Mayor Irene Elia continued to prosecute her one-woman war against the Seneca Nation of Indians last week, re-opening two-way traffic on Fourth Street, Duggan Drive and Wendel Way near the casino, and creating a potential safety hazard that could represent a legal liability for the city.
Furthermore, she declared that the central section of Fourth Street, under the casino archway, remains a city right of way, despite claims by casino officials that the area is in Seneca territory.
The mayor is miffed to the max over her ejection from the casino a couple of weeks ago. She has also re-opened a little-used section of Sixth Street that slices through Seneca land south of Niagara Street in an apparent attempt to flex her muscles.
Back on Feb. 14, casino officials met with the city engineer, traffic engineers, the police chief and police traffic officers, all of whom agreed that making Fourth Street a one-way thoroughfare was the right thing to do in the interests of safety.
Last week Councilman Vince Anello -- who is opposing Elia in the upcoming mayoral election -- introduced a resolution that would reverse the mayor's arbitrary decision to re-open the streets.
"The confusion with the present traffic pattern on Fourth Street creates a dangerous situation for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic," the resolution stated. "These concerns were addressed at meetings with the City of Niagara Falls, the Seneca Gaming Corp. and the New York State Department of Transportation, at which time they all supported a 'one way north' for Fourth Street."
Predictably, Anello's resolution was shot down by Elia's City Council cheering section -- Candra Thomason, Fran Iusi and Paul Dyster.
Dyster has also announced his intention to run for mayor, and it isn't likely we'll see him supporting anything Anello puts forth between now and November.
Elia was thrown out of the casino earlier this month because her "my way or the highway" approach didn't sit well with our Seneca neighbors. Her pride was injured and she has since used the power of her office to extract some sort of nitwit revenge.
Now all it will take is a single serious traffic accident on Fourth Street for every taxpayer in Niagara Falls to have to bear the burden of that wounded pride.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | March 25 2003 |