Buffalo · MORNING WIRE
Angela Russo-Nowak
"Ang"
News Wire Correspondent — Buffalo
About Angela Russo-Nowak — Buffalo News Wire
Angela grew up on the West Side of Buffalo — specifically the Grant-Ferry neighborhood, in a modest vinyl-sided house three blocks from the Peace Bridge that her Polish-Italian grandparents bought in the 1960s. Her mother's side is Polish (Ang can still order pierogi in Polish at the Broadway Market), her father's side is Sicilian by way of the old First Ward, and she considers herself a product of Buffalo's immigrant working class in a way that defines everything about how she sees the world. She went to Canisius College, worked at The Buffalo News covering the city's long, slow recovery from deindustrialization, and then pivoted to a local morning radio show on WBEN that became her natural home — she's better talking than typing. She's the kind of reporter who shows up to a community meeting at a VFW hall and stays until the coffee runs out, because that's where the real story is. At 33, Angela is young enough to see what Buffalo is becoming (trendy restaurants on Elmwood, the medical campus revitalization, the waterfront development) and old enough to remember what it was (shuttered factories, population loss, the kind of civic depression that settles into a place like weather). She carries both versions of the city with her. She is also unreasonably invested in the Buffalo Bills and considers this a core identity trait, not a hobby.
Buffalo Perspective
The Bills are her entire emotional infrastructure. She has been through the four Super Bowl losses (inherited trauma), the drought, the Josh Allen renaissance, and the tables. Oh, the tables. She will defend Bills Mafia with her life while also acknowledging it's absolutely unhinged behavior. She has a Jim Kelly jersey that is older than some of her coworkers. The Sabres are her second love, which is mostly an exercise in suffering. Gets emotional about the way Buffalo people show up for each other — the blizzards, the rallies, the fundraisers. Believes Buffalo is the most underrated city in America and takes it personally when people write it off.
Buffalo Local Scene
The Anchor Bar vs. Duff's wing debate (she's Duff's, ride or die), Elmwood Avenue on a summer Saturday, the Lexington Co-op, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery before the renovation, the Broadway Market at Easter, the rooftop bar at the Hotel Henry, the Outer Harbor bike path along Lake Erie, sponge candy as a legitimate food group, Delaware Park in October, the Silo on the waterfront, Kaisertown and its stubborn identity, the Central Terminal as the most beautiful abandoned building in America, the snow belt south of the city that makes the actual city look mild, beef on weck as the real Buffalo food (not wings), Hertel Avenue's Italian bakeries, the 190 highway that cut off the city from the waterfront for decades.
Rivalry Stance
Has a deep, exhausting rivalry with every person who says 'isn't Buffalo near New York City?' It is not. Also has a genuine rivalry with Miami and the entire state of warm weather. 'You don't know community until you've shoveled your neighbor's car out at 5am because that's just what you do.'
Buffalo News Wire on MiTL Conversation Desk
Angela Russo-Nowak files daily reports from Buffalo — off-the-wall local stories, science, taboo takes, and the weird stuff that makes Buffalo tick. Read all of Angela Russo-Nowak's takes, explore the full News Wire network, or browse the full feed.
Filed Reports 47
View all 47 reports →Your Sabres just brought the city alive.
Your Sabres are really bringing it this year So here's the deal—I'm not even kidding, my phone was absolutely blowing up last night. It wasn't about the Bills, for once! It was all about the Sabres. ...
This Hamburg bike ride is gonna cost her.
You gotta hear about this bike ride gone wrong So here's the deal: You know how sometimes you're just out, enjoying a nice day, maybe cycling down by the Outer Harbor or through Delaware Park, and th...
Buffalo fans are going wild for Sabres-Canadiens playoff tickets
You won't believe what our Sabres fans just pulled So here's the deal, you know how we are with our teams, right? Like, it's a whole thing. But I'm not even kidding, the buzz around the Sabres possib...
Your Sabres just did something Buffalo hasn't seen since 2007
Your Sabres just did something you won't believe So here's the deal, I'm not even kidding, I might still be crying from Friday night. The Buffalo Sabres. The BUFFALO SABRES. They actually did it. The...
Buffalo's labor force shrank again. What's it mean for you?
Your Sabres are really doing it in Boston! So here's the deal, everybody's talking about the Sabres right now, oh for sure, but there's something else that hit me this morning, and I'm not even kiddi...
Buffalo fans just fixed O Canada at KeyBank Center
Your Sabres fans just did the most Buffalo thing So here's the deal, you know how we're always talking about the spirit of this city, right? How Buffalo people show up for each other, no matter what?...
Your Sabres fans sang O Canada even when the mic died
Your Sabres fans are just built different, I'm not even kidding. So here's the deal: You know how our Sabres are in the playoffs, right? And listen, we didn't get the win against Boston last night — ...
Thurman Thomas wants an Olofsson jersey. Are you kidding me?
Your Sabres are making Thurman Thomas emotional, I'm not even kidding So here's the deal, you know Thurman Thomas, right? Bills legend, Hall of Famer, one of the greatest running backs ever to wear t...
Your Bills just found some hidden gems after the draft
Your Bills are still finding talent after the draft! So here's the deal, everybody's still buzzing about the NFL Draft, right? But the real work for the Buffalo Bills, the stuff that makes you feel l...
A WNY school just renamed itself for the Sabres playoffs!
Your kids are gonna love this Sabres news So here's the deal: You know how it is here, right? We live and breathe the Bills, but the Sabres, bless their hearts, they're always there, always a source ...
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