Buffalo, New York

Approximate extent of Wenro territory c. 1630

Before the arrival of Europeans, nomadic Paleo-Indians inhabited the western New York region from the 8th millennium BC. The Woodland period began around 1000 BC, marked by the rise of the Iroquois Confederacy and the spread of its tribes throughout the state.[7][8] Seventeenth-century Jesuit missionaries were the first Europeans to visit the area.[9]

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 Wenrohronon (Wenro) of the Neutral Nation in the north.[7] The Neutral grew tobacco and hemp to trade with the Iroquois, who traded furs with the French for European goods.[7] 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.)[7] During the Beaver Wars in the mid-17th century the Senecas partly wiped out and partly absorbed the Erie and Neutrals in the region.[10][11][12] Native Americans did not settle along Buffalo Creek permanently until 1780, when displaced Senecas were relocated from Fort Niagara.[9]

Louis Hennepin and Sieur de La Salle explored the upper Niagara and Ontario regions in the late 1670s.[13] In 1679, La Salle's ship, Le Griffon, became the first to sail above Niagara Falls near Cayuga Creek.[14] Baron de Lahontan visited the site of Buffalo in 1687.[15] 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.[9] 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.[16]

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.[17] Despite objections from Seneca chief Red Jacket, Morris brokered a deal between fellow chief Cornplanter and the Dutch dummy corporation Holland Land Company.[lower-alpha 1][18][19] The Holland Land Purchase gave the Senecas three reservations, and the Holland Land Company received 4,000,000 acres (16,000 km²) for about thirty-three cents per acre.[18]

Permanent white settlers along the creek were prisoners captured during the Revolutionary War.[20][9] 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.[9][21] 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).[22] The Iroquois were moved onto reservations, including Buffalo Creek. By the end of the 18th century, only 338 sq mi (216,000 acres; 880 km²; 88,000 ha) of reservations remained.[23]

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.[20][24] 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.[25]

Buffalo in 1813

The village of Buffalo was named for Buffalo Creek.[lower-alpha 2][30] British military engineer John Montresor referred to "Buffalo Creek" in his 1764 journal, the earliest recorded appearance of the name.[31] A road to Pennsylvania from Buffalo was built in 1802 for migrants traveling to the Connecticut Western Reserve in Ohio.[32] 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.[33][lower-alpha 3]

British forces burned Buffalo and the northwestern village of Black Rock in 1813.[34] 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.[35][36][9] Rebuilding was swift, completed in 1815.[37][36] As a remote outpost, village residents hoped that the proposed Erie Canal would bring prosperity to the area.[18] 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.[9] It opened in 1825, ushering in commerce, manufacturing and hydropower.[18] By the following year, the 130 sq mi (340 km²) Buffalo Creek Reservation (at the western border of the village) was transferred to Buffalo.[23] Buffalo was incorporated as a city in 1832.[38] During the 1830s, businessman Benjamin Rathbun significantly expanded its business district.[18] 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.[39][40]

Fugitive slaves made their way north to Buffalo during the 1840s.[41] Buffalo was a terminus of the Underground Railroad, with many free blacks crossing the Niagara River to Fort Erie, Ontario;[42] others remained in Buffalo.[39] 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.[43] Unloading grain in Buffalo was a laborious job, and grain handlers working on lake freighters would make $1.50 a day in a six-day work week.[43] 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.[43] 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.[43] 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.[43]

Two women and a boy photographed in Buffalo, 1900s

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.[15] During this time, Buffalo controlled one-quarter of all shipping traffic on Lake Erie.[15] After the Civil War, canal traffic began to drop as railroads expanded into Buffalo.[44] Unionization began to take hold in the late 19th century, highlighted by railroad strikes in 1877 and 1892.[45]

Pan-American Exposition, 1901

At the start of the 20th century, Buffalo was the world's leading grain port and a national flour-milling hub.[46] 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.[47][48][49] At the exposition, President William McKinley was assassinated by anarchist Leon Czolgosz.[50] When McKinley died, Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in at the Wilcox Mansion in Buffalo.[51]

Attorney John Milburn and local industrialists and 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.[44] 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.[52][53] Examples include the acquisition of Lackawanna Steel by Bethlehem Steel and, later, the relocation of Curtiss-Wright in the 1940s.[54] 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.[55]

Iron ore unloaded at Buffalo, c. 1900

During World War II, Buffalo regained its manufacturing strength as military contracts enabled the city to manufacture steel, chemicals, aircraft, trucks and ammunition.[54] 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.[54] The city also had over a dozen railway terminals, as railroads remained a significant industry.[53]

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.[54] 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.[56] Downsizing of the steel mills was attributed to the threat of higher wages and unionization efforts.[54] Racial tensions culminated in riots in 1967.[54] Suburbanization led to the selection of the town of Amherst for the new University at Buffalo campus by 1970.[54] Unwilling to modernize its plant, Bethlehem Steel began cutting thousands of jobs in Lackawanna during the mid-1970s before closing it in 1983.[52] The region lost at least 70,000 jobs between 1970 and 1984.[52] Like much of the Rust Belt, Buffalo has focused on recovering from the effects of late-20th-century deindustrialization.[57]

Panorama of downtown Buffalo and its waterfront in 1880

Satellite image of the Niagara Peninsula and Niagara Frontier; Buffalo is at the lower right.

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.[58][59] The city is generally flat, except for elevation changes in the University Heights and Fruit Belt neighborhoods.[60] The Southtowns are hillier, leading to the Cattaraugus Hills in the Appalachian Upland.[58][59] Several types of shale, limestone and lagerstätten are prevalent in Buffalo and its surrounding area, lining their stream beds.[61]

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).[62][63] 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.[64] The city's Bureau of Forestry maintains a database of over seventy thousand trees.[65]

According to the United States Census Bureau, Buffalo has an area of 52.5 sq mi (136 km²); 40.38 sq mi (104.6 km²) is land, and the rest is water.[66] The city's total area is 22.66 percent water. In 2010, its population density was 6,470.6 per square mile.[66]

Buffalo's architecture is diverse, with a collection of 19th- and 20th-century buildings.[67] Downtown Buffalo landmarks include Louis Sullivan's Guaranty Building, an early skyscraper;[68][69] the Ellicott Square Building, once one of the largest of its kind in the world;[70] 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[71] until its closure in the 1970s.[72] 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.[73] In the city's Parkside neighborhood, the Darwin D. Martin House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in his Prairie School style.[74] Since 2016, Washington DC real estate developer Douglas Jemal has been acquiring, and redeveloping iconic properties throughout the city.[75]

Skyline of Buffalo, looking east from Lake Erie

Allentown

According to Mark Goldman, the city has a "tradition of separate and independent settlements."[76] 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.[77] Main Street divides Buffalo's east and west sides, and the west side was fully developed earlier.[76] 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.[78][79]

Several neighborhoods in Buffalo have had increased investment since the 1990s, beginning with the Elmwood Village.[80] 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.[81] 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;[82] the Seneca One Tower was redeveloped in 2020.[83] Other revitalized areas include Chandler Street, in the Grant-Amherst neighborhood, and Hertel Avenue in Parkside.[80][84]

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.[85]

Buffalo in winter, 2019

Buffalo has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb/Dfa),[86][87] and temperatures have been warming with the rest of the US.[88] 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.[89] However, Buffalo is rarely the snowiest city in the state.[90][91] The Blizzard of 1977 resulted from a combination of high winds and snow which accumulated on land and on the frozen Lake Erie.[92] Although snow does not typically impair the city's operation, it can cause significant damage in autumn (as the October 2006 storm did).[93] In November 2014 (called "Snowvember"), the region had a record-breaking storm which producing over 5+1⁄2 ft (66 in; 170 cm) of snow.[94] Buffalo's lowest recorded temperature was −20 °F (−29 °C), which occurred twice: on February 9, 1934, and February 2, 1961.[95]

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.[87] Buffalo summers are characterized by abundant sunshine, with moderate humidity and temperatures;[87] the city benefits from cool, southwestern Lake Erie summer breezes which temper warmer temperatures.[87][59] Temperatures rise above 90 °F (32.2 °C) an average of three times a year.[87] No official recording of 100 °F (37.8 °C) or more has occurred to date, with a maximum temperature of 99 °F reached on August 27, 1948.[95] Rainfall is moderate, typically falling at night, and cooler lake temperatures hinder storm development in July.[87][96] August is usually rainier and muggier, as the warmer lake loses its temperature-controlling ability.[87]

Temple Beth Zion

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.[118][105] 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.[119] Major Protestant denominations in the area include Lutheran, Baptist, and Methodist. Pentecostals are also significant, and approximately 20,000 persons are non-denominational adherents.[120]

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.[121] The city's Temple Beth Zion is the region's largest synagogue.[122]

With changing demographics and an increased number of refugees from other areas on the city's East Side,[123] Islam and Buddhism have expanded their presence. In this area, new residents have converted empty churches into mosques and temples.[124] Hinduism maintains a small, active presence in the area, including the town of Amherst.[125]

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.[126]

Kleinhans Music Hall

Buffalo is home to over 20 theater companies, with many centered in the downtown Theatre District.[140] 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.[141] Shakespeare in Delaware Park has been held outdoors every summer since 1976.[142]

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 Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra was formed in 1935 and performs at Kleinhans Music Hall, whose acoustics have been praised.[143] Although the orchestra nearly disbanded during the late 1990s due to a lack of funding, philanthropic contributions and state aid stabilized it.[144] 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.[145]

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.[146][147] Colored Musicians Club, an extension of what was a separate musicians'-union chapter, maintains jazz history.[148]

Rick James was born and raised in Buffalo and later lived on a ranch in the nearby Town of Aurora.[149] 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.[150] Around the same time, the jazz fusion band Spyro Gyra and jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. also got their start in the city.[151][152]

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.[153]

Underground hip-hop acts in the city partner with Buffalo-based Griselda Records, whose artists include Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine, and occasionally refer to Buffalo culture in their lyrics.[154]

Buffalo wings with celery 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.[155] Teressa Bellissimo first prepared Buffalo wings (seasoned chicken wings) at the Anchor Bar in 1964.[156] 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).[157][158] Buffalo wings are traditionally served with blue cheese and celery.[158] In 2003, the Anchor Bar received a James Beard Foundation Award in the America's Classics category.[159]

The Buffalo area has over 600 pizzerias, estimated at more per capita than New York City.[160] Several craft breweries began opening in the 1990s, and the city's last call is 4 am.[161] Other mainstays of Buffalo cuisine include beef on weck, butter lambs,[162] kielbasa, pierogi, sponge candy,[163] 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).[164] With an influx of refugees and other immigrants to Buffalo, its number of ethnic restaurants (including the West Side Bazaar kitchen incubator) has increased.[165][166] Some restaurants use food trucks to serve customers, and nearly fifty food trucks appeared at Larkin Square in 2019.[167][166]

The Albright–Knox Art Gallery, seen from Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park

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.[168] 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.[169] With a donation from Jeffrey Gundlach, a three-story addition designed by the Dutch architectural firm OMA is under construction and scheduled to open in 2022.[170] Across the street, the Burchfield Penney Art Center contains paintings by Charles E. Burchfield and is operated by Buffalo State College.[171] Buffalo is home to the Freedom Wall, a 2017 art installation commemorating civil-rights activists throughout history.[172] 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.[173][174]

Canalside, Buffalo's historic business district and harbor, attracts more than 1.5 million visitors annually.[175] 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.[176][177] 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.[147]

The National Buffalo Wing Festival is held every Labor Day at Highmark Stadium.[178] Since 2002, it has served over 4.8 million Buffalo wings and has had a total attendance of 865,000.[179] The Taste of Buffalo is a two-day food festival held in July at Niagara Square, attracting 450,000 visitors annually.[180] 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.[147]

Buffalo, New York
Crime rates* (2019[213])
Violent crimes
Homicide	47
Rape	121
Robbery	802
Aggravated assault	1,563
Total violent crime	2,533
Property crimes
Burglary	1,609
Larceny-theft	6,008
Motor vehicle theft	678
Total property crime	8,295
Notes *Number of reported crimes per 100,000 population. Arson data not provided; 2019 est. population: 255,244 Source: Buffalo City Police Department

Buffalo is served by the Buffalo Police Department. The police commissioner is Byron Lockwood, who was appointed by Mayor Byron Brown in 2018.[214] 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.[215] Before this, the city was part of the nationwide crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s and its accompanying record-high crime levels.[215] In 2018, city police began wearing 300 body cameras.[216] 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 – higher than peer cities Minneapolis and Toledo, Ohio.[217] 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.[217] 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[218] and a 2020 protest-shoving incident.[219]

The Buffalo Fire Department and American Medical Response (AMR) handle fire-protection and emergency medical services (EMS) calls in the city.[220] The fire department has about 710 firefighters[221] and thirty-five stations, including twenty-three engine companies and twelve ladder companies.[222] The department also operates the Edward M. Cotter, considered the world's oldest active fireboat.[223]

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.[224][225] On May 14, 2022, there was a mass shooting in a Tops supermarket in Buffalo where 13 victims were shot in a racially motivated attack by a white supremacist who was not a Buffalo native. Ten victims died and three were injured.

City Honors School

The Buffalo Public Schools have about thirty-four thousand students enrolled in their primary and secondary schools.[245] 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.[246] Its board of education, authorized by the state, has nine elected members who select the superintendent and oversee the budget, curriculum, personnel, and facilities.[247][248] In 2020, the graduation rate was seventy-six percent.[249] 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.[250] There are twenty charter schools in Buffalo, with some oversight by the district.[251] 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.[252]

The quad at Buffalo State College

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,[253] over 32,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students attend its thirteen schools and colleges.[254][255] 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.[256] In 2020, U.S. News & World Report ranked UB the 34th-best public university and 88th in national universities.[257] Buffalo State College, founded as a normal school, is one of SUNY's thirteen comprehensive colleges.[258] The city's four-year private institutions include Canisius College, Medaille College and D'Youville University. SUNY Erie, the county's two-year public higher-education institution, and the for-profit Bryant & Stratton College have small downtown campuses.[259]

Reading Park at Buffalo's Central Library

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.[260] Its Grosvenor Room maintains a special-collections listing of nearly five hundred thousand resources for researchers.[261] A pocket park funded by Southwest Airlines opened in 2020, and brought landscaping improvements and seating to Lafayette Square.[262] The system's free library cards are valid at the city's eight branch libraries and at member libraries throughout Erie County.[263]

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.[264] John R. Oishei Children's Hospital, built in 2017, is adjacent to Buffalo General Medical Center on the 120-acre (49 ha) Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus north of downtown;[265] its Gates Vascular Institute specializes in acute stroke recovery.[266] 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.[267]

Buffalo Metro Rail train at the Amherst Street station

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.[268] City streets expanded outward, denser in the west and spreading out east of Main Street.[269] 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.[270] I-190, NY 5 and NY 33 are the primary expressways serving the city, carrying a total of over 245,000 vehicles daily.[lower-alpha 10][271] NY 5 carries traffic to the Southtowns, and NY 33 carries traffic to the eastern suburbs and the Buffalo Airport.[272] 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.[273] The Scajacquada and Kensington Expressways and the Buffalo Skyway (NY 5) have been targeted for redesign or removal.[274] Other major highways include US 62 on the city's East Side;[275] NY 354 and a portion of NY 130, both east–west routes;[276] and NY 265, NY 266 and NY 384, all north–south routes on the city's West Side.[277] 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.[278]

Reddy Bikeshare at 250 Delaware Avenue

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.[279] Buffalo Metro Rail is a 6.4 mi-long (10.3 km) 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.[280] The Buffalo area ranks twenty-third nationwide in transit ridership, with thirty trips per capita per year.[281] 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.[282] Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Cheektowaga has daily scheduled flights by domestic, charter and regional carriers.[283] The airport handled nearly five million passengers in 2019.[284] It received a J.D. Power award in 2018 for customer satisfaction at a mid-sized airport,[285] and underwent a $50 million expansion in 2020–21.[286] The airport, light rail, small-boat harbor and buses are monitored by the NFTA's transit police.[287]

Buffalo has an Amtrak intercity train station, Buffalo–Exchange Street station, which was rebuilt in 2020.[288] 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.[289] Intercity buses depart and arrive from the NFTA's Metropolitan Transportation Center on Ellicott Street.[290]

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,[291] and Niagara Street received separate bike lanes in 2020.[292] 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.[293]

Buffalo's water system is operated by Veolia Water, and water treatment begins at the Colonel Francis G. Ward Pumping Station.[294] When it opened in 1915, the station's capacity was second only to Paris.[295] Wastewater is treated by the Buffalo Sewer Authority, its coverage extending to the eastern suburbs.[296] National Grid and New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) provide electricity, and National Fuel Gas provides natural gas.[297] The city's primary telecommunications provider is Spectrum;[297] 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.[298]

The city's Department of Public Works manages Buffalo's snow and trash removal and street cleaning.[299] 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.[300] Rock salt is the principal agent for preventing snow accumulation and melting ice. Snow removal may coincide with driving bans and parking restrictions.[301][302] The area along the Outer Harbor is the most dangerous driving area during a snowstorm;[300] when weather conditions dictate, the Buffalo Skyway is closed by the city's police department.[303]

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,[304] and it is removed on April 1 unless there is more than 650 km² (250 sq mi) of ice remaining on eastern Lake Erie.[305] It stretches 2,680 m (8,790 ft) from the outer breakwall at the Buffalo Outer Harbor to the Canadian shore near Fort Erie.[306] Originally made of wood, the boom now consists of steel pontoons.[307]

Steel Winds, a local wind farm, with city of Buffalo seen in background across Lake Erie