Last night’s city council meeting was further proof that Mayor Restaino’s proposed use of CDBG funds for purchasing Parcel 0 is still on the table. Last night, Councilmember Vincent Cauley attempted to rescind the authority the council granted the Mayor last December to use CDBG funds for the purchase ofRead More

Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) and Toronto-based developer Urbacon have unveiled a $1.5 billion plan for the first phase of the Niagara Digital Campus, a state-of-the-art data center project in Niagara Falls, NY. The development is centered on a 12-acre plot known as “Parcel 0,” which is key to the project’sRead 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 Redevelopment (NFR) and the City of Niagara Falls clashed in New York State Appellate Court in Rochester today as NFR seeks to end the city’s attempt to take their private property through eminent domain. Mayor Robert Restaino’s fanciful vision for NFR’s land, dubbed “Centennial Park,” drew skepticism fromRead More

Spend First, Study Later At a “Special Meeting” on Wednesday, May 17, at 5:00 p.m., Niagara Falls Mayor Robert M. Restaino will seek Council approval to spend $140,000 for a feasibility study for Centennial Park, a planned 7000-seat events center and a small adjacent park. According to the mayor, theRead More

Ken Cosentino, the writer of this article, mentions an old, failed dream of Niagara Falls, AquaFalls. An ambitious, and ultimately fanciful, plan to build an underground aquarium called AquaFalls was revealed during the administration of former Mayor James Galie. New York Governor George Pataki came to Niagara Falls to laudRead More

This is #5 in the Parcel 0 series. By Jim Szwedo Please do not mortgage our future for Centennial Park  When it comes to the dueling project proposals by the City and Niagara Falls Redevelopment, I believe we can have both. If the City and NFR both give a little,Read More

This is #4 in the Parcel 0 series. Parcel 0 – #1 –Reporter Investigates City’s Fight With NFR Over Best Use – Data Center or Events Center Parcel 0-#2: Pat Whelan, Former NGTI Director: Mayor’s Centennial Park Bound to Fail Parcel 0 -#3: The Battle Between Restaino and NFR IsRead More

Part #3 on Parcel 0. This is Part #3 of a series on Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino’s attempt to force the sale of 12 acres of a private company’s land to develop an events center and park project that the City does not have the money to develop. TheRead More

Parcel 0 is a 12-acre site in downtown Niagara Falls, owned by Niagara Falls Redevelopment LLC [NFR]. Both NFR has a plan for Parcel 0 and Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino has a plan.   NFR wants to build a Data Center on their land. Mayor Restaino wants to use eminentRead More

A battle is heating up in Niagara Falls, NY. It is a fight over property rights, the government’s use of eminent domain to force the sale of private property, and the highest and best use for a property that is a gateway location for both the City and for aRead More