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76-536: Despite over 30 years of cleanup efforts and billions of dollars having been spent at the site, the West Valley Demonstration Project property was described as "arguably Western New York's most toxic location" in 2013. The State of New York acquired 3,345 acres (13.54 km) of land in the Town of Ashford , near West Valley, in 1961 with the intention of developing an atomic industrial area. The property

152-610: A humid continental climate heavily influenced by both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario . Winters are long and cold, often lasting from around mid-November to early April. There are often snows before and after that period, as well. Western New York is known for its lake effect snows, which can result in highly localized, sometimes intense and even historic snow events. Lake effect storms are a result of cold air picking up water vapor as it blows over warm lake waters. Lake effect snows are usually most active between November and February and typically diminish when Lake Erie freezes over. Generally,

228-703: A Friday fish fry special. The fish fry retains particular popularity during Lent , when Catholics are still barred from eating meat on Friday. Italian-American food is a specialty in western New York. Most towns in the region have pizzerias. The Texas hot , introduced by Greek immigrants in the 1920s, has a strong following in the region, and several hot dog stands offer the dish. Longstanding Texas hot stands include Ted's Hot Dogs in Buffalo (1927), Rigas Texas Hot in Wellsville (1921), and Johnny's Lunch in Jamestown (1936;

304-499: A Great Lakes/Interior Northeastern area, with a dose of Appalachia in the Southern Tier , an overlapping region of the state. Buffalo appears to have similarities to other Great Lakes cities/areas, while having Northeastern proclivities. The similarities with Chicago and Milwaukee run the list from sharing a common industrial base traditionally built around steel and automobile manufacturing. The cities were both developed during

380-550: A daily rural route between Buffalo and various locations in Pennsylvania; New York Trailways also serves Buffalo and Rochester, connecting to various locations, as does Greyhound Bus Lines . One discount " Chinatown service " operates in Western New York; Ocean Travel runs an overnight express service between Buffalo, Rochester and New York City. In its early history, Western New York was settled by native cultures including

456-529: A land area of 11,764 square miles (30,470 km ). They include the area of the Holland Purchase and the Phelps and Gorham Purchase . The area is primarily served by Buffalo and Rochester media markets , although there is considerable overlap between these two markets, as well as other American and Canadian media markets (particularly from nearby Toronto ). In terms of the combined statistical areas used by

532-405: A serious setback when the corporation lost over one billion dollars due to bad high-risk, high-fee, high-interest loans made by its Westinghouse Credit Corporation lending arm. In an attempt to revitalize the corporation, the board of directors appointed outside management in the form of CEO Michael H. Jordan , who brought in numerous consultants to help re-engineer the company in order to realize

608-573: A year-round destination with numerous festivals. At their peak in the 1960s, over a dozen ski resorts were in Western New York, most of them in Cattaraugus County. Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and

684-517: Is "The City of Light". Buffalo experienced steady growth during the 19th century and at one point was one of the 10 most populated cities in the United States. According to some, Rochester was "America's First Boomtown" and was a key player in the flour industry (hence its initial nickname "Flour City"). Its growth was attributed to both the completion of the Erie Canal and its resulting significance in

760-538: Is its largest urban center. Letchworth State Park is a major geographical feature. The fourth region is that of the western Finger Lakes Region composed of parts of Seneca, Steuben, Schuyler, and Chemung counties. While parts of the Finger Lakes are considered within Western New York (as either a region or quadrant) the eastern portions are typically considered a part of Central New York. The Genesee region and Western Finger Lakes region are often combined and described as

836-403: Is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York . The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY includes the cities of Buffalo , Niagara Falls , Jamestown , and the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of Niagara Frontier , and Chautauqua-Alleghany (or

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912-568: The Buffalo and Rochester areas as two different metropolitan areas. If it were counted as a state, the population of Western New York would rank as the 37th most populated state in the United States. The following cities are found in the 17 western counties: Batavia , Buffalo , Canandaigua , Corning , Dunkirk , Elmira , Geneva , Hornell , Jamestown , Lackawanna , Lockport , Niagara Falls , North Tonawanda , Olean , Rochester , Salamanca , Tonawanda . The following villages are found in

988-644: The Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres . Team loyalties of sports fans in the rest of upstate New York are more divided. Most baseball fans support the Cleveland Guardians , New York Yankees and New York Mets , although the Toronto Blue Jays have seen an increase in support due to the influx of Canadians in the area - as well as the region's proximity to Toronto, the Blue Jays' increased on-field success in

1064-565: The Buffalo Sabres , the region is also home to a number of Toronto Maple Leafs , New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins supporters. "Friday night fish fry " is also regionally popular, a holdover from when Catholics were forbidden to eat meat on Fridays. It is usually skinless cod although most restaurants in the area claim they use the higher quality haddock, and is frequently beer-battered, deep fried, and served with French fries and cole slaw. Numerous restaurants in Western New York have

1140-528: The Finger Lakes region. Western New York also includes several Seneca Nation enclaves. If it were counted as a single area, the population of Western New York would number just over 2.6 million, and would rank as the 24th largest metropolitan area of the United States, between the Pittsburgh metropolitan area and the Sacramento, California metropolitan area . However, the U.S. Census Bureau has classified

1216-676: The Fox sisters was relocated to Lily Dale in 1916. Joseph Smith Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement , reported receiving the Book of Mormon in Palmyra, Wayne County. The women's civic organization Zonta was founded in Buffalo in 1919. In the late 20th century this area became part of the Rust Belt of the United States, being a focal point for the transportation of grain, steel, and coal. The opening of

1292-586: The Northwest Territory established the next year and formed part of a new state.) Native title, with the exception of several reservations, was extinguished in the Treaty of Canandaigua in 1794, while the Phelps and Gorham Purchase and Holland Purchase opened the territory for settling. During the War of 1812 Western New York was part of the borderland frontier between the United States and British Canada and became

1368-523: The PUREX process, the plant was able to recover 1,926 kilograms (4,246 lb) of plutonium and 620 metric tons (1,370,000 lb) of uranium. Most of the recovered uranium was depleted or slightly enriched; only 0.9 metric tons (2,000 lb) was highly enriched. The reprocessing of fuel also resulted in the accumulation of 660,000 US gallons (2,500 m) of high-level radioactive waste in an underground storage tank. An additional 15 acres (0.061 km) of

1444-559: The Rochester Metropolitan Area . The northern part of Western New York features four railroad stations in service on the Empire Corridor : Rochester , Buffalo-Depew , Buffalo-Exchange Street and Niagara Falls . The Buffalo-Exchange Street and Niagara Falls stations do not see as much rail service as the other two Western New York stations due to the fact that, west of Depew Station, Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited leaves

1520-754: The Seneca Nation of Indians , the Olean Area Transit System and Access Allegany to provide public transportation to most of the Southern Tier. In addition to the public transportation authorities, which provide limited intercity connections, several commercial intercity bus services also operate. Coach USA operates a loop service between Buffalo, Jamestown and Olean; the bus connects to a route to New York City in Olean and to Megabus service to Toronto and New York City in Buffalo. Fullington Trailways operates

1596-850: The United States Census Bureau , Western New York consists of the Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY area, the Rochester-Batavia-Seneca Falls, NY area, and the Elmira-Corning, NY area. Western New York is in some contexts considered a sub-region of " Upstate New York " (when that term is used to describe all of New York State outside Long Island and the New York City metropolitan area ); in most cases however, New Yorkers identify by specific regionalities such as Western New York or Central New York in preference to

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1672-515: The Welland Canal in 1957 effectively rendered the narrower Erie Canal obsolete, further exacerbating economic problems in the region. The area saw an economic decline during the period of deindustrialization , leaving many empty steel mills including those of Bethlehem Steel , which was the 2nd largest steel mill in the world. The plant located in Lackawanna , New York provided nearly 25,000 jobs to

1748-489: The Westinghouse Atom Smasher in 1937. A series of downturns and management missteps in the 1970s and 80s combined with large cash balances led the company to enter the financial services business. Their focus was on mortgages , which suffered significant losses in the late 1980s. In 1992 they announced a major restructuring and the liquidation of their credit operations. In 1995, in a major change of direction,

1824-702: The 1620s; some relics of their presence, including Fort Niagara and a portage road that follows modern New York State Route 394 between Lake Erie and Chautauqua Lake , are still visible in the region. Western New York's land was acquired from the Iroquois through the Nanfan Treaty , which ceded the territory to England at the end of the Beaver Wars in 1701. At the time, four of the British colonies ( Pennsylvania , New York , Massachusetts and Connecticut ) laid claim to

1900-1905: The 17 western counties: Addison , Akron , Albion , Alden , Alexander , Alfred , Allegany , Almond , Andover , Angelica , Angola , Arcade , Arkport , Attica , Avoca , Avon , Barker , Bath , Belmont , Bemus Point , Bergen , Blasdell , Bloomfield , Bolivar , Brockport , Brocton , Burdett , Caledonia , Canaseraga , Canisteo , Cassadaga , Castile , Cattaraugus , Celoron , Cherry Creek , Churchville , Clarence , Clifton Springs , Clyde , Cohocton , Corfu , Cuba , Dansville , Delevan , Depew , Dresden , Dundee , Dunkirk , East Aurora , East Randolph , East Rochester , Eden , Elba , Ellicottville , Elmira Heights , Fairport , Falconer , Farnham , Forestville , Franklinville , Fredonia , Gainesville , Geneseo , Gowanda , Hamburg , Hammondsport , Hilton , Holley , Honeoye Falls , Horseheads , Interlaken , Kenmore , Lakewood , Lancaster , Le Roy , Leicester , Lewiston , Lima , Limestone , Little Valley , Livonia , Lodi , Lyndonville , Lyons , Lockport , Macedon , Manchester , Mayville , Medina , Middleport , Millport , Montour Falls , Mount Morris , Naples , Newark , Newfane , North Collins , North Hornell , North Tonawanda , Nunda , Oakfield , Odessa , Orchard Park , Ovid , Painted Post , Palmyra , Panama , Pavilion , Penn Yan , Perry , Perrysburg , Phelps , Pike , Pittsford , Portville , Randolph , Red Creek , Richburg , Riverside , Rushville , Savona , Scottsville , Sherman , Shortsville , Silver Creek , Silver Springs , Sinclairville , Sloan , Sodus , Sodus Point , South Corning , South Dayton , Spencerport , Springville , Tonawanda , Van Etten , Victor , Warsaw , Waterloo , Watkins Glen , Wayland , Webster , Wellsburg , Wellsville , Westfield , Williamsville , Wilson , Wolcott , Wyoming and Youngstown . Western New York has

1976-537: The 1885 Erie County Fair (known as the Hamburg Fair) in Hamburg, New York , Frank and Charles Menches sold a ground beef sandwich, which is one of the earliest claims of the invention of the hamburger . Beef on Weck is a regional favorite and a local invention in which sliced warm roast beef is piled high on a Kummelweck roll topped with caraway seeds and large grained salt, au jus and horseradish are often added to

2052-481: The American economy during the 19th century. Large scale immigration from Ireland, Italy, Poland, Great Britain and Germany soon followed into the region. The New Religious Movement known as Spiritualism was among several that arose in the early 19th century burned-over district of Western New York. Its major center is Lily Dale , one of the largest spiritualism communities in the United States. The original house of

2128-464: The Buffalo area. Outside of the cities, agriculture has always been a major factor in the economy, especially dairy farming . Ski country runs through Western New York. Glenwood and Ellicottville both have multiple ski resorts within their boundaries; Ellicottville, in particular, has seen massive gentrification from the development of the large ski resorts within the town boundaries and has attempted to build on that growth by branding itself as

2204-459: The Colera family is also tied to several other Jamestown stands such as AJ Texas Hots, which launched in 1968, and Michael's, which operated from 1976 to 2021). The region produces many agricultural products, including milk, maple syrup, apples, cherries, potatoes, sweet corn, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, and grapes. As with the rest of Upstate New York , dairy farming is an important part of

2280-521: The Empire Corridor en route to the Midwest. For a period of time, there were proposals to service these four stations with high-speed rail . A major objective of implementing high-speed rail service was to better connect Western New York as well as the rest of Upstate New York with New York City. However, little of substance has come of these proposals. Service to other parts of Western New York ended from

2356-794: The Hopewell. The territory of Western New York, until the 17th century, was held by the Neutral Nation in the northern Niagara region and the Wenrohronon and Erie Indians around the Allegheny River . The Seneca nation and their allies in the Iroquois Confederacy eliminated those tribes in wars during the Beaver Wars between 1638 and 1701, with any survivors being assimilated into the Senecas (in

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2432-456: The Rochester area is the " white hot ", a hot dog with a slight variation of ingredients that appears without the distinctive pink color of most hot dogs; when ordering a hot dog in Rochester it is common to be asked to clarify whether it should be "red or white". In urban areas in Western New York, education, business, light manufacturing and tourism have replaced heavy manufacturing which left

2508-547: The United States have been operated by the U.S. Department of Energy rather than private companies. The West Valley Demonstration Project Act (Public Law 96-368) was passed by the United States Congress in 1980, and directed the United States Department of Energy to lead the task of solidifying and removing the accumulated nuclear waste present on the site, in addition to decontaminating and decommissioning

2584-842: The WNY Genealogical Society, WNY PRISM, the Psychological Association of WNY, and the WNY Land Conservancy describe themselves as working in these 8 counties. Others, such as Clarion Publications, the publisher of the WNY Travel Guide and WesternNY.com, have used the term Western New York to describe a much larger area consisting of 17 counties. In addition to those counties mentioned, they add Chemung , Livingston , Monroe , Ontario , Schuyler , Seneca , Steuben , Wayne , and Yates as well. The rest of this article uses that definition. The 17 counties have

2660-477: The West Valley site. The first shipments of spent fuel arrived at the site in 1965, and reprocessing began the next year. In 1969, Nuclear Fuel Services was acquired by Getty Oil . The plant reprocessed spent reactor fuel at the site from 1966 to 1972. During this time period, the facility processed 1,983.7 kilograms (4,373 lb) of plutonium and 625.7 metric tons (1,379,000 lb) of spent uranium . Using

2736-525: The Western Southern Tier ) comprises Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany counties. The region is mountainous. The largest urban center is Jamestown , and Lake Chautauqua and Allegany State Park are major geographical features. The third region, the Genesee Region, comprises Monroe, Livingston, Wayne, Orleans, Ontario, and Yates counties and parts of Genessee and Wyoming counties. Rochester

2812-864: The Westinghouse trademarks were granted to the newly formed BNFL subsidiary, Westinghouse Electric Company . That company was sold to Toshiba in 2006. During the 20th century, Westinghouse engineers and scientists were granted more than 28,000 U.S. patents, the third most of any company. There have been a number of Westinghouse-related environmental incidents in the US. Below is a short list of these. All of these are chemical pollution incidents; none of them involve nuclear reactors or nuclear pollution. Westinghouse established subsidiary companies in several countries including British Westinghouse and Società Italiana Westinghouse in Vado Ligure , Italy. British Westinghouse became

2888-505: The area at the end of World War II. Rochester and Buffalo were especially hard-hit with the exodus of manufacturing jobs to other areas of the United States and nations like China and Mexico. Niagara Falls was also hard-hit and has shed half of its population since its peak in 1960. Today, major corporations in Western New York include Kodak , Wegmans , Bausch & Lomb , Xerox , M&T Bank , KeyBank and Moog , among many others. General Motors continues to operate three facilities in

2964-599: The case of the Erie and Neutral) or Huron (in the case of the Wenro). The Neutral territory is currently held by Tuscaroras , who moved up from the Carolinas while refugees from the Erie tribes moved south to the Carolinas. French forces settled in parts of what is now Western New York through much of the 17th century, beginning with Étienne Brûlé 's pass-through of the region in 1615 and Joseph de La Roche Daillon 's missionary journeys in

3040-525: The company acquired the CBS television network and renamed itself CBS Corporation . Most of its remaining industrial businesses were sold off at this time. CBS Corp was acquired by Viacom in 1999, a merger completed in April 2000. The CBS Corporation name was later reused for one of the two companies resulting from the split of Viacom in 2005. One of the few remaining original lines of business to survive this process

3116-809: The company included Frank Conrad , Benjamin Garver Lamme , Bertha Lamme (first woman mechanical engineer in the United States), Oliver B. Shallenberger , William Stanley , Nikola Tesla , Stephen Timoshenko , and Vladimir Zworykin . Early on, Westinghouse was a rival to Thomas Edison 's electric company. In 1892, Edison was merged with Westinghouse's chief AC rival, the Thomson-Houston Electric Company , making an even bigger competitor, General Electric . Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company changed its name to Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1945. In 1990, Westinghouse experienced

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3192-428: The contaminated water, and stopped accepting waste for burial in 1975. In total, approximately 2,400,000 cubic feet (68,000 m) of low-level waste was buried at the site. Escalating regulation required plant modifications which were deemed uneconomic by Nuclear Fuel Services, who ceased all operations at the facility in 1976. After Nuclear Fuel Services' lease expired in 1980, the site and its accumulated waste became

3268-453: The economy. New York State is a leading producer among the states of dairy, maple, and wine. Perhaps the best-known food specialty of Western New York is Buffalo chicken wings (known locally simply as 'wings' or 'chicken wings'). The two best-known places to get wings are Duff's and the Anchor Bar , which have a strong local rivalry in Buffalo and both are expanding outside the city. At

3344-482: The facility and surrounding property. The processes used to solidify and contain the site's nuclear waste were intended to demonstrate strategies that could be used at other cleanup sites. On October 1, 1980, the U.S. Department of Energy entered into a cooperative agreement with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to determine an operational framework for cleanup activities at

3420-416: The facility doubles as a gateway to Canada, and a good portion of its passengers (33%) are Canadian. The second major airport in Western New York, Greater Rochester International Airport , does not see as much traffic as Buffalo-Niagara International Airport. Still, located just three nautical miles southwest of Downtown Rochester, the facility provides convenient access to airline service for many residents of

3496-487: The firm became active in developing alternating current (AC) electric infrastructure throughout the United States. The company's largest factories were located in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , Lester, Pennsylvania and Hamilton, Ontario, where they made turbines , generators, motors, and switch gear for the generation, transmission, and use of electricity. In addition to George Westinghouse, early engineers working for

3572-452: The flour industry. Olean was originally planned to be a similar major hub, but it proved to be at a major disadvantage: located near the headwaters of the Allegheny River (a factor its planners had hoped would make the city a gateway to the Midwest), the river was too shallow to support large boat travel or shipping on a consistent basis. As a region, Western New York played a significant role in

3648-455: The growing season. Lost in its famed winters, Western New York summers are among the sunniest in the Northeast [REDACTED]   Canada and are generally very pleasant. Thanks in part to breezes blowing over Lakes Erie and Ontario (which are usually cooler than the air temperature in the summer), most of Western New York enjoy generally cooler and more comfortable summers than other regions in

3724-482: The heaviest amount of snow in Western New York during the winter falls near the southern end of Erie County as well as in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, and Wyoming counties. Spring and fall in Western New York are usually short and changeable. The presence of the lakes allows for fruit growing and wine production along areas adjacent to both lakes, which retard the development of damaging spring and fall frost, thereby extending

3800-567: The local economy. Republic Steel also had a large integrated steel mill located in South Buffalo . General Motors in Tonawanda is the largest vehicle engine plant in the world, which still is a major contributor to the Buffalo area economy. Ford Motor Company also maintains a large manufacturing facility in Woodlawn , New York, which is just south of Buffalo . Western New York is culturally

3876-514: The mid-1960s to 1970. The Erie Lackawanna 's Phoebe Snow served on a southeastern trajectory from Buffalo to Elmira , Binghamton , Scranton and Hoboken ; service ended in 1966. The E-L's Lake Cities originated in Chicago , passing through Western New York's Jamestown , then through the rest of the Southern Tier , Orange County and terminating at Hoboken, NJ; service ended on January 6, 1970. The Pennsylvania Railroad 's Buffalo Day Express

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3952-551: The mid-2010s, and the affiliation with the longstanding minor league Buffalo Bisons . The Pittsburgh Pirates have some following in southwestern New York, and teams with national fanbases such as the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs also have followings. The region has no clear favorite professional basketball franchise, with the Brooklyn Nets , Cleveland Cavaliers , New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors all claiming parts of

4028-570: The potential that they saw in the broadcasting industry. Westinghouse reduced the workforce in many of its traditional industrial operations and made further acquisitions in broadcasting to add to its already substantial Group W network, including Infinity Broadcasting , TNN , CMT , American Radio Systems , and rights to NFL broadcasting. These investments cost the company over fifteen billion dollars. To recoup its costs, Westinghouse sold many other operations, including its defense electronics division, its metering and load control division (which

4104-427: The property was licensed by New York State for burial of low-level radioactive waste in 20-foot (6.1 m) deep trenches. After reprocessing operations ceased in 1972, Nuclear Fuel Services continued to accept low-level radioactive waste for disposal at the site until it was discovered that contaminated water was leaking from the trenches. Nuclear Fuel Services was unable to obtain regulatory approval to remove and treat

4180-447: The region as part of their regional broadcasting territories. (Western New York puts more emphasis on college basketball , where the "Big 4" Division I programs—Canisius, Niagara, St. Bonaventure and UB—all have strong followings and rivalries; while most attention has been centered around the men's college basketball teams, the recent success of UB and St. Bonaventure's women's teams has led to increased attention to women's basketball in

4256-519: The region this way. The state has also used this regional boundary to set policy during the COVID-19 pandemic . More commonly, WNY has been defined to include at least Genesee , Orleans , and Wyoming counties as well. Almost all descriptions of WNY in the Buffalo media market define it as this 8 county area. Most organizations that use WNY in their name including the WNY College Consortium,

4332-731: The region. A few shortline railroads also offer rail service, including the New York and Lake Erie Railroad and the Arcade and Attica Railroad . The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority runs regular bus service throughout the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority serves Rochester and surrounding counties, and the Chautauqua Area Regional Transit System serves Chautauqua County. First Transit contracts with

4408-419: The region. Rochester Components Operations, formerly known as Rochester Division, produces fuel system components. Lockport Operations, formerly Harrison Thermal Systems, produces cooling system components and was awarded $ 154 million for additional and future products in 2022. Finally, Tonawanda Power Train originally opened in 1938 as a Chevrolet engine plant and continues producing 4 and 8 cylinder engines in

4484-513: The region. The college basketball scene once had enough clout to help drive Buffalo's NBA team, the 1970s-era Buffalo Braves , out of the city.) Syracuse University sports, being the closest major-conference school to the region, also has a sizable following in western New York, particularly in basketball. College football interest is minimal, with no team having a major following (not even UB, who has struggled to maintain its Division I football program despite modest success). For hockey, other than

4560-445: The remainder. Site operations began in February 1982, after West Valley Nuclear Services Company, Inc. (then a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Corporation ) was chosen by the USDOE as the primary contractor for work to be done at the West Valley Demonstration Project. 42°27′2″N 78°39′17″W  /  42.45056°N 78.65472°W  / 42.45056; -78.65472 Western New York Western New York ( WNY )

4636-436: The responsibility of New York State. The former plant remains the only privately owned nuclear fuel reprocessing center to have ever operated in the United States. Two additional private nuclear fuel reprocessing plants were constructed (one by General Electric in Morris, Illinois , and another by Allied General Nuclear Services in Barnwell, South Carolina ), but were never permitted to operate. Other reprocessing plants in

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4712-438: The same climatic zone. Interstate System U.S. Routes Western New York has two airports that provide significant regular passenger service, Buffalo-Niagara International Airport and Greater Rochester International Airport . Buffalo-Niagara International Airport is the most patronized airport facility in Western New York. While it primarily serves as the regional airport for the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Metropolitan Area ,

4788-442: The same or similar dish under other names, usually containing the word "plate". The Rochester Red Wings baseball team concessions at Frontier Field , for example, offer the "Home Plate". A component of the garbage plate and many other local dishes is a topping known in Rochester as "hot sauce." The term in this context does not refer to a pepper sauce , but to a spiced sauce containing bits of meat. Another food associated with

4864-431: The same period in American history , so the street patterns, architecture , and ethnic communities share a similar appearance. Linguistically, Western New York is part of the Inland North region of American English, which means it is subject to the Northern Cities vowel shift ; a distinct variant of that accent, " Buffalo English ", is heard in many parts of the region. Finally, most Western New York sports fans support

4940-419: The sandwich. Butter lambs are a popular tradition in Buffalo during the Lenten season leading into Easter . The Broadway Market, a market in Buffalo, is famous for this product. The Rochester area is known for the Garbage Plate . It was created and continues to be served by Nick Tahou Hots on West Main Street. The name "Garbage Plate" is trademarked by Nick Tahou's, but other Rochester restaurants serve

5016-438: The scene of various military actions. The two major Western New York cities, Buffalo and Rochester, benefited greatly from the opening of the Erie Canal . With its strategic position at the western end of the Erie Canal, the eastern end of Lake Erie and proximity to Niagara Falls and Canada, Buffalo emerged as a major port. Niagara Falls provided Buffalo with a ready supply of power, so much so that one of its enduring nicknames

5092-419: The site. The agreement specified that the USDOE would take the lead on the project and obtain exclusive control over the site's 175-acre (0.71 km) high-security core area, while NYSERDA would represent New York State's interests in the project and manage the remainder of the site's property. It also stipulated that the U.S. Federal Government would pay for 90% of the project's costs, with New York State paying

5168-537: The states' Revolutionary War debts, the states were required to extinguish their western land claims . Massachusetts extinguished its claim to the territory in exchange for receiving the profits from its sale to settlers. New York was the only colony not to extinguish its western claim, and by way of the 1786 Treaty of Hartford , the land, with the exception of a small triangle that was ceded to Pennsylvania in 1792 , officially became Western New York. (Had New York extinguished its claim, it would have likely become part of

5244-457: The unsettled territory, as did New France until the Seven Years' War . Most of Western New York was officially off-limits to all of the colonies as a result of the establishment of an Indian Reserve over the area following the Seven Years' War. By the 1780s, only New York and Massachusetts still maintained their claims to the territory, which was separated from mainland New York by a Preemption Line . Under federal policy designed to extinguish

5320-434: The vague and broader term Upstate New York. Western New York is generally considered to have 2-4 subregions: The Greater Niagara Region (or the Niagara Frontier), comprises Niagara and Erie counties and parts of Genesee and Wyoming counties. It is named for its major features, the Niagara river and Niagara Falls . Buffalo is its largest urban center. The Chautauqua–Allegheny Region (also known as Southwestern New York or

5396-456: The western Southern Tier ). Many would also place Rochester and the Genesee Valley in the region, although those legally belong in the Finger Lakes Region and are separate from Western New York Region. The State of New York sometimes defines the WNY region as including just five counties: Allegany , Cattaraugus , Chautauqua , Erie , and Niagara . The state's Empire State Development Corporation and state health authorities have both mapped

5472-528: Was another route serving Western New York, traveling south to Baltimore via Olean and Harrisburg ; this train was discontinued in 1967, but an unnamed Penn Central (PC) successor lasted through April 30, 1971, when AMTRAK assumed most of the remaining U.S. rail passenger service but declined to serve the Baltimore-Harrisburg-Buffalo route of the former PRR/PC. The Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad and WNY&P both operate freight service in

5548-563: Was named the Western New York Nuclear Service Center and would eventually host a commercial spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant and low-level radioactive waste disposal site that was operated by Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. Nuclear Fuel Services was a subsidiary of the W.R. Grace Company in 1963, when the Atomic Energy Commission granted the company the necessary permits to reprocess spent fuel at

5624-436: Was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in 1945. Through the early and mid-20th century, Westinghouse Electric was a powerhouse in heavy industry, electrical production and distribution, consumer electronics, home appliances and a wide variety of other products. They were a major supplier of generators and steam turbines for most of their history, and was also a major player in the field of nuclear power , starting with

5700-694: Was sold to ABB ), its residential security division, the office furniture company Knoll , and Thermo King . Westinghouse purchased CBS Inc. in 1994 for $ 5.4 billion. Westinghouse Electric Corporation changed its name to and became the original CBS Corporation in 1997. Also in 1997, the Power Generation Business Unit, headquartered in Orlando, Florida , was sold to Siemens AG of Germany. A year later, CBS sold all of its commercial nuclear power businesses to British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL). In connection with that sale, certain rights to use

5776-480: Was the nuclear power division, which was sold to BNFL in 1999 and re-formed as Westinghouse Electric Company . The Westinghouse trademarks are owned by Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and were previously part of Westinghouse Licensing Corporation . Westinghouse Electric was founded by George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , on January 8, 1886. Building on the advancement of AC technology in Europe,

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