Apartments, hotel rooms next on Statler agenda

 

Property Manager Joe Konze, stands in the newly renovated Terrace Room in the Statler Buffalo.  Also renovated were the main lobby and Golden Ballroom were recently renovated.  The major event that led to the renovations was a call from the mayor’s office, in 2022, stating that the mayor wanted to host the State of the City address.  The rooms were painted and plastered giving an updated look but keeping the nostalgic feel that the Statler Buffalo is known for. The next phase, which will begin next year, is to update and renovate the hotel rooms and apartments.  Historic hotel room floors will be on

Golden Ballroom

levels nine, 10 and 11.  Residential units will be on levels three through eight and levels 12 through 18.  The reasoning for this is that the goal was to put the hotel rooms in an area with beautiful views.  The goal for the Statler Buffalo is to have a cohesive ecosystem in which hotel guests and residents can come and go without bothering the other. “We are going to put the hotel in first and then we will do residential above and below,” Konze said. “We are going to have different banks of elevators, meaning the hotel guests will have their elevators and residential will have their elevators.  Residents will not have access to the hotel floors and hotel guests will not have access to the

Terrace Room

residential floors.” Konze is excited for the future of the Statler Buffalo.  “The idea is that while we are doing the renovations to the hotel, we are still able to provide Buffalo with nostalgia, a nostalgic building that people maybe had their proms and weddings at or where they attended a wedding here.  That is what we wanted to do, is get people in the door to host these special days.” 

                   By Jim Tammaro

Community asked to help keep stray cat population down

Veterinarian Timm Otterson at the Summer Street Cat Clinic, 25 Summer St., has worked with the stray cat population for over 20 years. Whether the cat is an indoor cat or outdoor cat, Otterson says the best practice to help keep the stray cat and feral cat population at lower numbers is to spay and neuter all cats. Community members are encouraged to work with local vet offices and rescue groups to take stray cats they are feeding or partially taking care of in for health checkups and treatments of common illnesses carried in stray cat colonies. The community can also take cats to free rabies clinics hosted each month by the Niagara Frontier Veterinary Society and the Erie County Health Department. By Rylee Shott

Christmas performances add to season's festivities

 

Theatre of Youth staging Junie B in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells this month

By Matt Szucs

    Many West Side Theatres and performing arts centers are choosing to end the year with a Christmas play, and the Theatre of Youth (TOY) is no exception.         

    This year, the Theatre of Youth is presenting Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells. Written by Allison Gregory, the play is an adaptation of a book in Barbara Park's popular children's book series Junie B.

    The play's director, Annette Daniels Taylor, said of both of her daughters had grown up reading the Junie B. book series and had also seen this very play at the Theatre of Youth years ago.

    The play follows Junie B. Jones, a first grader who for her class's Secret Santa gift exchange pulls the name of her rival, the tattletale May. Junie decides to set a prank for her, but will the Christmas spirit interfere?

    Ashleigh Chrisena Ricci, who plays Junie B. Jones, is a first-time actor with the Theatre of Youth.

    "This is my first show with TOY and it's going great having a lot of fun getting to play and be silly and make Theatre," Ricci said.

    The play will run at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. .Dec. 14 and 15.

    Lizzie Arnold is the understudy for Lucille/Elf Ellen.

    "One of my favorite scenes to watch and be a part of is the parents' night play. The Columbus night play. Even the scene before it, just the whole like lead into it. All of the chaos, the boats. It's hilarious and it's so much fun to be a part of," Arnold said.

    Kayla McSorley, the executive assistant for the Theatre of Youth, said staging a Christmas play is a tradition at TOY.

    "We always try to find a holiday-themed show to the best of our abilities for the December slot so that local families and students can potentially be experiencing their first-ever trip to the Theatre while celebrating the holiday season with their family," she said. 

    Founded in 1972, the Theatre of Youth is the only professional theater in the area that presents child and family-friendly plays.

   Kavinoky Theatre also has a holiday play underway: Charmagne Chi's Blue Xmas, a PG-13 Christmas Spectacular. Chi is a local performer and comedian, and this performance will be the first full-scale run of the play written by Chi. The play will run at 7:30 p.m., Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 21.

Flip It saves the planet, one piece of clothing at a time

 Maria Chayban and Jennifer Holmes, owners of Flip It Reverse It, 515 Elmwood Ave., let environmental awareness guide them in their business of giving longevity to the clothing by reselling and refurbishing vintage and modern unique pieces.  The owners have passion for preventing carbon and chemical pollution by preventing clothing from going to landfills. “Saving the planet. Yes. If we can get people to continue to shop secondhand because there is enough to go around, and you don’t even need to make another piece of clothing,” Holmes says.  Chayban says they are always considerate of the prices and even make special deals for most of their clothing. “We always have a $5 rack available for anyone,” Chayban said. According to First Research, the used merchandise industry in the US includes about 20 stores with a combined revenue of $15 billion. By Emmanuel Rogers

Provisions 139 announces special hours for Dec. 28

Mary Schaefer, director of operations at West Side Community Services, is stocking shelves at Provisions 139, the organization's food pantry at 44 Breckenridge St. The pantry serves residents living in these zip codes 14201, 14209, 14213, and 14222 and is open on Wednesdays from 12-3 p.m. and Thursdays from 5-7 p.m. It will be closed on Christmas and New Years Day. Instead, it will be open on Saturday, Dec. 28 at noon for special giveaways that include prepacked bags of food and other items. Provisions has been serving the West Side since 2021. Schaefer said Provisions does accept donations and relies on FeedMore WNY and a five-year contract with the New York State Department of Agriculture where it receives over $100,000 a year to spend on food grown, raised, and produced in New York State. If you are looking to donate, the pantry can use non-food items like toiletries or cleaning supplies, or food not covered by the grant like sugar, flour, and coffee. By Alex Miley

 

Buffalo Philharmonic celebrates 90 years

 

Principal harpist Madeline Olson and principal cellist Roman Mekinulov play in the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, celebrating its 90^th year of bringing music to the area. The BPO first started performing under the baton of Franco Autori at the Elmwood Music Hall, originally located at the corner of Elmwood Avenue and Virginia Street. The orchestra moved to Kleinhans Music Hall in1940.  Kleinhans was granted National Historic Landmark status in 1989 and is considered one of the most acoustically perfect halls in the world. The current conductor and head music director is JoAnn Falletta. It is under her leadership that the orchestra has received two 2025 Grammy award nominations for Best Orchestra Performance and Best Classical Compendium. By James Tammaro

Winter parking regulations begin Dec. 1

W. Delevan Ave. at Elmwood Ave.

Along streets that are part of bus routes like West Delevan Avenue, the typically scheduled winter parking regulations that usually go in to effect Nov. 15 have been moved to Dec. 1 due to a warm winter season. Originally postponed to Nov. 22, the date was moved further due to continually mild weather. The winter parking regulations put forth by in collaboration with the City of Buffalo Parking Enforcement and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority state that “it is unlawful for any person to park any vehicle on any portion of any street on which passenger buses are legally operated.” The regulations are in place from 1:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. and are active until April 1. The City of Buffalo and NFTA have published a list of the streets affected. By Matt Szucs