BUFFALO, N.Y. — Ten years this week, though technically no longer a hurricane, when Sandy struck the mid-Atlantic seaboard including the New York Metropolitan area it still packed enough punch to cause billions in damage from flooding and high winds. Millions went without power for weeks and more than five dozen deaths were associated with the Superstorm when it gouged Gotham on October 29, 2012.
Though not as severe, the storm still affected Western New York with heavy rains and high winds, but there was no solace for Sabres fans who could not ride out the severe by watching their favorite hockey team, as the NHL player's lockout put the games on the ice.
Then, just as now, New Yorkers paid the highest combined taxes of any state in the nation.
Apple introduced its first I-Pad mini, and everyone it seemed was caught up in a dance craze known as Gangnam style this week in 2012
Twenty years ago this week, the long arm of the law finally caught up with the DC Sniper, whose 10-week reign of terror resulting in 10 deaths ended with the arrest of John Allen Muhammad and his teenaged accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo.
Muhammad was put to death by lethal injection 7 years later and Malvo continues to serve multiple life sentences.
That same week and closer to home an arraignment was held in U.S. District Court in Buffalo for six Yemini -Americans from Lackawanna, accused of being part of a terrorist sleeper cell and who would eventually plead guilty to supplying material al Qaeda...and who would forever become known as the Lackawanna 6.
Among the first classes of TSA agents were sworn into duty to serve at the Buffalo airport, and we did our first story about a group of young people from Western New York seeking fame and fortune by trying for a popular new TV show called "American Idol" this week in 2002.
Thirty years ago ago this week a local landmark was lost when it burned to the ground. New York State's Western Regional Parks Commissioner at the time, Mario Pirastru, was so taken aback by the devastation that he told Channel 2 report Dick Lucinski and photojournalist Andy Desantis that he "felt like crying".
(If you would like to know which landmark we're talking about, watch to find out by clicking on the video player above.)
A City Hall scandal culminated with the conviction of Buffalo Parks Commissioner Bob Delano on federal racketeering charges for running the department like his personal piggy bank. Delano was later sentenced to serve time in federal prison.