffalo native who was raised in Hamburg, said her “No. 1 focus has been keeping the Buffalo Bills at home” during talks with the Pegulas and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz that began in earnest shortly after she became governor in late August.“This has been a long process, tough negotiations,” Hochul said.

Public documents related to the terms of the deal were not immediately available.The deadline for passage of the state budget is Friday.Erie County legislators have said they may take up to 30 days to approve the deal.Each year, under the terms of the agreement, the state is responsible for paying $6 million for capital improvements and $6.67 million for maintenance and repair.The county’s annual obligations were not immediately available.

Ongoing public costs are not unusual. The state pays $14 million each year for capital improvement and operating expenses under the 2013 lease agreement in place at Highmark Stadium, the Bills’ home since 1973.

‘The most cost-effective location’

The new stadium will be built directly across the street on Abbott Road, adjacent to Erie Community College’s south campus, in what Hochul called “the largest construction project in Western New York history.”

She said it will create 12,000 union construction jobs.

The venue is expected to open in 2026, before the upper deck at the current stadium needs to be replaced, per an engineering study commissioned by the county and completed in early 2021. The report also cited structural issues with the ring wall where the lower seating bowl meets the field and the stadium’s aging water and electrical systems.

A separate engineering study commissioned by the state determined building a new stadium was more cost effective than renovating the existing venue, which is expected to be razed for parking space.The location was selected over an area near downtown Buffalo because it’s far less expensive and faster to build in Orchard Park.

The state-commissioned study by the engineering firm AECOM determined that building a stadium downtown would cost at least another $350 million because of extra expenses related to complex land purchases and infrastructure improvements, along with required environmental reviews that could add another $100 million.

The Bills also cited internal research that indicated ticket-buying fans preferred the suburban location.“We’ve spent years studying the various locations and we know unequivocally that Orchard Park is the most feasible, the most efficient, the most cost-effective location,” Ron Raccuia, the executive vice president of Pegula Sports and Entertainment and the team’s lead negotiator, said in October.

The Bills have hired Kansas City architecture firm Populous to design the stadium.The new venue is expected to seat between 60,000 and 62,000 fans, with room for up to 5,000 more spectators on a standing-room-only party deck, a capacity in line with historic attendance figures.

A dome was ruled out based on numerous factors, including little to no expected return on investment, but about 80% of the seats will be covered by a partial roof or overhang to protect fans from inclement weather.

The stadium is expected to have a grass field and larger footprint than the team’s current 70,000-seat venue – about 1.5 million square feet, compared to about 900,000 square feet – which will allow for larger seats and concourses, other enhanced amenities and will help streamline gameday operations, PSE officials have said.

‘I want it ironclad’

PSE spokesman Jim Wilkinson told The News in August that a full-scale renovation of Highmark Stadium would cost at least $1 billion, compared to $1.4 billion for a new stadium.“

That’s just not realistic,” he said.That sentiment was reinforced in November, when the state released a report it commissioned from the engineering firm AECOM. The study calculated the costs of renovation to be $862 million, but noted, “Given the extensive renovations necessary to bring the stadium up to current standards, it is considered highly likely that a renovation will encounter challenges throughout the design and construction phases that will drive the estimated costs higher.”

The study also pointed out that a renovated stadium is likely to last 15 to 20 years, while a new facility should be good for three decades or more.

Hochul intends for the Bills to make full use of that time.

A financial impact analysis, first commissioned by PSE and later included in the state’s AECOM report, calculates the Bills are worth $27 million annually in taxes. That includes about $19.5 million in income tax – a number that will rise with the NFL’s salary cap – plus another $7 million in taxes on retail purchases, hotels, gas and rental cars, and the Bills’ lease payments to Erie County.

Simple math makes the case, in Hochul’s view.

“The cost of the stadium is paid back in the 22nd year because of the revenues we’re going to be driving,” she said. “That would not be there if the team is not there.”

Locking the Bills into Western New York was a top priority and an immutable instruction Hochul gave her staff.“I said, ‘I want it ironclad that if we’re going to make this commitment, that they have to stay,’ ” said Hochul, who describes the 30-year lease as including a penalty that would require the team “to pay back the entire cost of the stadium” if it were to move.“Buffalo Bills fans have enough stress,” she said. “I did not want them to have to worry about the future of the team.”
Click to expand...

Another article from the News.

buffalonews.com

Who pays for what? Here is how the costs break down for new Buffalo Bills stadium

The upfront public financing for stadium construction is $850 million, or 61% of the cost.
buffalonews.com buffalonews.com

Here is the cost breakdown for new Bills stadium
Stephen T. Watson

Breakdown of stadium costs

$1.4 billion: Total stadium construction cost

Where it comes from

• $600 million: State investment. To be included in the state budget. Not clear whether it’s a one-time payment or whether it will be borrowed this year and paid back over time. The state has different methods for paying back the bonds.

• $250 million: Erie County contribution. Not clear how the county will finance its share of the stadium costs.

• $350 million: Buffalo Bills. Awaiting details on where the Pegulas’ portion of the costs will come from, but some will come from the sale of about 50,000 personal seat licenses to all season ticket holders, beginning around $1,000 apiece.

• $200 million: National Football League. The league’s owners approved financing at this level Monday through the NFL’s G-4 loan program. Most of the loan would be paid back through the visiting team’s share of certain ticket revenue.

This brings the upfront public financing for stadium construction to $850 million, or 61% of the cost.

That’s less than the average 73% public contribution to stadium deals in smaller NFL markets over the past two decades, a Buffalo News analysis found.

However, it is higher than the public share toward the most recent stadiums, such as those constructed in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The highest previous direct public subsidy to a new stadium is the $750 million toward the Las Vegas Raiders' $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium.

Ongoing stadium costs

In addition to directly subsidizing the cost of constructing the stadium, the state also would pay toward annual maintenance and repair costs.

This includes:

• $6 million: Annual state contribution to the Capital Improvement Fund for each of the the 30 years of the lease. Erie County will pay an unknown amount into this as well, through stadium game-day surcharges.

• $6.67 million: Annual state contribution into a maintenance and repair fund. The payments will last for 15 years. The county will not pay into this fund.

• $4 million: Annual contribution to capital improvements generated through game-day surcharges on stadium patrons.

• $900,000: Estimated annual contribution to the capital improvement fund from Bills lease payments.

All told, the state would pay just under $12.67 million a year in ongoing costs for the first 15 years of the lease. That figure is close to the $13.2 million annually that New York and Erie County combined – each paying $6.6 million – currently pay into a capital fund and for operating expenses under the 2013 stadium renovation deal. It will drop to $6 million per year for the final 15 years of the lease.

Under the new agreement, the state no longer would pay for game day or operating expenses at the stadium. Those will be the responsibility of the Bills. And, unlike the current stadium, the state – not Erie County – would own the new venue.

All told, the state and Erie County are committing at least $1.13 billion in upfront and ongoing public funding to the new Bills stadium

Source: New York State
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I'm fine with a suburban location. A facility that occupies tens or hundreds of acres of land, which is probably tax exempt, in active use for only 10 to 20 days a year, is far from the highest and best use of land in an urban downtown.

Go Bills. :bison: :football:
 
Doohickie said:
Sounds like they were promoting the neighborhood's walkability. Buy your house here, you can walk to work. That kind of reminds me of a story my grandfather told me about when he was unionizing Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna- he said he came home (near Electric Avenue and Warsaw St.) on foot and had to take a different route every night to avoid the company thugs. He was not always successful.
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What year is the ad from? I assume 1938 is the Joseph Ellicott article date...
 
jsk1983 said:
What year is the ad from? I assume 1938 is the Joseph Ellicott article date...
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Kinsey ad, so sometime in the 1920s. For a decade, they were the region's biggest production home builder. After 1929, they disappeared entirely. I grew up in a Kinsey house; they built up a lot of Kensington and Kenmore.
 
Dan said:
Kinsey ad, so sometime in the 1920s. For a decade, they were the region's biggest production home builder. After 1929, they disappeared entirely. I grew up in a Kinsey house; they built up a lot of Kensington and Kenmore.
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Maybe about 90k in today's dollars. Nothing equivalent in price for a new build these days, well at least site built houses.
 
jsk1983 said:
Maybe about 90k in today's dollars. Nothing equivalent in price for a new build these days, well at least site built houses.
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Kinsey houses were the equivalent of stripped-out cars. I bet you could build a new 1,200 square foot house pre-pandemic for $90K, if it had all the features of a house from the 1920s. One electrical outlet in each room, pull cord ceiling lights, coal furnace, single pane windows, kitchen with minimal cabinets and countertops, one bathroom, unfinished attic and basement, three-tab roof shingles, no air conditioning, no dishwasher, no refrigerator, no insulation ...
 
Dan said:
Kinsey houses were the equivalent of stripped-out cars. I bet you could build a new 1,200 square foot house pre-pandemic for $90K, if it had all the features of a house from the 1920s. One electrical outlet in each room, pull cord ceiling lights, coal furnace, single pane windows, kitchen with minimal cabinets and countertops, one bathroom, unfinished attic and basement, three-tab roof shingles, no air conditioning, no dishwasher, no refrigerator, no insulation ...
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Oh, you mean one of these?
1648527317181.png
 
I saw on ESPN this morning that Buffalo is going to get a new stadium for about $1.5 billion.
 
Coragus said:
I saw on ESPN this morning that Buffalo is going to get a new stadium for about $1.5 billion.
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Yep, I think we've got it covered in this thread.
Planit said:
Da Bills getting a new stadium

www.politico.com

New York taxpayers to shell out record $850M for new Buffalo Bills stadium

The agreement, if approved, would include $600 million from the state and $250 million from Erie County in an effort to keep the Bills in Buffalo for decades to come.
www.politico.com www.politico.com
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Dan said:
This just in. Hope this doesn't become Lancaster Dome 2.0.

buffalonews.com

Buffalo Bills, New York State, Erie County reach 'ironclad' 30-year deal to build $1.4 billion stadium

The new stadium will be built directly across the street on Abbott Road, adjacent to Erie Community College’s South Campus, in what Gov. Kathy Hochul called “the largest construction project
buffalonews.com buffalonews.com

Quoting, due to potential paywall issues.



Another article from the News.

buffalonews.com

Who pays for what? Here is how the costs break down for new Buffalo Bills stadium

The upfront public financing for stadium construction is $850 million, or 61% of the cost.
buffalonews.com buffalonews.com



I'm fine with a suburban location. A facility that occupies tens or hundreds of acres of land, which is probably tax exempt, in active use for only 10 to 20 days a year, is far from the highest and best use of land in an urban downtown.

Go Bills. :bison: :football:
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ABOUT. FRIGGIN'. TIME. Not an April Fools joke.

buffalonews.com

Costco to open first Buffalo-area store in Amherst

Costco will open its first local store in Amherst along Niagara Falls Boulevard, Supervisor Brian J. Kulpa said Wednesday afternoon.
buffalonews.com buffalonews.com

Costco to open first Buffalo-area store in Amherst
Stephen T. Watson
Mar 30, 2022

Costco Wholesale will open its first local store in Amherst along the busy Niagara Falls Boulevard corridor, Supervisor Brian J. Kulpa said Wednesday afternoon.

The international warehouse retail chain signed a lease with Benderson Development Co. on Wednesday to take over the former site of Tony Roma's restaurant at 4200 Ridge Lea Road, across North Bailey Avenue from Benderson's thriving The Boulevard shopping center, Kulpa said.

The site of the restaurant, which closed in 2006 about two years after its opening, is part of the former University at Buffalo annex property now owned by the development company.

Costco plans to construct a new store building on the property, Kulpa said, and likely will go through the approval process this year with construction beginning one year from now. The store could open as soon as late 2023, Kulpa figured.

"There's a lot of excitement," Kulpa said. "I'm certainly glad they're coming to Amherst."

Eric Recoon, Benderson's vice president of development and leasing, said in an email that he could not yet confirm nor deny "rumors" of Costco's arrival in Amherst. Property-management companies typically are strictly limited in what they can say publicly unless and until a retail tenant gives its approval.


The closest Costco is a 156,000-square-foot store in Rochester that opened in 2015. The chain has other locations in Ontario, Syracuse, downstate and the Pittsburgh and Cleveland areas.

Costco has eyed the Buffalo area since at least 2013, The Buffalo News reported at the time. Costco purportedly looked at a range of sites in the suburbs, from Tonawanda and Amherst to Cheektowaga, but nothing came of it then.

The membership-only wholesale club competes with Sam's Club and BJ's, but is considered more upscale than those retailers and is lauded for its quality, selection, price and customer experience.

As The News put it nine years ago: "Costco has garnered a passionate following around the world for its upscale shopping experience, discount prices, high-quality goods, ever-changing inventory and pleasant customer service. It’s the kind of place shoppers can find everything from cold cuts to televisions to a Cartier diamond watch, at discount warehouse prices."

Costco is headquartered near Seattle and as of this month had 829 locations and 115 million cardholders in 12 countries. Its 573 American locations are in 46 states and Puerto Rico and its average warehouse size is 146,000 square feet.

It has 288,000 full- and part-time employees worldwide, with $192 billion in annual revenue.
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Coragus said:
I saw on ESPN this morning that Buffalo is going to get a new stadium for about $1.5 billion.
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Exclusive: architect's model of the new stadium!

erie_county_dome.jpg


erie_county_dome_stadium_model.jpg


:D
 
Planit said:
I know its not Buffalo, but its close by:

jalopnik.com

The Highway Was Supposed To Save This City. Can Tearing It Down Fix The Sins Of The Past? - Jalopnik

Helen Hudson will tell you what the 15th Ward was like when she was a girl. In the 1950s and early ’60s, the Syracuse neighborhood was home to thousands of predominantly black residents who had settled in the growing upstate New York city during and after the Great Migration. Those who remember...
jalopnik.com jalopnik.com
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Syracuse is the poster child for using the interstate system to wipe out black neighborhoods. There may be a whole thread about this on the forum.
 
Doohickie said:
Syracuse is the poster child for using the interstate system to wipe out black neighborhoods. There may be a whole thread about this on the forum.
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I'll say it again. The expressways many now think are "racist" probably weren't.

The drive up the 81 from the south into Syracuse isn't like a typical approach into a typical fifth tier American city. The landscape immediately south of Syracuse is very hilly, and the Onondaga Indian Reservation is just south of the city. The roadside landscape is mostly rural until you're about two miles south of downtown, when all of a sudden you see a high-rise apartment building and the interchange with 481. It's like the approach into Buffalo from the west, if you were taking the QEW to the 190.

I don't think there was intentional racism involved in planning the 81; i.e. smoke-filled rooms with evil, malice-filled white male politicians, engineers, and planners saying "Let's ram a highway through the colored neighborhood just to screw them over! That'll teach 'em! White supremacy!" Thinking like the engineers of the day, where "no expressway into downtown from the south" isn't an option, the South Valley is really the only practical southern approach into downtown Syracuse. Cutting through the (white) Strathmore or Elmwood neighborhoods would have been far more destructive, and there would also have been a long climb up and down Onondaga Hill to reach the city. The idea that minority neighborhods were sacrosanct just didn't exist then.

I-81 runs alongside a railroad ROW south of Syracuse University, and along the edge of Syracuse's South Side neighborhood south of Kennedy Street, so it really wasn't dividing anything from anywhere more than a mile south of downtown. The 81 also cut through Syracuse's Little Italy neighborhood, but there's no collective outrage about that.

Black residents along the path of the 81 were disproportionately impacted by expressway construction in the Syracuse area. That's because Syracuse had only a very small black population at the time, the expressway went through what was the principal black neighborhood, and relocation would have been more difficult in an era of housing discrimination. (New York had laws prohibiting housing discrimination since the 1940s, but they were difficult to enforce early on.) However, assuming racial malice on the part of the part of the planners, engineers, and civic leaders involved in I-81 ignores the larger history of the expressway and the neighborhoods around it, local geography, the highway's role in a regional or national network, and the impacts from highway planning and construction elsewhere in a region.
 
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