Opinion and Commentary since 2003
It occurred to me this morning that there are no bloggers in town anymore to argue policy and politics with. There’s no WNY-based Republican posting anything reasonable or thought-provoking about politics, and blogging in Buffalo is almost completely dominated by sports or personal content. Everything has now migrated to Twitter and Facebook, as far as I can tell.
It’s a shame, that. We need more voices, not fewer.
Cuyahoga at Lake and Rail Buffalo NY by tark9, on Flickr
1. Shorter Buffalo News piece on Deputy Mayor Steve Casey: he’s a dick who terrorizes staff and throws Democrats under the bus in favor of Chris Collins, but he’s the Mayor’s dick.
2. The Buffalo News calls this Hochul ad misleading. How so? It doesn’t say Collins got rich off of Ingenious’ Balance Buddy. It says he makes more money by outsourcing the manufacturing in China rather than building the device in western New York.
Asked why Ingenious would contract with a manufacturer in China, Collins said that it would be too expensive to make the product in the United States. ’It would not be feasible to have that product made and packaged for $7 in the U.S.,’ Collins said. (Cannot link directly to Buffalo News story because of its wholly unusable web presence).
China manipulates its currency, steals intellectual property from American companies, subsidizes government-owned businesses that compete with firms in the United States and closes its markets to foreign products.
“It’s not OK,” he said.
If the trade inequities with China are removed, “those jobs come back,” Collins said.
That’s patently true – by Collins’ own admission – and not at all misleading. In fact, the Buffalo News’ “fact check” is misleading. Also – perhaps more egregiously – he conducted Ingenious business from the 16th floor of the Rath Building, and so badly screwed over the initial investors that they’ve sued him.
3. If there’s one thing Donn Esmonde loves to do, he loves to pat himself on the back. He loves being the official organ of Buffalo’s development/preservationist intelligentsia. So, he twists and contorts to the conclusion that the Liberty Hound‘s success somehow prove that the “lighter, quicker, cheaper” scam is the best thing ever. What the Liberty Hound’s success – as well as the success of a lot of Canalside’s summertime programming – really establishes is that the waterfront will be a popular place if you give people something to do there. Lighter, quicker, cheaper didn’t give us Liberty Hound – that was a big project done with a state agency, a partnership of two successful restaurateurs, a museum, and an assist from big political players. Lighter, quicker, cheaper gave us the Fred Kent “placemaking” sideshow, the snack shack, and brightly colored Adirondack chairs. The ECHDC was bullied into doing it by a supposedly earnest man endlessly pushing solar-powered carousels who wasn’t so quick to disclose that his interests in the matter also involved how Canalside might affect the bar and restaurant business in Black Rock and Allentown.
Has a penny of the billion-dollar grant been spent yet? Is it in anyone’s account yet? Is there a plan for how it will be spent yet?
The reason I ask is because that billion dollar grant that Governor Cuomo announced for Buffalo several months ago sure sounds great, but what’s going on with it? Who from this committee, which is in charge of the money, is communicating with us about what’s going on with it? There’s this PowerPoint from Brookings, and this paper, which is fantastic, but now what? What’s next? Jim Heaney from Investigative Post gave an update where the committee has decided to make a decision, but the whole process isn’t user-friendly, isn’t particularly well-publicized, and has neither the efficiency of a dictatorship nor the legitimacy of a democratic process.
And another reason I ask is that Albany inaction has been in the news twice now in recent days. First, this report from the Buffalo News placing the blame on the delay in negotiating a new Bills lease squarely on the Cuomo Administration. The deal doesn’t get done if Albany, the County, and the Bills aren’t at the table, and Albany has been unready or unwilling to move on this. The reasons why? What reason would make sense? Why would Governor Cuomo – who has placed a billion dollar bet on Buffalo – risk losing the only NFL team that plays home games within New York State? There’s no scenario within which that makes any sense.
A second example of Albany dragging its feet to Buffalo’s detriment? This story from WGRZ reporting that Rocco Termini has abandoned his ambitious ($60 million) – and fully leased – plan to renovate the AM&A building on Main Street. As detailed in this interview with Investigative Post’s Jim Heaney:
Heaney:The AM&A’s building. It’s next to the Trico Building. It’s probably the biggest hulking vacant space in downtown. You’ve got an option that’s expiring soon with that property. Where do things stand?
Termini: Well we’re waiting for the tax credit bill to be signed by Albany.
Heaney:The bill would raise the cap on tax credits …
Termini: From 5 to 12 million dollars.
Heaney:And you need that much additional to make the project work?
Termini: Yes.
Heaney:The project is how much?
Termini: $60 million.
Heaney:Is this a spec project or do you have tenants?
Termini: The building is 100 percent leased by various businesses that we’ve already been in contact with.
Heaney:You probably don’t want to name individual tenants, but give me a flavor – is this hotel? Is this retail? Is this office? Is this high-tech office? What’s the tenant mix?
Termini: It’s all of them. But a lot of it is tech companies that are looking for what I call “Googlized space” – cool space – which there isn’t any cool space downtown. And we are filling that niche in downtown of providing cool space for tech companies.
Heaney:When does your option expire?
Termini: In a couple of weeks, and if it’s not signed in a couple of weeks we’ll get a move on to another project because we don’t want to lose our tenants.
Heaney:So you’re going to walk away from the building and they’ll be back to ground zero after that?
Termini: That’s right.
Heaney:Any indication from the governor’s people as to which way he’s leaning at this point?
Termini: None.
Heaney:How are the local politicians? Are they in support of this? Are they not in support of this? Are they sitting it out?
Termini: Every local politician is in support of this project. They all voted for it. They’ve had press conferences about it. They know the importance of this bill to Upstate New York. It’s not just Buffalo, it’s every city along the Thruway, which are faced with the same problems.
Heaney:So basically Cuomo signs or you walk.
Termini: That’s right.
Cuomo didn’t sign. Termini walked.
Hey, Albany & Governor Cuomo: Buffalo and WNY are all FUBAR as it is. We don’t need you to make it worse. This is bad politics and bad policy, and there’s no reasonable rationale for this kind of governmental malpractice. Some are saying this has something to do with the chairmanship of the Erie County Democratic Committee. That can’t be right, though, can it? Seriously, you would harm the entire community over Frank Max? That’s not just malpractice, that’s reckless and wanton.
During the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte last month, County Executive Mark Poloncarz angered a lot of people when he Tweeted about how much nicer Charlotte’s convention center is, compared to Buffalo’s. Jim Fink ripped Poloncarz in Business First, but now admits he was wrong – he thought Poloncarz was comparing our convention center to the Time Warner Center.
It’s time to start talking about a new convention center in Buffalo. Why? Back in March the city lost a convention which would have had a $1.6 million economic impact. The reason given:
“Your Convention Center did not meet the expectations of the site selection committee and did not measure up to the level of convention centers visited in the other cities,” she wrote. “There was also concern from the site selection committee regarding the abundance of vacant storefronts surrounding the Convention Center and the host hotel.
“Our attendees place a high value on the ability to access bars, restaurants, shopping and other entertainment options within walking distance.”
This is why blind, uncritical Buffalove is harmful. Downtown is a mess, made worse by bad planning, bad administration, bad policies, and multiple layers of regulation. Here’s a quick look at the convention center’s immediate surroundings:
There’s absolutely nothing appealing for a casual convention-goer who doesn’t much care about architecture or the realness or authenticity about a place. Our downtown is a disgrace, and the convention center looks like someone took the Sedita City Court building and laid it on its side. The convention center is a brutalist monstrosity that blocks off Genesee Street, resembles a German Normandy bunker, and goes out of its horrible way to make downtown look even uglier and less inviting – less human.
Here’s Charlotte’s convention center:
It’s not perfect, but it’s not a Stalinist apartment block, either.
It’s absolutely time to start talking again about improving downtown – which has been happening slowly, in fits and starts. We need a plan for smart parking and land value taxation to de-incentivize lazy maintenance of our sea of surface parking lots. We also need a new, attractive convention center that can attract business and visitors, and be a showpiece for a new Buffalo. One that’s welcoming.
Perhaps we can kill two birds with one stone and demolish the existing convention center, make that land ready for development – on two parcels, re-establishing that stretch of Genesee Street. The convention center could be located perhaps on the site of the current Adams Mark, which should also be demolished. Perhaps we could demolish them both on the same day and hold the biggest fricking celebration Buffalo ever had.
The last time Buffalo looked into a new convention center was 1999. Poloncarz told Fink,
“If we needed one in 1999, we definitely need one now,” he said. “Maybe, it’s time to open that debate again.”
He notes that a new convention center in Niagara Falls, ON has had a $110 million impact on that city already.
So, I’ll revisit my original idea, which has been actually picking up supporters and steam. It was most recently echoed by Rocco Termini in an interview with Investigative Post’s Jim Heaney.
Termini: That’s a small segment of what is out there. We need to develop the whole concept of the Toronto market. I’m going to be in Toronto over the weekend talking about this very thing.
Heaney: What’s your thought on how to capitalize?
Termini: I think what we need to do is form a sales tax free zone downtown. We need to take over the first floor of every building downtown and we need to put in there an outlet mall type, high-end retail. And then you will get people coming into Buffalo from Toronto. And then they’ll go to the restaurants, they’ll stay at the hotels, they’ll make a day of it. I just called for a hotel room in Toronto and Trump Tower is $750 a night. You can come and stay at probably a better room at the Lafayette for $149, so a person from Toronto can come down to Buffalo, have dinner, shop all day, and stay in a hotel here.
Heaney: Doesn’t that put local existing merchants at a disadvantage all of a sudden? “I’m selling, the guy downtown is selling; I’ve got to collect a sales tax he doesn’t.” Aren’t you in a stealing from Peter to pay Paul scenario?
Termini: Not really. They’re getting a small fraction of the people coming from Canada. And don’t forget, they already have an advantage. They have expressways going right to their malls; they have free parking, something that we’ve paid for as city residents for many years. And now it’s time for the city to get what they deserve and they deserve a chance to get restarted. Nothing else has worked. We talked about so many things to bring retail back to downtown and nothing has worked. I think this will work because people travel to the Indian reservation to save $5 on a carton of cigarettes and they’ll spend $6 worth of gasoline. But when people think they’re getting a deal they will come.
The central business district is a wasteland. We’re now talking about creating a new little shopping district at the foot of Main Street out of whole cloth. But even if we build it, how do you ensure that they come, and that it’s sustainable? Just being there for when hockey or lacrosse games get out isn’t enough. Just being there in nice weather isn’t enough. It has to be something people want to come to, and people want to return to.
In an economically depressed and shrinking town where entrepreneurship is sorely needed – especially among disadvantaged populations – we can turn downtown Buffalo into something attractive not by centrally planning a waterfront, or doing a 2011 version of what really amounts to 50s era urban renewal. Two votes and a stroke of a pen is all that’s needed.
The area outlined in red ought to be designated a special economic zone. And yes, I use that term specifically to liken it to what China has done to help build and modernize its industry.
Frankly, I wouldn’t be opposed to all of Erie and Niagara Counties being designated special economic zones, but for the purposes of this argument, I’m just focusing on what should be Buffalo’s downtown commercial core.
There are myriad problems with downtown and planning that need to be addressed – above all, modernization and coordination of parking that is relegated to ramps and underground lots. Every parcel within that red zone that isn’t built on should be shovel-ready land. The zoning code should require parking for new development to be adequate and hidden. This means extra cost, but the benefits of locating to the special economic zone means lower taxes and streamlined regulatory processes.
Within the zone, the county and state would waive their respective sales taxes. That means businesses outside the zone would still have to charge 8.75% on purchases, while businesses within the zone would be tax-free. It’d be like all of downtown being a duty-free shop.
No, it’s not fair to merchants outside the zone. But life isn’t fair. Furthermore, most of the merchants in Buffalo and outside the zone serve the surrounding residents and will still be patronized out of sheer convenience. Furthermore, the influx of people and businesses attracted by the SEZ will ultimately help those businesses thrive, as well.
Development would still be subject to Buffalo’s zoning and planning bureaucracies, but the rules would be simplified and permits & approval would be harmonized and streamlined. Property taxes would be reduced or eliminated, depending on the parcel. However, properties would be assessed not based on what they are (e.g., empty lots), but on what their value ought rightly be if developed.
By turning the central business district into a tax-free special economic zone, you give people 8.75 reasons to do business and conduct commerce in downtown Buffalo over anywhere else. Creation of a waterfront district while ignoring the decline and blight of the rest of downtown seems to me to be counterintuitive.
By executing a plan such as this, zoning the waterfront districts, and having the ECHDC or state spend public money solely on the improvement and installation of necessary infrastructure, transfer of title for all parcels to one single entity to speed development, institution of a design and zoning plan that cannot be deviated from, and – most importantly – remediating the environmental nightmares under the soil throughout ECHDC’s mandated districts, we can then auction the parcels off to qualified buyers.
That is how downtowns revive organically – through private initiative and private money. Government can do its job and merely provide the private sector with the proper environment to do business and build. It doesn’t get faster, quicker, or cheaper than that.
On Tuesday, I wrote a post demanding an immediate end to the use of “Better Days” as Buffalo’s official anthem. omeone on Reddit pointed out that some of the images used in the WGRZ Olympic promotion video were lifted directly from CVB videos like “Buffalo: A Sense of Place” and “Buffalo. For Real.” Sure enough…
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In the foregoing images, the one one the left is taken from a CVB video, and the one on the right is from WGRZ’s Olympic promotion. I contacted the filmmaker whom the CVB commissioned to do their videos, John Paget, but he has not responded. Neither a Tweet nor an email to @WGRZ was answered.
I don’t know whether Channel 2 commissioned Paget to do this video, or if it lifted the shots from his productions. But at least the scenes above are identical.
No. Please, stop. I can’t take it anymore. Originally recorded for a Christmas album, the use of the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Better Days” to promote Channel 2, its love of Buffalo, and water splashing is downright insufferable, and it’s become our unofficial civic anthem. You should be insulted.
It started back in February, during the Super Bowl. Channel 2 showed this, which everyone immediately recognized as being derivative of the Sabres’ own “Better Days” video from the 2007 playoffs:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1srKFCToD3Q]
Channel 2 updated it for the Olympics. Instead of a blurry sea of lights behind the interstitial captions, now we have water splashing. Why? A statement about the weather? Something about diving or swimming? Foreshadowing? Symbolically reinforcing that we’re just drops of water in a big pond? Who the f*ck knows?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4bPtMRBveM]
I detest these commercials. I have come to have an almost visceral, physically negative reaction to the song itself. Aside from the fact that it’s a maudlin, depressing, weepy dirge, I object to the song’s lyrics and sentiment. “You ask me what I want this year” is the opening line – it’s a Christmas ballad. Why have we turned a Christmas ballad about Jesus and forgiveness and redemption and lifting oneself up from a horrifically depressing tough time into the de facto anthem of Buffalo and western New York? Is living here so bad that we have to pine for the Messiah, or the Rapture, or Christmas? Is living here so fundamentally awful and sad that we need big business (Sabres) and big media (Gannett) to tell us, in effect, that it gets better?
We’re watching these young, talented athletes compete at the highest levels of their respective sports. We’re watching a rare display of international sportsmanship and peace. Channel 2 decides to chop up that coverage by occasionally making you feel like a chump for living here.
Is there a story, or is it just a slideshow? The new video opens with sunrise over Buffalo and Lake Erie. Fade to helicopter shot of our downtown. Fade to kid swinging on a swing? Then – a splash of water with a “what I want this year” caption. It’s not Christmas. Why do I care what you want? Fade to Kleinhans – pan left to right. Quick cut – a couple walking in the park; quick cut – a little girl with what appear to be her grandparents. They’re laughing at something unknown and unknowable. They’re loving each other. They’re happy. Maybe it’s an ad for Caucasians.
Fade to a beach on the Lake and the Lackawanna windmills. The lake appears cold and choppy. The beach is groomed. The lifeguard’s chair is empty. Abandoned. Like someone had prepared for a busy day of sun and sand, and then abruptly fled. Wait – quick cut to another Caucasian, this time a female, playing with her black lab, which is cavorting in the surf. Quick cut to the dog carrying a stick, quick cut to the woman kneeling by her seated dog, looking wistfully at the camera. She, too, appears to be wondering where and why everyone fled.
Fade to water droplets overlaid with the words “Better Days”.
Next, apropos of nothing, we fade to a soldier hugging his wife or girlfriend. They run to each other, and we quick-cut to him hugging two little kids – a boy and a girl. Fade to another water splash with “take these words” captioned over it. Fade to – whoa, fish eye shot of Coca-Cola Field from a passing vehicle. Quick cut to African-American hotel porter giving the thumbs up. Seriously, it’s like something out of a Marx Brothers movie – back before the War when African-Americans were able to be cast in motion pictures, but only as servants. Fade to water splashing and “sing out loud”.
Quick fade to the Botanical Gardens. Cut to two perfect white people in their perfectly manicured backyard, hugging their perfect little kids. It’s ok. Everyone’s happy. Even these people. Almost as much as thumbs-up-porter guy. Water droplets behind “everyone”. Then we cut to a time-lapse photo of cloudsmovingveryfast behind part of the Buffalo skyline, and we cut to a mother greeting her young boy, apparently just arrived off the school bus. Cut to American flag wafting gently in the breeze. We’re very proud to be proud. Cut to two teenage girls picking peaches out at the Bidwell Farmer’s Market. Cut & quick pan to a street sign reading, “Buffalo” at the corner of First Street. White fade to a helicopter shot of the American Falls. Fade to splashes, “tonight’s the night”, which, as we established above, is an allusion to Christmas or Christmas Eve.
Cut to sun shining through some trees. Cut, zoom, focus on the “Village of Hamburg” welcome sign. Cut to boats in front of the rusting, hulking grain elevators. Flags of Canalside, pan up. Time-lapse of the corner of Main & Huron at dusk. Cut to a female looking at some Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass, then turning her head to the camera, smiling. Shot at sunset from a moving car out by the marina, with “tonight’s the night” captioned over it, fade to helicopter shot of downtown at dusk, with “to start believing in” captioned over it, as the words “better days” fade in beneath. Shot of the sunset as the Channel 2 logo flies in, and the Olympic rings embed themselves in it.
I guess the story is sunrise to sunset and an average day in western New York, that is if your average day is made up of generic b-roll.
Buffalo has problems just like everyplace else. Perhaps they’re more chronic, systemic, and difficult to improve, but it’s a great place to live. We love our seasons, our sports, our arts, our schools, our people. It’s a nice place, not a depressing place that needs a Christmas song perpetually to cheer itself up. Things are indeed looking up, but we hit bottom long ago – the song would have you believe everything is awful, but we’re about to turn a corner, if only you’ll watch Channel 2. I think the corner’s been turned, and we don’t need cheering up. We like it here just fine, and we don’t like people suggesting to us that we’re a bunch of cretins for living in such a rust-laden, depressing place. It’s not sad. Hell, the Sabres doing well in 2007 wasn’t sad, either. Stop making me sad, Channel 2. Stop playing Christmas songs in July. As cheesy as “Talking Proud” was, at least the song showed that Buffalo is a happy place with happy people. Buffalo’s got a spirit, bitches.
This song and its overuse as Buffalo’s anthem was the topic of discussion on our “One Thing” podcast with Brad Riter at Trending Buffalo.
Do you have a better idea for Buffalo’s unofficial anthem? Some ideas are being thrown around the Twitter machine under the hashtag “#betterdays2“.
No. Please, stop. I can’t take it anymore. Originally recorded for a Christmas album, the use of the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Better Days” to promote Channel 2, its love of Buffalo, and water splashing is downright insufferable, and it’s become our unofficial civic anthem. You should be insulted.
It started back in February, during the Super Bowl. Channel 2 showed this, which everyone immediately recognized as being derivative of the Sabres’ own “Better Days” video from the 2007 playoffs:
Channel 2 updated it for the Olympics. Instead of a blurry sea of lights behind the interstitial captions, now we have water splashing. Why? A statement about the weather? Something about diving or swimming? Foreshadowing? Symbolically reinforcing that we’re just drops of water in a big pond? Who the f*ck knows?
I detest these commercials. I have come to have an almost visceral, physically negative reaction to the song itself. Aside from the fact that it’s a maudlin, depressing, weepy dirge, I object to the song’s lyrics and sentiment. “You ask me what I want this year” is the opening line – it’s a Christmas ballad. Why have we turned a Christmas ballad about Jesus and forgiveness and redemption and lifting oneself up from a horrifically depressing tough time into the de facto anthem of Buffalo and western New York? Is living here so bad that we have to pine for the Messiah, or the Rapture, or Christmas? Is living here so fundamentally awful and sad that we need big business (Sabres) and big media (Gannett) to tell us, in effect, that it gets better?
We’re watching these young, talented athletes compete at the highest levels of their respective sports. We’re watching a rare display of international sportsmanship and peace. Channel 2 decides to chop up that coverage by occasionally making you feel like a chump for living here.
Is there a story, or is it just a slideshow? The new video opens with sunrise over Buffalo and Lake Erie. Fade to helicopter shot of our downtown. Fade to kid swinging on a swing? Then – a splash of water with a “what I want this year” caption. It’s not Christmas. Why do I care what you want? Fade to Kleinhans – pan left to right. Quick cut – a couple walking in the park; quick cut – a little girl with what appear to be her grandparents. They’re laughing at something unknown and unknowable. They’re loving each other. They’re happy. Maybe it’s an ad for Caucasians.
Fade to a beach on the Lake and the Lackawanna windmills. The lake appears cold and choppy. The beach is groomed. The lifeguard’s chair is empty. Abandoned. Like someone had prepared for a busy day of sun and sand, and then abruptly fled. Wait – quick cut to another Caucasian, this time a female, playing with her black lab, which is cavorting in the surf. Quick cut to the dog carrying a stick, quick cut to the woman kneeling by her seated dog, looking wistfully at the camera. She, too, appears to be wondering where and why everyone fled.
Fade to water droplets overlaid with the words “Better Days”.
Next, apropos of nothing, we fade to a soldier hugging his wife or girlfriend. They run to each other, and we quick-cut to him hugging two little kids – a boy and a girl. Fade to another water splash with “take these words” captioned over it. Fade to – whoa, fish eye shot of Coca-Cola Field from a passing vehicle. Quick cut to African-American hotel porter giving the thumbs up. Seriously, it’s like something out of a Marx Brothers movie – back before the War when African-Americans were able to be cast in motion pictures, but only as servants. Fade to water splashing and “sing out loud”.
Quick fade to the Botanical Gardens. Cut to two perfect white people in their perfectly manicured backyard, hugging their perfect little kids. It’s ok. Everyone’s happy. Even these people. Almost as much as thumbs-up-porter guy. Water droplets behind “everyone”. Then we cut to a time-lapse photo of cloudsmovingveryfast behind part of the Buffalo skyline, and we cut to a mother greeting her young boy, apparently just arrived off the school bus. Cut to American flag wafting gently in the breeze. We’re very proud to be proud. Cut to two teenage girls picking peaches out at the Bidwell Farmer’s Market. Cut & quick pan to a street sign reading, “Buffalo” at the corner of First Street. White fade to a helicopter shot of the American Falls. Fade to splashes, “tonight’s the night”, which, as we established above, is an allusion to Christmas or Christmas Eve.
Cut to sun shining through some trees. Cut, zoom, focus on the “Village of Hamburg” welcome sign. Cut to boats in front of the rusting, hulking grain elevators. Flags of Canalside, pan up. Time-lapse of the corner of Main & Huron at dusk. Cut to a female looking at some Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass, then turning her head to the camera, smiling. Shot at sunset from a moving car out by the marina, with “tonight’s the night” captioned over it, fade to helicopter shot of downtown at dusk, with “to start believing in” captioned over it, as the words “better days” fade in beneath. Shot of the sunset as the Channel 2 logo flies in, and the Olympic rings embed themselves in it.
I guess the story is sunrise to sunset and an average day in western New York, that is if your average day is made up of generic b-roll.
Buffalo has problems just like everyplace else. Perhaps they’re more chronic, systemic, and difficult to improve, but it’s a great place to live. We love our seasons, our sports, our arts, our schools, our people. It’s a nice place, not a depressing place that needs a Christmas song perpetually to cheer itself up. Things are indeed looking up, but we hit bottom long ago – the song would have you believe everything is awful, but we’re about to turn a corner, if only you’ll watch Channel 2. I think the corner’s been turned, and we don’t need cheering up. We like it here just fine, and we don’t like people suggesting to us that we’re a bunch of cretins for living in such a rust-laden, depressing place. It’s not sad. Hell, the Sabres doing well in 2007 wasn’t sad, either. Stop making me sad, Channel 2. Stop playing Christmas songs in July. As cheesy as “Talking Proud” was, at least the song showed that Buffalo is a happy place with happy people. Buffalo’s got a spirit, bitches.
This song and its overuse as Buffalo’s anthem was the topic of discussion on our “One Thing” podcast with Brad Riter at Trending Buffalo.
Do you have a better idea for Buffalo’s unofficial anthem? Some ideas are being thrown around the Twitter machine under the hashtag “#betterdays2“.
Late last week, two proposals to redevelop the Webster Block – across from the First Niagara Center and Canal Side – were put before the public. Physically similar, the major differences between the two plans is that one includes publicly accessible indoor ice rinks, costs more money, will take longer to build, and relies more heavily on public money.
Submitting the two proposals for public vetting and comment, for the use of land the City currently holds, is laudable. However, I will be not at all surprised to see it devolve right into bitter litigation, because of the ease with which that can happen, and stymie the whole project. It’s cost of doing business in our so-called “lighter, cheaper, faster” placemaking/crowdsourcing development culture in contemporary Buffalo. It’s also why our skyline has not changed significantly since the 1960s.
First, the Sabres’ proposal. Costing over $123 million, with a promise of 450 permanent jobs, “HarborCenter” is projected to open in mid-2015, include two ice rinks, and rely somewhat heavily on public incentives and subsidies, although the exact figure hasn’t been determined. It features a sports bar, hotel space, retail space, and a 965-space parking garage.
Next, here’s a proposal put forth by “Webster Block, LLC”, a joint venture led by Carl Paladino’s Ellicott Development. It features retail space, residential condos, a hotel, office space, and 1,089-space parking garage.
Recognizing that design is largely subjective, I somewhat prefer the Paladino proposal. I don’t like the overuse of brick in every new development save the Avant, and these two proposals incorporate that. The archways over the street-level retail in the Paladino plan, along with the awnings and other features one typically sees in big-city urban developments appeal to me. I have seen some criticism about the visibility of the parking ramp in the Paladino proposal, but the Sabres’ renderings seem to conveniently omit that, so Webster Block, LLC gets points for transparency on that point.
But the brick-and-windows designs are, to me, so late-80s post-modern. The clean simplicity of the Avant should be a model for contemporary high-rise design in Buffalo. This all looks like an NYU or BU dorm, ca. 1986.
Aside from money and the need for subsidies, the major difference here is the Sabres’ inclusion of two rinks. I think it’s a pretty neat idea, especially if there’s non-hockey related just general skate time available to local and visiting families. Adding amateur hockey space to downtown is clearly a positive, and would be a great asset to have to attract league play and tournaments to downtown.
But either way, Buffalo wins. This isn’t currently a site, but a blight; another surface parking lot in a city jam-packed with them. It’s the site where the Adelphia Tower was supposed to go – first 40 stories, then 15, then zero as Adelphia went out of business, in disgrace during the last decade. Anticipating complaints about parking – of course you need parking. It’s not the existence of parking that’s bad, but its visibility and use – a surface lot is an utter waste of space, but a parking garage nestled within a larger project and hidden from view is an absolute necessity. Anticipating complaints about the historic nature of the site of some sort, any such complaints would be disingenuous nonsense. No one moaned about historical significance during the decades during which it was a parking lot. Is someone going to complain that it should be a replica of the original Webster Block? A low grouping of brownstone warehouses?
Either proposal would enhance the area around the Arena and Canal Side. Either proposal would be a net plus for the inner harbor area of downtown Buffalo. Either proposal would be a welcome change from the status quo. We have to get past the mentality where one person can halt civic progress for the public benefit with one lawsuit. I wonder if we’ll get there with this project.
Looking up Main Street 1905 (Shorpy.com)
If you want to add your two cents, you can email the city at websterblockrfp@city-buffalo.com.
Late Friday, as viewers in the United States began watching an Olympics opening ceremony that had literally just ended in real time (#NBCFail), @BuffaloJill on Twitter imagined out loud what a Buffalo Olympic opening ceremony would look like. Hilarity ensued.
[<a href=”http://storify.com/buffalopundit/buffalo-opening-ceremony” target=”_blank”>View the story “Buffalo Opening Ceremony” on Storify</a>]<h1>Buffalo Opening Ceremony</h1><h2>On July 28, during the Olympic opening ceremonies, Twitter user @BuffaloJill imagined what a similar event would feature if held in Buffalo. Hilarity ensued. </h2><p>Storified by Alan Bedenko · Sun, Jul 29 2012 04:13:35</p><div>What if Buffalo had an opening ceremony? What would we have? #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyJill</div><div>Vincent Gallo narrates. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyJill</div><div>.@BuffaloJill Wing-Bleu Cheese-Celery Race #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyChris Ryndak</div><div>Instead of lighting the torch, Trent Edwards checks down. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyJill</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Ralph Wilson lights the Ralph Wilson torch at Ralph Wilson stadium.Alan Bedenko</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Buster Bison and Chip interpret the closing of Bethlehem Steel through modern dance.Alan Bedenko</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony 1/8th of it takes place in Toronto.Jeremy White</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Tom Bauerle gives dramatic speech about cats, ghosts, implied bisexuality.Alan Bedenko</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony 50-foot tall puppet of the Lady In WhiteAlan Bedenko</div><div>Conehead would’ve given his guarantee on the Olympic torch. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyKevin Snow</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony AFSCME picket, inflatable rat on site.Alan Bedenko</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Ani DiFranco sings a medley of songs no one’s heard beforeAlan Bedenko</div><div>After years of planning, studies, etc & countless dollars spent the stadium is never built & the games go elsewhere #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyMark Poloncarz</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony stadium empties to reveal thousands of old shoes and clothing items left by "Team Canada"Jeremy White</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony is blacked out in BuffaloGeoff Smith</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony we actually hold two competing, simultaneous ceremonies, because someone pissed someone off once.Alan Bedenko</div><div>dignitaries arrive by driving cars into buildings #BuffaloOpeningCeremonya tramp abroad</div><div>We tailgate it. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyChris Ryndak</div><div>Lead all newscasts with first person who complains that there is nothing to do during Buffalo Olympics #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyAaron Mentkowski</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony sketchy guy invites the world to come work at Geico.Alan Bedenko</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony A drunken Pat Kane extinguishes the flame by dumping out his 40oz beer on it.Bobby Digital</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Lenny Palumbo writes something phenomenally homophobic about itAlan Bedenko</div><div>"Better Days" named official song. #BuffaloOpeningCeremony @createvidsKevin Snow</div><div>Goo Goo Dolls play a full four hours. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonySabres 101</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Carl Paladino lists athletes he doesn’t care for on top of his burned out buildings.DBUF11</div><div>Parade of Nations has to keep stopping at unsynched traffic lights. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyJill</div><div>@JeremyWGR Tailgating is recognized as an official sport. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyJeff Scharf</div><div>12 Led Zeppelin cover bands. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyScott Michalak</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony The team at NBC is replaced by a Buffalo all-star team comprised of Duke McGuire, John Murphy, and Rick JeanneretGeoffrey Blosat</div><div>A reminder to all medal winners: "Bum-bum-bum, we buy silver, we buy gold…" #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyTodd O. Massey</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony for those that don’t have a ticket, head to party in the plaza!DBUF11</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Pearl Street offers a discount on drinks with ticket to the opening ceremony.Geoffrey Blosat</div><div>Every visiting athlete comments on how ugly the city is. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonySteve O</div><div>Golisano holds U.S. team hostage until they agree to perform in Rochester for "one night only". #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyhippiegrrl</div><div>Irv announces lighting of Olympic Flame as "5 Alarm Fire in Orchard Park – details at 11" #buffaloopeningceremonyGlenMcDole</div><div>Keith Radford & Joanna Pisceri talk over the ENTIRE THING. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyTodd O. Massey</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Scott Norwood comes through the floor and kicks a flaming ball to light the torch but this time hits its on turfjason ziegler</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Greece is first team to enter. Buster Bison, armed with a squirt gun, obstructs pathJosh Veronica</div><div>Olympic torch used to make Chiavetta’s chicken barbecue. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonySabres 101</div><div>#buffaloopeningceremony we go til 4 in the morning. Then breakfast at PerkinsJoe Haniszewski</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony giant blow up beef an wecks and chicken wings appear in center of ceremonyjason ziegler</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony where pop officially replaces sodaJon Clark</div><div>Carl Paladino makes a speech to complain about all the foreigners &
amp;amp;quot;invading" his city. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyTravis Worth</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Irv Weinstein hands out 1 buffalo wing to each person coming into stadium to hold up during torch lighting.My Low End Theory</div><div>After #BuffaloOpeningCeremony is held east of Transit Road, @BuffaloRising commenters call it the "Clarence Olympics."Ra Cha Cha</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony subject to blackoutDarin Schwabe</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony During the Biathlon the crowd is heard yelling Shoot!Mike Ripley</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Scott Norwood goes wide right with torch, sets Lake Erie on fireian leggin</div><div>Crowd throwing their plastic beer cups at this shit. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyScott Michalak</div><div>Team Elmwood Village would protest any suburbanites and/or SUV drivers being allowed to play. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyCeeDee</div><div>Those who can’t get in have a Party in the Plaza #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyCasey Schroeder</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony the torch is lit by a drunk marshawn lynchJames Misercola</div><div>The Town of Orchard Park refuses to allow others to participate in swimming events #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyMark B</div><div>AMVETS outfits Team USA at #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyMarquil</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony everyone walks into the stadium and says "wait, why do you have O.J. Simpson on your wall?" #forrealthoughNick Veronica</div><div>biggest. tailgating party. ever. #buffaloopeningceremonyAndrew Haynes</div><div>Byron Brown has a field day with his giant scissors upon the opening of Buffalo’s olympic village aka Statler City #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyBennett Collins</div><div>People from Rochester say that they would have done a better job. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyThomas Mehs</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony listen to Matt Lauer continuously refer to it as "northern New York".Trlr</div><div>Only coverage it gets in local media involves investigation into the cost of parking. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyBradford Reid</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Everyone outside of New York State assumes the ceremony is occurring just a few minutes from New York CityChris Ceci</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony Carl Paladino is awarded midnight permit to demolish Olympic Stadium just minutes prior to ceremony kick-off.Chris Ceci</div><div>Instead of Paul McCartney, Hit N Run Live from Cheektowaga town park #BuffaloOpeningCeremonyDennis Louis</div><div>Everything goes as planned and everyone gets upset that there’s nothing to get upset about. #BuffaloOpeningCeremony #NOOUTRAGEOUTRAGE!!!Buffalo Outrage</div><div>Terry Pegula blubbers at the sight of Usain Bolt. #BuffaloOpeningCeremony (hashtag corrected)Tim Graham</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony buffalonian athletes get nothing better than silverdk</div><div>1 person would complain 1 week before the event, Olympics are cancelled. #BuffaloOpeningCeremonySmokey Tokey</div><div>#BuffaloOpeningCeremony months after loss, Judge Bettmann says "yeah, it was a new record, but oh well. Oops."Tony House</div>
By way of reminder, about twice per week – usually on Mondays and Wednesdays – Chris Smith and I meet up with Brad Riter to record a podcast for Brad’s new venture, Trending Buffalo. It’s usually about 25 minutes long, and it’s almost always about “one thing”. If you’ve missed the last couple, they’re posted below, but you can subscribe to its feed using iTunes, and keep track of it here.
Books: 7/12/12
[audio:http://www.trendingbuffalo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/TBOneThing07-11-12.mp3]Food: 7/10/12
[audio:http://www.trendingbuffalo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/TBOneThing07-09-12.mp3]Chris Collins: 7/5/12
[audio:http://www.trendingbuffalo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/TBOneThing07-05-12.mp3]