AskaNewYorker: Tell us about yourself, Daniel in Buffalo?
Dan: I’m a school teacher in Longport, which is a northern suburb of
Buffalo. I’ve been teaching for 20 years. I’ve lived in this particular
home for three years and some of my favorite things to do in Buffalo (Dan broke
his arm badly not too long ago roller blading, don’t think he’ll
be blading anytime soon) are biking–there are a lot great bike paths– going
down town maybe, going to the museum. We have the Albright Max Art Gallery.
There are tons of historic places and that’s more or less what I like
to do.
AskaNewYorker: Tell us about the cemetery across the street?
Dan: Forrest Lawn Cemetery. It has many wonderful statuaries and mausoleums
dating back into the late 1800. Frank Lloyd Wright has his new installation
inside the cemetery, which is very much his style, and the plots are going for
$200, 000 (This is more than the average cost of a beautiful Victorian home
in Buffalo), if you have that kind of money to spend. Right around the corner
from where I live is a place called the Darwin Martin House, which is now being
renovated to its once original architectural integrity.
AskaNewYorker: And your home?
Dan: My home is a prairie style Stickley-designed catalogue house that was
probably built in 1905. One of its best features is certainly the large front
porch. It was on the tour of homes a few years ago. It was on the garden walk
just this past weekend. It has two or three actually living spaces on the porches
on the front and the back. So it is a very park like neighborhood. A lot of
wild life still exists around here. You get to see rabbits and so on and deer.
AskaNewYorker: And your love life?
Dan: Never mind, I can’t talk about that.
AskaNewYorker: So after talking to a few neighbors I get the feeling that Buffalo
folk are not real keen on NYC or at least harbor some kind of resentment. Am
I imagining this?
Dan: Well, Western New York seems to have been politically shoved out, if you
will, of some important dealings in New York State, as far as law and so on.
Monies are slow in coming. But there is development down town now with the Seneca
Nation building a casino right near the water front, which is going to be what
they’ve built already Niagara Falls, and is going to be spectacular, however
there is a lot controversy as to how much money the city of Buffalo is going
to get from the revenues of that, which is in the millions of dollars. Supposedly
Buffalo is only going to get a small portion of the out of this whole thing
per year. But the downside is people’s addiction to gambling, which will
bring more police effort into the whole situation and we do not have the money
for the police. However I think it’s good because it will provide jobs.
At least people will be attracted to not only the baseball and football and
hockey, but it will give another form of entertainment for people coming from
out of town.
AskaNewYorker: So tells us about the biggest tourist attraction in Buffalo?
Dan: The large waterfall. The seventh wonder of the world is Niagara Falls,
New York. And there’s also Niagara Falls, Ontario which is right across
the rainbow bridge and strangely enough Niagara Falls, NY without the casino
would have been a dead city. In contrast to Niagara Falls, Ontario which is
right across the gorge and they have a wonderful casino resort area that’s
just spectacular, and they get a lot of visitors from all over the world, as
we do, to but there’s more to do over there. There are wax museums and
strange kinds of things to do. Of course Maid of The Mist–that is really something,
if you plan on coming to Buffalo, and going to Niagara Falls. Maid of The Mist
takes you right to the edge of the Horse Shoe Falls and Cave of The Winds where
you actually get to see the falls from ground level and look up at the glory,
its spectacular-ness. It’s fantastic. Very loud. And produces a lot of
electricity for this area as well as down state. When you guys lost your power
it was because something happened up here. Someone flipped a switch. The wrong
switch and you guys ended up having to walk home, sorry about that.
AskaNewYorker: So what do you call yourselves up here, New Yorkers or Buffalo’s?
Dan: I’m a Buffalonian. I’ve been to New York many times, New York
City, and have enjoyed the heck out of it .But Buffalo is my home.
AskaNewYorker: Why thank you so much for sharing your fine town and your wonderful
home. Brick and mortar baby, people should be buying now in buffalo. Dan bought
his house for $90,000 three years ago and now it’s worth at least double
that amount…Buffalo is a great place to invest!!
