Niagara Reporter-
When was the last time you did it?
There was a time when husbands and wives did it frequently. Lovers thought it was incredibly romantic to do over and over again. Sometimes they did it all night long and from city to city. When was the last time you did it? Ride the train, that is. Mayor Paul A. Dyster’s nearly completed $45 million train station will be called ” the Niagara Falls International Railway Station & Intermodal Transportation Center.” That’s a mouthful – in fact it is the longest name for any train station in America. It is likely to be one of the loneliest too. At
Dyster veto stops Tompkins’ council health insurance cost saving measure
Niagara Falls – It didn’t take long for freshman councilman Kenny Tompkins to get a close up look at Mayor Paul Dyster’s veto pen. And from what we’re told Mr. Tompkins is not pleased at seeing the mayor – with a stroke of his seldom seen veto pen – strike down the councilman’s resolution, a resolution ending the health insurance benefit for all future members of the city council. Tompkins’ resolution ending the taxpayer paid health care had been passed in a 3-2 vote at a council meeting two weeks ago. Tompkins, Chairman Andrew Touma and council member
Mayor Dyster DOES have a casino revenue spending plan: spend until the money is gone!
Last week the city reported that their share of casino revenue had dropped once again. While the city’s handle of the annual slot drop peaked around $22 million in recent years the new annual casino revenue reality is now about $5 million less…and dropping still. The city’s announcement of the tumbling numbers drew near audible gasps as reported in a Niagara Gazette article that featured quotes from the council chair, the city controller and a member of the council’s Finance Review Panel. The Reporter is questioning the sincerity of those gasps. That’s because the Dyster administration has, for the last
Underground Railroad Interpretive Center casino funds defy transparency
Niagara Falls – The Underground Railroad Commission has been receiving $350,000 per year in dedicated casino revenue since 2009. At $350,000 per year for seven years that’s a total of $2,450,000. The money is set aside annually out of the casino revenue account to support and promote the Underground Railroad Interpretive Center. The center was supposed to open its doors five years ago but failed to do so after the project director was mysteriously removed from his city hall job by Mayor Paul Dyster. Where’s the $2,450,000? Who’s managing it, what bank account is it in, has any, or all
Dyster administration has little interest in revealing casino account growth
While great attention has been paid to the condition of the city’s casino revenue account, virtually nothing has been asked, much less revealed, as to how the city is using the interest earned by the many millions of casino revenue dollars that have been received and banked over the years. The Reporter has repeatedly called for the city to post all information regarding the casino interest account and how it’s been spent or invested. After all those are taxpayer dollars. So far our request for simple and straight forward fiscal transparency has fallen on deaf ears. We’re not surprised. Our
How has the casino revenue been abused, let us count the ways
What do tree stump removal, police overtime, engineering consultants, penguins, pothole patching and the train station all have in common? They were all supported with casino revenue over recent years. It’s strange, but true, that every one of these things – and a whole lot more – were deemed by mayor and council as meeting the casino revenue expenditure prime directive: The city share of casino revenue must be spent on matters directly related to economic development. While that Albany directive is on the books the observance of the directive has never been supported with a definitive written casino revenue
Only in North Tonawanda: Mesothelioma cancer heritage in NT
North Tonawanda is nicknamed “The Lumber City” after its most prominent industry of the past. The legacy of the lumber companies is seen in historic mansions built by and owned by some prominent executives of lumber companies. The most prominent legacy of the lumber days however is the environmental one, especially from arsenic used in the treating process of lumber. Between the mid-19th century and the 1970s, more than 150 companies produced lumber and wood products in NT. The Herschell-Spillman Company manufactured carousels and amusement park rides until the 1950s after beginning as a producer of engines. An offshoot of
New Automated Parking System on Goat Island Stiffs Senior Citizens
Whether exposing the crooked Glynn Maid of the Mist monopoly, criticizing the Niagara Falls State Park “Landscape Improvements” plan which ruined Three Sisters Islands, sounding the alarm on the Parks Police barracks which was slated for the edge of the scenic Niagara Gorge, rallying the public against the demolition of the 1864 Carriage Barn of DeVeaux Woods State Park, documenting how the south Robert Moses Parkway upgrade serves to further isolate the city from its waterfront and tourist assets, or even complaining about closed restrooms at Whirlpool and Devil’s Hole State Parks during the off-season, the Niagara Falls Reporter has served as the de
Hearing on Bar Closing Debate Set as Paladino Weighs In
The public will finally get a chance to weigh in on the Erie County bar closing debate next Tuesday (Feb. 2) at 5:30 p. m. at a public hearing in the legislative chambers in Old County Hall, 92 Franklin St., Buffalo. According to Majority Leader Joe Lorigo (C. – West Seneca), a vote on the resolution to close bars at 2 a. m, two hours earlier than the current 4 a. m. closing time, would follow on Thursday, Feb. 4. Lorigo was unable to get the support to bring the measure, sponsored by Ted Morton (R. – Cheektowaga), to a
Quinn to Face Lawmakers in Wake of Scathing State Audit
As embattled Erie Community College President Jack Quinn prepares to face county lawmakers today (Jan. 28) at 3 p.m. on the scathing state audit of the institution he leads, there are signs that Quinn has been working very hard to convince anyone who will listen that he’s not to blame for the problems at ECC and can fix them. Sources say Quinn has reached out to Carl McCall, the former state comptroller who is now chairman of the State University of New York Board of Trustees, in an attempt to deflect the public relations damage he has suffered in the
Council meeting “walk on” resolutions come in several sizes and shapes
The Reporter was pleased to see freshman council member Ezra Scott decline to support Mayor Dyster’s attempt to walk on a surprise resolution at the recent council meeting. The resolution aimed to tap the city till for up to $75,000 to support the hosting of a meeting of the Great Lakes Council Initiative. The mayor sits on the board of that organization. We give high marks to Mr. Scott in recognition of his reluctance to spend taxpayer cash on short notice with insufficient information. That being said we can assure the councilman that this won’t be the last time he’s
Was City’s sale of Chilton Ave house transparent? Don’t bid on it!
There’s a mystery brewing on historic Chilton Avenue and several community activists have expressed interest in getting to the bottom of the puzzle’s particulars at the January 13 Planning Board meeting. The city, under the guidance of Seth Piccirillo, director of Mayor Paul Dyster’s Community Development Department, sold 631 Chilton Avenue to Develop Niagara LLC for $500. The remarkably low selling price has people questioning the deal. While the Planning Board signed off on the property transfer the final approval of the council is now needed to close the purchase. Piccirillo said the city published a public call for