by Mike Hudson Inquiring minds want to know: What’s the big hurry to get City Controller Maria Brown out of office next week when Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster is letting City Administrator Donna Owens hang around until July 8? Both women were canned by the mayor in the sameRead More

by Mike Hudson Back in 2010, for Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, it was all about high speed rail. President Barack Obama had committed to funding the concept, with New York State alone to receive $151 million to promote the concept. Dyster used the publicity to justify spending $44 million onRead More

by Mike Hudson & Frank Parlato Since no lease agreement exists between Amtrak and the city for space in the Whirlpool Street “Intermodal Transportation Center,” there is no guarantee that Amtrak will move into the $44 million facility at all, much less any sort of agreement as to how muchRead More

The Niagara Falls International Railway Station & Intermodal Transportation Center – a name which is, by the way, a mouthful of grammatically contorted & ponderously laughable exaggeratedly glorified windy pretentiousness and with its nine word name it is an example of name sprawl. Of the 51 railroad stations in AmericaRead More

by Jim Ostrowski This may come as a shock but I have a slightly different take on the corruption scandal that led to the indictment and conviction of former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former New York State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.  I like to startRead More

by Matt Ricchiazzi If we could ever put the interests of institutional advancement over the prissy sensibilities of cynics, we may be able to make something spectacular of the The Albright–Knox Art Gallery which barely earns 200,000 attendees annually at its Delaware Park location. To put that in perspective, theRead More

by Joseph Kissel Straight from the pockets of commuters and tourists, the Grand Island tolls bring in $18 million a year for the NYS Thruway Authority. And they also create pollution and rush-hour traffic jams virtually any time of the year but especially during the region’s critical tourist season. “It’sRead More

by Joseph Kissel It’s certainly one of the nicest, best-maintained houses on 18th Street. Inside, the meticulously clean house has been thoroughly updated while retaining the original architectural details that make this middle-class Niagara Falls home unique. Part of what makes that home unique is the owner, an Airbnb “superhost”Read More

by Mike Hudson Six years ago, Dick Palladino ran to become business manager of Laborers Local 91 here based on a single premise – to clean up the once troubled union, and rid it of the last vestiges of the corrupt element that once controlled it for as long asRead More

by Tony Farina Thanks to the tireless efforts of Niagara Falls Councilmen Kenny Tompkins and Ezra Scott Jr., the Niagara Falls Memorial Day Parade will launch the holiday weekend on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. at City Market and continue down Pine Avenue, eventually concluding at the Niagara Falls VeteransRead More

by Frank Parlato Erie County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard, once again, is reminding motorists that the nanny state ‘Click It or Ticket’ revenue generator will be in effect between May 23 to June 5, just ahead of one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. The county sheriff’s departmentRead More

by Mike Hudson Results of an audit released this week by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development were sharply critical of the city’s much vaunted and insanely expensive relationship with the Isaiah 61 organization, backing up much of the Niagara Falls Reporter’s coverage of the situation during theRead More

by Mike Hudson Last week, the Niagara Falls Reporter predicted that City Administrator Donna Owens was going to be given the axe by Mayor Paul Dyster. This week, Dyster showed up at City Hall, axe in hand and let her have it. He also announced that, if the council approves,Read More

by Mike Hudson High-priced hotel rooms are what John Percy’s all about. The globe-trotting Percy, CEO of the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp., typically spends your money — sent to him by Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster — on five-star accommodations when he visits London, Delhi, Mumbai, Prague, Berlin, Geneva, MilanRead More

Arby’s has introduced a new sandwich dubbed The Loaded Italian.  The subtle mafia implication aside, is this use of a peoplehood to describe food appropriate? Or is it a misappropriation of a culture motivated by commercial gain?  Sure, reasonable minds can disagree. But substitute the word Italian with Jew, Black,Read More

by Joseph Kissel Where’s the money going? That’s the question newly elected Grand Island Supervisor Nate McMurray wants to know regarding the tolls that have been collected at the bridges since 1929. “This is an old fight,” McMurray said. As such, the veteran warrior of the remove-the-tolls effort, Rus Thompson,Read More

by Mike Hudson HOLLYWOOD – How cool are skateparks? With a population of 3.9 million, Los Angeles, the birthplace of skateboarding, has just 13 citywide. And complaints from the neighbors combined with apathy and rejection on the part of the skaters themselves make it unlikely that more will open anytime soon.Read More

by Mike Hudson HOLLYWOOD — It’s a nice little angle. And one that’s pulled in the rubes from hundreds of small towns all across America. Most recently it snagged Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster and his Director of Community Development Seth Piccirillo. Tony “The Birdman” Hawk made his bones asRead More

by Tony Farina Dr. [Eugene] Gosy was “the last best hope for patients suffering from chronic pain,” said Joel Daniels this week in describing the difficulties many patients have had finding help since the Williamsville pain treatment center operated by Dr. Gosy was shut down after the doctor’s federal indictment lastRead More