Dyster's New Canoe Launch More Up River Without Paddle Pork Here

As anyone can see, there was no need to put in a floating canoe launch since there are plenty of docks at Griffon Park to launch a canoe or kayak. Doesn't it seem obvious that what Dyster is doing is looking for ways to spend taxpayer money to help who knows who? Somewhere in the bowels of these schemes is a supporter or friend who sells floating docks. Be assured of that.

Yet another monument to Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster’s spendthrift ways and complete disregard for the fiscal future of the municipality he was elected to govern opened this past Saturday at Griffon Park in LaSalle.

A $166,622 canoe launch, in a park that already has more than adequate launching facilities, for a watercraft specifically intended to not need any launching facilities.

The new facility is located near but separate from the already existing boat launch docks in the park, which are low to the water, perfectly suitable for canoe launching and have been in place for as long as anyone can remember.

The existing launches are little used by canoeists, because aside from a short stretch of shelter water between the mouth of Cayuga Creek, where it is located, and Cayuga Island, the strong currents of the mighty Niagara River starts picking up at this point, as the mad rush toward the upper rapids and the mighty falls themselves begins.

Nearby signs warn against proceeding any further downriver, and paddling against the current is difficult.

Roger Woodward, who as a boy in 1960 survived a plunge over the falls after the engine of a small boat he was a passenger in failed, referred to the foolhardiness of those who would brave the waters above the rapids unpowered.

“This water looks like it's as big as a house with the waves and the rocks," he said. "One minute you're pulled underwater, you can't breathe, you wonder if you're ever going to breathe again. The next second you're thrown up into the air and you come down and you're glancing off of rocks as you're going through the rapids."

According to “The Complete Wilderness Paddler,” by James & John Rugge, the canoe, a small, lightweight boat typically pointed at both ends, was originally developed by Native American Indians and refined, in this area, into the birchbark covered vessel adopted by the early French and British explorers.

The canoe was ideal for the wilderness explorers, the Rugges point out, because it was designed in such a way so as to eliminate the need for any sort of facility whatsoever to be launched or landed!

A gently sloping riverbank was all that was needed to get the canoe in and out of the water.

Dyster’s new canoe launch is one of the only Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant launches on the Niagara River, the city said in announcing the event. Dyster is stressing this minor point because there was absolutely no other reason to build a launch for a boat that doesn’t need a launch, in a spot with already existing launching facilities on water unsuitable for canoeing in the first place.

Another reason for building the launch of course was because it gave the mayor $166,622 to spread out among consultants, engineering firms, contractors and the company that made the floating dock.

Funding for the launch included a $85,000 Niagara County Environmental Fund grant, a $56,000 New York State Department of State Local Waterfront Revitalization Program-Blueway grant and a $25,000 Niagara River Greenway grant.

For Dyster, whether the city actually needs a new canoe launch or a train station is a secondary consideration. The primary motivation is whether or not funding can be secured.

In the case of the Griffon Park project, as much as $26,000 will be needed annually to keep the brush cut back and put in and take out the dock every spring and fall. For years and decades after Dyster is mayor no more, for eternity, Dyster’s unneeded, unwanted and unnecessary canoe launch will be a burden to Niagara Falls taxpayers.

Members of LaSalle PRIDE, a community organization, were on hand for the dedication Saturday with historical re-enactors.

“Our organization is pleased to have worked cooperatively and productively with the city of Niagara Falls to adopt this canoe launch site,” said LaSalle Pride representative Ken Sherman.

Sherman, who lives in Canada, first emerged as a spokesman for the LaSalle PRIDE organization when they were seeking to build a canoe launch on Cayuga Island in Jayne Park.