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At a Memorial Ceremony to honor the men and women who lost their lives during the terrorist attacks on September 11th, Mayor Paul Dyster used the opportunity to slam the Seneca Niagara Casino for stopping the casino to Niagara Falls. Dyster’s full quote is included below:

“Probably the most challenging scenario our fire department would face would be a fire on the upper floors of the Seneca casino,” Dyster said. “If that were to happen today, tomorrow, I know that you would be there to try to save lives under those circumstances but again I cannot escape the irony that you would be doing so with one hand tied behind your back because of the failure of the Seneca Nation to deliver those revenues and the very first dollars that we get from the casino on any given year, the first thing that we devote funding to is public safety because that’s our priority.”

Todd Gates, President of the Seneca Nation, responded to Dyster’s comments shortly after, slamming the Mayor for his wasteful spending of the $250,000+ in casino revenue the City of Niagara Falls has received:

“The mayor has previously refused to meet with nation leaders, instead saying he would rather wait to see the resolution of the compact arbitration that the state initiated, and for which the state recently missed a deadline, which may only serve to prolong the process,” said Gates. “The mayor doesn’t like to address the fact that his administration has wastefully spent millions of dollars that poured into the city during the nation’s 14-year payment period to the state.”