BUFFALO, N.Y. — It was like a vision out of a dream: strange and unexpected. Unreal. In 1965, Robert F. Courter Jr. flew an office chair. It was an ordinary, run-of-the-mill seat — except for the tanks of rocket fuel that engineers had rigged to the back. Before launching, Courter donned a white flying suit, helmet and… Continue reading
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Cheyenne Ketter-Franklin is valedictorian of Bennett High, one of Buffalo’s worst-performing schools. It’s the type of institution whose problems people sum up using terms like “urban” and “inner city.” In 2010, the state slapped the school with the label PLA: “Persistently Lowest-Achieving.” Privately, many local residents will skip the euphemisms and admit… Continue reading
BUFFALO, N.Y. — In February 2012, Tommy Lombardo moved home to Buffalo. It was the dark of winter, and cold gales battered curtained houses. Radiators clicked on and off. Snow fell. Lombardo, 29, began to look for an apartment. He had been away for eight years, most of those in New York City, and like many… Continue reading
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The sightseers and wayfarers came on a February morning to see Niagara Falls. It was, maybe, the worst time of year — the end of winter, frigid and icy, with heaps of dirty snow dotting the city and cold winds chilling the soul. Still, the people came, converging in small clusters at a… Continue reading
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — It’s three hours before kick-off, and the party has begun. Barrel fires are cracking to life. Grills are clicking on. The parking lot at Ralph Wilson Stadium smells like Sunday: hot dogs, sausages, breakfast toasted on thick pans over hot coals, a touch of whiskey to stay warm. Never mind that… Continue reading
BUFFALO, N.Y. — In the shade of snakewood and trumpet trees, a new day is beginning in the indoor rainforest at the Buffalo Zoo. Newly freed from the holding cage where he spends the night, Machado, a black howler monkey and father of two, is perched on a branch in a corner exhibit. His head raised,… Continue reading
AMHERST, N.Y. — The shopper wants to know where the barometers are. “I saw in the paper there were barometers for sale,” the customer’s voice calls out, loud enough to be heard over the din. “Do you know what room they’re in?” It’s the first day of an estate sale on Sargent Drive, and the house… Continue reading
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Early on in his career as an appraiser, George Armbruster was combing through a squalid, grime-filled home when he came across a surprise: an antique print depicting a bird. The house was “so filthy dirty, so smoky” that the details of the image were very difficult to see, Armbruster said.
Continue reading