73° and Partly Cloudy
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There are new trolleys in the State Park and on Goat Island. The electric golf carts move about 5 mph and are much less intrusive than the green machines that have been in use for the last several years.
I have a fantasy that this is the first step in restoring the Frederick Law Olmsted vision for the Niagara Reservation.
Olmsted led the Niagara Movement in the 1880s that resulted in the formation of the Niagara Reservation.
Olmsted wanted no cars and a nature preserve. Parking Lot 2 would be an awesome arboretum.
His vision was perverted by State Parks in the 1960s when they
“improved” Goat Island roads and began encouraging car traffic, one of the state’s most ignominious decisions.
“There’s revenue in that thar traffic! Seize the day!”
The mistakes keep repeating.
Consider the $48 million visitors’ center, built securely well inside the park without any consideration for the city, which receives no property tax, no parking revenue, no share of revenue from the Cave of the Winds or Maid of the Mist.
At least you can buy a slice of DiCamillo’s pizza for $11.99. The Jacobs family needs more money and to hell with the Dicamillo’s. They are undercharging for pizza at only $4 a slice.
Meanwhile, our Mayor shows up every time Tim Kennedy or Crystal Peoples Stokes visits, genuflecting obediently and never uttering a word of disgust at how little they do for the Cataract City.
He does the same for Chuck Schumer but grimaces painfully when asked to pose for a photo with Sara Capen.
Alas, we have a golf cart, a small homage to Olmsted’s vision. Olmsted might concede shuttling guests to and from Goat Island was acceptable. If we could get rid of those Goat Island parking lots or get the state to actually care about its host city we might be on to something.
