Welcome to the first installment of our series of interviews with mayoral candidate Carl Cain, a retired police officer who served the Niagara Falls Police Department with distinction for 30 years, retiring as Deputy Chief. With Election Day slated for November 7, 2023, the 59-year-old Republican candidate is engaged inRead More

Right about now, the walls are closing in on Bobby. Even if he wins, he loses. Emails and messages have flooded in to the Reporter with tips and stories about Mayor Robert Restaino’s private life. Some are so tawdry and cringeworthy that they won’t even be mentioned here. Election season willRead More

Disclaimer: The following narrative is as genuine as the mayor’s Centennial Park proposal, albeit without the hefty price tag. Reader discretion is advised. By Winston Velvet Without disclosing the identity, we sought insight from a distinguished psychiatrist to provide us with a diagnostic perspective based on three distinct external eventsRead More

By Tony Farina Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino says he wants to build a  speculative $150-million events center on land the city doesn’t own and he has undertaken an eminent domain process to try and corral the 10-acre South End property from NFR at a mounting legal price and hopefullyRead More

Is Mayor Robert Restaino losing his grip on reality? In his latest campaign ad—trumpeted with great fanfare for days on Facebook—Mayor Robert Restaino suggests NFR and Urbacon’s Niagara Digital Campus development proposal is not real. Not real? • Is Mayor Restaino suggesting the company Urbacon, a Toronto-based developer and operatorRead More

By Tony Farina It looks like the Oct. 25 debate between Mayor Robert Restaino and challenger Carl Cain, a retired deputy police superintendent, has all the makings of a rip-snorting political slugfest between two long-time Niagara Falls figures, one a lawyer and the other a cop. But lost in theRead More

NIAGARA FALLS — A land-use tug-of-war in Niagara Falls puts jobs and innovation in the balance. Mayor Robert Restaino, anticipating a tough election battle against Dr. Carl Cain this November, is championing a plan to develop what he calls Centennial Park. The mayor envisions a $150 million, 7,000-seat stadium, despiteRead More

The following is a screenshot taken directly from the main webpage of Mayor Restaino’s 2019 campaign platform. These are his top three campaign promises: For clarity, it reads: Development. We must focus on business development that can deliver employment with wages to empower families and help stabilize neighborhoods. Transparency. TheRead More

By Ken Hamilton For those unfamiliar with Niagara Falls’ history, a trip down memory lane reveals mayoral decisions that devastated the city economically. Notably, Mayor E. Dent Lackey of the 1970s implemented policies that led to the confiscation of private properties from entrepreneurs and families who helped build the community.Read More

Voters want to know more about NFR’s plans for the Niagara Digital Campus. This report will hopefully help inform them. In the heart of Niagara Falls, a technological renaissance may unfold The Niagara Digital Campus promises to be more than just a technological marvel, it’s about economic revitalization. Beyond theRead More

By Winston Velvet In the heart of Niagara Falls, a debate is brewing, with two visions for the future of a ten-acre plot of land. A taxpayer-funded arena, or a high-tech data center with private investment adding to the tax rolls. Here are the mayor’s taxpayer-funded sketches of his arena.Read More

By Tony Farina     Vincent Cauley is a member of the Republican majority of the Niagara Falls City Council, named last December to fill out the term of retiring council member John Spanbauer. Cauley and fellow Republican Michael Gawel are candidates for the two open seats on the council,Read More

Buffalo, NY — A former lawyer and Erie County Democratic Chairman, Steve Pigeon, is facing trial for allegedly raping a nine-year-old relative in 2016. Pigeon, known for his role as an adviser to influential politicians, including former Governor Andrew Cuomo and President Bill Clinton, will face a jury on sixRead More

Niagara Falls, NY — Mayor Robert Restaino’s dream of building a 7000-seat arena – possibly bearing his name – has clashed with plans proposed by Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) for a high tech data center – on the same 10 acres of land. While the November mayoral election looms, withRead More

As the mayoral election draws nearer in the city of Niagara Falls, one can’t help but wonder what will happen if Mayor Robert Restaino gets re-elected. Aside from Mayor Restaino dishing out small business grants to locals in exchange for votes and cutting ribbons at press events, Restaino’s focus isRead More

By Tony Farina The Niagara Falls mayoral race is turning ugly.  Just ask Republican candidate Carl Cain who is alleging that Mayor Restaino, a Democrat, and his appointed police chief, John Faso, have managed to deliver messages to him through two of his friends that he could face the publicRead More

MAYOR RESTAINO AND THE SO-CALLED “BLACK VOTE” Mayor Restaino has been handing out “candy,” but it’s not Halloween yet. It’s election season, and that candy is actually grant money. This past week, Mayor Restaino announced that he was awarding $100,000 to Christ Redemption Tabernacle Church, located at 339 22nd Street.Read More

By Tony Farina When attorney Dan Spitzer, a partner in the Hodgson Russ law firm, gives his counsel to city leaders about the ongoing eminent domain legal battle between the city and NFR over competing development projects, he is getting paid by the hour by city taxpayers. Spitzer, siding withRead More

By Tony Farina Time is rapidly slipping away on a golden opportunity to possibly cash in on two competing development projects in Niagara Falls that could be transformative in so many ways. Let’s give credit to NFR’s Roger Trevino for his comments in the Niagara Gazette last week titled “InRead More

On Thursday, Sept. 31, at 5:30 PM, The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Niagara on Main Street hosted the Orleans/Niagara BOCES High School Equivalency graduation ceremony for Niagara Falls residents. Students earned their High School Equivalency by either passing the GED exam or completing the NEDP program. This was theRead More