Strolling through Williamsville’s Glen Park in January 2020, local historian Susan Fenster imagined how the area looked when the Glen Park Casino was still active. The amusement park saw its final days while she was a girl, the area transitioning from parking lots and rollercoasters to a pastoral retreat beneath Main Street. Curious, she dug around but found little.
“Nothing intrigues me more than what is missing,” Fenster says. “I started calling around and talking to people and everyone had such high nostalgia about the whole place, just as I was having.” One name that appeared prominently during her search? Harry Altman.
She dug deeper.
The result is Harry Altman: Buffalo’s Master Showman, published by Buffalo History Books (2025). The book begins with a glimpse at Altman’s immigrant parents, who took a leap of faith and emigrated from Russia, eventually settling on Buffalo’s East Side. The youngest of six children, Altman’s humble beginnings taught him grit and persistence. He hustled: as a glove salesman, an event promoter, and as co-owner of small roller rinks and dance halls. Near broke during the Great Depression, Altman transformed an eight-acre picnic grove in Williamsville and transformed it into the Glen Casino, a nightclub that drew big names like Sammy Davis Jr. and the Three Stooges that put Buffalo entertainment on the map…