78° and Sunny
Friday I wrote about David Seminara after reading Mark Scheer’s Gazette interview with the Mad Traveler.
Seminara, who has family roots in the Falls, visited at Easter time, looked around and recorded a Youtube video.
I watched the whole video. Much of what he commented on were properties owned by Niagara Falls Redevelopment. Others were owned by the city.
I think his presentation was biased and negative. He didn’t visit the business district in LaSalle, or the Park Place Historic District, or DeVeaux Woods or Cayuga Island.
I do ask myself the same questions that concerned him as in “what the hell happened to this place.”
The chemical plants left. 30 years ago when Niagara Falls Ontario Mayor Wayne Thompson and leaders there were getting together to solve similar problems, Niagara Falls, NY did nothing. Instead it got crapped on by the state with a big casino that took away a big area of downtown.
Then it bet on NFR which, so far has done nothing. The current administration has soundly managed fiscal affairs, thanks to casino cash and the American Rescue Plan.
ARP poured millions of dollars into public safety but doesn’t seem to have done anything for quality of life.
The Centennial Park idea remains a cart-before-the-horse thing because despite spending more than $1 million on legal fees a feasibility study is only beginning.
Imagine opening a widget factory without ever researching whether there is a market for widgets.
I will reach out to Seminara and offer to take him on a better tour to show him what he missed.
It’s also worth pointing out that the state, with it’s Gateways, Scenic Parkway Removal and redevelopment of the old Rainbow Mall and other parcels in the core tourist district, will be spending at least $500 million in the city over the next 10 years. That should be a great shot in the arm.
And that shot in the arm comes without the sort of federal investment that has caused boom times in places like Rochester, Syracuse, Utica and even Poughkeepsie.
