BY Tony Farina; As Niagara Falls city officials try to address taxpayer concerns about a planned citywide property reassessment, the first in 14 years, we have learned that lawmakers may have a new problem on their hands that may not sit too well with already apprehensive city residents:  the appearanceRead More

USA Niagara officials have recommended that state taxpayers give developer Mark Hamister an additional $1 million for his downtown Niagara Falls Hyatt Place hotel project. That money supplements the $3.85 million the state-run agency has already committed to the project. The $4.85 million represents a 14% public subsidy for the purportedRead More

Promising transparency and a new path that provides hope, faith and trust in government, businessman JC Seneca of the Cattaraugus Territory announced today that he is running for president of the Seneca Nation of Indians in the election scheduled for Nov. 1. Seneca, 56, chairman of the One Nation Organization,Read More

It appears the planned citywide property reassessment in Niagara Falls, the first in 14 years, is not necessarily a done deal just yet after many taxpayers voiced strong opposition to the plan at last Tuesday’s public hearing in council chambers. “People were obviously concerned,” said Council President Andrew Touma onRead More

The USA Niagara Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Empire State Development, is issuing a request for proposals for ‘qualified developers’ to purchase, restore/rehabilitate and reuse the historic Hotel Niagara on Rainbow Boulevard.  Several developers participated in a meeting last week hosted by USA Niagara, giving them an opportunity to assessRead More

The recently published Niagara Falls Water Board’s Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for 2015 disclosed that more than two thirds of the city’s treated water was never sold to customers. The report may offer a clue as to the severity of the underground water leakage problem in the city. TheRead More

  by Tony Farina Residents of Niagara Falls who want to learn more about the planned citywide property reassessment should make a point to attend next Tuesday’s (Sept. 6) council meeting at City Hall when officials including Assessor James Bird will brief lawmakers on the reassessment process. Joining Bird inRead More

Realistically Taxes will go up for most through reassessment in Niagara Falls There is a dirty little secret no one but the Niagara Falls Reporter will dare to tell you about the proposed Niagara Falls reassessment of properties. Most people’s taxes will go up. And they are high enough already.Read More

by Ann Williams – Committee to Stop the Reassessments & Continuous Tax Increases   Too many of our elected officials have found the ways and means to put their own interests above those whom they swore to serve and protect. The profligate spending over the past eight plus years is disgracefulRead More

  By Mike Hudson; Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster and City Planner Tom DeDantis have spent upwards of $44 million of taxpayer money to build a train station that is now facing a slight possibility that no train will ever use and a much more likely possibility that the primeRead More

By Tony Farina;       Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, who saw his city held hostage during the four-year gaming dispute between the state and the Seneca Nation, is once again caught in the middle, this time over the construction of a convenience store and gas station on SenecaRead More

By Mike Hudson; Merry Christmas! Why would you have a Christmas tree up in August? Shots were fired on Pierce Avenue this week and police recovered an AK-47 beneath a Christmas tree in the apartment of a man charged with menacing. Witnesses told police several shots were fired, but noRead More

BY FRANK PARLATO Late last year, Buffalo City Comptroller Mark J. F. Schroeder created an online database called Open Book Buffalo. A website, it is updated biweekly, and publishes all of the City of Buffalo’s expenditures and revenue, allowing everyone to see detailed financial information while Buffalo spends some $480 million per year.Read More

Lest anyone think the Niagara Falls Reporter prefers to dwell on the negative, concentrating on the city’s dire circumstances and cornering the local newspaper market on pessimism, try this article from major business network Bloomberg News, which ran a couple of years ago, on for size.   “Niagara Falls’ descentRead More

Frank Parlato Niagara Falls – The spoils pile at 915 North Ave. – which had signs around it warning: “Caution Radioactive Materials Area” –was removed earlier this month, along with the chain link fence surrounding it. The pile had sat on an abandoned lot for more than a year– nearRead More

Niagara Falls, Ontario -With support from government officials, businesses and residents, a campaign called, ‘#Claimthe8th’ has been launched in Canada, with the goal of trying to prove that Niagara Falls and the surrounding regions of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Twenty Valley, St. Catharines and Niagara’s South Coast should be called “the eighth worldRead More

Guest View: By a Longtime Falls’ Resident I’m sending along a picture of the environment I grew up in starting in 1951. I was five years old. The back of the house faced the factories and Buffalo Avenue My family lived on A Street near the chemical factories. The reason for beingRead More

  City Hall — A woman in the Niagara Falls’ finance department – we will call her Tammy – who has worked there for several years on what is called “provisional” status, recently flunked her civil service exam. It was the second time she failed the exam. Tammy was appointedRead More

  For many who live in the City of Niagara Falls, life is a daily struggle. Poverty, crime, substandard housing, lack of educational attainment, drug abuse and teen pregnancy here are across-the-board higher than New York State averages. For example, according to US Census figures, 40.6% of children in Niagara FallsRead More

What I want to accomplish as your Superintendent   By Mark Laurrie Superintendent of Schools, Niagara Falls School District   In considering what I want to accomplish as your Superintendent, I sat thoughtfully with the Strategic Goals of the District. Owing to the excellent work done been my predecessors, I believe weRead More