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On Oct. 31, 2022, the City of Niagara Falls initiated demolition proceedings on 2018 Main St. and property owner Blue Cardinal. Subsequently there was a meeting held on Nov. 7th, but unfortunately there was no resolution after over two hours of conversation with the owners and community members.
Constructed in 1908 as the L.S. Silberberg Building, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2020 as part of the Main Street Historic District. While 2018 Main St. has been vacant for some time and exhibits significant condition issues, it is by no means beyond repair. The loss of this building would be detrimental to Main Street (a street that has already lost so much historic fabric) risking structural damage to the neighboring structures, and potentially jeopardizing the redevelopment of this block and street that property owner Niagara Village LLC, a affiliate of Buffalo-based firm Blue Cardinal Capital is currently working on.
Additionally, as detailed in the October 31st demolition letter, the City is initiating proceedings under Chapter 1133 of the Codified Ordinance of the City of Niagara Falls while at the same time refusing to provide the public access to that law and process it outlines. PBN has submitted two FOIL requests to obtain a copy of the law and as of November 15th the City has only just acknowledged the request. And this decision is being made solely using drone and Google Earth images; the City of Niagara Falls has not conducted an interior inspection. While the City has recently announced that the demolition was "on hold" till December 10th, they have not made any attempt to let the public or property owners access Chapter 1133 nor to schedule a site visit and inspection to properly assess the structure.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
You can help advocate for this National Register listed building by contacting Mayor Robert Restaino, Council Chairman John Spanbauer, and Director of Code Enforcement Corey Baskerville NOW asking them to immediately suspend demolition proceedings against 2018 Main Street and to work with the property owners, Blue Cardinal, to find a non-demolition path forward.
HOW CAN YOU HELP
Option #1: Use our advocacy form below to send an email to Mayor Restaino, Council Chairman Spanbauer, and Director Baskerville now.
Option #2: Contact the City of Niagara Falls directly to voice your concern about the lack of transparency and push to accelerate demolition proceedings.
Mayor Robert Restaino
716-286-4310
Robert.Restaino@niagarafallsny.gov
Council Chairman John Spanbauer
716-286-4304
John.Spanbauer@niagarafallsny.gov
Corey Baskerville, Director of Code Enforcement
716-286-4492
