Buffalo, New York

{{Main|History of Buffalo, New York}}

{{For timeline}}

File:Wenro Territory ca1630 map-en.svg territory {{Circa|1630}}]]

Before the arrival of Europeans, nomadic Paleo-Indians inhabited the western New York region from the 8th millennium BCE. The Woodland period began around 1000 BC, marked by the rise of the Iroquois Confederacy and the spread of its tribes throughout the state.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/geographyofnewyo00thom |url-access=registration |title=Geography of New York State |last=Thompson |first=John H. |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=1977 |isbn=9780815621829 |pages=113–120 |chapter=The Indian |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |lccn=77004337 |oclc=2874807}}{{cite book |last1=Ritchie |first1=William A. |title=The Archaeology of New York State |date=19 February 2014 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-82049-5 |chapter=The Woodland Stage—Development of Ceramics, Agriculture and Village Life}} Seventeenth-century Jesuit missionaries were the first Europeans to visit the area.

During French exploration of the region in 1620, the region was sparsely populated and occupied by the agrarian Erie people in the south and the Neutral Nation in the north, with a relatively small tribe, the Wenrohronon, between and the Senecas, an Iroquois tribe, occupying the land just east of the region. The Neutral grew tobacco and hemp to trade with the Iroquois, who traded furs with the French for European goods. The tribes used animal- and war paths to travel and move goods across what today is New York State. (Centuries later, these same paths were gradually improved, then paved, then developed into major modern roads.) Traditional Seneca oral legends, as recounted by professional storytellers known as Hagéotâ, were highly participatory. These tales were told only during winter, as they were believed to have the power to put even animals and plants to sleep, which could affect the harvest. At the conclusion, audience members typically offered gifts, such as tobacco, to the storyteller as a sign of appreciation.{{Cite web |title=Seneca Folk Tales {{!}} Early Americas Digital Archive (EADA) |url=https://eada.lib.umd.edu/text-entries/seneca-folk-tales/ |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=eada.lib.umd.edu}} During the Beaver Wars in the mid-17th century the Senecas conquered the Erie and Neutrals in the region.{{Cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20086480 |title=The Indians of the Past and of the Present |journal=Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography |volume=46 |issue=3 |last=Donehoo |first=George P. |year=1922 |pages=177–198 |jstor=20086480 |access-date=June 11, 2021 |archive-date=June 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611202413/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20086480 |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |doi=10.1525/aa.1927.29.2.02a00050 |title=The Migrations of the Seneca Nation |last=Houghton |first=Frederick |date=1927 |journal=American Anthropologist |pages=241–250 |volume=29 |issue=2 |doi-access = free|issn=0002-7294}}{{cite encyclopedia |year=1961 |title=The American Heritage Book of Indians |editor=Alvin M. Josephy, Jr |publisher=American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc. |lccn=61-14871 |page=189}} Native Americans did not settle along Buffalo Creek permanently until 1780, when displaced Senecas were relocated from Fort Niagara.{{cite book |last1=Rundell |first1=Edwin F. |last2=Stein |first2=Charles W. |title=Buffalo: your city |chapter=Buffalo's Early History—The Village |pages=57–96 |date=1962 |publisher=Henry Stewart, Incorporated |edition=4th |oclc=3023258 |location=Buffalo and Erie County Public Library}} The Seneca town of {{lang|sen|Došowëh}}, meaning “Between the basswoods,” was historically located on Buffalo Creek, and {{lang|sen|Došowëh}} continues to be used as the Seneca name for the modern city of Buffalo.{{cite web |last1=Chafe |first1=Wallace |title=Seneca |url=https://senecalanguage.com/wp-content/uploads/Seneca-Words-Chafe.pdf |publisher=Seneca Language Department}}{{cite web |title=Buffalo Name Origin: Theories Summarized and Ranked |url=https://issuu.com/tbhm/docs/buffalo_name_origin |publisher=Buffalo History Museum}}

Louis Hennepin and Sieur de La Salle explored the upper Niagara and Ontario regions in the late 1670s.{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sketchesofearlyb00beck |title=Sketches of early Buffalo and the Niagara region |chapter=La Salle and The Griffon |pages=9–24 |last=Becker |first=Sophie C. |publisher=McLaughlin Press |year=1906 |location=Buffalo, N.Y. |oclc=12629461}} In 1679, La Salle's ship, Le Griffon, became the first to sail above Niagara Falls near Cayuga Creek.{{cite web |last1=Brady |first1=Erik |title=Le Griffon never made it to port but lives on in a Buffalo park and the Canisius mascot |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/le-griffon-never-made-it-to-port-but-lives-on-in-a-buffalo-park-and/article_3f8ad5cb-4331-5bae-98b7-ed4da422c0e5.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=5 June 2021 |language=en |date=July 8, 2019 |archive-date=6 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606062653/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/le-griffon-never-made-it-to-port-but-lives-on-in-a-buffalo-park-and/article_3f8ad5cb-4331-5bae-98b7-ed4da422c0e5.html |url-status=live}} Baron de Lahontan visited the site of Buffalo in 1687. A small French settlement along Buffalo Creek lasted for only a year (1758). After the French and Indian War, the region was ruled by Britain. After the American Revolution, the Province of New York—now a U.S. state—began westward expansion, looking for arable land by following the Iroquois.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/geographyofnewyo00thom |url-access=registration |title=Geography of New York State |last=Thompson |first=John H. |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=1977 |isbn=9780815621829 |pages=407–423 |chapter=Buffalo |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |lccn=77004337 |oclc=2874807}}

New York and Massachusetts were vying for the territory which included Buffalo, and Massachusetts had the right to purchase all but a one-mile-(1600-meter)-wide portion of land. The rights to the Massachusetts territories were sold to Robert Morris in 1791.{{Cite book |last=Buffalo Historical Society |title=Semi-centennial Celebration of the City of Buffalo: Address of the Hon. E. C. Sprague Before the Buffalo Historical Society, July 3, 1882 |publisher=Buffalo Historical Society |year=1882 |location=Buffalo, N.Y. |pages=17–21 |language=en}} Despite objections from Seneca chief Red Jacket, Morris brokered a deal between fellow chief Cornplanter and the Dutch dummy corporation Holland Land Company.{{efn|Foreign entities were not allowed to own land in New York State until 1798 (Goldman 1983a, p. 27).}}{{Cite book |last=Reitano |first=Joanne R. |url= |title=New York State: peoples, places, and priorities: a concise history with sources |chapter=The Empire State: 1790–1830 |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-69997-9 |location=New York |pages=66–96 |oclc=918135120 |ref=Reitano2016 |access-date=}} The Holland Land Purchase gave the Senecas three reservations, and the Holland Land Company received {{cvt|4000000|acre|km2}} for about thirty-three cents per acre.

Permanent white settlers along the creek were prisoners captured during the Revolutionary War.{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sketchesofearlyb00beck |title=Sketches of early Buffalo and the Niagara region |chapter=Buffalo Village |pages=106–117 |last=Becker |first=Sophie C. |publisher=McLaughlin Press |year=1906 |location=Buffalo, N.Y. |oclc=12629461}} Early landowners were Iroquois interpreter Captain William Johnston, former enslaved man Joseph "Black Joe" Hodges and Cornelius Winney, a Dutch trader who arrived in 1789.{{cite book |last1=Bingham |first1=Robert W. |title=The cradle of the Queen city: a history of Buffalo to the incorporation of the city |chapter=Captain William Johnston |series=Publications, Buffalo Historical Society,v. 31 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uva.x000743988 |date=1931 |publisher=Buffalo Historical Society |location=Buffalo, N.Y. |pages=132–142 |hdl=2027/uva.x000743988 |oclc=364308016 |access-date=June 9, 2021 |archive-date=June 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622041720/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x000743988 |url-status=live}} As a result of the war, in which the Iroquois sided with the British Army, Iroquois territory was gradually reduced in the late 1700s by European settlers through successive statewide treaties which included the Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784) and the First Treaty of Buffalo Creek (1788).{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/geographyofnewyo00thom |url-access=registration |title=Geography of New York State |last=Thompson |first=John H. |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=1977 |isbn=9780815621829 |pages=140–171 |chapter=Geography of Expansion |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |lccn=77004337 |oclc=2874807}} The Iroquois were moved onto reservations, including Buffalo Creek. By the end of the 18th century, only {{cvt|338|mi2|acre km2 ha}} of reservations remained.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/iroquoispastpres00brus |page=87 |title=Iroquois Past and Present |last=Brush |first=Edward H. |publisher=Baker, Jones & Co. |year=1901 |location=Buffalo, N.Y.}}

After the Treaty of Big Tree removed Iroquois title to lands west of the Genesee River in 1797, Joseph Ellicott surveyed land at the mouth of Buffalo Creek.{{cite book |last1=Bingham |first1=Robert W. |title=The cradle of the Queen city: a history of Buffalo to the incorporation of the city |chapter=The Holland Land Company |series=Publications, Buffalo Historical Society,v. 31 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uva.x000743988 |date=1931 |publisher=Buffalo Historical Society |location=Buffalo, N.Y. |pages=132–143 |hdl=2027/uva.x000743988 |oclc=364308016 |access-date=June 9, 2021 |archive-date=June 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622041720/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x000743988 |url-status=live}} In the middle of the village was an intersection of eight streets at present-day Niagara Square. Originally named New Amsterdam, its name was soon changed to Buffalo.{{Cite book |last=Fernald |first=Frederik Atherton |url=https://archive.org/details/indexguidetobuff00fern |title=The index guide to Buffalo and Niagara Falls |date=1910 |publisher=F. A. Fernald |others=The Library of Congress |location=Buffalo, N.Y. |pages=21 |access-date=November 30, 2017}}

File:Buffalo 1813 (cropped).jpg

The village of Buffalo was named for Buffalo Creek.{{Efn|Sources disagree on the creek's etymology.{{cite news |last1=Stefaniuk |first1=Walter |title=You asked us: the 868-3900 line to your desk at The Star: how Buffalo got its name |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/436693160 |url-access=subscription |access-date=27 May 2021 |work=Toronto Star |date=September 24, 1992 |location=Toronto, Ont. |page=A7 |language=en |id={{ProQuest|436693160}} }}{{cite news |last1=Okun |first1=Janice |title=Worldy setting, sophisticated choices, atmosphere at Beau Fleuve |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/380815267 |url-access=subscription |access-date=27 May 2021 |work=The Buffalo News |date=March 19, 1993 |page=G32 |language=en |id={{ProQuest|380815267}} }}{{cite news |author=Staff |title='Beau Fleuve' story doesn't wash |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/381587989 |url-access=subscription |work=The Buffalo News |date=July 21, 1993 |page=B9 |access-date=May 29, 2021 |archive-date=May 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527025137/https://www.proquest.com/docview/381587989 |id={{ProQuest|381587989}} |url-status=live }} Although its name possibly originated from French fur traders and Native Americans calling the creek Beau Fleuve (French for "beautiful river"), Buffalo Creek may have been named after the American buffalo (whose range may have extended into Western New York).{{cite book |last1=Hornaday |first1=William T. |author-link=William Temple Hornaday |title=The Extermination of the American Bison |date=1889 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington D.C. |pages=385–386 |chapter-url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17748/17748-h/17748-h.htm#ii_geographical_distribution |access-date=August 20, 2015 |chapter=Geographic Distribution |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924203028/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17748/17748-h/17748-h.htm#ii_geographical_distribution |archive-date=September 24, 2015}}}}{{cite book |last1=Ketchum |first1=William |author-link=William Ketchum (mayor) |title=An Authentic and Comprehensive History of Buffalo, with Some Account of Its Early Inhabitants, Both Savage and Civilized, Comprising Historic Notices of the Six Nations, Or Iroquois Indians, Vol. II |pages=63–65, 141 |chapter=Origin of the Name of Buffalo |date=1865 |publisher=Rockwell, Baker & Hill |location=Buffalo, N.Y. |isbn=9780665514968 |oclc=49073883}} British military engineer John Montresor referred to "Buffalo Creek" in his 1764 journal, the earliest recorded appearance of the name.{{cite book |title=Buffalo Historical Society Publications |chapter=The Achievements of Captain John Montresor |author=Severance, Frank H. |author-link=Frank Severance |editor=Buffalo Historical Society |location=Buffalo, NY |date=1902 |publisher=Bigelow Brothers |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pBs8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA15 |page=15 |access-date=August 14, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916180643/https://books.google.com/books?id=pBs8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA15 |archive-date=September 16, 2015}} A road to Pennsylvania from Buffalo was built in 1802 for migrants traveling to the Connecticut Western Reserve in Ohio.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/gazetteerofstate04fren |title=Gazetteer of the State of New York |chapter=Chautauque County |pages=208–217 |last1=French |first1=J. H. |last2=Place |first2=Frank |publisher=R. Pearsall Smith |year=1860 |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |oclc=682410715}}

Before an east–west turnpike across the state was completed, traveling from Albany to Buffalo would take a week; a trip from nearby Williamsville to Batavia could take over three days.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/pioneerhistoryof1849inturn |title=Pioneer history of the Holland Purchase of western New York |pages=401, 439, 494–495, 498 |last=Turner |first=Orsamus |publisher=Jewett, Thomas & Co. |year=1849 |location=Buffalo, N.Y. |oclc=14246512}}{{Efn|When traveling with an ox and wagon team.}}

British forces burned Buffalo and the northwestern village of Black Rock in 1813.{{Cite book |title=The U.S. Army in the War of 1812: An Operational and Command Study |last=Quimby |first=Robert |publisher=Michigan State University Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-87013-441-8 |oclc=868964185 |location=East Lansing, MI |pages=355}} The battle and subsequent fire was in response to the destruction of Niagara-on-the-Lake by American forces and other skirmishes during the War of 1812.{{Cite news |last=Hammill |first=Luke |url=http://buffalonews.com/2017/11/29/the-buffalo-of-yesteryear-chictawauga-scajaquady-and-other-oddities-of-the-year-1860/ |url-access=limited |title=The Buffalo of Yesteryear: Chictawauga, Scajaquady and the 'morass' that was Buffalo |date=November 29, 2017 |work=The Buffalo News |access-date=November 29, 2017 |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129200743/http://buffalonews.com/2017/11/29/the-buffalo-of-yesteryear-chictawauga-scajaquady-and-other-oddities-of-the-year-1860/ |archive-date=November 29, 2017}}{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sketchesofearlyb00beck |title=Sketches of early Buffalo and the Niagara region |chapter=The Burning of Buffalo |pages=118–132 |last=Becker |first=Sophie C. |publisher=McLaughlin Press |year=1906 |location=Buffalo, N.Y. |oclc=12629461}} Rebuilding was swift, completed in 1815.{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/publicationsofbu09seve |title=Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society |last=Severance |first=Frank H. |author-link=Frank Severance |location=Buffalo |publisher=Bigelow Bros. |others=Harold B. Lee Library |year=1879 |pages=334–356 |chapter=Papers relating to the Burning of Buffalo}} As a remote outpost, village residents hoped that the proposed Erie Canal would bring prosperity to the area. To accomplish this, Buffalo's harbor was expanded with the help of Samuel Wilkeson; it was selected as the canal's terminus over the rival Black Rock. It opened in 1825, ushering in commerce, manufacturing and hydropower. By the following year, the {{cvt|130|sqmi|km2|adj=on}} Buffalo Creek Reservation (at the western border of the village) was transferred to Buffalo. Buffalo was incorporated as a city in 1832.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/thri/buffalotimeline.htm |title=A Brief Chronology of the Development of the City of Buffalo |access-date = October 29, 2014 |website=National Park Service |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141104091901/http://www.nps.gov/thri/buffalotimeline.htm |archive-date = November 4, 2014 |df=mdy-all}} During the 1830s, businessman Benjamin Rathbun significantly expanded its business district.{{Cite book |title=High hopes: the rise and decline of Buffalo, New York |chapter=Ups and Downs during the Early Years of the Nineteenth Century |pages=21–56 |last=Goldman |first=Mark |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1983a |isbn=9780873957342 |location=Albany, N.Y. |oclc=09110713}} The city doubled in size from 1845 to 1855. Almost two-thirds of the city's population was foreign-born, largely a mix of unskilled (or educated) Irish and German Catholics.{{cite book |last1=Rundell |first1=Edwin F. |last2=Stein |first2=Charles W. |title=Buffalo: your city |chapter=Buffalo Becomes a Great City |pages=97–125 |date=1962 |publisher=Henry Stewart, Incorporated |edition=4th |oclc=3023258 |location=Buffalo and Erie County Public Library}}

Fugitive slaves made their way north to Buffalo during the 1840s.{{cite journal |last1=Wesley |first1=Charles H. |author-link=Charles H. Wesley |title=The Participation of Negroes in Anti-Slavery Political Parties |journal=The Journal of Negro History |date=Jan 1944 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=43–44, 51–52, 55, 65 |jstor=2714753 |doi=10.2307/2714753 |s2cid=149675414}} Buffalo was a terminus of the Underground Railroad, with many free Black people crossing the Niagara River to Fort Erie, Ontario;{{Cite book |title=Underground Railroad in New York and New Jersey |publisher=Stackpole Books |date=May 14, 2014 |isbn=9780811746298 |first=William J. |last=Switala |page=126}} others remained in Buffalo.{{Cite book |title=High hopes: the rise and decline of Buffalo, New York |chapter=Ethnics: Germans, Irish and Blacks |pages=72–97 |last=Goldman |first=Mark |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1983 |isbn=9780873957342 |location=Albany, N.Y. |oclc=09110713}} During this time, Buffalo's port continued to develop. Passenger and commercial traffic expanded, leading to the creation of feeder canals and the expansion of the city's harbor. Unloading grain in Buffalo was a laborious job, and grain handlers working on lake freighters would make $1.50 a day ({{Inflation|US|1.50|1845|fmt=eq}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}) in a six-day work week. Local inventor Joseph Dart and engineer Robert Dunbar created the grain elevator in 1843, adapting the steam-powered elevator. Dart's Elevator initially processed one thousand bushels per hour, speeding global distribution to consumers.{{Cite book |title=High hopes: the rise and decline of Buffalo, New York |chapter=The Impact of Commerce and Manufacturing on Mid-Nineteenth Century Buffalo |pages=56–71 |last=Goldman |first=Mark |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1983 |isbn=9780873957342 |location=Albany, N.Y. |oclc=09110713}} Buffalo was the transshipment hub of the Great Lakes, and weather, maritime and political events in other Great Lakes cities had a direct impact on the city's economy. In addition to grain, Buffalo's primary imports included agricultural products from the Midwest (meat, whiskey, lumber and tobacco), and its exports included leather, ships and iron products. The mid-19th century saw the rise of new manufacturing capabilities, particularly with iron.

By the 1860s, many railroads terminated in Buffalo; they included the Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburgh Railroad, Buffalo and Erie Railroad, the New York Central Railroad, and the Lehigh Valley Railroad.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/gazetteerofstate04fren |title=Gazetteer of the State of New York |chapter=Erie County |pages=279–294 |last1=French |first1=J. H. |last2=Place |first2=Frank |publisher=R. Pearsall Smith |year=1860 |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |oclc=682410715}} During this time, Buffalo controlled one-quarter of all shipping traffic on Lake Erie. After the Civil War, canal traffic began to drop as railroads expanded into Buffalo.{{Cite book |title=High hopes: the rise and decline of Buffalo, New York |chapter=The Coming of Industry |pages=124–142 |last=Goldman |first=Mark |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1983 |isbn=9780873957342 |location=Albany, N.Y. |oclc=09110713}} Unionization began to take hold in the late 19th century, highlighted by the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and 1892 Buffalo switchmen's strike.{{Cite book |title=High hopes: the rise and decline of Buffalo, New York |chapter=The Response to Industrialization: Life and Labor, Values and Beliefs |pages=143–175 |last=Goldman |first=Mark |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1983 |isbn=9780873957342 |location=Albany, N.Y. |oclc=09110713}}

File:Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, 1901 (cropped).jpg

At the start of the 20th century, Buffalo was the world's leading grain port and a national flour-milling hub. Local mills were among the first to benefit from hydroelectricity generated by the Niagara River. Buffalo hosted the 1901 Pan-American Exposition after the Spanish–American War, showcasing the nation's advances in art, architecture, and electricity. Its centerpiece was the Electric Tower, with over two million light bulbs, but some exhibits were jingoistic and racially charged.{{cite journal |last1=Bewley |first1=Michele Ryan |title=The New World in Unity: Pan-America Visualized at Buffalo in 1901 |journal=New York History |date=2003 |volume=84 |issue=2 |pages=179–203 |jstor=23183322 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23183322 |url-access=subscription |access-date=8 June 2021 |issn=0146-437X |archive-date=June 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608081958/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23183322 |url-status=live}}{{Cite book |title=High hopes: the rise and decline of Buffalo, New York |chapter=The Pan American Exposition: World's Fair as Historical Metaphor |pages=3–20 |last=Goldman |first=Mark |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1983 |isbn=9780873957342 |location=Albany, N.Y. |oclc=09110713}}{{Cite book |last=Reitano |first=Joanne R. |url= |title=New York State: peoples, places, and priorities: a concise history with sources |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-69997-9 |location=New York |chapter=The Progressive State: 1900–28 |pages=162–191 |oclc=918135120 |ref=Reitano2016 |access-date=}} At the exposition, President William McKinley was assassinated by anarchist Leon Czolgosz.{{cite journal |last1=Markwyn |first1=Abigail |title=Spectacle and Politics in Buffalo and Philadelphia: The World's Fairs of 1901 and 1926 |journal=Reviews in American History |date=2018 |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=624–630 |doi=10.1353/rah.2018.0094 |s2cid=150181280 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/711872 |url-access=subscription |access-date=5 June 2021}} When McKinley died, Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in at the Wilcox Mansion in Buffalo.{{cite web |last1=Gee |first1=Derek |title=A Closer Look: Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site |url=https://buffalonews.com/multimedia/a-closer-look-theodore-roosevelt-inaugural-site/collection_cd666c13-cf48-5682-82dd-8a0de07e9690.html#3 |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=5 June 2021 |url-access=limited |language=en |date=February 24, 2021 |archive-date=6 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606062654/https://buffalonews.com/multimedia/a-closer-look-theodore-roosevelt-inaugural-site/collection_cd666c13-cf48-5682-82dd-8a0de07e9690.html#3 |url-status=live}}

Attorney John Milburn and local industrialists convinced the Lackawanna Iron and Steel Company to relocate from Scranton, Pennsylvania to the town of West Seneca in 1904. Employment was competitive, with many Eastern Europeans and Scrantonians vying for jobs. From the late 19th century to the 1920s, mergers and acquisitions led to distant ownership of local companies; this had a negative effect on the city's economy.{{Cite book |title=Power failure: politics, patronage, and the economic future of Buffalo, New York |chapter=Economic Power |pages=25–39 |last=Dillaway |first=Diana |date=2006 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1591024002 |location=Amherst, N.Y.}} Examples include the acquisition of Lackawanna Steel by Bethlehem Steel and, later, the relocation of Curtiss-Wright in the 1940s.{{Cite book |last=Reitano |first=Joanne R. |url= |title=New York State: peoples, places, and priorities: a concise history with sources |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-69997-9 |location=New York |chapter=The Stressed State: 1954–75 |pages=223–252 |oclc=918135120 |ref=Reitano2016 |access-date=}} The Great Depression saw severe unemployment, especially among the working class. New Deal relief programs operated in full force, and the city became a stronghold of labor unions and the Democratic Party.{{cite book |last1=Plesur |first1=Milton |last2=Adler |first2=Selig |last3=Lansky |first3=Lewis |title=An American historian: essays to honor Selig Adler |date=1980 |publisher=State University of New York at Buffalo |location=Buffalo, N.Y. |pages=204–213 |chapter=Buffalo and the Great Depression, 1929–1933 |oclc=6984440}}

File:Thornberger hoists unloading ore, Lackawanna ore docks, Buffalo, N.Y. LC-D4-32179.jpg

During World War II, Buffalo regained its manufacturing strength as military contracts enabled the city to manufacture steel, chemicals, aircraft, trucks and ammunition. The 15th-most-populous US city in 1950, Buffalo's economy relied almost entirely on manufacturing; eighty percent of area jobs were in the sector. The city also had over a dozen railway terminals, as railroads remained a significant industry.{{cite book |last1=Rundell |first1=Edwin F. |last2=Stein |first2=Charles W. |title=Buffalo: your city |chapter=Buffalo—Center of Commerce and Industry |pages=149–172 |date=1962 |publisher=Henry Stewart, Incorporated |edition=4th |oclc=3023258 |location=Buffalo and Erie County Public Library}}

The St. Lawrence Seaway was proposed in the 19th century as a faster shipping route to Europe, and later as part of a bi-national hydroelectric project with Canada. Its combination with an expanded Welland Canal led to a grim outlook for Buffalo's economy. After its 1959 opening, the city's port and barge canal became largely irrelevant. Shipbuilding in Buffalo wound down in the 1960s due to reduced waterfront activity, ending an industry which had been part of the city's economy since 1812.{{Cite book |title=High hopes: the rise and decline of Buffalo, New York |chapter=Paranoia: The Fear of Outsiders and Radicals During the 1950s and 1960s |pages=242–266 |last=Goldman |first=Mark |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1983 |isbn=9780873957342 |location=Albany, N.Y. |oclc=09110713}} Downsizing of the steel mills was attributed to the threat of higher wages and unionization efforts. Racial tensions culminated in riots in 1967. Suburbanization led to the selection of the town of Amherst for the new University at Buffalo campus by 1970. Unwilling to modernize its plant, Bethlehem Steel began cutting thousands of jobs in Lackawanna during the mid-1970s before closing it in 1983. The region lost at least 70,000 jobs between 1970 and 1984. Like much of the Rust Belt, Buffalo has focused on recovering from the effects of late-20th-century deindustrialization.{{cite journal |last1=Hobor |first1=George |title=Surviving the Era of Deindustrialization: The New Economic Geography of the Urban Rust Belt |journal=Journal of Urban Affairs |date=1 October 2013 |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=417–434 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9906.2012.00625.x |s2cid=154777044}}

{{wide image|Buffalo waterfront 1880.tif|700px|alt=Aerial view of downtown Buffalo and its waterfront in 1880|Panorama of downtown Buffalo and its waterfront in 1880|align-cap=center}}

File:NiagaraRiverNASA.jpg and Niagara Frontier; Buffalo is at the lower right.|alt=A satellite photo shows two bodies of water and two peninsulas from space]]

Buffalo is on the eastern end of Lake Erie opposite Fort Erie, Ontario. It is at the head of the Niagara River, which flows north over Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario.

The Buffalo metropolitan area is on the Erie/Ontario Lake Plain of the Eastern Great Lakes Lowlands, a narrow plain extending east to Utica, New York. The city is generally flat, except for elevation changes in the University Heights and Fruit Belt neighborhoods.{{cite web |title=ACME Mapper 2.2: University Heights (689 feet) |url=https://mapper.acme.com/?ll=42.90311,-78.85904&z=17&t=T&marker0=42.90472%2C-78.84944%2CBuffalo%2C%20New%20York |website=ACME Mapper (Map) |access-date=8 June 2021 |archive-date=June 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608195127/https://mapper.acme.com/?ll=42.90311,-78.85904&z=17&t=T&marker0=42.90472,-78.84944,Buffalo,%20New%20York |url-status=live}} and {{cite web |title=ACME Mapper 2.2: Fruit Belt (682 feet) |url=https://mapper.acme.com/?ll=42.90311,-78.85904&z=17&t=T&marker0=42.90472%2C-78.84944%2CBuffalo%2C%20New%20York |website=ACME Mapper (Map) |access-date=8 June 2021 |archive-date=June 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608195127/https://mapper.acme.com/?ll=42.90311,-78.85904&z=17&t=T&marker0=42.90472,-78.84944,Buffalo,%20New%20York |url-status=live}} The Southtowns are hillier, leading to the Cattaraugus Hills in the Appalachian Upland.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/geographyofnewyo00thom |url-access=registration |title=Geography of New York State |last=Thompson |first=John H. |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=1977 |isbn=9780815621829 |pages=19–54 |chapter=Land Forms |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |lccn=77004337 |oclc=2874807}}{{cite map |first1=S. A. |last1=Bryce |first2=G. E. |last2=Griffith |first3=J. M. |last3=Omernik |first4=G. |last4=Edinger |first5=S. |last5=Indrick |first6=O. |last6=Vargas |first7=D. |last7=Carlson |title=Ecoregions of New York (color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and photograph)|trans-title = |map=|map-url = |date= |year=2010 |url=http://ecologicalregions.info/data/ny/NY_front.pdf |scale=1:1,250,000 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |location=Reston, VA |language= |access-date = |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210526063146/http://ecologicalregions.info/data/ny/NY_front.pdf |archive-date = May 26, 2021 |url-status = live}} Several types of shale, limestone and lagerstätten are prevalent in Buffalo and its surrounding area, lining their stream beds.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ldpd_6985187_000 |title=Geologic map of the Buffalo quadrangle |last=Luther |first=D. D. |date=1906 |pages=12–13 |publisher=New York State Education Department |others=Columbia University Libraries |language=en}}

According to Fox Weather, Buffalo is one of the top five snowiest large cities in the country, receiving, on average, 95 inches of snow annually.

Although the city has not experienced any recent or significant earthquakes, Buffalo is in the Southern Great Lakes Seismic Zone (part of the Great Lakes tectonic zone).{{Cite web |url=http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2000/03/4637.html |title=UB Geologists Find Evidence That Upstate New York Is Criss-Crossed By Hundreds Of Faults - University at Buffalo |website=University at Buffalo |language=en |access-date=January 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112100857/http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2000/03/4637.html |archive-date=January 12, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last1=Dineva |first1=S. |title=Seismicity of the Southern Great Lakes: Revised Earthquake Hypocenters and Possible Tectonic Controls |journal=Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America |date=2004-10-01 |volume=94 |issue=5 |pages=1902–1918 |doi=10.1785/012003007 |bibcode=2004BuSSA..94.1902D}} Buffalo has four channels within its boundaries: the Niagara River, Buffalo River (and Creek), Scajaquada Creek, and the Black Rock Canal, adjacent to the Niagara River.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofcityofb01smit/page/n23 |title=History of the city of Buffalo and Erie County: with ... biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers ... |last=Smith |first=Henry Perry |publisher=D. Mason & Co. |year=1884 |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |page=16}} The city's Bureau of Forestry maintains a database of over seventy thousand trees.{{cite web |title=TreeKeeper 8 System for Buffalo, NY |url=https://buffalony.treekeepersoftware.com/index.cfm?deviceWidth=2133 |website=City of Buffalo Bureau of Forestry |access-date=26 May 2021 |archive-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526060957/https://buffalony.treekeepersoftware.com/index.cfm?deviceWidth=2133 |url-status=live}}

According to the United States Census Bureau, Buffalo has an area of {{cvt|52.5|sqmi|km2}}; {{cvt|40.38|sqmi|km2}} is land, and the rest is water. The city's total area is 22.66 percent water. In 2010, its population density was 6,470.6 per square mile.

{{see also|List of tallest buildings in Buffalo, New York|Architecture of Buffalo, New York}}

Buffalo's architecture is diverse, with a collection of 19th- and 20th-century buildings.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/arts/design/16ouro.html |url-access=limited |title=Saving Buffalo's Untold Beauty |last=Ouroussoff |first=Nicolai |author-link=Nicolai Ouroussoff |date=November 14, 2008 |work=The New York Times |access-date = September 19, 2014 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141006193136/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/arts/design/16ouro.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |archive-date = October 6, 2014 |df=mdy-all}} Downtown Buffalo landmarks include Louis Sullivan's Guaranty Building, an early skyscraper;{{Cite web |title=Louis Sullivan still has a skyscraper in Buffalo, but Chicago has none |first=Blair |last=Kamin |author-link=Blair Kamin |website=Chicago Tribune |date=September 1, 2013 |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-01/news/ct-met-kamin-sullivanbuffalo-0901-20130902_1_skyscrapers-auditorium-building-wainwright-building |access-date = September 23, 2015 |url-access = limited |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150925090648/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-01/news/ct-met-kamin-sullivanbuffalo-0901-20130902_1_skyscrapers-auditorium-building-wainwright-building |archive-date = September 25, 2015 |df=mdy-all}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/tech-notes/Tech-Notes-Mechanical01.pdf |title=Preservation Tech Notes: Guaranty Building |date=June 1989 |access-date = September 23, 2015 |website=National Park Service |last=E. Kaplan |first=Marilyn |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160113194900/http://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/tech-notes/Tech-Notes-Mechanical01.pdf |archive-date = January 13, 2016 |df=mdy-all}} the Ellicott Square Building, once one of the largest of its kind in the world;{{cite book |last1=Korom |first1=Joseph J. |title=The American Skyscraper, 1850-1940: A Celebration of Height |date=2008 |publisher=Branden Books |isbn=978-0-8283-2188-4 |page=213 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JVzYO1TyZ6AC&pg=PA213 |access-date=26 May 2021 |language=en |archive-date=June 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622041737/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_American_Skyscraper_1850_1940/JVzYO1TyZ6AC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=ellicott+square+building+largest&pg=PA213&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live}} the Art Deco Buffalo City Hall and the McKinley Monument, and the Electric Tower. Beyond downtown, the Buffalo Central Terminal was built in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood in 1929; the Richardson Olmsted Complex, built in 1881, was an insane asylum{{cite book |last1=Ochsner |first1=Jeffrey Karl |title=H. H. Richardson: Complete Architectural Works |publisher=MIT Press |pages=78–79 |language=en |date=1982 |isbn=9780262650151 |oclc=8389021}} until its closure in the 1970s.{{cite web |last1=Buckley |first1=Eileen |title=Recalling treatment at Buffalo's former mental institution |url=https://news.wbfo.org/post/recalling-treatment-buffalo-s-former-mental-institution |website=WBFO |access-date=22 May 2021 |language=en |date=June 5, 2018 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522223742/https://news.wbfo.org/post/recalling-treatment-buffalo-s-former-mental-institution |url-status=live}} Urban renewal from the 1950s to the 1970s spawned the Brutalist-style Buffalo City Court Building and Seneca One Tower, the city's tallest building.{{Cite web |title=Preparing for 38 floors of emptiness at One Seneca Tower |url=http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/downtown-waterfront/preparing-for-38-floors-of-emptiness-at-one-seneca-tower-20131117 |url-access=limited |access-date = September 26, 2015 |date=November 17, 2013 |website=The Buffalo News |first=Melinda |last=Miller |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150926101223/http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/downtown-waterfront/preparing-for-38-floors-of-emptiness-at-one-seneca-tower-20131117 |archive-date = September 26, 2015 |df=mdy-all}} In the city's Parkside neighborhood, the Darwin D. Martin House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in his Prairie School style.{{cite web |title=Darwin Martin House State Historic Site |url=https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/darwinmartinhouse/details.aspx |website=New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation |publisher=State of New York |access-date=24 May 2021 |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116092839/https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/darwinmartinhouse/details.aspx |url-status=live}}

Since 2016, Washington DC real estate developer Douglas Jemal has been acquiring, and redeveloping, iconic properties throughout the city.{{cite web |url=https://buffalonews.com/business/local/douglas-jemal-moves-full-speed-ahead-on-bevy-of-buffalo-projects/article_cab12e4c-ce20-11eb-a68d-afcda413165a.html |title=Douglas Jemal moves 'full speed ahead' on bevy of Buffalo projects |date=October 25, 2021}}

{{wide image|Buffalo Skyline.jpg|alt=Panorama of downtown Buffalo, NY from Lake Erie|700px|Skyline of Buffalo, looking east from Lake Erie|align-cap=center}}

{{Main|List of neighborhoods in Buffalo, New York}}

File:AllentownBuffalo1.jpg]]

According to Mark Goldman, the city has a "tradition of separate and independent settlements". The boundaries of Buffalo's neighborhoods have changed over time. The city is divided into five districts, each containing several neighborhoods, for a total of thirty-five neighborhoods.{{cite web |last1=Dewey |first1=Caitlin |author-link = Caitlin Dewey |title=Fruit Belt fights for its name over fears big tech is erasing it |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/fruit-belt-fights-for-its-name-over-fears-big-tech-is-erasing-it/article_4e4f3089-c594-55ba-b859-694ce1f16bdf.html |url-access = limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=11 May 2021 |language=en |date=March 17, 2019 |archive-date=January 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130112012/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/fruit-belt-fights-for-its-name-over-fears-big-tech-is-erasing-it/article_4e4f3089-c594-55ba-b859-694ce1f16bdf.html |url-status=live}} and {{cite web |last1=Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency |title=Neighborhood Profile |url=https://data.buffalony.gov/stories/s/a235-4wxj |website=Open Data Buffalo |access-date=11 May 2021 |language=en |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511205447/https://data.buffalony.gov/stories/s/a235-4wxj |url-status=live}} Main Street divides Buffalo's east and west sides, and the west side was fully developed earlier. This division is seen in architectural styles, street names, neighborhood and district boundaries, demographics, and socioeconomic conditions; Buffalo's West Side is generally more affluent than its East Side.{{cite web |last1=Herko |first1=Carl |title=One street, different worlds all along Main, a barrier between the haves and the have-nots |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/one-street-different-worlds-all-along-main-a-barrier-between-the-haves-and-the-have/article_b0b0d87d-10e5-5d65-86a5-396697945110.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=24 May 2021 |language=en |date=March 14, 1993 |archive-date=June 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622041740/https://buffalonews.com/news/one-street-different-worlds-all-along-main-a-barrier-between-the-haves-and-the-have/article_b0b0d87d-10e5-5d65-86a5-396697945110.html |url-status=live}}{{cite book |last1=Lewyn |first1=Michael |chapter=The City of Buffalo And Its Neighborhoods |title=Car-free in Buffalo: a guide to Buffalo's neighborhoods, suburbs and public transportation |date=2000 |publisher=Writers Club Press |location=San Jose |isbn=0595127053 |pages=35–64}}

Several neighborhoods in Buffalo have had increased investment since the 1990s, beginning with the Elmwood Village.{{cite web |last1=Sommer |first1=Mark |title=Elmwood grapples with growth, but there's harmony on Hertel |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/elmwood-grapples-with-growth-but-theres-harmony-on-hertel/article_9c975157-323c-50d2-b112-9ca3720e622e.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=23 May 2021 |language=en |date=April 10, 2018 |archive-date=May 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523001826/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/elmwood-grapples-with-growth-but-theres-harmony-on-hertel/article_9c975157-323c-50d2-b112-9ca3720e622e.html |url-status=live}} The 2002 redevelopment of the Larkin Terminal Warehouse led to the creation of Larkinville, home to several mixed-use projects and anchored by corporate offices.{{cite web |last1=Caya |first1=Chris |title=Brewery's choice typifies growth of Larkinville |url=https://news.wbfo.org/post/brewerys-choice-typifies-growth-larkinville |website=WBFO |access-date=23 May 2021 |language=en |date=March 24, 2014 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803182150/https://news.wbfo.org/post/brewerys-choice-typifies-growth-larkinville |url-status=live}} and {{cite web |last1=Schneider |first1=Keith |title=Once Just a Punch Line, Buffalo Fights Back |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/realestate/commercial/once-a-punch-line-buffalo-fights-back.html |url-access=limited |website=The New York Times |access-date=23 May 2021 |date=2013-07-31 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522235951/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/realestate/commercial/once-a-punch-line-buffalo-fights-back.html |url-status=live}} Downtown Buffalo and its central business district (CBD) had a 10.6-percent increase in residents from 2010 to 2017, as over 1,061 housing units became available;{{cite web |title=Downtown Buffalo: Looking Ahead With A Clearer View |url=https://www.thepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Downtown-Buffalo-Looking-Ahead-With-a-Clear-View-1.pdf |website=Buffalo Niagara Partnership |access-date=23 May 2021 |date=2018 |archive-date=June 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622041740/https://www.thepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Downtown-Buffalo-Looking-Ahead-With-a-Clear-View-1.pdf |url-status=live}} the Seneca One Tower was redeveloped in 2020.{{cite web |last1=Epstein |first1=Jonathan D. |title=After years of inaction, downtown development is a bustling scene |url=https://buffalonews.com/exclusive/prospectus/after-years-of-inaction-downtown-development-is-a-bustling-scene/article_f13c352c-3b07-11eb-96b2-13b222f8d1d5.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=23 May 2021 |language=en |date=January 28, 2021 |archive-date=January 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131064522/https://buffalonews.com/exclusive/prospectus/after-years-of-inaction-downtown-development-is-a-bustling-scene/article_f13c352c-3b07-11eb-96b2-13b222f8d1d5.html |url-status=live}} Other revitalized areas include Chandler Street, in the Grant-Amherst neighborhood, and Hertel Avenue in Parkside.{{cite web |last1=News Editorial Board |title=Editorial: U-turn on Chandler Street |url=https://buffalonews.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-u-turn-on-chandler-street/article_88b70d00-2ed0-5cbe-b007-7fb411e29f82.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=23 May 2021 |language=en |date=November 1, 2019 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522235951/https://buffalonews.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-u-turn-on-chandler-street/article_88b70d00-2ed0-5cbe-b007-7fb411e29f82.html |url-status=live}}

The Buffalo Common Council adopted its Green Code in 2017, replacing zoning regulations which were over sixty years old. Its emphasis on regulations promoting pedestrian safety and mixed land use received an award at the 2019 Congress for the New Urbanism conference.{{cite web |last1=Teaman |first1=Rachel |title=Buffalo Green Code, with a national award, builds on 20 years of planning for place-based urban regeneration |url=http://ap.buffalo.edu/news/2019/greencode_driehaus.html |website=University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning |access-date=9 May 2021 |language=en |date=July 9, 2019 |archive-date=August 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821140103/http://ap.buffalo.edu/news/2019/greencode_driehaus.html |url-status=live}}

File:Snow removal via frontloader on Cottage Street after December 2019 winter storm, Buffalo, New York - 20191211.jpg

Buffalo has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfa),{{cite journal |author1=Peel, M. C. |author2=Finlayson B. L. |author3=McMahon, T. A. |year=2007 |title=Updated world map of the Köppen–Geiger climate classification |url=https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf |journal=Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. |volume=11 |issue=5 |pages=1633–1644 |doi=10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 |bibcode=2007HESS...11.1633P |issn=1027-5606 |doi-access=free |access-date=June 9, 2021 |archive-date=December 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202204538/https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |title=Buffalo Climate Narrative |url=https://www.weather.gov/buf/BUFclifo |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-10 |website=National Weather Service |language=EN-US |archive-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321105641/https://www.weather.gov/buf/BUFclifo}} and temperatures have been warming with the rest of the US.{{cite web |last1=Paul |first1=Don |title=Don Paul: Weather's 'new normals' are really new averages |url=https://buffalonews.com/weather/don-paul-weathers-new-normals-are-really-new-averages/article_10eb87bc-b130-11eb-bcee-3f18b07eec11.html |url-access = limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=10 May 2021 |language=en |date=May 10, 2021 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511050301/https://subscribe.buffalonews.com/e/limit-reached-bn?returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Fbuffalonews.com%2Fweather%2Fdon-paul-weathers-new-normals-are-really-new-averages%2Farticle_10eb87bc-b130-11eb-bcee-3f18b07eec11.html |url-status=live}} Lake-effect snow is characteristic of Buffalo winters, with snow bands (producing intense snowfall in the city and surrounding area) depending on wind direction off Lake Erie.{{cite journal |last1=Niziol |first1=Thomas A. |last2=Snyder |first2=Warren R. |last3=Waldstreicher |first3=Jeff S. |title=Winter Weather Forecasting throughout the Eastern United States. Part IV: Lake Effect Snow |journal=Weather and Forecasting |date=1 March 1995 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=63–66 |doi=10.1175/1520-0434(1995)010<0061:WWFTTE>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode=1995WtFor..10...61N |url=https://journals.ametsoc.org/downloadpdf/journals/wefo/2/4/1520-0434_1987_002_0310_ofoles_2_0_co_2.xml |access-date=10 May 2021 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511050301/https://journals.ametsoc.org/downloadpdf/journals/wefo/2/4/1520-0434_1987_002_0310_ofoles_2_0_co_2.pdf |url-status=live|doi-access=free }}{{open access}} However, Buffalo is rarely the snowiest city in the state.{{Cite journal |last=Blechmen |first=Jerome B. |date=1996 |title=A comparison between mean monthly temperature and mean monthly snowfall in New York State |journal=National Weather Digest |volume=20 |issue=4 |page=42 |citeseerx=10.1.1.664.7098}}{{cite web |last1=Kirst |first1=Sean |title=Golden Snowball is symbol of upstate winters. So where is it? |url=https://buffalonews.com/opinion/columnists/golden-snowball-is-symbol-of-upstate-winters-so-where-is-it/article_b008c293-d9ab-5a66-9bfd-bee74769371a.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=12 May 2021 |language=en |date=December 15, 2016 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516083007/https://subscribe.buffalonews.com/e/limit-reached-bn?returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Fbuffalonews.com%2Fopinion%2Fcolumnists%2Fgolden-snowball-is-symbol-of-upstate-winters-so-where-is-it%2Farticle_b008c293-d9ab-5a66-9bfd-bee74769371a.html |url-status=live}} The Blizzard of 1977 resulted from a combination of high winds and snow which accumulated on land and on the frozen Lake Erie.{{Cite journal |last=Dewey |first=Kenneth F. |date=December 1977 |title=Lake-effect Snowstorms and the Record Breaking 1976–77 Snowfall to the Lee of Lakes Erie and Ontario |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00431672.1977.9931836 |url-access=subscription |journal=Weatherwise |language=en |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=230–231 |doi=10.1080/00431672.1977.9931836 |bibcode=1977Weawi..30f.228D |issn=0043-1672 |access-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511050301/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00431672.1977.9931836 |url-status=live}} Although snow does not typically impair the city's operation, it can cause significant damage in autumn (as the October 2006 storm did).{{Cite journal |last=Freedman |first=Andrew |date=January 2007 |title=Anatomy of a Forecast: 'Arborgeddon' Takes Buffalo by Surprise |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/WEWI.60.4.16-21 |url-access=subscription |journal=Weatherwise |language=en |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=16–21 |doi=10.3200/WEWI.60.4.16-21 |bibcode=2007Weawi..60d..16F |s2cid=191572229 |issn=0043-1672 |access-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511050333/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/WEWI.60.4.16-21 |url-status=live}} In November 2014 (called "Snowvember"), the region had a record-breaking storm which produced over {{cvt|5+1/2|ft|in cm}} of snow.{{Cite journal |last=Vermette |first=Stephen |date=2015-07-04 |title=Enough Already! Buffalo's Snowvember |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00431672.2015.1045369 |url-access=subscription |journal=Weatherwise |language=en |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=34–39 |doi=10.1080/00431672.2015.1045369 |bibcode=2015Weawi..68d..34V |s2cid=191715976 |issn=0043-1672 |access-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511050303/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00431672.2015.1045369 |url-status=live}} Buffalo's lowest recorded temperature was {{cvt|−20|°F|0}}, which occurred twice: on February 9, 1934, and February 2, 1961.

Although the city's summers are drier and sunnier than other cities in the northeastern United States, its vegetation receives enough precipitation to remain hydrated. Buffalo summers are characterized by abundant sunshine, with moderate humidity and temperatures; the city benefits from cool, southwestern Lake Erie summer breezes which temper warmer temperatures. Temperatures rise above {{cvt|90|F|1}} an average of three times a year. No official recording of {{cvt|100|F|1}} or more has occurred to date, with a maximum temperature of {{convert|99|F}} reached on August 27, 1948.{{cite web |title=Buffalo Daily Records |url=https://www.weather.gov/buf/BUFRecords |website=National Weather Service |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=10 May 2021 |language=EN-US |archive-date=March 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329192315/https://www.weather.gov/buf/BUFRecords |url-status=live}} Rainfall is moderate, typically falling at night, and cooler lake temperatures hinder storm development in July.{{Cite book |last1=Fortner |first1=Rosanne W |url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED361227.pdf |title=The Great Lake Erie: a reference text for educators and communicators |last2=Mayer |first2=Victor J |publisher=Ohio State University Research Foundation |year=1987 |pages=41, 48 |chapter=The Effect of Lake Erie on Climate |oclc=22509849 |access-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-date=February 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217163647/http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED361227.pdf |url-status=live}}{{open access}} August is usually rainier and muggier, as the warmer lake loses its temperature-controlling ability.

{{Buffalo, New York weatherbox}}

{{Main|Demographics of Buffalo, New York}}

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible mw-collapsed" style="font-size: 90%;"

|-

! Historical Racial composition

!2020{{cite web |year=2020 |title=Buffalo city, Erie County, New York |url=https://data.indystar.com/census/total-population/total-population-change/buffalo-city-erie-county-new-york/060-3602911000/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126063236/https://data.indystar.com/census/total-population/total-population-change/buffalo-city-erie-county-new-york/060-3602911000/ |archive-date=November 26, 2021 |access-date= |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}!! 2010{{cite web |url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/3611000.html |title=Buffalo (city), New York |publisher=United States Census Bureau |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504172555/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/3611000.html |archive-date=May 4, 2014}}!! 1990{{cite web |title=Race and Hispanic Origin for Selected Cities and Other Places: Earliest Census to 1990 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812191959/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |archive-date=August 12, 2012 |url-status=dead}}!! 1970 !! 1940

|-

|White

|41.9% || 50.4% || 64.7% || 78.7% || 96.8%

|-

|—Non-Hispanic

|39.0% || 45.8% || 63.1% || n/a || n/a

|-

|African Americans

|36.9% || 38.6% || 30.7% || 20.4% || 3.1%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (of any race)

|12.8% || 10.5% || 4.9% || 1.6%{{efn|From a 15-percent sample.}} || n/a

|-

|Asian Americans

|7.6% || 3.2% || 1.0% || 0.2% || n/a

|-

| Other race

|5.3% || 3.1% || 2.8% || 0.2% || n/a

|-

|}

{{Historical populations

|type=USA

|1810 | 1508

|1820 | 2095

|1830 | 8668

|1840 | 18213

|1850 | 42261

|1860 | 81129

|1870 | 117714

|1880 | 155134

|1890 | 255664

|1900 | 352387

|1910 | 423715

|1920 | 506775

|1930 | 573076

|1940 | 575901

|1950 | 580132

|1960 | 532759

|1970 | 462768

|1980 | 357870

|1990 | 328123

|2000 | 292648

|2010 | 261310

|2020| 278349

|source = United States Census records and Population Estimates Program data.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |title=Census of Population and Housing |author1=US Census Bureau |access-date=May 8, 2021 |author-link=United States Census Bureau |archive-date=April 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426102944/http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html |url-status=live}}

}}

File:Race and ethnicity 2010- Buffalo (5559869161) (cropped).png

Several hundred Seneca, Tuscarora and other Iroquois tribal peoples were the primary residents of the Buffalo area before 1800, concentrated along Buffalo Creek.{{cite book |last1=Hauptman |first1=Laurence M. |author-link=Laurence M. Hauptman |title=Conspiracy of interests: Iroquois Dispossession and the Rise of New York State |chapter=Chapter 7: The Lake Effect |date=1999 |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0-8156-0547-8 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/conspiracyofinte0000haup/page/112/mode/2up |chapter-url-access=registration |pages=107, 111–113 |access-date=11 May 2021}} After the Revolutionary War, settlers from New England and eastern New York began to move into the area.

From the 1830s to the 1850s, they were joined by Irish and German immigrants from Europe, both peasants and working class, who settled in enclaves on the city's south and east sides. At the turn of the 20th century, Polish immigrants replaced Germans on the East Side, who moved to newer housing; Italian immigrant families settled throughout the city, primarily on the lower West Side.{{Cite book |title=High hopes: the rise and decline of Buffalo, New York |chapter=The Changing Structure of the City: Neighborhoods and the Rise of Downtown |pages=176–195 |last=Goldman |first=Mark |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1983 |isbn=9780873957342 |location=Albany, N.Y. |oclc=09110713}}

During the 1830s, Buffalo residents were generally intolerant of the small groups of Black Americans who began settling on the city's East Side.{{efn|An exception before the mid-20th century was Jewish residents of the East Side during the 1920s, although they left the neighborhood through the 1960s (Goldman 1983b, p. 215).}} In the 20th century, wartime and manufacturing jobs attracted Black Americans from the South during the First and Second Great Migrations. In the World War II and postwar years from 1940 to 1970, the city's Black population rose by 433 percent. They replaced most of the Polish community on the East Side, who were moving out to suburbs.{{cite book |last1=Tulke |first1=Julia |title=Buffalo at the crossroads: the past, present, and future of American urbanism |date=2020 |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca |isbn=9781501749797 |pages=74–75 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/2713056/pdf |url-access=subscription |access-date=11 May 2021 |chapter=Of Silo Dreams and Deviant Houses: Uneven Geographies of Abandonment in Buffalo, New York}}{{cite web |last1=Blatto |first1=Anna |title=A City Divided: A Brief History of Segregation in Buffalo |url=https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/data-demographics-history/a_city_divided__a_brief_history_of_segregation_in_the_city_of_buffalo.pdf |website=Partnership for the Public Good |access-date=9 May 2021 |pages=3, 4, 12 |date=April 2018 |url-status=live |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101064651/https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/data-demographics-history/a_city_divided__a_brief_history_of_segregation_in_the_city_of_buffalo.pdf}} However, the effects of redlining, steering,{{Cite book |title=High hopes: the rise and decline of Buffalo, New York |chapter=Praying for a Miracle |pages=267–291 |last=Goldman |first=Mark |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1983 |isbn=9780873957342 |location=Albany, N.Y. |oclc=09110713}} social inequality, blockbusting, white flight and other racial policies resulted in the city (and region) becoming one of the most segregated in the U.S.{{cite journal |last1=Yin |first1=Li |title=The Dynamics of Residential Segregation in Buffalo: An Agent-based Simulation |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098009346326 |url-access=subscription |journal=Urban Studies |date=December 2009 |volume=46 |issue=13 |page=2753 |doi=10.1177/0042098009346326 |bibcode=2009UrbSt..46.2749Y |s2cid=154853805 |access-date=June 9, 2021 |archive-date=June 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622041757/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098009346326 |url-status=live}}{{Cite book |title=Race, neighborhoods, and community power: Buffalo politics, 1934–1997 |page=1 |last=Kraus |first=Neil |date=2000 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0791447437 |location=Albany |language=en |oclc=43296770 |quote=[...] Buffalo, one of the most segregated cities in the United States.}}

During the 1940s and 1950s, Puerto Rican migrants arrived en masse, also seeking industrial jobs, settling on the East Side and moving westward.{{cite web |last1=Partnership for the Public Good |title=From Puerto Rico to Buffalo |url=https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/data-demographics-history/populations_and_cultural_groups/datademographicshistory-_from_puerto_rico_to_buffalo_pdf.pdf |website=Partnership for the Public Good |access-date=11 May 2021 |date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511050301/https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/data-demographics-history/populations_and_cultural_groups/datademographicshistory-_from_puerto_rico_to_buffalo_pdf.pdf |url-status=live}} In the 21st century, Buffalo is classified as a majority minority city, with a plurality of residents who are Black and Latino.

Buffalo has experienced effects of urban decay since the 1970s, and also saw population loss to the suburbs and Sun Belt states, and experienced job losses from deindustrialization.{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=David Maldwyn |title=New York: State and City |date=1979 |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca, N.Y. |isbn=9780801411809 |page=39 |chapter=The Peoples of New York|chapter-url=https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/2266902|chapter-url-access=subscription |access-date=May 28, 2021}} The city's population peaked at 580,132 in 1950, when Buffalo was the 15th-largest city in the United States{{snd}}down from the eighth-largest city in 1900, after its growth rate slowed during the 1920s.{{Cite book |title=High hopes: the rise and decline of Buffalo, New York |chapter=Ethnics and the Economy During World War I and the 1920s |pages=196–223 |last=Goldman |first=Mark |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1983b |isbn=9780873957342 |location=Albany, N.Y. |oclc=09110713}} Buffalo finally saw a population gain of 6.5% in the 2020 census, reversing a decades long trend of population decline. The city has 278,349 residents as of the 2020 census, making it the 76th-most populous city in the United States. Its metropolitan area had 1.1 million residents in 2020, the country's 49th-largest.

File:Ethnic Origins in Buffalo, NY.png

Compared to other major US metropolitan areas, the number of foreign-born immigrants to Buffalo is low. New immigrants are primarily resettled refugees (especially from war- or disaster-affected nations) and refugees who had previously settled in other U.S. cities.{{cite web |last1=Partnership for the Public Good |title=Immigrants, Refugees, and Languages Spoken in Buffalo |url=https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/immigration_buffalo_brief_final.pdf |website=Partnership for the Public Good |access-date=10 May 2021 |date=February 28, 2018 |archive-date=September 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926134616/https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/immigration_buffalo_brief_final.pdf |url-status=live}} During the early 2000s, most immigrants came from Canada and Yemen; this shifted in the 2010s to Burmese (Karen) refugees and Bangladeshi immigrants. Between 2008 and 2016, Burmese, Somali, Bhutanese, and Iraqi Americans were the four largest ethnic immigrant groups in Erie County.

A 2008 report noted that although food deserts were seen in larger cities and not in Buffalo, the city's neighborhoods of color have access only to smaller grocery stores and lack the supermarkets more typical of newer, white neighborhoods.{{cite journal |last1=Raja |first1=Samina |last2=Yadav |first2=Pavan |title=Beyond Food Deserts: Measuring and Mapping Racial Disparities in Neighborhood Food Environments |journal=Journal of Planning Education and Research |date=June 2008 |volume=27 |issue=4 |page=469 |doi=10.1177/0739456X08317461 |s2cid=40262352 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0739456X08317461 |url-access=subscription |access-date=9 May 2021 |archive-date=April 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414015828/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0739456X08317461 |url-status=live}} A 2018 report noted that over fifty city blocks on Buffalo's East Side lacked adequate access to a supermarket.

Health disparities exist compared to the rest of the state: Erie County's average 2019 lifespan was three years lower (78.4 years); its 17-percent smoking and 30-percent obesity rates were slightly higher than the state average.{{cite web |last1=Scanlon |first1=Scott |title=Covid-19 or not, Western New York has serious health issues |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/covid-19-or-not-western-new-york-has-serious-health-issues/article_32271838-1b7a-5d8a-a7b1-3e61626e184d.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=24 May 2021 |language=en |date=March 27, 2020 |archive-date=March 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310141425/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/covid-19-or-not-western-new-york-has-serious-health-issues/article_32271838-1b7a-5d8a-a7b1-3e61626e184d.html |url-status=live}} According to the Partnership for the Public Good, educational achievement in the city is lower than in the surrounding area; city residents are almost twice as likely as adults in the metropolitan area to lack a high-school diploma.{{cite web |author1=Partnership for the Public Good |title=Public Education In Buffalo And The Region |url=https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/education/public_education_in_buffalo_and_the_region_buffalo_brief_may_2018.pdf |website=Partnership for the Public Good |access-date=24 May 2021 |archive-date=May 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524170246/https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/education/public_education_in_buffalo_and_the_region_buffalo_brief_may_2018.pdf |url-status=live}}

{{See also|Burned-over district}}

File:Temple Beth Zion 2.jpg]]

During the early 19th century, Presbyterian missionaries tried to convert the Seneca people on the Buffalo Creek Reservation to Christianity. Initially resistant, some tribal members set aside their traditions and practices to form their own sect.{{Cite journal |last=Nicholas |first=Mark A. |title=Practicing Local Faith & Local Politics: Senecas, Presbyterianism, and A "New Indian Mission History" |date=2006 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27778719 |journal=Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies |volume=73 |issue=1 |pages=69–72 |doi=10.2307/pennhistory.73.1.0069 |jstor=27778719 |s2cid=157731538 |issn=0031-4528 |access-date=May 8, 2021 |archive-date=May 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508225417/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27778719 |url-status=live}} Later, European immigrants added other faiths. Christianity is the predominant religion in Buffalo and Western New York. Catholicism (primarily the Latin Church) has a significant presence in the region, with 161 parishes and over 570,000 adherents in the Diocese of Buffalo.{{cite web |last1=Herbeck |first1=Dan |author-link=Dan Herbeck |title=Facing huge debts, Buffalo Diocese studies possible mergers of churches, schools |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/education/facing-huge-debts-buffalo-diocese-studies-possible-mergers-of-churches-schools/article_e0b46896-069b-5d92-b2a4-d82d3b4e56e3.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=21 May 2021 |language=en |date=May 23, 2020 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522000252/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/education/facing-huge-debts-buffalo-diocese-studies-possible-mergers-of-churches-schools/article_e0b46896-069b-5d92-b2a4-d82d3b4e56e3.html |url-status=live}} {{Update after|2022|reason=New survey releases|text=Major Protestant denominations in the area include Lutheran, Baptist, and Methodist. Pentecostals are also significant, and approximately 20,000 persons are non-denominational adherents.}}{{cite book |title=2010 U.S. religion census: religious congregations & membership study: an enumeration by nation, state, and county based on data reported for 236 religious groups |date=2012 |publisher=Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies |location=Kansas City, Mo. |isbn=978-0615623443 |page=397}}

A Jewish community began developing in the city with immigrants from the mid-1800s; about one thousand German and Lithuanian Jews settled in Buffalo before 1880. Buffalo's first synagogue, Temple Beth El, was established in 1847.{{cite book |last1=Kotzin |first1=Chana Revell |title=Jewish community of Greater Buffalo |date=2013 |pages=12–16 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-1-4671-2006-7}} The city's Temple Beth Zion is the region's largest synagogue.{{cite web |last1=Watson |first1=Stephen T. |title=Synagogues in Buffalo, Ontario plan online Shabbat service |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/synagogues-in-buffalo-ontario-plan-online-shabbat-service/article_fa32bebb-b0d8-54bb-b982-f82d8cc71be1.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=21 May 2021 |language=en |date=March 27, 2020 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522000250/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/synagogues-in-buffalo-ontario-plan-online-shabbat-service/article_fa32bebb-b0d8-54bb-b982-f82d8cc71be1.html |url-status=live}}

With changing demographics and an increased number of refugees from other areas on the city's East Side,{{cite web |last1=Reinl |first1=James |title=Muslim refugees in Buffalo defy stereotypes |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/muslim-refugees-buffalo-defy-stereotypes |website=Middle East Eye |access-date=22 May 2021 |language=en |date=February 2, 2016 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522045741/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/muslim-refugees-buffalo-defy-stereotypes |url-status=live}} Islam and Buddhism have expanded their presence. In this area, new residents have converted empty churches into mosques and Buddhist temples.{{cite web |last1=Krishna |first1=Ashima |title=A new solution for America's empty churches: A change of faith |url=https://theconversation.com/a-new-solution-for-americas-empty-churches-a-change-of-faith-121726 |website=The Conversation |access-date=22 May 2021 |language=en |date=August 30, 2019 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522045741/http://theconversation.com/a-new-solution-for-americas-empty-churches-a-change-of-faith-121726 |url-status=live}} Hinduism maintains a small, active presence in the area, including the town of Amherst.{{cite web |last1=Neville |first1=Anne |title=Hindu festival honoring Lord Ganesha is new beginning of welcoming community |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/hindu-festival-honoring-lord-ganesha-is-new-beginning-of-welcoming-community/article_e4dc8d42-add4-5348-92b5-3f844d76dd69.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=22 May 2021 |language=en |date=September 8, 2019 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522045740/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/hindu-festival-honoring-lord-ganesha-is-new-beginning-of-welcoming-community/article_e4dc8d42-add4-5348-92b5-3f844d76dd69.html |url-status=live}}

A 2016 American Bible Society survey reported that Buffalo is the fifth-least "Bible-minded" city in the United States; 13 percent of its residents associate with the Bible.{{cite web |last1=Keenan |first1=John |title=Where is the world's most 'godless' city? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/dec/07/where-world-godless-city-religion-atheist |website=The Guardian |access-date=22 May 2021 |language=en |date=2016-12-07 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522163555/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/dec/07/where-world-godless-city-religion-atheist |url-status=live}}

{{main|Economy of Buffalo, New York}}

{|class="wikitable" style="float:left; font-size:90%; text-align:center; margin:1em;"

|+Top private-sector Buffalo area employers, 2020
Source: Invest Buffalo Niagara{{cite web |title=Major Employers |url=https://buffaloniagara.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Major-Employer_OneSheet-01_29_20.pdf |website=Invest Buffalo Niagara |access-date=12 May 2021 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516083005/https://buffaloniagara.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Major-Employer_OneSheet-01_29_20.pdf |url-status=live}}

|-

!Rank !! Employer !! Employees

|-

| 1||Kaleida Health||8,359

|-

| 2||Catholic Health||7,623

|-

| 3||M&T Bank||7,400

|-

| 4||Tops Friendly Markets||5,374

|-

| 5||Seneca Gaming Corp.||3,402

|-

| 6||Roswell Park Cancer Institute||3,328

|-

| 7||GEICO||3,250

|-

| 8||Wegmans||3,102

|-

| 9||HSBC Bank USA||3,000

|-

| 10||General Motors||2,981

|}

The Erie Canal was the impetus for Buffalo's economic growth as a transshipment hub for grain and other agricultural products headed east from the Midwest. Later, manufacturing of steel and automotive parts became central to the city's economy. When these industries downsized in the region, Buffalo's economy became service-based. Its primary sectors include health care, business services (banking, accounting, and insurance), retail, tourism and logistics, especially with Canada.{{cite web |title=Buffalo Metro Economic Indicators |url=https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/regional_economy/charts/Regional_Buffalo |website=Federal Reserve Bank of New York |access-date=26 May 2021 |date=2020 |archive-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526020542/https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/regional_economy/charts/Regional_Buffalo |url-status=live}} Despite the loss of large-scale manufacturing, some manufacturing of metals, chemicals, machinery, food products, and electronics remains in the region. Advanced manufacturing has increased, with an emphasis on research and development (R&D) and automation.{{cite web |author1=University at Buffalo Regional Institute |title=Buffalo Niagara Labor Market Assessment 2017 |pages=6–11, 22–27 |url=https://regional-institute.buffalo.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/155/2020/11/LOWSingles_LMA17_WhosOurEconomy.pdf |website=University at Buffalo Regional Institute |publisher=Invest Buffalo Niagara |access-date=12 May 2021 |date=2017 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516083004/https://regional-institute.buffalo.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/155/2020/11/LOWSingles_LMA17_WhosOurEconomy.pdf |url-status=live}} In 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis valued the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls MSA at $53 billion (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=53000000000|start_year=2019}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).{{Cite web |title=GDP by County, Metro, and Other Areas |url=https://www.bea.gov/data/by-place-county-metro-local |url-status=live |access-date=May 5, 2021 |publisher=Bureau of Economic Analysis |archive-date=January 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115222144/https://www.bea.gov/data/by-place-county-metro-local}}

The civic sector is a major source of employment in the Buffalo area, and includes public, non-profit, healthcare and educational institutions.{{cite web |last1=Ksiazek |first1=Kristin |last2=Weaver |first2=Rusty |last3=Magavern |first3=Sam |title=Distinguishing The Social Sector: A Buffalo-Niagara Labor Market Study |pages=4–5 |url=https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/economic_development/distinguishing_the_social_sector.pdf |website=Partnership for the Public Good |access-date=12 May 2021 |date=September 19, 2019 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516083005/https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/economic_development/distinguishing_the_social_sector.pdf |url-status=live}} New York State, with over 19,000 employees, is the region's largest employer.{{cite web |last1=Lane |first1=Paul |title=Government dominates largest Buffalo employers list |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2020/01/25/government-dominates-largest-buffalo-employers.html |url-access=limited |website=Buffalo Business First |publisher=American City Business Journals |access-date=12 May 2021 |date=January 25, 2020 |archive-date=January 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120230121/https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2020/01/25/government-dominates-largest-buffalo-employers.html |url-status=live}} In the private sector, top employers include the Kaleida Health and Catholic Health hospital networks and M&T Bank, the sole Fortune 500 company headquartered in the city.{{cite web |last1=Glynn |first1=Matt |title=M&T Bank drops six spots to No. 444 on Fortune 500 |url=https://buffalonews.com/business/local/m-t-bank-drops-six-spots-to-no-444-on-fortune-500/article_920d429c-c92a-11eb-94e5-93573504c769.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=9 June 2021 |language=en |date=June 9, 2021 |archive-date=June 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609185351/https://buffalonews.com/business/local/m-t-bank-drops-six-spots-to-no-444-on-fortune-500/article_920d429c-c92a-11eb-94e5-93573504c769.html |url-status=live}} Most have been the top employers in the region for several decades.{{cite book |title=City on the edge: Buffalo, New York |at=chpt. 14 |last=Goldman |first=Mark |date=2007 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=9781591024576 |location=Amherst, N.Y. |oclc=74648927}} Buffalo is home to the headquarters of Rich Products, Delaware North and New Era Cap Company; the aerospace manufacturer Moog Inc. and toy maker Fisher-Price are based in nearby East Aurora. National Fuel Gas and Life Storage are headquartered in Williamsville, New York.

Buffalo weathered the Great Recession of 2006–09 well in comparison with other U.S. cities, exemplified by increased home prices during this time.{{cite web |last1=Abel |first1=Jaison R. |title=The Buffalo Economy Since the Great Recession |page=13 |url=https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/regional_economy/presentations/Abel_Buffalo-Since-the-Great-Recession_09-26-2019 |date=September 26, 2019 |website=Federal Reserve Bank of New York |access-date=12 May 2021 |archive-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321141303/https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/regional_economy/presentations/Abel_Buffalo-Since-the-Great-Recession_09-26-2019 |url-status=live}} The region's economy began to improve in the early 2010s, adding over 25,000 jobs from 2009 to 2017. With state aid, Tesla, Inc.'s Giga New York plant opened in South Buffalo in 2017.{{cite web |last1=McKinley |first1=Jesse |author-link=Jesse McKinley |title=Cuomo's 'Buffalo Billion': Is New York Getting Its Money's Worth? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/02/nyregion/cuomo-buffalo-billion-ny-kaloyeros.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=12 May 2021 |date=2 July 2018 |archive-date=May 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508013830/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/02/nyregion/cuomo-buffalo-billion-ny-kaloyeros.html |url-status=live}} The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, however, increased the local unemployment rate to 7.5 percent by December 2020.{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=David |title=Buffalo Niagara jobless rate rises to 7.5% as orange zone limits take a toll |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/buffalo-niagara-jobless-rate-rises-to-7-5-as-orange-zone-limits-take-a-toll/article_72a8d75a-6015-11eb-b1e3-37ec275b9461.html |url-access = limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=12 May 2021 |language=en |date=January 26, 2021 |archive-date=March 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317185343/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/buffalo-niagara-jobless-rate-rises-to-7-5-as-orange-zone-limits-take-a-toll/article_72a8d75a-6015-11eb-b1e3-37ec275b9461.html |url-status=live}} The local unemployment rate had been 4.2 percent in 2019,{{cite web |title=Bureau of Labor Statistics Data: Local Area Unemployment Statistics |url=https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LAUMT361538000000003?output_view=data&include_graphs=true |website=Bureau of Labor Statistics |access-date=12 May 2021 |language=en-us |archive-date=March 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319022552/https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LAUMT361538000000003?amp%253bdata_tool=XGtable&output_view=data&include_graphs=true |url-status=live}} higher than the national average of 3.5 percent.{{cite journal |last1=Edwards |first1=Roxanna |last2=Smith |first2=Sean M. |title=Job market remains tight in 2019, as the unemployment rate falls to its lowest level since 1969 |url=https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2020/article/job-market-remains-tight-in-2019-as-the-unemployment-rate-falls-to-its-lowest-level-since-1969.htm |journal=Monthly Labor Review |access-date=12 May 2021 |language=en-us |doi=10.21916/mlr.2020.8 |date=28 April 2020 |archive-date=May 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501210802/https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2020/article/job-market-remains-tight-in-2019-as-the-unemployment-rate-falls-to-its-lowest-level-since-1969.htm |url-status=live |doi-access=free}}

File:Shea’s Buffalo Theater, Main Street, Buffalo, NY.jpg]]

Buffalo is home to over 20 theater companies, with many centered in the downtown Theatre District.{{cite web |last1=Healy |first1=Ed |title=Buffalo, NY Theatres |url=https://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/itinerary/theater/ |website=Visit Buffalo Niagara |access-date=22 May 2021 |language=en |archive-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122134106/https://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/itinerary/theater/ |url-status=live}} Shea's Performing Arts Center is the city's largest theater. Designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and built in 1926, the theater presents Broadway musicals and concerts.{{Cite news |last=Healy |first=Patrick |date=December 23, 2011 |title=Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/24/theater/sheas-performing-arts-center-in-buffalo.html |url-status=live |access-date=September 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151013095812/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/24/theater/sheas-performing-arts-center-in-buffalo.html |archive-date=October 13, 2015 |issn=0362-4331}} Shakespeare in Delaware Park has been held outdoors every summer since 1976.{{cite web |last1=Bond |first1=Francesca |title=Going backstage - and on stage - at Shakespeare in Delaware Park |url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/going-backstage---and-on-stage---at-shakespeare-in-delaware-park/article_4b8a42fc-8052-58ec-a41a-69b1759d9b57.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=22 May 2021 |language=en |date=July 9, 2019 |archive-date=March 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310222306/https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/going-backstage---and-on-stage---at-shakespeare-in-delaware-park/article_4b8a42fc-8052-58ec-a41a-69b1759d9b57.html |url-status=live}} and {{cite web |title=History – Shakespeare in Delaware Park |url=https://shakespeareindelawarepark.org/history/ |website=Shakespeare in Delaware Park |access-date=22 May 2021 |archive-date=May 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524170347/https://shakespeareindelawarepark.org/history/ |url-status=live}}

Stand-up comedy can be found throughout the city and is anchored by Helium Comedy Club, which hosts both local talent and national touring acts.

The Nickel City Opera (also known as NC Opera Buffalo and NCO) is an opera company{{cite news| author=Opera America| title=Nickel City Opera| url=https://www.operaamerica.org/membership-directory/16854/Nickel_City_Opera | work=Opera America| date=March 17, 2004 | access-date=January 5, 2025}} based in Buffalo.{{cite news| author=Mary Kunz Goldman | title=Opera on the upswing; while other opera companies are floundering, NC Opera Buffalo flourishes by thinking outside the box | url=https://buffalonews.com/news/opera-on-the-upswing-while-other-opera-companies-are-floundering-nickel-city-opera-flourishes-by/article_584617c5-0047-5b33-b3fa-79df3433f4aa.html | work=The Buffalo News | date=June 21, 2011 | access-date=January 2, 2012}}{{cite news| author=Mike Randall | title=New opera will appeal to local history buffs | url=https://www.wkbw.com/news/new-opera-will-appeal-to-local-history-buffs | work= wkbw.com | date=June 8, 2016 | access-date=January 8, 2025}} It was founded in 2004 by Valerian Ruminski.{{cite news| author=The Public Staff | title=Spotlight: Valerian Ruminski of Nickel City Opera

| url=https://www.dailypublic.com/articles/11072017/spotlight-valerian-ruminski-nickel-city-opera | work=dailypublic.com | date=8 November 2017| access-date=1 March 2025}}{{cite news| last=Randall |first=Mike | title=Nickel City Opera opens 14th season with Rossini's 'The Barber of Seville' | url=https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/nickel-city-opera-opens-14th-season-with-rossinis-the-barber-of-seville | work=Niagara Gazette | date=21 June 2023 | access-date=28 February 2025}}{{cite news| last=Jezioro |first=Jan | title=Classically Speaking / Nickel City Opera Bounces Back

| url=https://www.buffalospree.com/arts_entertainment/classically-speaking-nickel-city-opera-bounces-back/article_1920d898-1598-5ca7-bf7b-78f3205f9cf9.html | work=buffalospree.com | date=30 April 2019 | access-date=1 March 2025}} and operated between 2009 and 2024. The Nickel City Opera|NCO has collaborated with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra,{{cite news| title=Spotlight: Valerian Ruminski of Nickel City Opera | url=https://www.dailypublic.com/articles/11072017/spotlight-valerian-ruminski-nickel-city-opera | work=dailypublic.com | date=November 8, 2017 | access-date=January 2, 2025}}{{cite news| author=Bracely Dawn | title=Classical: Continued success for BPO, Nickel City Opera | url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/nickel-city-opera-on-a-what-else-5-year-winning-streak/article_fb799bbf-fa1b-5cdb-bd99-16d8628ad99a.html | work=buffalonews.com | date=February 16, 2016 | access-date=January 15, 2017}} has commissioned an opera and staged operatic works.{{cite news| author=Frank Housh | title=Nickel City Opera presents Verdi's 'Rigoletto'| url=https://www.buffalospree.com/arts_entertainment/music/sotto-voce-vocal-collective-s-the-second-sight/article_89d282a6-d828-11eb-a1bb-13e6e256a7e7.html| work=discoverupstateny.com | date=January 22, 2022 | access-date=July 29, 2024}}{{cite news| author=Frank Housh | title=Sotto Voce Vocal Collective's The Second Sight | url=https://www.buffalospree.com/arts_entertainment/music/sotto-voce-vocal-collective-s-the-second-sight/article_89d282a6-d828-11eb-a1bb-13e6e256a7e7.html| work=buffalospree.com | date=January 28, 2022 | access-date=February 17, 2025}} Matthias Manasi was music director of Nickel City Opera from 2017 to 2021,{{cite news| author=Sabrina Kahwaty | title=Former NCO Conductor Shines On | url=https://digital.buffalospree.com/buffalospree/library/item/january_february_2024/4160054/?fbclid=IwAR11L01P30Hx7sqh8M8wCMnQrh35MsBJ6an32iPVT1NvukGZvzRqTm6P6oQl | work=digital.buffalospree.com | date=December 29, 2023 | access-date=December 31, 2023}}{{cite news| author=The Am-Pol Eagle| title=Manasi to leave the NCO | url=https://ampoleagle.com/manasi-to-leave-the-nco-p15420-112.htm | work=ampoleagle.com| date=June 18, 2021 | access-date=September 7, 2023}} his predecessor Michael Ching was music director of NCO from 2012 to 2017.{{cite news| author=Raymond Elman | title=Michael Ching: From Opera to Opry | url=https://artspeak.fiu.edu/interviews/michael-ching/ | work=ArtSpeak | date=January 2, 2023 | access-date=December 27, 2024}}{{cite news| author=Bruce Duffie | title=Composer / Conductor / Administrator Michael Ching

| url=https://www.bruceduffie.com/ching.html | work=bruceduffie.com | date=March 31, 2000 | access-date=March 12, 2025}}

Shea's Performing Arts Center was designed by the well-known Chicago firm Rapp and Rapp.{{cite news| author=Jeff Schober | title=The majesty of Shea's Performing Arts Center: what you've never known before | url=https://www.buffalotales.net/post/the-majesty-of-shea-s-performing-arts-center-what-you-ve-never-known-before | work=buffalotales.net | date=March 16, 2021 | access-date=June 12, 2023}} The opera house was modeled in the style of European operahouses and decorated in a combination of French and Spanish Baroque and Rococo styles.{{cite news| author=Chuck LaChiusa | title=2014 Restored Auditorium Shea's Buffalo Theatre / Shea's Performing Arts Center | url=https://buffaloah.com/a/main/646/14aud/14aud.html| work=buffaloah.com | date=August 2, 2014 | access-date=June 27, 2018}} The interior design was designed by the designer and artist Louis Comfort Tiffany, and many of its elements are still there today.{{cite news| author=Jana Eisenberg | title=Buffalo Architectural Spotlight: Shea's Performing Arts Center | url=https://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/buffalo-architectural-spotlight-sheas-performing-arts-center/ | work=visitbufalloniagara.com | date=April 4, 2018 | access-date=July 16, 2018}} Originally there were nearly 4,000 seats, but in the 1930s the number of seats was reduced to the current number of 3,019 seats last but not least to increase the place for the orchestra by increasing the size of the orchestra pit.{{cite news| author=OrangeSmile | title=Shea's Buffalo Theatre, United States| url=https://www.orangesmile.com/extreme/en/rococo-monuments/sheas-buffalo-theatre.htm | work=orangesmile.com | date=January 2, 2024| access-date=January 30, 2024}}

File:Kleinhans buffalo.jpg]]

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra was formed in 1935 and performs at Kleinhans Music Hall, whose acoustics have been praised.{{cite web |last1=Rothstein |first1=Edward |author-link=Edward Rothstein |title=If Music Is the Architect ... |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/22/arts/if-music-is-the-architect.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=16 May 2021 |date=22 May 2004 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126143253/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/22/arts/if-music-is-the-architect.html |url-status=live}} Although the orchestra nearly disbanded during the late 1990s due to a lack of funding, philanthropic contributions and state aid stabilized it.{{Cite news |last=Woolfe |first=Zachary |date=2016-10-25 |title=Buffalo Philharmonic, Once Languishing, Has Come a Long Way |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/arts/music/buffalo-philharmonic-once-languishing-has-come-a-long-way-joann-falletta.html |access-date=2021-05-06 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126205936/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/arts/music/buffalo-philharmonic-once-languishing-has-come-a-long-way-joann-falletta.html |url-status=live}} Under the direction of JoAnn Falletta, the orchestra has received a number of Grammy Award nominations and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2009.{{Cite web |last=Ruberto |first=Toni |date=November 25, 2020 |title=Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra earns three Grammy nominations |url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/music/buffalo-philharmonic-orchestra-earns-three-grammy-nominations/article_61aed28e-2f27-11eb-8994-7bdbb4300f7f.html |url-access = limited |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=The Buffalo News |language=en |archive-date=December 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212124419/https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/music/buffalo-philharmonic-orchestra-earns-three-grammy-nominations/article_61aed28e-2f27-11eb-8994-7bdbb4300f7f.html}}

KeyBank Center draws national music acts year-round. Sahlen Field hosts the annual WYRK Taste of Country music festival every summer with national country music acts. Canalside regularly hosts outdoor summer concerts, a tradition that spun off from the defunct Thursday at the Square concert series.{{cite web |last1=Preval |first1=Jeff |title=Outer Harbor amphitheater would replace concert venue at Canalside |url=https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/outer-harbor-amphitheater-would-replace-concert-venue-at-canalside/71-23a2a937-22ba-4ddf-93d8-e418ed8df5b9 |website=WGRZ |publisher=Tegna Inc. |access-date=22 June 2021 |date=May 18, 2021}} Colored Musicians Club, an extension of what was a separate musicians'-union chapter, maintains jazz history.{{Cite web |last=Mason |first=Pete |date=February 18, 2021 |title=Buffalo's Colored Musicians Club: the Last Venue of its Kind - NYS Music |url=https://nysmusic.com/2021/02/18/buffalos-colored-musicians-club-the-last-venue-of-its-kind/ |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=NYSMusic.com |language=en-US |archive-date=February 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218150046/https://nysmusic.com/2021/02/18/buffalos-colored-musicians-club-the-last-venue-of-its-kind/}}

Rick James was born and raised in Buffalo and later lived on a ranch in the nearby Town of Aurora.{{Cite web |last=Continelli |first=Louise |date=September 15, 1996 |title=Rick James adored by the famous and obscure, Buffalo's celebrated son mirrors the America cracked tragedy |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/rick-james-adored-by-the-famous-and-obscure-buffalos-celebrated-son-mirrors-the-america-cracked/article_d84ba4cf-6a69-5c78-a83d-b1a3ba4730a6.html |url-access = limited |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=The Buffalo News |language=en |archive-date=March 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210315233535/https://buffalonews.com/news/rick-james-adored-by-the-famous-and-obscure-buffalos-celebrated-son-mirrors-the-america-cracked/article_d84ba4cf-6a69-5c78-a83d-b1a3ba4730a6.html}} James formed his Stone City Band in Buffalo, and had national appeal with several crossover singles in the R&B, disco and funk genres in the late 1970s and early 1980s.{{Cite web |last=Miers |first=Jeff |date=August 13, 2014 |title=Considering the musical legacy of Rick James in Buffalo |url=https://buffalonews.com/opinion/columnists/considering-the-musical-legacy-of-rick-james-in-buffalo/article_0d0fe32e-44d6-5348-9c01-4d8265eb6259.html |url-access = limited |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=The Buffalo News |language=en |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506221141/https://subscribe.buffalonews.com/e/limit-reached-bn?returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Fbuffalonews.com%2Fopinion%2Fcolumnists%2Fconsidering-the-musical-legacy-of-rick-james-in-buffalo%2Farticle_0d0fe32e-44d6-5348-9c01-4d8265eb6259.html}} Around the same time, the jazz fusion band Spyro Gyra and jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. also got their start in the city.{{Cite web |last=Bialczak |first=Mark |date=2009-06-21 |title=Spyro Gyra remembers the days when Syracuse was Buffalo-extended for them (song) |url=https://www.syracuse.com/listenup/2009/06/spyro_gyra_remembers_the_days.html |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=syracuse.com |publisher=Advance Publications |language=en |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506221140/https://www.syracuse.com/listenup/2009/06/spyro_gyra_remembers_the_days.html}}{{Cite web |last=Lippa |first=Nick |date=October 13, 2020 |title=Grover Washington Jr. mural brings a little Mister Magic to Buffalo's East Side |url=https://news.wbfo.org/post/grover-washington-jr-mural-brings-little-mister-magic-buffalos-east-side |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=WBFO |language=en |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116023625/https://news.wbfo.org/post/grover-washington-jr-mural-brings-little-mister-magic-buffalos-east-side}}

The Goo Goo Dolls, an alternative rock group which formed in 1986, had 19 top-ten singles. Singer-songwriter and activist Ani DiFranco has released over 20 folk and indie rock albums on Righteous Babe Records, her Buffalo-based label.{{Cite web |last=Glor |first=Jeff |author-link=Jeff Glor |date=February 20, 2021 |title=Ani DiFranco on new album "Revolutionary Love," career and marriage |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ani-difranco-album-revolutionary-love-career-marriage/ |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=CBS News |language=en |archive-date=March 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320023136/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ani-difranco-album-revolutionary-love-career-marriage/}}

Underground hip-hop acts in the city partner with Buffalo-based Griselda Records, whose artists include Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, and Benny the Butcher, who all occasionally refer to Buffalo culture in their lyrics.{{Cite news |last=Kelley |first=Frannie |date=December 19, 2019 |title=Griselda Set Out To Be Your Favorite Rapper's Favorite Rappers. It's Paying Off |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/12/19/789690521/griselda-records-puts-buffalo-hip-hop-on-the-map |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=NPR |language=en |archive-date=December 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219025830/https://www.npr.org/2019/12/19/789690521/griselda-records-puts-buffalo-hip-hop-on-the-map}}

File:Buffalo - Wings at Airport Anchor Bar.jpg and blue cheese]]

The city's cuisine encompasses a variety of cultures and ethnicities. In 2015, the National Geographic Society ranked Buffalo third on its "World's Top Ten Food Cities" list.{{cite web |date=February 2015 |title=The World's Top Ten Food Cities |url=http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/top-10/food-cities/ |url-access=registration |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811031914/http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/top-10/food-cities |archive-date=August 11, 2015 |access-date=July 30, 2015 |work=National Geographic}} Teressa Bellissimo first prepared Buffalo wings (seasoned chicken wings) at the Anchor Bar in 1964.{{Cite magazine |last=Trillin |first=Calvin |author-link=Calvin Trillin |date=August 25, 1980 |title=An attempt to compile the short history of the Buffalo chicken wing |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1980/08/25/an-attempt-to-compile-a-short-history-of-the-buffalo-chicken-wing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140216095046/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1980/08/25/1980_08_25_082_TNY_CARDS_000331411?currentPage=1 |archive-date=February 16, 2014 |access-date=2021-05-06 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}} and {{cite web |last1=Galarneau |first1=Andrew Z. |date=May 2, 2014 |title=At 50, the Buffalo-style chicken wing has conquered the world |url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/dining/at-50-the-buffalo-style-chicken-wing-has-conquered-the-world/article_a270a770-adcd-50d9-a362-3c50a0b71752.html |url-access = limited |access-date=7 May 2021 |website=The Buffalo News |language=en |archive-date=March 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309172247/https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/dining/at-50-the-buffalo-style-chicken-wing-has-conquered-the-world/article_a270a770-adcd-50d9-a362-3c50a0b71752.html |url-status=live}} The Anchor Bar has a crosstown rivalry with Duff's Famous Wings, but Buffalo wings are served at many bars and restaurants throughout the city (some with unique cooking styles and flavor profiles).{{Cite web |last=Delany |first=Alex |date=July 30, 2018 |title=Who Serves the Best Wings in Buffalo? I Ate at 12 Spots to Find Out |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/story/best-wings-in-buffalo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205152158/https://www.bonappetit.com/story/best-wings-in-buffalo |archive-date=February 5, 2021 |access-date=2021-05-05 |website=Bon Appétit |publisher=Condé Nast |language=en-US}}{{cite book |last1=Bovino |first1=Arthur |title=Buffalo Everything: A Guide to Eating in "The Nickel City" |date=2018 |publisher=The Countryman Press |isbn=978-1-68268-123-7 |language=en |pages=19–108 |chapter=Buffalo Wings in Buffalo: A World of Difference in Wings |quote=For the record, Duff's beat Anchor on Travel Channel's Food Wars in 2010, and when President Obama visited the city, he visited Duff's [...].}} Buffalo wings are traditionally served with blue cheese dressing and celery. In 2003, the Anchor Bar received a James Beard Foundation Award in the America's Classics category.{{cite web |last1=Swanson |first1=Stevenson |title=Star grazing |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2003-05-14-0305140118-story.html |website=Chicago Tribune |access-date=16 May 2021 |date=May 14, 2003 |archive-date=May 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523163644/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2003-05-14-0305140118-story.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}

The Buffalo area has over 600 pizzerias, estimated at more per capita than New York City.{{cite book |last1=Bovino |first1=Arthur |title=Buffalo Everything: A Guide to Eating in "The Nickel City" |date=2018 |publisher=The Countryman Press |isbn=978-1-68268-123-7 |pages=109–111 |language=en |chapter=Buffalo: America's Most Underrated Pizza City?}} Several craft breweries began opening in the 1990s, and the city's last call is 4 am.{{cite book |last1=Bovino |first1=Arthur |title=Buffalo Everything: A Guide to Eating in "The Nickel City" |date=2018 |publisher=The Countryman Press |isbn=978-1-68268-123-7 |language=en |pages=303–330 |chapter=Boozing Up Buffalo: Last Call, 4 AM}} Other mainstays of Buffalo cuisine include beef on weck, butter lambs,{{Cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Elizabeth |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/26419 |title=New York State Folklife Reader: Diverse Voices |last2=McHale |first2=Ellen |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-62103-967-9 |location=Jackson |pages=235–237 |chapter=Foodways|chapter-url=https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/956402 |access-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510141803/https://muse.jhu.edu/book/26419 |url-status=live}} kielbasa, pierogi, sponge candy,{{cite web |last1=Fink |first1=James |title=Sweet deal: How Ted Marks grew Fowler's Chocolates |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2019/09/27/sweet-deal-how-ted-marks-grew-fowlers-chocolates.html |url-access=limited |website=Buffalo Business First |publisher=American City Business Journals |access-date=10 May 2021 |date=September 27, 2019 |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510141724/https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2019/09/27/sweet-deal-how-ted-marks-grew-fowlers-chocolates.html |url-status=live}} and {{cite web |last1=Carey |first1=Elizabeth |title=Buffalo sponge candy makes national TV |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/blog/stay_tuned/2011/02/buffalo-sponge-candy-makes-national-tv.html |url-access=limited |website=Buffalo Business First |publisher=American City Business Journals |access-date=10 May 2021 |date=February 22, 2011 |archive-date=February 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225154406/http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/blog/stay_tuned/2011/02/buffalo-sponge-candy-makes-national-tv.html |url-status=live}} chicken finger subs (including the stinger - a version that also includes steak), and the fish fry (popular any time of year, but especially during Lent).{{cite book |last1=Bovino |first1=Arthur |title=Buffalo Everything: A Guide to Eating in "The Nickel City" |date=2018 |publisher=The Countryman Press |isbn=978-1-68268-123-7 |language=en |pages=197–202 |chapter=Buffalo is Just One Big Fish Fry}} With an influx of refugees and other immigrants to Buffalo, its number of ethnic restaurants (including the West Side Bazaar kitchen incubator) has increased.{{Cite web |last=Tsujimoto |first=Ben |date=October 10, 2019 |title=Buffalo ethnic food incubator West Side Bazaar picks new location |url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/dining/buffalo-ethnic-food-incubator-west-side-bazaar-picks-new-location/article_2cfdf357-4fc8-58be-97c5-6d46fb524f19.html |url-access = limited |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-05 |website=The Buffalo News |language=en |archive-date=April 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210407232440/https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/dining/buffalo-ethnic-food-incubator-west-side-bazaar-picks-new-location/article_2cfdf357-4fc8-58be-97c5-6d46fb524f19.html}}{{cite book |last1=Bovino |first1=Arthur |title=Buffalo Everything: A Guide to Eating in "The Nickel City" |date=2018 |publisher=The Countryman Press |isbn=978-1-68268-123-7 |language=en |pages=273–302 |chapter=Eating Out in Buffalo: Beyond Wings, Weck, and Pizza}} Some restaurants use food trucks to serve customers, and nearly fifty food trucks appeared at Larkin Square in 2019.{{cite web |last1=Tsujimoto |first1=Ben |title=In the Buffalo area's crowded food truck landscape, why do new trucks open? |url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/dining/in-the-buffalo-areas-crowded-food-truck-landscape-why-do-new-trucks-open/article_1106df93-d279-5775-ba30-dd21b74f3d44.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=25 May 2021 |language=en |date=May 9, 2019 |archive-date=May 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525025407/https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/dining/in-the-buffalo-areas-crowded-food-truck-landscape-why-do-new-trucks-open/article_1106df93-d279-5775-ba30-dd21b74f3d44.html |url-status=live}}

{{See also|List of festivals in Buffalo, New York}}

File:Albright-Knox Art Gallery 2.jpg]]

Buffalo was ranked the seventh-best city in the United States to visit in 2021 by Travel + Leisure, which noted the growth and potential of the city's cultural institutions.{{cite web |last1=Bay |first1=Scott |title=50 Best Places to Travel in 2021 for a Much-needed Vacation |url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/best-places-to-travel-in-2021 |website=Travel + Leisure |access-date=16 May 2021 |language=en |date=September 18, 2020 |archive-date=May 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515011537/https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/best-places-to-travel-in-2021 |url-status=live}} The Albright–Knox Art Gallery is a modern and contemporary art museum with a collection of more than 8,000 works, of which only two percent are on display.{{Cite web |last=Sommer |first=Mark |date=November 22, 2019 |title=Albright-Knox expansion kicks off with $10M more from Gundlach |url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/albright-knox-expansion-kicks-off-with-10m-more-from-gundlach/article_614ea763-3d94-5721-a628-1f7bddf9231a.html |url-access = limited |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=The Buffalo News |language=en |archive-date=September 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925230824/https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/albright-knox-expansion-kicks-off-with-10m-more-from-gundlach/article_614ea763-3d94-5721-a628-1f7bddf9231a.html}} With a donation from Jeffrey Gundlach, a three-story addition designed by the Dutch architectural firm OMA opened June 2023 .{{Cite web |date=May 8, 2023 |title=AKG Art Museum to open to the public today |url=https://www.wgrz.com/article/entertainment/akg-opening-approaching-buffalo-art-museum/71-00d1b80a-0f61-4ec0-bc2f-823ea7e24228 |url-access=limited |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=WGRZ |language=en}} Across the street, the Burchfield Penney Art Center contains paintings by Charles E. Burchfield and is operated by Buffalo State College.{{Cite news |last=Kennicott |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Kennicott |title=Perspective {{!}} I grew up in Upstate New York. It took the art of Charles Burchfield to help me rediscover the beauty of its winters.|date=January 2, 2020|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/i-grew-up-in-upstate-new-york-it-took-the-art-of-charles-burchfield-to-help-me-rediscover-the-beauty-of-its-winters/2020/01/01/3bcdd438-2b46-11ea-bcd4-24597950008f_story.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2021-05-06|issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=November 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119065958/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/i-grew-up-in-upstate-new-york-it-took-the-art-of-charles-burchfield-to-help-me-rediscover-the-beauty-of-its-winters/2020/01/01/3bcdd438-2b46-11ea-bcd4-24597950008f_story.html |url-status=live}} Buffalo is home to the Freedom Wall, a 2017 art installation commemorating civil-rights activists throughout history.{{cite journal |last1=Quaintance |first1=Hannah |title=The Freedom Wall: Public Art and Negotiations of African American Heritage in Buffalo, New York. |journal=Future Anterior |date=2018 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=16–29 |url=https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/724542 |access-date=10 May 2021 |publisher=Project MUSE |archive-date=August 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814151128/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/724542 |url-status=live}} Near both museums is the Buffalo History Museum, featuring artwork, literature and exhibits related to the city's history and major events, and the Buffalo Museum of Science is on the city's East Side.{{Cite web |last=Goldman |first=Mary Kunz |date=November 17, 2017 |title=100-Plus Things: Buffalo History Museum |url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/100-plus-things-buffalo-history-museum/article_07e3b679-b635-50dc-9f12-46c37679959d.html |url-access = limited |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=The Buffalo News |language=en |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510141730/https://subscribe.buffalonews.com/e/limit-reached-bn?returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Fbuffalonews.com%2Fentertainment%2F100-plus-things-buffalo-history-museum%2Farticle_07e3b679-b635-50dc-9f12-46c37679959d.html}}{{Cite web |date=2016-01-20 |title=Buffalo Museum of Science: Hours, admission and more info |url=https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo/2016/01/buffalo_museum_of_science_hours_admission_and_more_info.html |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=NYUp.com |publisher=Advance Publications |language=en |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510141726/https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo/2016/01/buffalo_museum_of_science_hours_admission_and_more_info.html |url-status=live}}

Canalside, Buffalo's historic business district and harbor, attracts more than 1.5 million visitors annually.{{Cite web |last=Dewey |first=Caitlin |author-link = Caitlin Dewey |date=July 4, 2019 |title=How Canalside, once a wasteland, became Buffalo's pride |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/how-canalside-once-a-wasteland-became-buffalos-pride/article_b225b231-6b9e-58a9-a6c9-02eb052d8729.html |url-access = limited |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=The Buffalo News |language=en |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108043733/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/how-canalside-once-a-wasteland-became-buffalos-pride/article_b225b231-6b9e-58a9-a6c9-02eb052d8729.html}} It includes the Explore & More Children's Museum, the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, LECOM Harborcenter, and a number of shops and restaurants. A restored 1924 carousel (now solar-powered) and a replica boathouse were added to Canalside in 2021.{{Cite web |last=WGRZ Staff |date=August 5, 2020 |title=Canalside carousel marks important milestone |url=https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/canalside-carousel-marks-important-milestone/71-4ae60570-0037-4fdd-a87a-3f2553db482c |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=WGRZ |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Licata |first=Elizabeth |date=April 30, 2021 |title=A sense of place |url=https://www.buffalospree.com/wny_life/a-sense-of-place/article_687837c2-a2d6-11eb-a16b-7badb5c9ebe3.html |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=Buffalo Spree |language=en |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506221142/https://www.buffalospree.com/wny_life/a-sense-of-place/article_687837c2-a2d6-11eb-a16b-7badb5c9ebe3.html}} Other city attractions include the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, the Michigan Street Baptist Church, Buffalo RiverWorks, Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino, Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum, and the Nash House Museum.{{cite book |last1=Smyczynski |first1=Christine A. |title=Explorer's guide Buffalo & Niagara Falls |date=2018 |publisher=The Countryman Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9781581574463 |oclc=1033675525 |pages=31–84 |chapter=City of Buffalo}}

The National Buffalo Wing Festival is held every Labor Day at Sahlen Field.{{Cite web |last=Staff |date=August 17, 2015 |title=Chicken wing contest pits men, women champions at same table |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/chicken-wing-contest-pits-men-women-champions-at-same-table/article_f2da6adb-16f6-502e-adec-3f42261a2e7c.html |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=The Buffalo News |language=en |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510141729/https://subscribe.buffalonews.com/e/limit-reached-bn?returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Fbuffalonews.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fchicken-wing-contest-pits-men-women-champions-at-same-table%2Farticle_f2da6adb-16f6-502e-adec-3f42261a2e7c.html}} Since 2002, it has served over 4.8 million Buffalo wings and has had a total attendance of 865,000.{{Cite web |last=Drury |first=Tracey |date=March 17, 2021 |title=National Buffalo Wing Festival considers return for 2021 event |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2021/03/17/chicken-wing-fest-buffalo.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=Buffalo Business First |publisher=American City Business Journals |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510141739/https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2021/03/17/chicken-wing-fest-buffalo.html}} The Taste of Buffalo is a two-day food festival held in July at Niagara Square, attracting 450,000 visitors annually.{{cite web |title=About Us - The Taste of Buffalo |url=https://www.tasteofbuffalo.com/about-us |website=Taste of Buffalo Festival |access-date=15 June 2021 |archive-date=March 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310133108/https://www.tasteofbuffalo.com/about-us |url-status=live}} Other events include the Allentown Art Festival, the Polish-American Dyngus Day, the Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts, Juneteenth in Martin Luther King Jr. Park, the World's Largest Disco in October and Friendship Festival in summer, which celebrates Canada-US relations.

{{Main|Sports in Buffalo}}

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" style="text-align:center;"

|+ Professional sports teams in Buffalo

! Team !! Sport !! League !! Founded !! Venue (capacity) !! Championships

|-

| Buffalo Bills || American football || NFL|| 1959 || Highmark Stadium (71,608) || 1964 and 1965{{Efn|The Buffalo Bills' championships in 1964 and 1965 were with the American Football League, prior to the AFL-NFL Merger}}

|-

| Buffalo Bisons || Baseball || IL || 1979 || Sahlen Field (16,600) || 1997, 1998, 2004

|-

| Buffalo eXtreme || Basketball || ABA || 2023 || XGen Elite Sports Complex ||

|-

| Buffalo Sabres || Ice hockey || NHL || 1970 || KeyBank Center (19,070) ||

|-

| Buffalo Bandits || Lacrosse || NLL || 1992 || KeyBank Center (19,070) || 1992, 1993, 1996, 2008, 2023, 2024

|-

| Buffalo Pro Soccer || Soccer || USL Championship || 2024 || Queen City Field

(7,600)

|

|-

| FC Buffalo || Soccer || USL League Two || 2009 || All-High Stadium

(5,000)

|

|-

| FC Buffalo Women || Soccer || UWS || 2021 || All-High Stadium

(5,000)

|

|-

|}

Buffalo has two major professional sports teams: the Buffalo Sabres (National Hockey League) and the Buffalo Bills (National Football League). The Bills were a founding member of the American Football League in 1960, and have played at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park since they moved from War Memorial Stadium in 1973. They are the only NFL team based in New York State.{{Efn|The New York Jets and the New York Giants play at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.}} Before the Super Bowl era, the Bills won the American Football League Championship in 1964 and 1965. With mixed success throughout their history, the Bills had a close loss in Super Bowl XXV and returned to consecutive Super Bowls after the 1991, 1992, and 1993 seasons (losing each time).{{Cite web |last=Heyen |first=Billy |date=January 24, 2021 |title=When is the last time Bills went to a Super Bowl? History of Buffalo's big game appearances |url=https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/buffalo-bills-super-bowl-history/1lav6zcoj685b1velfgqg1hsca |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-07 |website=Sporting News |language=en |archive-date=February 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210217034815/https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/buffalo-bills-super-bowl-history/1lav6zcoj685b1velfgqg1hsca}} The Sabres, an expansion team in 1970, share KeyBank Center with the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League. The Bandits are the most decorated of the city's professional teams, with six championships.{{Cite web |last=Baumbach |first=Jim |date=May 7, 2016 |title=This John Tavares is a lacrosse legend |url=https://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/john-tavares-islanders-star-s-uncle-is-a-lacrosse-legend-1.11773407 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-07 |website=Newsday |language=en |archive-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410223205/https://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/john-tavares-islanders-star-s-uncle-is-a-lacrosse-legend-1.11773407}} The Bills, Sabres and Bandits are owned by Pegula Sports and Entertainment.

Several colleges and universities in the area field intercollegiate sports teams; the Buffalo Bulls and the Canisius Golden Griffins compete in NCAA Division I. The Bulls have 16 varsity sports in the Mid-American Conference (MAC);{{Cite web |title=Sports |url=http://www.buffalo.edu/home/ub_at_a_glance/the-buffalo-niagara-region/things_to_do/sports_central.html |access-date=2021-05-07 |website=University at Buffalo |language=en |archive-date=January 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123142203/https://www.buffalo.edu/home/ub_at_a_glance/the-buffalo-niagara-region/things_to_do/sports_central.html |url-status=live}} the Golden Griffins field 15 teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), with the men's hockey team part of the Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA).{{Cite web |title=Canisius College Athletics - Official Athletics Website |url=https://gogriffs.com/ |access-date=2021-05-07 |website=Canisius College Athletics |language=en |archive-date=May 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502220033/https://gogriffs.com/ |url-status=live}} The Bulls participate in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level of college football. Buffalo's minor-league teams include the Buffalo Bisons (Triple-A baseball), who play at Sahlen Field, and the Buffalo eXtreme (American Basketball Association), who play at XGen Elite Sports Complex in West Seneca.

{{wide image|File:New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays, Sahlen Field, Buffalo, New York - 20210617 - 02 - panorama.jpg|620px|Sahlen Field, home of the Buffalo Bisons since 1988}}

{{Main|Parks and recreation in Buffalo, New York}}

File:TifftNaturePreserve.jpg]]

Frederick Law Olmsted described Buffalo as being "the best planned city [...] in the United States, if not the world".{{cite journal |last1=Schuyler |first1=David |title=Parks in Urban America |journal=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History |date=3 November 2015 |pages=1, 7 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.58 |isbn=978-0-19-932917-5 |url=https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-58 |access-date=9 May 2021 |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510141845/https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-58 |url-access = subscription |url-status=live}} With encouragement from city stakeholders, he and Calvert Vaux augmented the city's grid plan by drawing inspiration from Paris and introducing landscape architecture with aspects of the countryside. Their plan would introduce a system of interconnected parks, parkways and trails, unlike the singular Central Park in New York City. The largest would be Delaware Park, across Forest Lawn Cemetery to amplify the amount of open space. With construction of the system finishing in 1876, it is regarded as the country's oldest; however, some of Olmsted's plans were never fully realized. Some parks later diminished and succumbed to diseases, highway construction, and weather events such as Lake Storm Aphid in 2006. The non-profit Buffalo Olmsted Park Conservancy was created in 2004 to help preserve the {{cvt|850|acre|ha}} of parkland.{{cite web |title=About the Conservancy {{!}} Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy - His Legacy. Our Inheritance. |url=https://www.bfloparks.org/about/ |website=Buffalo Olmsted Parks |access-date=16 May 2021 |archive-date=October 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013022752/https://www.bfloparks.org/about/ |url-status=live}} Olmsted's work in Buffalo inspired similar efforts in cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston.{{cite journal |last1=Kowsky |first1=Francis R. |author-link = Francis Kowsky |title=Municipal Parks and City Planning: Frederick Law Olmsted's Buffalo Park and Parkway System |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |date=1 March 1987 |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=49–64 |doi=10.2307/990145 |jstor=990145}}

The city's Division of Parks and Recreation manages over 180 parks and facilities, seven recreational centers, twenty-one pools and splash pads, and three ice rinks.{{cite web |title=Division of Parks & Recreation {{!}} Buffalo, NY |url=https://www.buffalony.gov/332/Division-of-Parks-Recreation |website=City of Buffalo |access-date=16 May 2021 |archive-date=February 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203031350/https://www.buffalony.gov/332/Division-of-Parks-Recreation |url-status=live }} and {{cite web |title=Public Pool & Ice Skating Rink Information {{!}} Buffalo, NY |url=http://www.buffalony.gov/369/Public-Pool-Ice-Skating-Rink-Information |website=City of Buffalo |access-date=16 May 2021 |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510034820/http://www.buffalony.gov/369/Public-Pool-Ice-Skating-Rink-Information |url-status=live }} The {{cvt|350|acre|ha|adj=on}} Delaware Park features the Buffalo Zoo, Hoyt Lake, a golf course, and playing fields. Buffalo collaborated with its sister city Kanazawa to create the park's Japanese Garden in 1970, where cherry blossoms bloom in the spring.{{cite web |title=Buffalo Olmsted Park System, Map & Guide |url=https://view.publitas.com/29804/428554/pdfs/0bbddc415a59fde2150ecb6547a453237420868a.pdf |publisher=Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy |access-date=16 May 2021 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516083006/https://view.publitas.com/29804/428554/pdfs/0bbddc415a59fde2150ecb6547a453237420868a.pdf |url-status=live}} Opening in 1976, Tifft Nature Preserve in South Buffalo is on {{cvt|264|acre|ha}} of remediated industrial land. The preserve is an Important Bird Area, including a meadow with trails for hiking and cross-country skiing, marshland and fishing.{{cite web |title=About Us - Tifft Nature Preserve - Nature Next Door |url=https://www.tifft.org/about-us/ |website=Tifft Nature Preserve |access-date=19 May 2021 |archive-date=May 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519050824/https://www.tifft.org/about-us/ |url-status=live}} and {{cite web |title=Tifft Nature Preserve - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation |url=https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/71055.html |website=New York State Department of Environmental Conservation |access-date=19 May 2021 |archive-date=May 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519052032/https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/71055.html |url-status=live}} The Olmsted-designed Cazenovia and South Parks, the latter home to the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, are also in South Buffalo.{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.buffalogardens.com/pages/history |website=Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens |access-date=23 May 2021 |archive-date=September 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929160937/https://www.buffalogardens.com/pages/history |url-status=live}} According to the Trust for Public Land, Buffalo's 2022 ParkScore ranking had high marks for access to parks, with 89 percent of city residents living within a ten-minute walk from a park. The city ranked lower in acreage, however; nine percent of city land is devoted to parks, compared with the national median of about fifteen percent.{{cite web |title=ParkScore for Buffalo, New York |url=https://www.tpl.org/city/buffalo-new-york |publisher=Trust for Public Land |access-date=2023-01-11 |date=2022 |archive-date=August 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220802105841/https://www.tpl.org/city/buffalo-new-york |url-status=live }}{{Update after|2023|5|27|reason=New study will be released}}

File:Canalside 2.jpg's Central Wharf]]

Efforts to convert Buffalo's former industrial waterfront into recreational space have attracted national attention, with some writers comparing its appeal to that of Niagara Falls.{{cite web |last1=Lubin |first1=Lisa |title=Buffalo's reborn Canalside pulses with energy year-round |quote=In 2016, Lisa Lubin of the Chicago Tribune wrote, 'The famous Niagara Falls are just down river from [Canalside]. But now [ ... ] you can take a day trip [here] instead of the other way around.' |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/ct-buffalo-reborn-canalside-travel-1211-20161122-story.html |website=Chicago Tribune |date=November 24, 2016 |access-date=9 May 2021 |archive-date=November 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125030538/https://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/ct-buffalo-reborn-canalside-travel-1211-20161122-story.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited}} Redevelopment of the waterfront began in the early 2000s, with the reconstruction of historically aligned canals on the site of the former Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Placemaking initiatives would lead to the area's popularity, rather than permanent buildings and attractions.{{cite web |last1=Zhao |first1=Michelle |title=Taking the High Road to Canalside: How Community Activism Has Shaped Buffalo's Waterfront |url=https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/73548/Taking_the_High_Road_to_Canalside__How_Community_Activism_Has_Shaped_Buffalo_s_Waterfront.pdf |website=Partnership for the Public Good |access-date=16 May 2021 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516083007/https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/73548/Taking_the_High_Road_to_Canalside__How_Community_Activism_Has_Shaped_Buffalo_s_Waterfront.pdf |url-status=live}} Under Mayor Byron Brown, Canalside was cited by the Brookings Institution as an example of waterfront revitalization for other U.S. cities to follow.{{cite web |last1=Harkness |first1=Alaina J. |title=Mayors can lead the way on waterfront revitalization |url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/metropolitan-revolution/2017/03/16/mayors-can-lead-the-way-on-waterfront-revitalization/ |website=Brookings Institution |access-date=9 May 2021 |date=16 March 2017 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509051525/https://www.brookings.edu/blog/metropolitan-revolution/2017/03/16/mayors-can-lead-the-way-on-waterfront-revitalization/ |url-status=live}} Summer events have included paddle-boating and fitness classes, and the frozen canals permit ice skating, curling, and ice cycling in winter. Its success spurred the state to create Buffalo Harbor State Park in 2014; the park has trails, open recreation areas, bicycle paths and piers.{{cite web |last1=Magavern |first1=Sam |title=Buffalo's Outer Harbor: The Right Place for a World-Class Park |url=https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/environment/buffalos_outer_harbor_the_right_place_for_a_world-class_park.pdf |website=Partnership for the Public Good |access-date=10 May 2021 |pages=5, 19–20 |date=August 2019 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001202950/https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/environment/buffalos_outer_harbor_the_right_place_for_a_world-class_park.pdf |url-status=live}} The park's Gallagher Beach, the city's only public beach, has prohibited swimming due to high bacteria levels and other environmental concerns.{{cite web |last1=Sommer |first1=Mark |title=State rules out swimming at Gallagher Beach |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/state-rules-out-swimming-at-gallagher-beach/article_b889174d-fe77-5130-9c64-449f126a546f.html |url-access = limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=9 May 2021 |language=en |date=March 2, 2016 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509053040/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/state-rules-out-swimming-at-gallagher-beach/article_b889174d-fe77-5130-9c64-449f126a546f.html |url-status=live}}

The Shoreline Trail passes through Buffalo near the Outer Harbor, Centennial Park, and the Black Rock Canal.{{cite web |last1=Farrell |first1=Michael |title=Stashing your bike after summer? Not so fast - here are 9 great fall rides |url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/stashing-your-bike-after-summer-not-so-fast---here-are-9-great-fall/article_77c70a98-fda4-55e7-99fe-0a73bce745c5.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=24 May 2021 |language=en |date=September 5, 2019 |archive-date=May 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524170348/https://subscribe.buffalonews.com/e/limit-reached-bn?returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Fbuffalonews.com%2Fentertainment%2Fstashing-your-bike-after-summer-not-so-fast---here-are-9-great-fall%2Farticle_77c70a98-fda4-55e7-99fe-0a73bce745c5.html |url-status=live}} The North Buffalo–Tonawanda rail trail begins in Shoshone Park, near the LaSalle metro station in North Buffalo.{{cite web |last1=Popiolkowski |first1=Joseph |title=10 interesting things to know about the new Tonawanda Rails to Trails |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/10-interesting-things-to-know-about-the-new-tonawanda-rails-to-trails/article_26d717f6-52bd-5cbb-8e93-6c6c44210f02.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=17 June 2021 |language=en |date=August 11, 2016 |archive-date=June 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622041748/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/10-interesting-things-to-know-about-the-new-tonawanda-rails-to-trails/article_26d717f6-52bd-5cbb-8e93-6c6c44210f02.html |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Politics and government of Buffalo, New York}}

{{See also|List of mayors of Buffalo, New York|Buffalo Police Department|Buffalo Fire Department}}

File:Buffalo City Hall, Interior, thirteenth floor, council chamber.jpg Chamber, Buffalo City Hall]]

Buffalo has a Strong mayor–council government. As the chief executive of city government, the mayor oversees the heads of the city's departments, participates in ceremonies, boards and commissions, and is as the liaison between the city and local cultural institutions.{{Cite web |title=Article 4, Duties and Powers |url=https://ecode360.com/13551108 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-07 |website=City of Buffalo Charter |language=en-US |archive-date=October 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022064338/http://ecode360.com/13551108}} Some agencies, including utilities, urban renewal and public housing, are state- and federally-funded public benefit-corporations semi-independent of city government.{{Cite web |last=Schroeder |first=Mark J. F. |author-link=Mark J. F. Schroeder |date=June 30, 2016 |title=City of Buffalo Comprehensive Annual Financial Report |url=https://www.buffalony.gov/Archive/ViewFile/Item/232 |url-status=live |access-date=May 7, 2021 |website=City of Buffalo |pages=35–37 |archive-date=May 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508012809/https://www.buffalony.gov/Archive/ViewFile/Item/232}} Christopher Scanlon has served as acting mayor since 2024, following the resignation of Byron Brown.{{cite web | last=Duke | first=Adam | title=Chris Scanlon assumes role as acting mayor of Buffalo: "An incredible responsibility" | website=News 4 Buffalo | date=October 15, 2024 | url=https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/buffalo/chris-scanlon-assumes-role-as-acting-mayor-of-buffalo-an-incredible-responsibility/ | access-date=October 17, 2024}} No Republican has been mayor of Buffalo since Chester A. Kowal in 1965.{{Cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Bob |date=April 2, 2006 |title=Local GOP can't go it alone |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local-gop-cant-go-it-alone/article_26988633-5fd8-5127-aec0-600f7fbe5461.html |url-access = limited |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-07 |website=The Buffalo News |language=en |quote=Who was the last Republican elected mayor? The answer, for those needing help on the cocktail party circuit, is Chester Kowal, in 1961. Since then the Republican Party in Buffalo has largely proven irrelevant. |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507211546/https://buffalonews.com/news/local-gop-cant-go-it-alone/article_26988633-5fd8-5127-aec0-600f7fbe5461.html}}

With its nine districts, the Buffalo Common Council enacts laws, levies taxes, and approves mayoral appointees and the city budget.{{cite web |last1=Dye |first1=Alana Barrington |last2=Norton |first2=Schyler |last3=Hawthorne |first3=Edward |title=Buffalo Common Council Fact Sheet |url=https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/government/local_government_bodies/buffalo_common_council_2019.pdf |website=Partnership for the Public Good |access-date=8 May 2021 |date=February 2019 |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510141728/https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/government/local_government_bodies/buffalo_common_council_2019.pdf |url-status=live}} Bryan Bollman has been the Common Council president since 2024.{{cite web | last=Morello | first=Dillon | title=Councilman Bryan Bollman 'ready' to become Buffalo Common Council president | website=News 4 Buffalo | date=October 2, 2024 | url=https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/buffalo/councilman-bryan-bollman-ready-to-become-buffalo-common-council-president/ | access-date=October 17, 2024}} Generally reflecting the city's electorate, all nine councilmen are members of the Democratic Party. Buffalo is the Erie County seat, and is within five of the county's eleven legislative districts.{{Cite web |last=Erie County Board of Elections |date=February 2017 |title=Erie County Legislative Districts |url=https://elections.erie.gov/MapPdf/CNTY-LEG-24X30_2017.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=May 7, 2021 |website=Erie County Board of Elections |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507221242/https://elections.erie.gov/MapPdf/CNTY-LEG-24X30_2017.pdf}} and {{Cite web |last=Erie County Board of Elections |date=February 2017 |title=City of Buffalo Legislative Districts |url=https://elections.erie.gov/MapPdf/Buffalo_Legislative-11_2017.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=May 7, 2021 |website=Erie County Board of Elections |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510141725/https://elections.erie.gov/MapPdf/Buffalo_Legislative-11_2017.pdf}}

The city is part of the Eighth Judicial District. Court cases handled at the city level include misdemeanors, violations, housing matters, and claims under $15,000; more severe cases are handled at the county level.{{cite web |title=Court Structure - NYCOURTS.GOV |url=http://ww2.nycourts.gov/courts/8jd/structure.shtml |website=NYCOURTS.gov |access-date=10 May 2021 |archive-date=March 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325181745/http://ww2.nycourts.gov/courts/8jd/structure.shtml |url-status=live}} and {{cite web |title=Buffalo City Court - NYCOURTS.GOV |url=http://ww2.nycourts.gov/courts/8jd/Erie/buffalo.shtml |website=NYCOURTS.gov |access-date=10 May 2021 |archive-date=January 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121184806/http://ww2.nycourts.gov/courts/8jd/Erie/buffalo.shtml |url-status=live}} Buffalo is represented by members of the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate. At the federal level, the city takes up most of {{ushr|NY|26}} and has been represented by Democrat Tim Kennedy since 2024.

Federal offices in the city include the Buffalo District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers' Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation,{{cite web |url=http://buffalo.fbi.gov/ |title=FBI Buffalo Division |publisher=FBI Buffalo Field Office |date=March 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310043306/http://buffalo.fbi.gov/ |archive-date=March 10, 2011}} and the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.

In 2020, the city spent $519 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=519000000|start_year=2020}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite web |title=2020-21 Adopted Budget {{!}} Buffalo, NY |url=https://www.buffalony.gov/1306/2020-21-Adopted-Budget |website=City of Buffalo |access-date=9 May 2021 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509182441/https://www.buffalony.gov/1306/2020-21-Adopted-Budget |url-status=live }} The city in 2024 is hampered with a severe budget deficit attributed to the Byron Brown administration.{{cite web | last=Heaney | first=Jim | title=Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown's legacy of failure. | website=Investigative Post | date=October 15, 2024 | url=https://www.investigativepost.org/2024/10/15/brown-resigns-addition-by-subtraction/ | access-date=October 17, 2024}}

{{Infobox UCR

|aggravated_assault = 1,563

|city_name = Buffalo, New York

|year = 2019{{cite web |title=Crime, Arrest and Firearm Activity Report: Buffalo Index Crimes |url=http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ojsa/greenbook.pdf |website=New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services |access-date=May 12, 2021 |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503023511/https://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ojsa/greenbook.pdf |url-status=live}}

|source_url = http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ojsa/greenbook.pdf

|violent_crime = 2,533 {{positive decrease}}

|homicide = 47

|forcible_rape = 121

|robbery = 802

|burglary = 1,609

|larceny_theft = 6,008

|motor_vehicle_theft = 678

|property_crime = 8,295 {{positive decrease}}

|source_name = Buffalo City Police Department

|notes = Arson data not provided; 2019 est. population: 255,244

}}

Buffalo is served by the Buffalo Police Department. The police commissioner is Byron Lockwood, who was appointed by Mayor Byron Brown in 2018.{{cite web |last1=Mayor's Office |title=Mayor Brown Announces Appointment of Byron Lockwood as Interim Police Commissioner |url=https://www.buffalony.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=185 |website=City of Buffalo |access-date=13 May 2021 |language=en |date=January 17, 2018 |archive-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425091044/http://www.buffalony.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=185 |url-status=live}} Although some criminal activity in the city remains higher than the national average, total crimes have decreased since the 1990s; one reason may be the gun buyback program implemented by the Brown administration in the mid-2000s. Before this, the city was part of the nationwide crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s and its accompanying record-high crime levels.{{cite book |last1=Ross |first1=Jeffrey Ian |author-link=Jeffrey Ian Ross |title=Encyclopedia of Street Crime in America |date=2013 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-1-4522-7445-4 |pages=49–51 |language=en |chapter=Buffalo, New York}} In 2018, city police began wearing 300 body cameras.{{cite web |last1=New York State Attorney General |title=Attorney General James Provides Funds For Police Body-Worn Cameras To The Buffalo, Niagara Falls, And Amherst Police Departments {{!}} New York State Attorney General |url=https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2019/attorney-general-james-provides-funds-police-body-worn-cameras-buffalo-niagara |website=Attorney General of New York |access-date=8 May 2021 |language=en |date=November 1, 2019 |archive-date=January 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128082733/https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2019/attorney-general-james-provides-funds-police-body-worn-cameras-buffalo-niagara |url-status=live }} A 2021 Partnership for the Public Good report noted that the BPD, which had a 2020–21 budget of about $145.7 million, had an above-average police-to-citizen ratio of 28.9 officers per 10,000 residents in 2020{{snd}}higher than peer cities Minneapolis and Toledo, Ohio.{{cite web |last1=Kristich |first1=Colleen |title=Building A Safer Buffalo: Invest In Communities, Divest From Police |url=https://ppgbuffalo.org/buffalo-commons/library/resource:building-a-safer-buffalo-invest-in-communities-divest-from-police/ |website=Partership for the Public Good |pages=4–6, 12–13 |access-date=13 May 2021 |date=May 6, 2021 |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507033515/https://ppgbuffalo.org/buffalo-commons/library/resource:building-a-safer-buffalo-invest-in-communities-divest-from-police/ |url-status=live}} The force had a roster of 740 officers during the year, about two-thirds of whom handled emergency requests, road patrol and other non-office assignments. The department has been criticized for misconduct and brutality, including the 2004 wrongful termination of officer Cariol Horne for opposing police brutality toward a suspect{{cite news |last1=Knowles |first1=Hannah |title=Judge rules in favor of ex-Buffalo officer who said she was fired for stopping a colleague's chokehold |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/14/cariol-horne-pension-ruling/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=13 May 2021 |date=April 14, 2021 |archive-date=April 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414211653/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/14/cariol-horne-pension-ruling/ |url-status=live}} and a 2020 protest-shoving incident.{{cite web |last1=Hartfield |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Croft |first2=Jay |title=Buffalo officers quit special team after 2 officers are suspended for shoving a 75-year-old protester |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/us/buffalo-police-suspension-shoving-man-trnd/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=13 May 2021 |date=June 6, 2020 |archive-date=April 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412235039/https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/us/buffalo-police-suspension-shoving-man-trnd/index.html |url-status=live}}

The Buffalo Fire Department and American Medical Response (AMR) handle fire-protection and emergency medical services (EMS) calls in the city.{{cite web |last1=Drury |first1=Tracey |title=AMR's Tim Frost is connecting emergency services from Buffalo to the Southern Tier |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2019/11/13/amrs-tim-frost-is-connecting-emergency-services.html |website=Buffalo Business First |publisher=American City Business Journals |access-date=26 May 2021 |archive-date=June 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622041804/https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2019/11/13/amrs-tim-frost-is-connecting-emergency-services.html |url-status=live}} The fire department has about 710 firefighters{{cite web |last1=Christmann |first1=Samantha |title=28 new firefighters bring Buffalo Fire Department to full staff |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/28-new-firefighters-bring-buffalo-fire-department-to-full-staff/article_b9d1a650-9c59-528d-a418-1e7cca3d2905.html |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=13 May 2021 |language=en |date=June 22, 2019 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516083010/https://subscribe.buffalonews.com/e/limit-reached-bn?returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Fbuffalonews.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2F28-new-firefighters-bring-buffalo-fire-department-to-full-staff%2Farticle_b9d1a650-9c59-528d-a418-1e7cca3d2905.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live}} and thirty-five stations, including twenty-three engine companies and twelve ladder companies.{{cite web |title=Article 14: Department of Fire |url=https://ecode360.com/13552038 |website=City of Buffalo Charter |access-date=13 May 2021 |archive-date=October 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022054544/http://ecode360.com/13552038 |url-status=live}} The department also operates the Edward M. Cotter, considered the world's oldest active fireboat.{{Cite web |last=Mroziak |first=Michael |date=August 18, 2017 |title=All aboard the Cotter for a special family reunion |url=https://news.wbfo.org/post/all-aboard-cotter-special-family-reunion |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=WBFO |language=en |archive-date=January 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107225342/http://news.wbfo.org/post/all-aboard-cotter-special-family-reunion}}

With vacant and abandoned homes prone to arson, squatting, prostitution and other criminal activities, the fire and police department's resources were overburdened before the 2010s. Buffalo ranked second nationwide to St. Louis for vacant homes per capita in 2007, and the city began a five-year program to demolish five thousand vacant, damaged and abandoned homes.{{cite web |last1=Belson |first1=Ken |title=Vacant Houses, Scourge of a Beaten-Down Buffalo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/nyregion/13vacant.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=13 May 2021 |date=13 September 2007 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308185039/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/nyregion/13vacant.html |url-access= limited |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last1=Lyons |first1=Sarah |title=Buffalo's Demolition Strategy |url=https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/housing_neighborhoods/housing_conditions_and_repairs/housingneighborhoods-_buffalos_demolition_strategy.pdf |website=Partnership for the Public Good |publisher=University at Buffalo Law School Housing Court |access-date=13 May 2021 |date=2009 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516083008/https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/housing_neighborhoods/housing_conditions_and_repairs/housingneighborhoods-_buffalos_demolition_strategy.pdf |url-status=live}} On May 14, 2022, there was a mass shooting in a Tops supermarket on the East Side of Buffalo where 13 victims were shot in a racially motivated attack by a white supremacist who was not a Buffalo native. Ten victims, all of whom were black, were murdered and three were injured.{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/05/21/1100560941/the-youngest-of-the-10-buffalo-shooting-victims-was-laid-to-rest|title=The youngest of the 10 people killed in the Buffalo shooting was laid to rest|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523131309/https://www.npr.org/2022/05/21/1100560941/the-youngest-of-the-10-buffalo-shooting-victims-was-laid-to-rest|archive-date=May 23, 2022|publisher=NPR|date=May 21, 2022|via=Associated Press|access-date=January 11, 2023}}{{cite web |title=Ten killed in mass shooting at Jefferson Avenue supermarket; shooter in custody |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/ten-killed-in-mass-shooting-at-jefferson-avenue-supermarket-shooter-in-custody/article_6e8132fa-d3b7-11ec-a714-2b3fbeaf848c.html |date=May 14, 2022 |access-date=January 11, 2023 |website=Buffalo News |first1=Lou |last1=Michel |first2=Ben |last2=Tsujimoto |first3=Maki |last3=Becker |archive-date=May 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514205116/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/ten-killed-in-mass-shooting-at-jefferson-avenue-supermarket-shooter-in-custody/article_6e8132fa-d3b7-11ec-a714-2b3fbeaf848c.html |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Media in Buffalo, New York}}

File:The buffalo news building.jpg headquarters]]

Buffalo's major daily newspaper is The Buffalo News. Established in 1880 as the Buffalo Evening News, the newspaper is estimated to have a daily circulation of 35,000 (down from a high of 310,000).{{cite web | last=Heaney | first=Jim | title=Further decline at The Buffalo News | website=Investigative Post | date=October 10, 2023 | url=https://www.investigativepost.org/2023/10/09/further-decline-at-the-buffalo-news/ | access-date=February 20, 2025}} The newspaper announced a pending sale of its building in February 2023, and the relocation of its printing operations to Cleveland, Ohio.{{Cite web|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/buffalo-news-plans-to-close-downtown-production-facility-move-printing-to-cleveland/article_94ee0dca-b12c-11ed-a16a-73c8d722aade.html|title=Buffalo News plans to close downtown production facility, move printing to Cleveland|first=Mike|last=Petro|website=Buffalo News|date=February 20, 2023 |access-date=April 4, 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/buffalo-news-plans-to-close-downtown-production-facility-move-printing-to-cleveland,242390|title=Buffalo News plans to close downtown production facility, move printing to Cleveland|first=Michael|last=Petro|website=Editor and Publisher|date=February 22, 2023 |access-date=April 4, 2023}} Other newspapers in the Buffalo area include the Black-focused Buffalo Criterion and Challenger Community News, The Record of Buffalo State University,{{cite web |title=About |url=https://buffstaterecord.com/about/ |website=The Record |publisher=Buffalo State College |access-date=24 May 2021 |archive-date=February 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227182557/https://buffstaterecord.com/about/ |url-status=live}} The Spectrum of the University at Buffalo,{{cite web |title=About |url=https://www.ubspectrum.com/page/about |website=The Spectrum |publisher=University at Buffalo |access-date=24 May 2021 |archive-date=May 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517034116/https://www.ubspectrum.com/page/about |url-status=live}} and Buffalo Business First.{{cite web |last1=Kicey |first1=Michael |title=Research Guides: Newspaper Research: Western New York News |url=https://research.lib.buffalo.edu/c.php?g=540390&p=3702822 |website=University at Buffalo Research Library (Lockwood) |access-date=24 May 2021 |language=en |archive-date=January 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117161218/https://research.lib.buffalo.edu/c.php?g=540390&p=3702822 |url-status=live}} Investigative Post is an online watchdog news organization founded by former Buffalo News reporter and Pulitzer nominee Jim Heaney.{{cite web | title=About Us | website=Investigative Post | date=July 11, 2024 | url=https://www.investigativepost.org/about-us/ | access-date=February 20, 2025}}{{cite web | last=Pergament | first=Alan | title=Media Watch: Hate him if you want | website=buffalospree.com | date=May 14, 2012 | url=https://www.buffalospree.com/wny_life/city_buzz/media-watch-hate-him-if-you-want/article_98b894a9-87c8-55ad-80aa-482eee4c57dc.html | access-date=February 21, 2025}}

Eighteen radio stations are licensed in Buffalo, including an FM station at Buffalo State College.{{Cite web |title=Radio stations in Buffalo, New York - Radio Lineup |url=https://www.radiolineup.com/locate/Buffalo-NY |access-date=2021-05-08 |website=www.radiolineup.com |archive-date=May 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508055047/https://www.radiolineup.com/locate/Buffalo-NY |url-status=live}} Over ninety FM and AM radio signals can be received throughout the city.{{Cite web |title=Radio Stations in Buffalo, New York. |url=https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/locate?select=city&city=Buffalo&state=NY |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-08 |website=radio-locator.com |quote=There are 92 radio stations that may be within distant listening range of Buffalo, New York. |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113144733/http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/locate?select=city&city=Buffalo&state=NY}} Eight full-power television outlets serve the city. Major commercial stations include WGRZ 2 (NBC), WIVB-TV 4 (CBS) and its sister station WNLO 23 (CW O&O), WKBW-TV 7 (ABC), and WUTV 29 (Fox, received in parts of Southern Ontario) and its sister station WNYO-TV 49 (MyNetworkTV). Buffalo's public television station is WNED-TV 17 (PBS); WNED has reported that most of the station's members live in the Greater Toronto Area.{{cite web |title=Buffalo Toronto Public Media's Commitment to Canada |url=https://www.wned.org/about/commitment-to-canada/ |website=WNED-TV |access-date=10 May 2021 |language=en |quote=More than half of Buffalo Toronto Public Media's membership is Canadian. |archive-date=November 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130200130/https://www.wned.org/about/commitment-to-canada/ |url-status=live}} According to Nielsen Media Research, the Buffalo television market was the 51st largest in the United States {{As of|2020|lc=y}}.{{Cite web |last=The Nielsen Company |date=September 28, 2019 |title=Local Television Market Universe Estimates |url=https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/09/2019-20-dma-ranker.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=May 8, 2021 |website=Nielsen |archive-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204203838/https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/09/2019-20-dma-ranker.pdf}}

Movies shooting significant footage in Buffalo include Hide in Plain Sight (1980),{{cite web |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/buffalos-star-turn/article_c7cfb11d-973f-5d32-b596-a4e798e09cc2.html |url-access=limited |title=Buffalo's star turn |author=Simon, Jeff |date=April 17, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927091820/http://www.buffalonews.com/buffaloaposs_star_turn.html |archive-date=September 27, 2016 |access-date=September 25, 2016 |newspaper=The Buffalo News}} Tuck Everlasting (1981), Best Friends (1982), The Natural (1984), Vamping (1984), Canadian Bacon (1995), Buffalo '66 (1998), Manna from Heaven (2002), Bruce Almighty (2003),{{cite web |url=http://www.wkbw.com/news/marshall-isnt-the-first-movie-to-be-filmed-in-buffalo |title="Marshall" isn't the first movie to be filmed in Buffalo |author=Staff |date=May 23, 2016 |website=WKBW-TV |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927225523/http://www.wkbw.com/news/marshall-isnt-the-first-movie-to-be-filmed-in-buffalo |archive-date=September 27, 2016 |access-date=September 25, 2016}} The Savages (2007), Slime City Massacre (2010), Henry's Crime (2011), Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014), Killer Rack (2015), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016),{{cite web |url=http://wivb.com/2015/04/15/buffalo-opens-up-for-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-2-but-shuts-down-some-roads/ |title=Buffalo to be taken over by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for two weeks |last1=Belcher |first1=Mark |date=April 15, 2016 |website=WIVB-TV |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220163258/http://wivb.com/2015/04/15/buffalo-opens-up-for-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-2-but-shuts-down-some-roads/ |archive-date=February 20, 2016 |access-date=September 25, 2016}} Marshall (2016), The American Side (2017),{{Cite news |url=http://news.wbfo.org/post/locally-shot-american-side-premiere-buffalo |title=Locally-shot 'The American Side' to premiere in Buffalo |last=Buckley |first=Eileen |website=WBFO |access-date=September 22, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923002823/http://news.wbfo.org/post/locally-shot-american-side-premiere-buffalo |archive-date=September 23, 2017 |language=en}} The First Purge (2018),{{Cite web |url=https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo/2018/01/the_first_purge_movie_poster_trump.html |title='The First Purge': New 'The Purge' movie filmed in WNY targets Trump with poster |last=Herbert |first=Geoff |website=NYup.com |publisher=Advance Publications |date=January 30, 2018 |access-date=March 11, 2021 |archive-date=April 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414105313/https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo/2018/01/the_first_purge_movie_poster_trump.html |url-status=live}} The True Adventures of Wolfboy (2019){{cite web |last1=Ruberto |first1=Toni |title=Buffalo is magical in 'True Adventures of Wolfboy' |url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/movies/buffalo-is-magical-in-true-adventures-of-wolfboy/article_2adefa76-2442-11eb-af31-bbf290f8a363.html |url-access = limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=13 May 2021 |language=en |date=November 12, 2020 |archive-date=November 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125204735/https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/movies/buffalo-is-magical-in-true-adventures-of-wolfboy/article_2adefa76-2442-11eb-af31-bbf290f8a363.html |url-status=live}} and A Quiet Place Part II (2021).{{cite web |last1=Ruberto |first1=Toni |title=Could 'A Quiet Place 2' surpass 'The Natural' in Buffalo film history? |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/could-a-quiet-place-2-surpass-the-natural-in-buffalo-film-history/article_f2990cfe-6244-5c13-a40e-0a23701e25c5.html |url-access = limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=13 May 2021 |language=en |date=August 22, 2019 |archive-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204004237/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/could-a-quiet-place-2-surpass-the-natural-in-buffalo-film-history/article_f2990cfe-6244-5c13-a40e-0a23701e25c5.html |url-status=live}} Although higher Buffalo production costs led to some films being finished elsewhere, tax credits and other economic incentives have enabled new film studios and production facilities to open.{{cite web |url=http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20130112/cityandregion/130119679/1153 |url-access=limited |title=Hopes for 'Draft Day' film may rest on financing |author=Pignataro, T. J. |date=January 12, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927082800/http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=%2F20130112%2Fcityandregion%2F130119679%2F1153 |archive-date=September 27, 2016 |access-date=September 25, 2016 |newspaper=The Buffalo News}} In 2021, several studio projects were in the planning stages.{{cite web |last1=Hernandez |first1=Sunny |title=Hollywood in Western NY: Buffalo to get two new major motion picture film studios |url=https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo/2021/02/hollywood-in-western-ny-buffalo-to-get-two-new-major-motion-picture-film-studios.html |website=NYup.com |publisher=Advance Publications |access-date=5 June 2021 |language=en |date=2021-02-09 |archive-date=March 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331125500/https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo/2021/02/hollywood-in-western-ny-buffalo-to-get-two-new-major-motion-picture-film-studios.html |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last1=Fink |first1=James |title=Buffalo Studios project delayed by Covid challenges |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2021/06/18/fall-start-likely-for-both-film-studios.html |url-access=limited |website=Buffalo Business First |publisher=American City Business Journals |access-date=18 June 2021 |date=June 18, 2021 |archive-date=June 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622041806/https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2021/06/18/fall-start-likely-for-both-film-studios.html |url-status=live}}

{{Main|List of colleges and universities in Buffalo, New York|Buffalo Public Schools}}

File:City Honors frontview.JPG]]

The Buffalo Public Schools have about thirty-four thousand students enrolled in their primary and secondary schools.{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.buffaloschools.org/Domain/18 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-07 |website=Buffalo Public Schools |language=en |archive-date=April 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414174950/https://www.buffaloschools.org/domain/18}} The district administers about sixty public schools, including thirty-six primary schools, five middle high schools, fourteen high schools and three alternative schools, with a total of about 3,500 teachers.{{Cite report |url=https://www.buffaloschools.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=2388&dataid=15905&FileName=Statistical%20Highlights%20Brochure%204-21-17.pdf |title=Statistical Highlights 2016-17 |last=BPS Student Membership |date=January 26, 2017 |pages=4, 8 |access-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503102529/https://www.buffaloschools.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=2388&dataid=15905&FileName=Statistical%20Highlights%20Brochure%204-21-17.pdf |archive-date=May 3, 2019 |url-status=live}} Its board of education, authorized by the state, has nine elected members who select the superintendent and oversee the budget, curriculum, personnel, and facilities.{{Cite web |date= |title=New York State Education Law, Article 52, City School Districts of Cities With One Hundred Twenty-five Thousand Inhabitants or More |url=https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EDN/A52 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-08 |website=New York State Senate |language=en |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116004322/https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EDN/A52}}{{Cite web |last=Buffalo City School District |title=Section 1000 - Bylaws |url=https://www.buffaloschools.org/cms/lib/NY01913551/Centricity/Domain/7097/SECTION%201000%20BYLAWS.pdf |url-status=live |website=Buffalo City School District |access-date=May 8, 2021 |archive-date=May 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508050406/https://www.buffaloschools.org/cms/lib/NY01913551/Centricity/Domain/7097/SECTION%201000%20BYLAWS.pdf}} In 2020, the graduation rate was seventy-six percent.{{cite web |title=Buffalo City School District - Graduation Rate Data |url=https://data.nysed.gov/gradrate.php?year=2020&instid=800000052968 |website=New York State Education Department Data Site |access-date=7 May 2021 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126200935/https://data.nysed.gov/gradrate.php?year=2020&instid=800000052968 |url-status=live}} The public City Honors School was ranked the top high school in the city and 178th nationwide by U.S. News & World Report in 2021.{{Cite web |title=City Honors School at Fosdick Masten Park |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/new-york/districts/buffalo-city-school-district/city-honors-school-at-fosdick-masten-park-13548 |url-status=live |access-date=May 8, 2021 |website=U.S. News & World Report, 2021 Best U.S. High Schools |archive-date=April 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429041829/https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/new-york/districts/buffalo-city-school-district/city-honors-school-at-fosdick-masten-park-13548}} There are twenty charter schools in Buffalo, with some oversight by the district.{{Cite web |title=Charter Schools |url=https://www.buffaloschools.org/domain/36 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-07 |website=Buffalo Public Schools |language=en |archive-date=February 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227212602/https://www.buffaloschools.org/domain/36}} The city has over a dozen private schools, including Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School, Canisius High School, Mount Mercy Academy, and Nardin Academy—all Roman Catholic, and Darul Uloom Al-Madania and Universal School of Buffalo (both Islamic schools); nonsectarian options include Buffalo Seminary and the Nichols School.{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=G. Scott |date=September 15, 2016 |title=Here is the 2016-2017 Private Schools Directory |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2016/09/15/privatemenu.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-07 |website=Buffalo Business First |publisher=American City Business Journals |archive-date=September 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916211414/http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2016/09/15/privatemenu.html}}

File:BuffaloStateOverhead.jpg]]

Founded by Millard Fillmore, the University at Buffalo (UB) is one of the State University of New York's two flagship universities and the state's largest public university. A Research I university,{{Cite web |title=Carnegie Classifications {{!}} Standard Listings |url=https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/srp.php?clq=%7B%22basic2005_ids%22:%2215%22%7D&limit=50,50&orderby=sortname&start_page=standard.php |access-date=2021-05-07|website=Carnegie Classifications |archive-date=December 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222133323/http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/srp.php?clq=%7B%22basic2005_ids%22:%2215%22%7D&limit=50,50&orderby=sortname&start_page=standard.php |url-status=live}} over 32,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students attend its thirteen schools and colleges.{{Cite web |title=Academics |url=http://www.buffalo.edu/academics.html |access-date=2021-05-07 |website=University at Buffalo |language=en |archive-date=April 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430070716/http://www.buffalo.edu/academics.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=UB at a Glance |url=http://www.buffalo.edu/home/ub_at_a_glance.html |access-date=2021-05-07 |website=University at Buffalo |language=en |archive-date=April 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430070633/http://www.buffalo.edu/home/ub_at_a_glance.html |url-status=live}} Two of UB's three campuses (the South and Downtown Campuses) are in the city, but most university functions take place at the large North Campus in Amherst.{{cite web |title=Our Campuses |url=http://www.buffalo.edu/content/www/eub/ub_at_a_glance/our-campuses.html |website=University at Buffalo |access-date=7 May 2021 |language=en |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507063014/http://www.buffalo.edu/content/www/eub/ub_at_a_glance/our-campuses.html |url-status=live}} In 2020, U.S. News & World Report ranked UB the 34th-best public university and 88th in national universities.{{cite web |title=University at Buffalo--SUNY |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/ub-9554 |website=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=7 May 2021 |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507060152/https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/ub-9554 |url-status=live}} Buffalo State College, founded as a normal school, is one of SUNY's thirteen comprehensive colleges.{{Cite journal |last=Lee |first=Richard J. |date=2014-01-01 |title=The Campus School at SUNY Buffalo State, 1871-1991 |url=https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/buffstate-history/5 |journal=A Selection of Works on the History of Buffalo State College |access-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-date=May 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510141745/https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/buffstate-history/5/ |url-status=live}} The city's four-year private institutions include Canisius University, D'Youville University, Trocaire College, and Villa Maria College. SUNY Erie, the county's two-year public higher-education institution, and the for-profit Bryant & Stratton College have small downtown campuses.{{cite web |last1=Epstein |first1=Jonathan D. |title=Bryant & Stratton relocates downtown campus |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/bryant-stratton-relocates-downtown-campus/article_37cab0de-1dff-11eb-9e44-6b13ee5c18e4.html |url-access = limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=7 May 2021 |language=en |date=November 4, 2020 |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507070209/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/bryant-stratton-relocates-downtown-campus/article_37cab0de-1dff-11eb-9e44-6b13ee5c18e4.html |url-status=live}}

File:Reading Park, Central Library, Buffalo, New York - 20190907 - 01.jpg

Established in 1835, Buffalo's main library is the Central Library of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library system. Rebuilt in 1964, it contains an auditorium, the original manuscript of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (donated by Mark Twain), and a collection of about two million books.{{Cite web |title=Central Library (downtown Buffalo) |url=https://www.buffalolib.org/locations-hours/central-downtown-buffalo |access-date=2021-05-07|website=Buffalo and Erie County Public Library |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507231503/https://www.buffalolib.org/locations-hours/central-downtown-buffalo |url-status=live}} Its Grosvenor Room maintains a special-collections listing of nearly five hundred thousand resources for researchers.{{Cite web |title=Special Collections |url=https://www.buffalolib.org/research-resources/special-collections |access-date=2021-05-07|website=Buffalo and Erie County Public Library |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507231503/https://www.buffalolib.org/research-resources/special-collections |url-status=live}} A pocket park funded by Southwest Airlines opened in 2020, and brought landscaping improvements and seating to Lafayette Square.{{cite web |last1=Dewey |first1=Caitlin |author-link = Caitlin Dewey |title=Central Library's Reading Park creates community space for downtown |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/central-librarys-reading-park-creates-community-space-for-downtown/article_b96da060-c329-5fd2-81d8-674f6725385f.html |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=12 May 2021 |language=en |date=August 3, 2020 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516083013/https://subscribe.buffalonews.com/e/limit-reached-bn?returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Fbuffalonews.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fcentral-librarys-reading-park-creates-community-space-for-downtown%2Farticle_b96da060-c329-5fd2-81d8-674f6725385f.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live}} The system's free library cards are valid at the city's eight branch libraries and at member libraries throughout Erie County.{{Cite web |title=Library Cards |url=https://www.buffalolib.org/library-cards |access-date=2021-06-14|website=Buffalo and Erie County Public Library |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507231724/https://www.buffalolib.org/library-cards |url-status=live}}{{clear|left}}

File:Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York - 20191009.jpg]]

Nine hospitals are operated in the city: Oishei Children's Hospital and Buffalo General Medical Center by Kaleida Health, Mercy Hospital and Sisters of Charity Hospital (Catholic Health), Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, the county-run Erie County Medical Center (ECMC), Buffalo VA Medical Center, BryLin (Psychiatric) Hospital and the state-operated Buffalo Psychiatric Center.{{cite web |title=Buffalo Psychiatric Center Inpatient Services Handbook |url=https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/facilities/bupc/doc/inpatienthandbook_11_2012.pdf |website=New York State Office of Mental Health - Buffalo Psychiatric Center |access-date=22 May 2021 |archive-date=December 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224041513/https://www.omh.ny.gov/omhweb/facilities/bupc/doc/inpatienthandbook_11_2012.pdf |url-status=live}} John R. Oishei Children's Hospital, built in 2017, is adjacent to Buffalo General Medical Center on the {{cvt|120|acre|ha|adj=on}} Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus north of downtown;{{cite web |title=Explore |url=https://bnmc.org/explore/ |website=Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus |access-date=21 May 2021 |archive-date=May 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521045741/https://bnmc.org/explore/ |url-status=live}} its Gates Vascular Institute specializes in acute stroke recovery.{{cite web |title=Gates Vascular Institute |url=http://medicine.buffalo.edu/departments/neurology/education/adult-neurology/training-sites/gates-vascular.html |website=University at Buffalo School of Medicine, Department of Neurology |access-date=21 May 2021 |language=en |archive-date=May 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521045741/http://medicine.buffalo.edu/departments/neurology/education/adult-neurology/training-sites/gates-vascular.html |url-status=live}} The medical campus includes the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, ranked the 14th-best cancer-treatment center in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.{{cite web |title=Cancer Scorecard |url=https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/ny/roswell-park-cancer-institute-6211120/cancer |website=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=21 May 2021 |archive-date=May 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521045741/https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/ny/roswell-park-cancer-institute-6211120/cancer |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Transportation in Buffalo, New York}}

File:New Flyer Xcelsior CHARGE NG electric bus being road-tested on NFTA Metro route 12, Buffalo, New York - 20230215.jpg electric bus in Elmwood Village]]

Growth and changing transportation needs altered Buffalo's grid plan, which was developed by Joseph Ellicott in 1804. His plan laid out streets like the spokes of a wheel, naming them after Dutch landowners and Native American tribes.{{cite book |last=Chazanof |first=William |title=Joseph Ellicott and the Holland Land Company |chapter=VI. Problems of an Expanding Population |date=2018 |page=100 |doi=10.1353/book.61263 |isbn=9781684450022 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/2179072 |url-access=subscription |publisher=Syracuse University Press |jstor=j.ctv64h6xr |via=Project MUSE |access-date=20 May 2021}} City streets expanded outward, denser in the west and spreading out east of Main Street.{{cite book |last1=Goldman |first1=Mark |title=City on the Lake: The Challenge of Change in Buffalo, New York |date=2010-10-29 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-61592-392-2 |page=14 |language=en}} Buffalo is a port of entry with Canada; the Peace Bridge crosses the Niagara River and links the Niagara Thruway (I-190) and Queen Elizabeth Way.{{Google maps |access-date=May 23, 2021|title=Interstate 190 in Buffalo to Queen Elizabeth Way in Fort Erie |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/I-190,+Buffalo,+NY+14201/42.9084466,-78.9180701/@42.906305,-78.9119525,14.04z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m10!1m1!1s0x89d313a5a82868b9:0xc37a69b35b449c73!2m2!1d-78.8974803!2d42.898158!3m4!1m2!1d-78.9175898!2d42.9084453!3s0x89d313784265274f:0xde19bb8938242928!1m0!3e0}} I-190, NY 5 and NY 33 are the primary expressways serving the city, carrying a total of over 245,000 vehicles daily.{{efn|Average annual daily traffic, 2019.}}{{cite web |author1=NYSDOT |title=2019 Traffic Volume Report - Routes |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/NYSDOT_2019TrafficVolumeReport-Routes.pdf |website=New York State Department of Transportation |access-date=20 May 2021 |pages=8, 227, 125 |archive-date=May 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520034312/https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/NYSDOT_2019TrafficVolumeReport-Routes.pdf |url-status=live}} NY 5 carries traffic to the Southtowns, and NY 33 carries traffic to the eastern suburbs and the Buffalo Airport.{{Google maps |access-date=May 23, 2021|title=NY 5 in Buffalo from Niagara Square |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/42.8861395,-78.8798914/42.8339551,-78.8539607/@42.8850309,-78.8859263,12.72z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0}} and {{Google maps |access-date=May 23, 2021|title=NY 33 in Buffalo |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/42.8928749,-78.8668008/42.9331026,-78.7990235/@42.9078516,-78.8716677,12.72z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0}} The east-west Scajacquada Expressway (NY 198) bisects Delaware Park, connecting I-190 with the Kensington Expressway (NY 33) on the city's East Side to form a partial beltway around the city center.{{Google maps |access-date=May 23, 2021|title=NY 33 to NY 198 to I-190 in Buffalo |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/42.8913475,-78.8673269/42.8809784,-78.8708095/@42.9070764,-78.9073493,13z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m10!3m4!1m2!1d-78.8965902!2d42.9289827!3s0x89d3133b676af6fb:0x3e2c4100558384a8!3m4!1m2!1d-78.8726616!2d42.8767793!3s0x89d312309a08bc51:0x70920247ca865816!1m0!3e0}} The Scajacquada and Kensington Expressways and the Buffalo Skyway (NY 5) have been targeted for redesign or removal.{{cite web |last1=Kirst |first1=Sean |title=Should the Skyway stay or go? In Buffalo, a community responds |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/should-the-skyway-stay-or-go-in-buffalo-a-community-responds/article_aa8ff6a8-b268-11eb-802e-8fc6ab6a88bf.html |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=20 May 2021 |language=en |date=May 16, 2021 |archive-date=May 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520034311/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/should-the-skyway-stay-or-go-in-buffalo-a-community-responds/article_aa8ff6a8-b268-11eb-802e-8fc6ab6a88bf.html |url-status=live}} Other major highways include US 62 on the city's East Side;{{Google maps |access-date=May 23, 2021|title=US 62 in Buffalo |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/42.959792,-78.8139887/2501-2521+US-62,+Buffalo,+NY+14220/@42.8906356,-78.8764653,12.96z/am=t/data=!4m11!4m10!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x89d30e3a5e525137:0xd0c2cdccef5f9b7e!2m2!1d-78.8239121!2d42.8317675!2m1!1b1!3e0}} NY 354 and a portion of NY 130, both east–west routes;{{Google maps |access-date=May 23, 2021|title=NY 130 in Buffalo |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/42.8969348,-78.8140088/2046-2036+NY-130,+Buffalo,+NY+14212/@42.8996083,-78.8639415,13.28z/data=!4m9!4m8!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x89d30d06c4238bb9:0xf3d5d311895f9d32!2m2!1d-78.7995607!2d42.8987313!3e0}} and {{Google maps |access-date=May 23, 2021|title=NY 354 in Buffalo |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/42.8858524,-78.8716828/42.8717378,-78.7997522/@42.9036993,-78.8727293,13.08z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m10!3m4!1m2!1d-78.863835!2d42.8837297!3s0x89d31240f58e50db:0x7d489aeb3405d5b5!3m4!1m2!1d-78.8577281!2d42.8825345!3s0x89d3126b2ff41459:0x31a120b51348ee80!1m0!3e0}} and NY 265, NY 266 and NY 384, all north–south routes on the city's West Side.{{Google maps |access-date=May 23, 2021|title=NY 266 in Buffalo |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/42.9566426,-78.9120174/42.8928545,-78.8842519/@42.9248086,-78.9330377,13z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m24!4m23!1m20!3m4!1m2!1d-78.9079506!2d42.9471277!3s0x89d36cb50c75e383:0xdc81f2ed8e28d708!3m4!1m2!1d-78.9047975!2d42.9394796!3s0x89d31336724a44c9:0x8d9b9aa4e9ac3d0b!3m4!1m2!1d-78.9019593!2d42.9339801!3s0x89d31339de4ff315:0x33e064d09dfadf10!3m4!1m2!1d-78.8902903!2d42.8992906!3s0x89d313aeb4597201:0x861f6afba08a398f!1m0!3e0}}, {{Google maps |access-date=May 26, 2021|title=NY 265 in Buffalo |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/42.9293514,-78.8974098/42.9585706,-78.8892616/@42.9589899,-78.9199288,13z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!4m1!3e0}} and {{Google maps |access-date=May 23, 2021|title=NY 384 in Buffalo |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/42.8838519,-78.8789718/42.9586739,-78.8696122/@42.9211684,-78.9069589,13z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m10!3m4!1m2!1d-78.8674291!2d42.9219328!3s0x89d312c20918220d:0x23184edb4300f9fb!3m4!1m2!1d-78.868053!2d42.9437599!3s0x89d36d33a2a30abf:0xafa14f8fb82ff654!1m0!3e0}} Buffalo has a higher-than-average percentage of households without a car: 30 percent in 2015, decreasing to 28.2 percent in 2016; the 2016 national average was 8.7 percent. Buffalo averaged 1.03 cars per household in 2016, compared to the national average of 1.8.{{cite journal |last=Maciag |first=Mike |title=Car Ownership in U.S. Cities Data and Map |journal=Governing |date=December 9, 2014 |url=http://www.governing.com/gov-data/car-ownership-numbers-of-vehicles-by-city-map.html |access-date=May 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511162014/http://www.governing.com/gov-data/car-ownership-numbers-of-vehicles-by-city-map.html |archive-date=May 11, 2018 |url-status=live}}

File:AmherstStStation.jpg]]

The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) operates the region's public transit, including its airport, light-rail system, buses, and harbors. The NFTA operates 323 buses on 61 lines throughout Western New York.{{cite web |title=2018 - 2019 Annual Performance Report |url=https://metro.nfta.com/media/xefnkvjb/2019-metro_annual_performance_report.pdf |website=Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority |access-date=21 May 2021 |date=March 31, 2019 |archive-date=March 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324144150/https://metro.nfta.com/media/xefnkvjb/2019-metro_annual_performance_report.pdf |url-status=live}} Buffalo Metro Rail is a {{cvt|6.4|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} line which runs from Canalside to the University Heights district. The line's downtown section, south of the Fountain Plaza station, runs at grade and is free of charge.{{cite web |title=NFTA-Metro Downtown System Map |url=https://metro.nfta.com/media/u5ojl0a3/nfta-system-map-downtown-20190523.pdf |website=Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority |access-date=21 May 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212132613/https://metro.nfta.com/media/u5ojl0a3/nfta-system-map-downtown-20190523.pdf |url-status=live}} The Buffalo area ranks twenty-third nationwide in transit ridership, with thirty trips per capita per year.{{cite web |last1=Hughes-Cromwick |first1=MacPherson |website=American Public Transport Association |title=2018 Public Transportation Factbook |url=https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/Resources/resources/statistics/Documents/FactBook/2018-APTA-Fact-Book.pdf |access-date=21 May 2021 |pages=26 |archive-date=March 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318165837/https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/Resources/resources/statistics/Documents/FactBook/2018-APTA-Fact-Book.pdf |url-status=live}} Expansions have been proposed since Buffalo Metro Rail's inception in the 1980s, with the latest plan (in the late 2010s) reaching the town of Amherst.{{cite web |last1=Watson |first1=Stephen T. |title=Will Amherst embrace Metro rail extension this time? |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/will-amherst-embrace-metro-rail-extension-this-time/article_69c9b40a-a670-5e56-a765-64f543d8963f.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=26 May 2021 |language=en |date=April 24, 2017 |archive-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526183303/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/will-amherst-embrace-metro-rail-extension-this-time/article_69c9b40a-a670-5e56-a765-64f543d8963f.html |url-status=live}} Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Cheektowaga has daily scheduled flights by domestic, charter and regional carriers.{{cite web |title=Airport History |url=https://www.buffaloairport.com/about-the-airport/airport-history |website=Buffalo Niagara International Airport |access-date=21 June 2020 |archive-date=June 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622052301/https://www.buffaloairport.com/about-the-airport/airport-history |url-status=live}} The airport handled nearly five million passengers in 2019.{{cite web |author1=The Port Authority of NY & NJ |title=2019 Airport Traffic Report |url=https://www.panynj.gov/content/dam/airports/statistics/statistics-general-info/annual-atr/ATR2019.pdf |website=Port Authority of NY & NJ |access-date=21 May 2021 |page=29 |archive-date=November 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127110141/https://www.panynj.gov/content/dam/airports/statistics/statistics-general-info/annual-atr/ATR2019.pdf |url-status=live}} It received a J.D. Power award in 2018 for customer satisfaction at a mid-sized airport,{{cite web |last1=McCarthy |first1=Robert J. |title=Buffalo airport celebrates top customer service ranking |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/buffalo-airport-celebrates-top-customer-service-ranking/article_9e0dfe49-b35d-5e58-9e4b-4681f502b78f.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=19 May 2021 |language=en |date=November 28, 2018 |archive-date=May 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519232527/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/buffalo-airport-celebrates-top-customer-service-ranking/article_9e0dfe49-b35d-5e58-9e4b-4681f502b78f.html |url-status=live}} and underwent a $50 million expansion in 2020–21.{{cite web |last1=Minkewicz |first1=Sarah |title=NFTA unveils new meet and greet area at Buffalo Niagara Airport |url=https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/nfta-unveils-new-meet-and-greet-area-at-buffalo-niagara-airport/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203859/https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/nfta-unveils-new-meet-and-greet-area-at-buffalo-niagara-airport/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 24, 2021 |website=WIVB |publisher=Nexstar Media Group |access-date=22 June 2021 |date=2021-06-18 }} The airport, light rail, small-boat harbor and buses are monitored by the NFTA's transit police.{{cite web |last1=Liberty |first1=Michelle |title=Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) Fact Sheet |url=https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/73332/Environment__Niagara_Frontier_Transportation_Authority.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |website=Partnership for the Public Good |access-date=25 May 2021 |date=May 3, 2009 |archive-date=May 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525014318/https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/73332/Environment__Niagara_Frontier_Transportation_Authority.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=live}}

File:ReddyRackBuffalo.jpg]]

Buffalo has an Amtrak intercity train station, Buffalo–Exchange Street station, which was rebuilt in 2020.{{cite web |last1=Sommer |first1=Mark |title=Buffalo's new downtown train station draws rave reviews: 'It's gorgeous' |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/buffalos-new-downtown-train-station-draws-rave-reviews-its-gorgeous/article_e8f29a02-2485-11eb-ab09-671d46b378cf.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=21 May 2021 |language=en |date=November 28, 2020 |archive-date=May 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521024317/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/buffalos-new-downtown-train-station-draws-rave-reviews-its-gorgeous/article_e8f29a02-2485-11eb-ab09-671d46b378cf.html |url-status=live}} The city's eastern suburbs are served by Amtrak's Buffalo–Depew station in Depew, which was built in 1979. Buffalo was a major stop on through routes between Chicago and New York City through the lower Ontario Peninsula; trains stopped at Buffalo Central Terminal, which operated from 1929 to 1979.{{cite book |last=Drury |first=George H. |title=The Historical Guide to North American Railroads: Histories, Figures, and Features of more than 160 Railroads Abandoned or Merged since 1930 |publisher=Kalmbach Publishing |year=1994 |location=Waukesha, Wisconsin |pages=91, 229–231 |isbn=978-0-89024-072-4}} Intercity buses depart and arrive from the NFTA's Metropolitan Transportation Center on Ellicott Street.{{cite web |last1=McCarthy |first1=Robert J. |title=NFTA says moving bus terminal to train station would come with high cost |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/nfta-says-moving-bus-terminal-to-train-station-would-come-with-high-cost/article_88d0e35d-489a-5d1a-8e68-5f421dbb25db.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=21 May 2021 |language=en |date=April 9, 2017 |archive-date=May 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521155456/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/nfta-says-moving-bus-terminal-to-train-station-would-come-with-high-cost/article_88d0e35d-489a-5d1a-8e68-5f421dbb25db.html |url-status=live}}

Since Buffalo adopted a complete streets policy in 2008, efforts have been made to accommodate cyclists and pedestrians into new infrastructure projects. Improved corridors have bike lanes,{{cite web |last1=University at Buffalo |title=Measuring the Impact of Complete Streets Projects: Preliminary Field Testing, Final Report |url=https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/-/media/Files/Publications/Research/Transportation/16-19-Measuring-Impact-of-Complete-Streets-Projects.pdf |website=The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |access-date=21 May 2021 |date=December 2016 |archive-date=October 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018141600/https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/-/media/Files/Publications/Research/Transportation/16-19-Measuring-Impact-of-Complete-Streets-Projects.pdf |url-status=live |author1-link=University at Buffalo}} and Niagara Street received separate bike lanes in 2020.{{cite web |last1=Nussbaumer |first1=Newell |title=Niagara Street Now... Other Streets Next? |url=https://www.buffalorising.com/2020/07/niagara-street-now-other-streets-next/ |website=Buffalo Rising |access-date=21 May 2021 |date=2020-07-03 |archive-date=May 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521040453/https://www.buffalorising.com/2020/07/niagara-street-now-other-streets-next/ |url-status=live}} Walk Score gave Buffalo a "somewhat walkable" rating of 68 out of 100, with Allentown and downtown considered more walkable than other areas of the city.{{cite web |last1=Scanlon |first1=Scott |title=Can Buffalo Niagara boost its walkability? |url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/can-buffalo-niagara-boost-its-walkability/article_212fad0c-c1c6-5d93-83af-d1daddccaacd.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=24 May 2021 |language=en |date=August 11, 2017 |archive-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120204701/https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/can-buffalo-niagara-boost-its-walkability/article_212fad0c-c1c6-5d93-83af-d1daddccaacd.html |url-status=live}}

File:Albany County DPW vehicles assisting with snow removal in the aftermath of the December 2022 blizzard, Michigan Avenue, Buffalo, New York - 20221228.jpg]]

Buffalo's water system is operated by Veolia Water, and water treatment begins at the Colonel Francis G. Ward Pumping Station.{{cite web |title=Annual Drinking Water Quality Report For Calendar Year 2019 |url=https://buffalowater.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2019-AWQR-Buffalo-Water-6.22.2020-2.pdf |website=Buffalo Water, managed by Veolia |access-date=25 May 2021 |date=2020 |archive-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124111242/https://buffalowater.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2019-AWQR-Buffalo-Water-6.22.2020-2.pdf |url-status=live}} When it opened in 1915, the station's capacity was second only to Paris.{{cite web |last1=Fink |first1=James |title=Inside the Col. Francis G. Ward Pump Station |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2020/02/14/water-works-a-look-inside-col-ward-pumping-station.html |url-access=limited |website=Buffalo Business First |publisher=American City Business Journals |access-date=28 May 2021 |date=February 14, 2020 |archive-date=November 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104230141/https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2020/02/14/water-works-a-look-inside-col-ward-pumping-station.html |url-status=live}} Wastewater is treated by the Buffalo Sewer Authority, its coverage extending to the eastern suburbs.{{cite web |title=Buffalo Sewer Authority; Biosolids Facility Report {{!}} ECHO {{!}} US EPA |url=https://echo.epa.gov/biosolids-facility-report?id=NYL028410 |website=United States Environmental Protection Agency |access-date=25 May 2021 |language=en |archive-date=May 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525022116/https://echo.epa.gov/biosolids-facility-report?id=NYL028410 |url-status=live }} and {{cite web |title=About |url=https://buffalosewer.org/about/ |website=Buffalo Sewer Authority |access-date=25 May 2021 |archive-date=December 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201220120802/https://buffalosewer.org/about/ |url-status=live}} National Grid and New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) provide electricity, and National Fuel Gas provides natural gas.{{cite book |title=Buffalo Police Department Manual of Procedures |url=https://www.buffalony.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7562/CHAPTER-14---COOPERATION-WITH-OTHER-AGENCIESpdf |publisher=City of Buffalo |at=11.0 |access-date=25 May 2021 |chapter=Chapter 14: Cooperation with Other Agencies; Public Utilities |archive-date=March 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326045112/https://www.buffalony.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7562/CHAPTER-14---COOPERATION-WITH-OTHER-AGENCIESpdf |url-status=live}} The city's primary telecommunications provider is Spectrum; Verizon Fios serves the North Park neighborhood. A 2018 report by Ookla noted that Buffalo was one of the bottom five U.S. cities in average download speeds at 66 megabits per second.{{cite web |last1=Dewey |first1=Caitlin |author-link=Caitlin Dewey |title=As Buffalo's internet speeds rank among slowest in U.S., consumers can't do much |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/as-buffalos-internet-speeds-rank-among-slowest-in-u-s-consumers-cant-do-much/article_86a2ab2b-bccf-54fa-bd6e-aa1e29cd6c44.html |url-access=limited |website=The Buffalo News |access-date=25 May 2021 |language=en |date=February 15, 2019 |archive-date=May 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525022112/https://buffalonews.com/news/local/as-buffalos-internet-speeds-rank-among-slowest-in-u-s-consumers-cant-do-much/article_86a2ab2b-bccf-54fa-bd6e-aa1e29cd6c44.html |url-status=live}}

The city's Department of Public Works manages Buffalo's snow and trash removal and street cleaning.{{cite web |title=Streets / Sanitation |url=https://www.buffalony.gov/382/Streets-Sanitation |website=City of Buffalo |access-date=26 May 2021 |archive-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526071406/https://www.buffalony.gov/382/Streets-Sanitation |url-status=live}} Snow removal generally operates from November 15 to April 1. A snow emergency is declared by the National Weather Service after a snowstorm, and the city's roads, major sidewalks and bridges are cleared by over seventy snowplows within 24 hours.{{cite web |author1=Department of Public Works, Parks and Streets |title=2016-2017 Snow Removal Standard Operating Procedures |url=https://www.buffalony.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2985/City-of-Buffalo-Snow-Plan |website=City of Buffalo |access-date=24 May 2021 |pages=5–10 |archive-date=September 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926182614/https://www.buffalony.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2985/City-of-Buffalo-Snow-Plan |url-status=live}} Rock salt is the principal agent for preventing snow accumulation and melting ice. Snow removal may coincide with driving bans and parking restrictions.{{cite web |last1=Mroziak |first1=Michael |last2=Buckley |first2=Eileen |last3=Debo |first3=Dave |last4=Fetouh |first4=Omar |last5=Caya |first5=Chris |title=Blizzard warning, driving ban, state of emergency in Buffalo |url=https://news.wbfo.org/post/blizzard-warning-driving-ban-state-emergency-buffalo |website=WBFO |access-date=25 May 2021 |language=en |date=January 30, 2019 |archive-date=May 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525000537/https://news.wbfo.org/post/blizzard-warning-driving-ban-state-emergency-buffalo |url-status=live}}{{cite web |author1=WGRZ Staff |title=City of Buffalo reinstates alternate parking rules following holiday snow storm |url=https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/buffalo-residents-urged-to-stay-home-as-crews-clear-city-streets/71-d2f739fa-2c98-423f-b964-146782933bf6 |website=WGRZ-TV |access-date=25 May 2021 |date=December 26, 2020}} The area along the Outer Harbor is the most dangerous driving area during a snowstorm; when weather conditions dictate, the Buffalo Skyway is closed by the city's police department.{{cite book |title=Manual of Procedures |publisher=City of Buffalo Police Department |url=https://www.buffalony.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7575/CHAPTER-7---TRAFFICpdf |access-date=24 May 2021 |chapter=Chapter 7: Traffic; Closing the Skyway Complex |at=3.0 |archive-date=March 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326045114/https://www.buffalony.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7575/CHAPTER-7---TRAFFICpdf |url-status=live}}

To prevent ice jams which may impact hydroelectric plants in Niagara Falls, the New York Power Authority and Ontario Power Generation began installing an ice boom annually in 1964. The boom's installation date is temperature-dependent,{{cite web |title=Lake Erie - Niagara River Ice Boom Installation 2020 |url=https://www.ijc.org/en/nbc/lake-erie-niagara-river-ice-boom-installation-2020 |website=International Joint Commission |access-date=25 May 2021 |language=en |date=2020-12-08 |archive-date=May 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525024038/https://www.ijc.org/en/nbc/lake-erie-niagara-river-ice-boom-installation-2020 |url-status=live}} and it is removed on April 1 unless there is more than {{cvt|650|km2}} of ice remaining on eastern Lake Erie.{{cite web |title=Section 6: Lake Erie - Niagara River Ice Boom |url=https://www.ijc.org/en/nbc/watershed/faq/6 |website=International Joint Commission |access-date=25 May 2021 |language=en |date=2018-08-23 |archive-date=May 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525024042/https://www.ijc.org/en/nbc/watershed/faq/6 |url-status=live}} It stretches {{cvt|2680|m}} from the outer breakwall at the Buffalo Outer Harbor to the Canadian shore near Fort Erie.{{Cite web |title=Lake Erie-Niagara River ICE BOOM |url=https://legacyfiles.ijc.org/tinymce/uploaded/INBC/ice_glace-info_e.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=May 15, 2021 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516083014/https://legacyfiles.ijc.org/tinymce/uploaded/INBC/ice_glace-info_e.pdf}} Originally made of wood, the boom now consists of steel pontoons.{{cite conference |last1=Liddiard |first1=R. |last2=Comfort |first2=G. |last3=Abdelnour |first3=R. |title=Performance of the Lake Erie Ice Boom, Eight Years After Major Design Modifications in 1997 |date=September 15, 2005 |citeseerx=10.1.1.498.4173 |conference=CGU HS Committee on River Ice Processes and the Environment: 13th Workshop on the Hydraulics of Ice Covered Rivers |location=Hanover, New Hampshire}}

{{wide image|File:Steel Winds 2007.png|620px|Steel Winds, a local wind farm, with city of Buffalo seen in background across Lake Erie}}

{{Further|List of people from Buffalo, New York}}

Buffalo has eighteen sister cities:{{cite web |title=Buffalo Sister Cities |url=https://www.buffalony.gov/645/Buffalo-Sister-Cities |website=City of Buffalo |access-date=April 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222141646/https://www.buffalony.gov/645/Buffalo-Sister-Cities |archive-date=December 22, 2019 |url-status=live}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• {{flagicon|GHA}} Aboadze, Ghana
• {{flagicon|DOM}} Baní, Dominican Republic
• {{flagicon|TUR}} Bursa, Turkey
• {{flagicon|GHA}} Cape Coast, Ghana (1976)
• {{flagicon|CHN}} Changzhou, China (2011)
• {{flagicon|GER}} Dortmund, Germany (1972)
• {{flagicon|UKR}} Drohobych, Ukraine (2000)
• {{flagicon|UKR}} Horlivka, Ukraine (2007)
• {{flagicon|JPN}} Kanazawa, Japan (1962)
• {{flagicon|ISR}} Kiryat Gat, Israel (1977)
• {{flagicon|FRA}} Lille, France (1989)
• {{flagicon|POL}} Rzeszów, Poland (1975)
• {{flagicon|JAM}} Saint Ann, Jamaica (2007)
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Siena, Italy (1961)
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Torremaggiore, Italy (2004)
• {{flagicon|UK}} Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
• {{flagicon|TUR}} Yıldırım, Turkey (2010)

{{div col end}}

{{Portal|New York (state)|United States|Cities}}

{{div col|colwidth=23em}}

• Architecture of Buffalo, New York
• Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
• Buffalo crime family
• Buffalo wing
• History of Buffalo, New York
• Index of New York (state)–related articles
• Inland Northern American English
• List of City of Buffalo landmarks and historic districts
• List of mayors of Buffalo, New York
• List of people from Buffalo, New York
• List of routes of City of Buffalo streetcars
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Buffalo, New York
• Sports in Buffalo
• Politics and government of Buffalo, New York
• Timeline of Buffalo, New York
• USS Buffalo, 4 ships

{{div col end}}

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• Holli, Melvin G., and Jones, Peter d'A., eds. Biographical Dictionary of American Mayors, 1820-1980 (Greenwood Press, 1981) short scholarly biographies each of the city's mayors 1820 to 1980. [https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000unse_r8s1 online]; see index at pp. 406–411 for list.
• {{Cite book |title=Buffalo Architecture: a guide |last=Kowsky |first=Francis R. |publisher=MIT Press |year=1985 |isbn=9780262520638 |location=Cambridge, MA |oclc=637993088}}
• {{Cite book |title=Against the Grain: The History of Buffalo's First Ward |last=Bohen |first=Timothy |publisher=Petit Printing |year=2012 |isbn=9780615620527 |location=Buffalo, N.Y. |oclc=815395883}}
• {{Cite book |title=Strangers in the land of paradise: the creation of an African American community, Buffalo, New York, 1900–1940 |last=Williams |first=Lillian Serence |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1999 |isbn=9780253335524}}
• {{Cite book |title=Buffalo's waterfront |last1=Leary |first1=Thomas E |last2=Sholes |first2=Elizabeth C. |date=1997 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-0752408293 |location=Charleston, SC |language=en |oclc=38087547}}
• {{Cite book |title=Buffalo |last=Myers |first=Stephen G |date=2012 |publisher=Arcadia |isbn=9780738591650 |language=en |oclc=835592368}}
• {{Cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/publicationsofbu09seve |title=Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society |last=Severance |first=Frank H. |location=Buffalo |publisher=Bigelow Bros. |others=Harold B. Lee Library |year=1879 |chapter=Papers relating to the Burning of Buffalo}}
• {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/queenoflakesbuff00buil |title=Queen of the lakes, Buffalo, the electric city of the future |last1=Builders' Association Exchange of Buffalo |last2=National Association of Builders |publisher=The Courier Co. Printers |year=1896 |location=Buffalo, N.Y. |oclc=17204632}}
• {{cite book |last1=Gerber |first1=David A. |title=The making of an American pluralism: Buffalo, New York, 1825–60 |date=1989 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Urbana |isbn=9780252015953}}

{{refend}}

{{Sister project links|auto=y|d=y}}

• {{Official website}}
• NYPL Digital Gallery, [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?word=Buffalo%20%28N%2EY%2E%29&s=3¬word=&f=2 Media related to Buffalo]
• Library of Congress, Prints & Photos Division: [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=buffalo%20new%20york Historical images related to Buffalo]
• [https://video.wned.org/show/wned-tv-documentaries/specials/ WNED Documentaries and Specials]: Historical and cultural programming related to Buffalo from Buffalo–Toronto Public Media
• {{OSM relation|175031}}
• [https://www.zipdatamaps.com/en/us/zip-maps/ny/city/borders/buffalo-zip-code-map Buffalo NY ZIP Code Map]

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