Rochester’s arts and entertainment community is in the final stages of preparation for the 2016 First Niagara Fringe Festival , which takes place Thursday, September 15 to Saturday, September 24, all across Rochester. There will be more than 500 performances at more than 25 venues in and around the city. And 170 of those performances are totally free!
I don’t know of anyone in the world who loves parking—except maybe Lorraine Baines—but that’s not exactly the kind of parking I’m talking about here…
I’m talking about the hassle of cruising up and down the rows of a Wegmans parking lot, trying to squeeze in next to the hummer who decided he needed an extra couple of spaces, fighting the nine other drivers who won’t even entertain the thought of walking an extra twenty feet to pay $5 for a bottle of water.
RG&E’s Beebee power plant was one of the most formidable structures in Rochester. For half a century, this cluster of buildings covered an 8 acre site along the floor of the High Falls gorge – climbing up the west rock wall and looming hundreds of feet in the air over Platt Street and the neighborhood below…
Welcome back, readers! In this edition of Filling In, let’s take another look at Parcel 5. Before we get started, quickly refresh by scouting the last time we discussed this site. I apologize in advance that this article probably isn’t going to cover much more about what I think should be done with the site, rather, what should probably not be done, and why…
Every once in a while we like to share fun stuff from the Rochester Subway mailbag. Here’s an email from a Rochester expatriate now living in New England. John Zicari is keeping tabs on his old home town by following sites like ours, while longing for some of the finer things in life. John writes…
Do me a favor. If you’re at home, step outside for a moment and take a good, long look at your driveway and garage (Don’t worry, the Internet will still be here when you get back). If you don’t have a driveway or garage, step outside and catch me a Charmander!
Did you do it? Did you stare intently at your driveway/garage situation? Great! Now, think about it for a moment and answer honestly: Does your car have a bigger bedroom than you do? Seriously. What percentage of the space that you own/rent/occupy is dedicated solely to vehicular storage? Your car isn’t paying rent. Why does it get the biggest room in the house?!
What else could you do with that space the garage sits on? A jam space for your band? Art studio? Game room? Greenhouse? The possibilities are many…
If realized, the Rochester River School would use the Genesee River as its classroom and curriculum. The school would offer “humane education” – teaching students compassion and respect for all living things and “to live ethically, sustainably, justly, and peacefully.” Recently, an online fundraising campaign was launched to help the school get off the ground. The following message was submitted by the school’s cofounder, Joel Helfrich…
Since I’ve lived downtown I’ve had my eyes on this building. Not for much good reason except that it was there, and waiting. But despite being so close, it always stayed locked up and out of reach. In fact, over the years it seemed to defy everyone’s best efforts to occupy it – including those of its many owners…
Rochester Makerspace is hosting a Sunday Artists and Makers Expo on May 22 from 2 PM to 5 PM. Bring your friends or family and enjoy live music, plenty of refreshments, and an eclectic collection of artwork, crafts, and maker projects on display…
Here’s a neat bit of Rochester sports history, even if we are forever on the losing end. 35 years ago this evening, the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings would begin the longest professional baseball game ever played to date; 33 innings spanning three calendar days…
It will actually be warm soon—and stay warm. But, when you live in upstate NY you don’t necessarily wait for the ground to thaw to start your housing search. Smart shoppers know the best spots don’t last long on the market, whether it’s a new build, a fixer upper or a historic landmark. Now there’s another tool you can add to your home buying tool box.
The City of Rochester, City Council, and the Rochester Coalition for Neighborhood Living have launched Celebrate City Living , a new program to help homebuyers and renters learn about the benefits of living in the city and find the resources to make it easier to buy or rent a home in Rochester…
There’s no real reason for this post. I was going through old family photos this weekend and stumbled upon these ones from a boat tour around Manhattan island my wife and I took in 2004. By complete coincidence we sailed directly in front of the infamous Spirit of Ontario I (a.k.a. Fast Ferry) on her maiden voyage to Rochester…
For the last two years, several Rochesterians have been working to create a new urban school. Called the Rochester River School , a key part of the vision is to reconnect and reorient the city of Rochester to its most important asset: the Genesee River…
And now for the final chapter of our little zoning adventure. This is the part where you, the gentle reader, are given the opportunity to read a final few hundred words about the kinds of zoning changes that would really make a difference in Rochester. If that sounds terrible (it might be), don’t click on.
You may have noticed the City of Rochester went red last night. February is American Heart Month and buildings including Xerox Tower, Kodak Tower, One East Avenue, Rundell Library, and City Hall were lit up to show support for National Wear Red Day and raise awareness about heart health…
Last week Medley Centre finally went up for auction. Angelo Ingrassia, former owner of Irondequoit Dodge, won the vacant building plus nine adjoining properties for the bargain basement price of $100,000.
The following images were taken last month (December 2015) inside Medley Centre…
Che Holloway, 25 of Rochester, is starring in a new series called Dark Justice, released today on StreamNowTV.com .
Holloway, who studied at Rochester’s School of the Arts, plays Amir Snow, the first black police officer in a small American town. The subject matter is highly relevant for these racially charged times, but it’s handled in a pretty hilarious way.
Temperatures are falling and the Fringe Fest is a distant memory. Well, technically it’s only a few days in the past, but given the rapid change in temperature it feels like a season ago.
This was the fourth year for the First Niagara Fringe Festival, but it was the first time I’d ever attended. I love Rochester and I love going downtown. But to be honest, I generally avoid events where there are lots of people or the potential for traffic congestion. Since I had a press pass, though, I decided to take full advantage of it, and for 10 days I immersed myself in the fun.
And I do mean fun. Here are a few of the highlights from my week at the Fringe…
Back in May, we noted National Nurses Week with a piece on Ida Jane Anderson, New York State’s first registered nurse. John Zicari, a reader from York, Maine, wrote to tell me that he’d been doing some genealogical research on his family from Rochester, and shared a family photo of his great aunt, Katherine Fitzgerald Osborn. She was a nurse at what John had been told was Rochester’s Park Avenue Hospital. There’s no date on the photo but, John says, “She died in 1925 so it is pretty early picture of the facility.”
I love genealogy and especially old photos. But I had to confess: I’d never heard a hospital on Park Ave. Cafes? Yes. Art galleries? Yes. A hospital? No.
But as my grandfather used to say, you learn something new every day…
In late October I got the opportunity to go check out a place nearby that I had heard rumors about—a house that has been frozen in a state of construction since 2005. I don’t really feel comfortable sharing the exact location, but the property is in Fairport, NY, out near Egypt on a nice, quiet residential street – surrounded by woods and shrouded in mystery…
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After the Erie Canal was rerouted south of downtown Rochester, the Rochester
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