The World According to Bob

(Editor's note: Each week, the Express watches and transcribes Mayor Bob Restaino's Youtube address. Here it is. The photo is a Ghost Bike erected on Niagara Avenue in memory of Yolanda Carr who was killed by a hit-and-run driver last year while riding home from her job at the Casino.)

“We experienced another incident in regard to an ebike. When you take your bike, whether a scooter, a bike, even some of our friends in the disability community with regard to motoroized scooter.

“If you are headed from Hyde Park Boulevard West to the downtown the road you should be operating on is Walnut Avenue and there is a bike path on it. The bike path allows you to travel on a lane separate from where the cars are and it also has you traveling in the same direction as the motor vehicles.

“That is not only safe for you but also predictable and safe for motor vehicles. And, likewise, because you might want to make a turn one way or the other on that road, you need to follow the same rules. Make sure you take a look so that as you cross over a driving lane it is clear.

“These are simple rules but these simple rules save lives and prevent injury. If you are headed downtown toward Hyde Park, traveling east, Ferry Avenue would be the street you would take, also with a bike lane, also with the same rules that I have just explained to you. These things may seem simple but, unfortunately, we have too many people not paying attention so we continue to have these incidences. There is no measure of either government action or law enforcement action that can take the place of personal responsibility.

“Each and every one of us, once we are out there on the road, is to make sure we are abiding by the rules of the road, stopping at stop signs, being careful at traffic control devices. These things are not in place to be difficult for you, they are in place because they keep us all safe.

“If somebody gets injured or even worse, there is no replacing that. There is no way to roll back the clock. A simple act, personal responsibility, to obey the rules of the road, allows everybody to get where they need to be safely. And isn’t that more important.

“If I have to be somewhere and being safe makes me a couple of minutes late of when I would have wanted to be there, isn’t it better that I get there and not have to deal with the potential of either me being injured or getting in an accident and somebody else being injured. And I appreciate the fact that ‘you know, if I am heading east and I want to why do I have to travel all the way to Ferry Avenue to go that way?’ Well because that’s the proper rule of the road. Doing otherwise is not operating within the rules of the road. Obviously there are two-way streets as well, Pine, Niagara Street. Again, you are riding in the same direction as the cars are going. So I am just throwing that out there for everyone to think about. If you know somebody who operates an e-vehicle of some sort, scooter, bicycle, whatever, remind them, simply obey all of the same rules we would obey if we were driving a motor vehicle.

“It will keep everybody safer. It will continue to keep the road safe. And really, it is a question, like so many things, it is just a question of personal responsibility.

August ends

It is hard to believe that next week is the last week of August. I don’t even know where the month of August went but a couple things to remember.

Next week, next Thursday, will be the final Food Truck Thursday for this season and it’s been a pretty good season so if you haven’t gone out there, you have one more week left to get out there and enjoy Food Truck Thursday at the train station.

Likewise, the live concerts still going on, Gill Creek Park on Wednesdays, Columbus Square on Thursdays and Fridays on Old Falls Street.

Weather is cooling, school is coming

We are probably going to be enjoying cooler weather as we walk into school season and please, I want to remind everyone as well school season is going to be started and I want to remind everyone as we were talking about safety on the road, remember now we are going to have school buses throughout the city operating, transporting to and from schools. You need to be mindful of the redlights and the stop sign that comes out. You need to think about whether it is your child, a younger sibling, a niece, a nephew, that’s who those kids are that are on those buses.

And so it is responsible operation on our part, again, personal responsibility and operation on our part, helps keep the streets safe. Again, I am asking everybody to make a special effort when you are on the road.

Hitting back on Assemblyman Morinello

“Recently, I was very disappointed to hear comments from an elected official who wants to speak derogatorily about a city that this official represents. Then again, this is all part of that vitriolic playbook. You can see in the comments that it is really geared to promoting council members, candidates who are supported by Niagara Falls Redevelopment.

“It is discouraging really that this elected official would take the time to speak so disparagingly about our city. He also made comments about Centennial Park. You know, one of the things that I think our administration has been saying right from the beginning is that this is not a silver bullet.

“It is easy for these buzzword commentaries to come out of those who want to just be derogatory and disparaging of our community. We propose it as an opportunity to capitalize on the millions of visitors that come to our city. Every year they bring more people. It will include families as a result of this proposed sports and entertainment complex, and to sort of dismiss it as a hockey arena demonstrates the fact that this public official just hasn’t been listening. And it is a really myopic approach to what we believe this entertainment venue can bring.

“It is just unfortunate that this elected official’s vision, as he has articulated it, is what we as residents of the city of Niagara Falls have to deal with.

“So again, while I am disappointed, it was not more than a few weeks ago, this elected official was joining us at the Underground Railroad Museum when a real supporter of our city, the New York State Assembly Majority Leader was there to talk about some funding that she was going to deliver for the Underground Railroad and he was there sort of championing the great vision and direction of our administration.

“It is funny what a difference a few weeks and a coming election can make. So again, it is unfortunate, but again, that is the playbook.

“I can only hope we can continue to move forward despite these fits and displays our leaders, elected officials, state officials to bring down local government in all of the things that they say and all of the things that they do. We will continue to move forward to do our best to improve the situation for small businesses as well as for the businesses that support our entertainment district. They should think carefully about what this elected official has said, in terms of what this elected official has said in terms of the challenges that they face, as well as the many, many people who work in the hospitality industry. If this elected official’s commentary is how he feels, I think it also reflects how he feels about those businesses and those workers in the hospitality industry as well.

So this weekend we expect to have some cooler weather but again, it should be clear. If you are going to be out and around, please remember what I have asked you to do, your personal responsibility to operate your vehicle, whether they are cars or any of the number of other vehicles that may find themselves on the road, please, obey what are the simple, traffic control and driving responsibilities.

It will really make the road safer. You will get to where you have to be, you will get there safely and none of us will have to deal with the tragedy of what could happen if we don’t do that.

So I do ask everyone, please, get out. Exercise a little bit. Get away from the screen. Get away from all of those things that occupy our time and keep us from being active and enjoy the weekend. It is going to be a great one and I look forward to talking to you again next week.