The Atlantic’s CityLab recently posted 
some late nineteenth-century designs for a Great Tower of London. The first one in the stack was a 1,355 foot sky scraping behemoth designed in Rochester USA…
A Tower to Rival Eiffel’s Designed in Rochester NY?
March 9th, 2015Posted in Architecture, Rochester History | 8 Comments »
Tags: architecture, Emily Morry, England, G.T. Otis, G.T. Otis and C.F. Crandall, General Elwell Stephen Otis, Great Tower in London, London, M.T. Otis, North Clinton Avenue, Otis Day, Otis Elevator Company, Rochester, Rochester NY, Rochester Public Library, Scientific American, Spanish-American War, YWCA, YWCA building
RocLinks 3/7/15
March 7th, 2015Posted in Rochester News | 7 Comments »
![Rochester Lower Falls at Night in the Snow [PHOTO: RocPx.com]](http://rochestersubway.com/images/photos/denker/Lower_Falls_in_Snow.jpg)
From local development to just plain news of the weird, here are your RocLinks for this past week…
Tags: Benrus, Buckingham, Dominic Pane, Lower Falls, Monroe Avenue, Mr. Dominic's, Union Street, Water Street Music Hall, Wegman's
Aldi Store Hailed as Model of 21st-Century Urban Planning
March 5th, 2015Posted in Architecture, Rochester News, Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development | 37 Comments »
You may remember an article I posted more than a year about new plans for an Aldi store in Irondequoit on Hudson Ave. At that time I suggested the building should front the street/sidewalk, instead of being set back behind the parking lot. I thought the result would have been a development that would be more accessible to people who might choose to walk in off the street.
My suggestion was met with all kinds of wisdom from the project architect who has since set me straight. I now understand why it is better community planning to put your buildings in the middle of parking lots…
Tags: Aldi, Aldi's, APD Architects, APD Architects and Engineers, Blossom Road, development plans, Hudson Avenue, Irondequoit, North Winton Village, pedestrian safety, planning, Steve Cleason, urban development, urban planning, Winton Road
Protected Bike Lanes for the Full Length of Main St.
March 4th, 2015Posted in Opinion, Reader Submitted Stories, Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development | 9 Comments »
![Harvey Botzman, a local cycling advocate, is calling for protected bike lanes for the full length of Main Street in Rochester. [PHOTO: J. Stephen Conn, Flickr]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/main-street-protected-bike-lanes-01.jpg)
The following is a guest post submitted by Harvey Botzman.
Submit your story today.
Protected bike lanes for the full length of Main Street. This was the request from local cycling advocate Harvey Botzman in an email late last week to City officials and other cycling advocates. The east end of Main Street in downtown Rochester is about to undergo a complete reconstruction, but bike lanes aren’t part of the plan. Additionally, the City is working on a plan to improve pedestrian connections and enhance the stretch of East Main Street between the Public Market and Neighborhood Of The Arts.
So with Main Street under the microscope, now is the time for all of us to demand, not ask, for a healthier mix of transportation options and amenities for Main Street. Harvey is leaving no gray area. He’s calling for “protected bike lanes for the full length of Main St. from Winton Rd. to Mt. Read Blvd.” and here’s why…
Tags: bike, bike lanes, cycling, East Main Street, Harvey Botzman, infrastructure, Main Street, protected bike lanes, Rochester, Rochester NY, transportation, urban planning
Filling In: Main St. Bus Shelters
March 2nd, 2015Posted in Art + Culture, Transit + Infrastructure | No Comments »
![A local collective of artists/illustrators known as Hope Mountain is Kickstarting to produce a new book and put some artwork on Main Street. [Image: Peter Lazarski]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/hope-mountain-02.jpg)
A local collective of artists/illustrators known as Hope Mountain have been publishing art books in Rochester for the past 4 years. Now they’re in the middle of Kickstarting this year’s Volume 5 and they’re asking for our help…
Tags: art, bus shelter, City of Rochester, Filling In, Hope Mountain, Kickstarter, Main Street, Rochester, Rochester NY
RocLinks 2/28/15
February 27th, 2015Posted in Rochester News | 3 Comments »
![Icicles in the Subway [PHOTO: Ian Wescott - Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/iandavid/]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/denker/links/subway_icicles.jpg)
You might have stepped out of your house any day this month and thought to yourself, ‘Self, it’s kinda cold out. Maybe even colder than normal.’ If you did, you’re correct , it was the coldest month on record. If you did not, then please consult your doctor.
From local development to just plain news of the weird, here are your RocLinks for this past week…
Tags: art, Democrat & Chronicle, development plans, Eastview Mall, Hope Mountain, Midtown, Midtown Rising
Filling In: Tops Plaza
February 27th, 2015Posted in Rochester News, Urban Development | 21 Comments »
![Tops Plaza on Winton Rd south of Blossom [PHOTO: Google Streetview]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/denker/tops/Tops_Plaza_Streetview.jpg)
Some of you may know that there is a shiny, new-ish, giant Wegmans in Rochester. It’s over at East and Winton. Savvier readers may know about another grocery store nary a block away (but clearly on the wrong side of the tracks!). That’s right, there’s also a Tops. In addition, it has come to my attention that there are plans for an Aldi across the street on the site containing the old Roly-door building and Jim’s. For a city with few urban grocery stores, there’s food for everyone over here…
Tags: Aldi's, Filling In, Harris RF Communications, Matt Denker, Rochester, Rochester NY, Top's Friendly Market, Top's Plaza, Wegman's
Roadside to Bedside: The Real Impact of our Transportation Policies
February 23rd, 2015Posted in Opinion, Reader Submitted Stories, Rochester News, Transit + Infrastructure | 9 Comments »
![Scott Wagner, a local cycling advocate, visited a fellow cyclist who was seriously injured last week by a drunk driver. [PHOTO: ✿Low✿, Flickr]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/lonely-bike-in-snow.jpg)
The following is a guest post submitted by Scott Wagner.
Submit your story today.
I just returned from a trip to Strong Memorial Hospital to visit Debbie, a cyclist who was seriously injured and taken by Mercy Flight to Strong after being hit and left to die by a drunk driver near Palmyra last week.
Debbie is recovering satisfactorily, but is badly hurt and clearly in pain. Her nurse says she asks if she will be able to ride a bicycle again. The answer is “yes, but not tomorrow.” She was clearly touched and pleased to have a visitor and to know that we care…
Tags: Annie Londonderry, Around the World on Two Wheels, bicycle, bike, crash, cycling, DWI, DWI hit-and-run, hit and run, Marcia Roberts, NY State Route 21, Palmyra, Palmyra NY, Rochester, Scott Wagner, Strong Memorial Hospital, transportation, transportation alternatives, transportation policy, Wayne County
RocLinks 2/21/15
February 22nd, 2015Posted in Rochester News | 7 Comments »
![High Falls in the Snow. [PHOTO: Rich Engelbrecht, Flickr]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-subway-and-freddie-sue-bridge-arches.jpg)
Did you hear, last week Rochester earned a spot on a top ten list of most creative cities? It’s true. From local development to just plain news of the weird, here are your RocLinks for this past week…
Tags: Brighton, Greenwood Books, High Falls, Highland Hospital, Landmark Society of Western New York, rochester photos, Wegman's, Whole Foods Market, Young Urban Preservationists
Meet Me for Happy Hour
February 20th, 2015Posted in Art + Culture, Opinion, Rochester Destinations | 4 Comments »
![Victoire, Rochester NY. [PHOTO: www.BenjaminFerro.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/happy-hour-in-rochester-victoire.jpg)
By Steve Vogt
As someone who can’t sit still and loves hanging out with his friends, I’ve found I’m a bit of an anomaly in Rochester, NY. I eat out every night for dinner and I believe in mixing up the locale often. I try not to eat at the same place within 6 months. I will travel anywhere from Spencerport to Henrietta to Victor to Webster and everywhere in between for a great meal. I will eat at the greasiest spoons to the finest in dining that Rochester has to offer, as long as the food is decent. I give every restaurant 3 chances, if they can make it that long. And I try to keep my dollars local, keeping my money in the hands of local entrepreneurs. But sometimes I can’t resist stopping into Chipotle…
Tags: ACME Bar & Pizza, artisan drinks, bars, beer, best bars, best place for brunch, best restaurants, Blu Bar and Grill, Bunga Burger Bar, Char Steak and Lounge, cocktails, Erie Grill, Espada Brazilian Steak, Furoshiki, Good Luck, Grayson's Inn, great place for first date, happy hour, Lemoncello, Lento, Murphy's Law Irish Pub, Next Door Bar and Grill, Next Door by Wegmans, Owl House, restaurants, restaurants with outdoor seating, Rochester, Rochester NY, Rochester restaurants, Salenas, Shooters, tBones Steakhouse, The Angry Goat Pub, The Distillery, Victoire, where to take out of town visitors, wine
Neil Real Estate Co.
February 18th, 2015Posted in Reader Submitted Stories, Rochester History | 5 Comments »
Have you ever discovered a piece of living history in your own home? It can be a thrilling moment when something that’s been hiding under your feet (or above your head) for decades suddenly reveals itself, opening a little window onto the past.
Last week Brenda Washington sent us these photos and a note that read:
“Hello! I have a home in the Highland section of town (circa 1870) and have a really cool wooden block “for sale” sign that was found in the attic, from Neil Real Estate Co. Its a pretty cool sign… Never have seen one like it!”
We know the feeling, Brenda. And we’re happy to share your discovery. Here are the photos of the sign and an old Rochester business directory Brenda also found from 1921 showing an old advertisement for Neil Real Estate Co…
Tags: Brenda Washington, Neil Real Estate Co. Inc., real-estate, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester NY
Filling In: Banks
February 16th, 2015Posted in Architecture, Opinion, Rochester Homes for Sale, Rochester Images, Urban Development | 11 Comments »
![Rochester Savings Bank [PHOTO: Rochester Public Library]](http://rochestersubway.com/images/photos/denker/banks/Rochester_Savings_Bank.jpg)
Today I’d like to take a slight departure from our normal Filling In fare. No, I don’t propose to fill in all the banks in Rochester, although that’s not such a bad idea, now that I think about it. What I’d like to talk about is banks and buying stuff. Well, not just any stuff, specifically real estate…
Tags: banks, Filling In, financing, Flour City National Bank, loans, National Bank of Rochester, real-estate, Rochester City Bank, Rochester Savings and Trust Company, Rochester Savings Bank
Lost Time Capsule Beneath Rochester’s Lost Front Street
February 13th, 2015Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images, Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development | 8 Comments »
![Nick Brayer preparing to lay a time capsule under Front Street, Rochester. 1893. [PHOTO: Rochester Municipal Archives]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/front-street-time-capsule-rochester-ny-01.jpg)
This week’s Fun Foto Friday is a snapshot from 1893. That’s Nick Brayer, an engineering contractor working on a new sewer beneath Front Street in downtown Rochester. In his hands is a tin box. It’s not a sewer pipe. It’s actually a time capsule and he’s preparing to lay it at the project site to be buried. Looks like quite the event; a crowd of neighborhood kids have formed behind him to get in on the photo op.
Fast forward to 2015 and the burning question for readers of this blog will undoubtedly be: Where is this capsule now? And what’s inside…
Tags: Front Street, Fun Foto Friday, Nick Brayer, Rochester, Rochester NY, sewer, time capsule
Dear Mayor: When was the last time someone was ticketed for not shoveling?
February 10th, 2015Posted in Opinion, Reader Submitted Stories, Transit + Infrastructure | 33 Comments »
![Sidewalk snow removal is a safety issue that requires action from all of us. [PHOTO: Nearsoft Inc, Flickr]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/snow-sidewalk-02.jpg)
The following is a guest post submitted by Joseph Crescente.
Submit your story today.
To the office of Mayor Warren,
I wrote you back in December about the issue of sidewalks not being shoveled. After every snow storm there are large areas of sidewalks that are not shoveled throughout the city. I think it’s great that the City of Rochester provides supplemental sidewalk plowing. However, I think many people think it’s now the city’s job to shovel…
Tags: City of Rochester, Joseph Crescente, pedestrian safety, Rochester, Rochester NY, sidewalks, snow, snow shoveling
RocLinks 2/7/15
February 7th, 2015Posted in Rochester News | 5 Comments »
This week’s photo takes us back to March 21, 1976. That’s glam rock legend David Bowie (center) being arrested on drug charges by undercover cops at the Americana Rochester Hotel on State Street after a concert at the War Memorial. This rare “behind the scenes photo” was passed among the RPD for decades and this week a copy of it found it’s way onto eBay for an asking price of $25,000 $20,000. Get your bids in now – the auction ends tomorrow morning. [Read more about the Bowie arrest here ]
From local development to just plain news of the weird, here are your RocLinks for this past week…
Tags: Chicken and Waffles, David Bowie, Geva Theater, Geva Theatre, Hart's Local Grocers, Kodak, LIttle Shop of Horrors, RocLinks, RPD
What is this Birdhouse-looking thing in Genesee Valley Park?
February 6th, 2015Posted in Architecture, Rochester Destinations, Rochester History, Rochester Images | No Comments »
A recent email from a RocSubway reader asks: “There is a building on Moore Road in Genesee Valley Park that looks like some kind of bird house, maybe a pigeon coop. It’s so close to the edge of the [University of Rochester] property that I wondered if it was theirs, rather than part of the park. Someone is taking care of it as the paint doesn’t appear to be that old. Thought its origin might be interesting. Any ideas?”
I’ve noticed this building before too, and because of those tiny holes in the upper level, I’ve always assumed it was a birdhouse. But I admit, I really am not sure. So I asked JoAnn Beck, Senior Landscape Architect with the City of Rochester…
Tags: birdhouse, dovecote, Erie Canal, Frederick Law Olmsted, Genesee Valley Park, JoAnn Beck, Maplewood Park, military blockhouse, Olmsted Brothers, park, Rochester, Rochester NY, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
From the Ashes of Carnegie Place
February 2nd, 2015Posted in Architecture, Reader Submitted Stories, Rochester History, Rochester Images, Rochester News, Urban Exploration | 16 Comments »
![Last week, Carnegie Place was largely destroyed by fire. [PHOTO: PuddleJumper Photography]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-carnegie-building-fire-01.jpg)
The following is a guest post submitted by Puddlejumper Photography.
Submit your story today.
Last week, Carnegie Place was largely destroyed by fire. Its life spanned some of the most crucial and drastically changing times in Rochester’s history. I had a chance to stop by after the fire and take some photographs of a building I have always enjoyed; in a part of town that was vibrant and still is the heart of the arts movement in Rochester…
Tags: Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie building, Carnegie Place, Champion clothing, Champion Products Inc., demolition, fire, George Eastman, Goodman Street, history of Rochester, Memorial Art Gallery, Neighborhood of the Arts, NotA, Prince Street, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rochester NY, rochester photos, University Avenue, University of Rochester, University of Rochester women's college, UofR
RocLinks 1/31/15
January 31st, 2015Posted in Rochester Destinations, Rochester News | 2 Comments »
This week Eric Mamajek, an astronomer at the University of Rochester discovered an object—either a planet or a failed star—with a ring system 200 times the length of Saturn’s. Mamjek’s discovery is blowing the minds of astronomy geeks worldwide.
From outer space, to local development to just plain news of the weird, here are your RocLinks for this past week…
Tags: Corn Hill, Corn Hill Arts Festival, Democrat and Chronicle, Gleason Works, hydroelectric power plant, Integrated Photonics Institute for Manufacturing Innovation (IP-IMI), Middle Falls, Photonics Manufacturing Institute, Rochester Community Design Center (RCDC), Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E), Rochester Regional Community Design Center, RRCDC
Little House in the City
January 25th, 2015Posted in Rochester News, Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development | 26 Comments »
![Tucked away in a remote corner of downtown Rochester, facing the back side of the Geva Theatre and surrounded on all sides by parking lots, stands this unassuming brick house. [PHOTO: RochesterSubway.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/st-marys-place-01.jpg)
Tucked away in a remote corner of downtown, facing the back side of the Geva Theatre and surrounded on all sides by parking lots, stands this unassuming brick house. In downtown Rochester there are several lonely buildings like this one, still hanging on long after its neighbors have all been read their last rites.
I admire old little structures like this. Maybe it doesn’t have a glamourous story to tell. But it’s stuck it out for the last 150+ years – from Rochester’s boom, all the way through the toughest times this rusty city could throw at it. Whenever I’ve visited Geva Theatre I’ve taken notice of this one and wondered if it would find new life…
Tags: 1 Capron, Bevier Building, Capron Street, demolition, Geva Theater, Geva Theatre, Patrick Dutton, St. Mary's Place, The Lofts at Capron, Washington Square
RocLinks 1/24/15
January 24th, 2015Posted in Rochester Destinations, Rochester Images, Rochester News | 3 Comments »
![Motorcycles in an abandoned warehouse in Lockport, NY. [PHOTO: Chris Seward, Flickr]](http://rochestersubway.com/images/photos/lockport-motorcycles-chris-seward.jpg)
Today’s RocLink photo was taken by Chris Seward on April 3, 2010 in an abandoned building in Lockport. Chris says the three-story building was brimming with antique motorcycles and parts. According to this article the bikes made their way here from Kohl’s Cycle Salvage shop on the north side of the Erie Canal. The Mr. Kohl died in 2002, and the motorcycles were left here until the building crumbled around them.
And now, from local development to just plain news of the weird, here are your RocLinks for this past week…
Tags: abandoned, abandoned places, aerial photography, Chautauqua Amphitheater, City of Rochester parking study, CJS Architects, Hart's Local Grocers, Kohl motorcycles, Lockport, parking, parking lots, photo, photography, Rochester, Rochester NY, rochester photos, Rochester Subway, Rochester Subway photos, RocLinks, urban exploration, urban renewal, web sites
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