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Buffalo's big weekend and efforts to keep it running smoothly

March Madness, a hockey tournament, plus St. Patrick's Day parades and festivities are all on deck this weekend. The city says it's ready.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Starting Thursday, the first round of the men's basketball NCAA tournament at KeyBank Center will bring thousands to downtown Buffalo.

More visitors will also come for the three day hockey tournament at Buffalo RiverWorks. And toss in to that sports mix the fact that there will be two parades and other festivities tied to St. Patrick's Day and the weekend.   

To make sure all those fans, visitors, and city residents all have a good time and stay safe, there has been plenty of pre-planning and work underway.

At City Hall, some government and restaurant folks talked strategy for this big Buffalo weekend. 

Some of it is obvious, and perhaps not so obvious, points like a major spring cleanup for the city. That started with removal of any remaining piles of now graying and dirty snow. And there are the other elements for Buffalo Department of Public Works commissioner Michael Finn.

"We have had and will continue to have all over the city, especially focusing on downtown, street sweepers, folks just picking up litter," Finn said.

Then of course there's security with thousands of fans going into the arena and all around the area. Like the Cobblestone District, Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia points out, "Local, state, county, federal partners, there's a lot of pre-work that goes into this pre-planning. Intelligence gathering.

"But you'll also see other agencies that will down here assisting with us. Every single one of these events, no matter where they are, it's a team effort. It takes everybody."

Also, factor in transportation with mass transit. The NFTA says extra Metro trains will be running, but they are still to deal with a driver shortage for their over 300 unit fleet of buses.

Buffalo Parking Commissioner Kevin Helfer pointed out the advantages of using the Metro.

"At Main and UB, Main, and LaSalle, hop on that train. Direct route down. You know a couple of bucks each way. I don't know how you can beat it," Helfer said.

And what about parking? Well, the city says there's on street and ramps. But they say they've also talked to the private lot operators about the high prices they can charge.

"I spoke to All Pro today," Helfer said. "They are one of our private owners of lots and managers of lots. Their most expensive parking space, which I'm very grateful for, will be $20, which I think is very fair. Obviously, it's very simple: the closer you're get to the arena, the higher the price."

Helfer added: "Do a little bit of research ahead of time. Be prepared. Go on the different websites."

Also, we have to remember there isn't much time between some of the games, so the fans and the restaurants are really going to have to hustle to feed them all.

Jay Manno, who operates Soho's and Frankie Primo's restaurants, says it's important to "limit the menu options to items that you can execute fast."

We asked: "A lotta stuff pre-made, so fresh but pre-made?"

Manno replied: "Prep is the key, right? And when it's gone, it's gone. You sell out of it, you're out till the next day."

Since it can be a quick turnaround between the games, Soho's and other restaurants are paying for shuttle buses to take fans from and back to the KeyBank Center.  

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