Munoz runs for council

(Editor’s note: The Express does not plan to endorse any candidate for council but will write and publish an article similar to this one for any candidate who requests it regardless of party affiliation.)

Unless you live under a rock, Noah Munoz has a familiar face in Niagara Falls.

The Realtor, formerly with Keller-Williams, now with Iconic Real Estate, wants to be elected to City Council. He is an endorsed Democrat and a political newcomer who was mostly unknown to the Democratic committee before coming forth and requesting an interview.

Munoz lives on Memorial Drive in a property he acquired back in 2019 and worked hard to renovate. His mother Karen Mock lives next door. His grandmother and aunt live across the street. He owns other properties as well and is one of the most successful agents in the city he’s called home for 17 years. He is now 27.

Munoz attended Maritime Charter High School in Buffalo after Niagara Charter in the Town of Niagara. He initially planned to attend Syracuse University on a rowing scholarship before changing his mind and heading to Niagara County Community College where he studied for a brief time before turning to real estate and deciding to learn on the job.

Now he wants to make a difference for Niagara Falls. He has, arguably, sold more properties in the city than anyone else over the last 5 years. Still, he wants more.

“I don’t owe anyone anything,” he said. “I owe my civic duty to the city.”

Munoz gladly tells that for the last 7 or 8 years a ton of properties within a few blocks of Main Street for $50,000 or less. He doesn’t like it and wants to change it.

“My office is on Main Street because I believe in Main Street. That is why I put it there,” he said.

He also knows the reason those properties sell for such depressed prices.

“People don’t realize the work properties need in Niagara Falls” he said.

He said he understands the job he is running for, at least as far as the work commitment.

“I believe a councilperson needs to be very involved and not just be there for meeting every two weeks,” he explained. “You need to speak to the mayor, the council . . . the first time you learn something it should not be on a press release.”

Munoz is realistic about how people fit together as well as the criticism that may be coming his way.

“You don’t have to like everyone,” he said. “You have to work with them.

“They are going to drag me through everything because I am the guy on the billboards. I put myself out there but I have spent my time getting a PhD in Niagara Falls.”

As a member of the council, he said he plans to focus on the root causes of urban decay. With his mother, Munoz has invested in, and improved multiple properties in the Falls as well as selling commercial real estate along Pine Avenue, some very valuable and some in the lower range.

“I can’t hear criticism and arguments from people who don’t know me,” he said. “If you don’t know me, and we’ve never talked, and you don’t like me, that is a you problem.”