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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Democratic council candidates sound off on 'two-project solution' for the Falls
The six candidates running in this year's Democratic primary for Niagara Falls City Council have mixed opinions on whether the city would benefit from the so-called 'two-project solution' involving Mayor Robert Restaino's proposed $200 million Centennial Park project and Niagara Falls Redevelopment's plans for a $1.5 billion data center. Niagara Falls Democratic City Council candidates' forum This event was brought to you by the Niagara Gazette and the Niagara Falls NAACP. During a candidates' forum on Tuesday at Bloneva Bond Elementary School, several candidates said they have a wait-and-see approach when it comes to both projects and that they would need more information before they could fully endorse either one. Their comments came a day before Restaino announced that he's holding a press conference today where he is expected to announce more details about the Centennial Park feasibility study, a document several council candidates said they like to see before deciding whether they could endorse the project. During Tuesday's forum, candidates were asked questions by representatives from the event's two sponsors, the Niagara Gazette and the Niagara Falls chapter of the NAACP. The candidates' positions on the events center and the data center are summarized below based on the order in which they were asked to respond. Former city employee Bridgette Myles said she's open to either project or both, mainly because she believes the Falls needs development and job creation. While noting that NFR has failed to deliver on many of its development promises over the years, she said it would be 'awesome' if they actually moved forward with the data center, which the company claims would create hundreds of jobs. Myles said she also believes Centennial Park would be a benefit to the community. 'Any type of development for Niagara Falls is going to be a win,' she said. Michia Lee, a first-time candidate for public office, said doesn't like the Centennial Park concept and believes the data center has more potential to create jobs city residents need. 'I think one would be an asset and one would be a liability,' she said. John Kinney, who worked for the city for 35 years, including most recently as a director of the Department of Public Works under Restaino, said in light of NFR's many empty promises over the years, he questions whether the data center will ever materialize. He referenced a years-old NFR plan to build a $200 million hotel on the site of the former Native American Center for the Living Arts on Rainbow Boulevard. The plan was presented to the city in 2017 but never happened. 'They have promised to build many things many times. Ask them about the hotel at the Turtle. It's not there,' Kinney said. Kinney argued that Restaino's events center has a much better chance to produce benefits for the city. 'The event center is going to keep us year-round in the tourism industry,' Kinney said. Without being able to see the city's feasibility study for the project, candidate Sylvana Rahman said her stance on Centennial Park is a 'no.' 'I really can't vote open something that I'm not getting the full picture of,' she said. She also questioned the cost of the project and who was going to pay for it. 'There would be $200 million coming out of whose pocket?' she said. 'Whose pocket would it be coming out of?' Rahman favors the data center because she believes the project would provide more of what the city desperately needs, and that's quality jobs for its residents. 'The data center will bring hundreds of jobs and opportunities to Niagara Falls,' she said. For the city to be successful, local realtor Noah Munoz said it must embrace reinvention on multiple fronts. He also declined to fully commit to supporting Centennial Park without seeing the results of the feasibility study first and questioned the legitimacy of the data center given NFR's track record in the Falls. 'NFR has made many promises and they have made many many deals with many mayors and they have not come true,' he said. Incumbent Councilman Donta Myles has opposed any city investment in Restaino's arena since the project was first announced in 2021. During Tuesday's forum, he said his stance has not changed because little has changed about one his main concerns — the source of funding for the $200 million project. 'I've been about 'show me the money',' he said. 'I've asked very detailed questions. I would ask $200 million, where's that coming from? Do you have any public or private sector investment? Who's going to pay that $200 million? That's us, pretty much.' Donta Myles said he's also worried that a city-built arena won't be able to compete with other entertainment venues across the region, citing KeyBank Center in Buffalo, Artpark in Lewiston and the Seneca Niagara Casino in the Falls as examples. 'How are we competing with them?' he said. The six candidates are vying for three open slots as the Democratic council candidates who will appear on the ballot for the November general election. The three top vote-getters in the primary will face three Republican candidates, including incumbent Councilman David Zajac, former Falls lawmaker Vincent Cauley and political newcomer Tanya Barone in the general election. Former Falls Councilman John Accardo has also qualified to appear on the general election ballot for city council as a Conservative Party candidate. Residents who are registered as Democrats in the City of Niagara Falls are eligible to vote in the Democratic primary. Early voting is now open. Primary election day is Tuesday.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Democratic council candidates discuss city issues
The six candidates running in this year's Democratic primary for the Niagara Falls City Council were asked Tuesday night what they viewed as the city's biggest problems and how they would try to address them if they were elected to public office. Their answers during a candidates' forum held at Bloneva Bond Elementary School reflected many of the same concerns city residents and business owners have been voicing in the Falls for many, many years. The candidates' short list of problems included poor roads, failing infrastructure, a general lack of cleanliness citywide, job scarcity and not enough recreational outlets for local youth. Questions were posed to the candidates by representatives from the sponsors of the event, including the Niagara Gazette and the Niagara Falls NAACP. Responses to the question about the city's biggest problems are summed up below in the order in which the candidates were asked. Candidate Sylvana Rahman named infrastructure as the city's top concern, specifically citing the condition of local roads and many abandoned buildings across the Falls. Rahman said she viewed a lack of job opportunities and outlets for the city's youth as close runner-ups. If elected, she said she would work to find ways to improve the local job market for residents of all ages and to build programming that would better respond to the needs of the city's young people. 'We need more opportunities, more jobs so that the people of Niagara Falls can actually not live paycheck to paycheck,' she said. 'They are struggling to pay rent. Most of them are on welfare because they don't have the opportunities to thrive here. We need more job opportunities. We need more support for the adults and for the youth.' Realtor Noah Munoz agreed. He said the city's $100 million annual budget is not enough to sustain Niagara Falls and all of its residents and that the city needs economic growth, citing specific areas that included clean energy, logistics, tech and manufacturing. If elected, Munoz said he would work with the city school district to increase student involvement in trades and unionized work. As for tourism, he said the city could use more options to keep people visiting longer, referencing the possibility of adding attractions like indoor water parks or holding events such as winter festivals. 'We cannot build a strong city on a three-month tourist season,' he said. 'If we are a tourist city, we need year-round tourism.' Munoz said he also believes the city must do more to assist small business owners and to support the redevelopment — not the tearing down — of the existing housing stock by offering grants and other forms of incentives. 'We shouldn't be knocking houses down,' he said. 'We should be saving them and building new homes.' Donta Myles — the lone incumbent in the field of the six Democratic candidates — said he believes the city's biggest problem remains its infrastructure, including 'our streets, our trees, our sidewalks, the things that deal with our quality of life.' Myles said part of that problem involves what he views as a lack of attention for what he described as 'neglected portions' of the city. 'Our city is only as strong as our weakest link so we can't continuously neglect certain portions of our city and think that our city is going to grow,' he said. Also, Myles said he believes it's important to provide alternatives for the city's youth, referencing a North End community center that was torn down and not replaced years ago and the loss of activities at the former YMCA on Portage Road that has been operated as a homeless shelter for men for many years. 'We never reinvested a dime back into those spaces for those kids to actually thrive so we leave them to their own devices and then what happens? They end up doing things that they may not have any business doing, but they don't have other alternatives,' he said. He advocated for making sure the city spends the tax dollars it has wisely for the betterment of the city as a whole and not just certain parts of the Falls. 'That's what I'll always be a champion for, to make sure we are being fiscally responsible, to make sure that we are spending monies in the right way and asking all the questions that need to be asked and not just voting 'yes' for anything.' Former city employee Bridgette Myles cited cleanliness as the city's main concern. 'Before we can invite anyone into the city, before we can invite investors and just for our own well-being and quality of life, we need to clean the city up,' she said. She also said more attention is needed for the city's streets and its many potholes. On day one, if elected, she said she would create a committee of professionals, including former city DPW chief Dave Kinney, to discuss ways to improve the city's process for repairing and maintaining its roads and infrastructure. 'I hit a pothole the other day and I had to get out just to make sure my tire was still attached,' she said. Bridgette Myles said she is also concerned about job creation. 'In order to do that, just to circle back, we have to clean up the city first,' she said. First-time candidate Michia Lee agreed the city needs more jobs because having quality jobs available 'changes the mentality of people' and help lower poverty. 'It will lower the crime rate. It will also give us a better quality of life. Crime is due to poverty,' she said. She said residents also need improved conditions in city neighborhoods and more, especially for young people, to do. 'There's a lot of crime and that's because people are bored,' she added. 'There's not anything to do. Look around. It's just abandoned. It's neglected. It just needs to be cleaned up.' John Kinney, who spent 35 years working for the city, including a stint as Department of Public Works director under current Mayor Robert Restaino, said quality of life is the biggest thing the city has been facing for quite some time. 'There is an infrastructure problem. For someone that's worked for the city for 35 years and worked on the street, I know it firsthand,' he said. Kinney said the city has made changes in recent years to its approach to road repair, which he said has resulted in more in-depth road reconstruction instead of surface repairs that do not last as long. 'We used to do 30, 40 streets, mill down an inch and overlay it and it looked pretty, but it only looked pretty for a year or two years and the street crumbled,' he said. 'We're getting quality now instead of quantity,' he added. 'Those are the things the city council needs to work with the administration to continue to do.' Similarly, Kinney said there are positive programs involving the city's youth but that they need to be promoted better, especially those involving city schools. 'There is some stuff out there. We need to promote it better. We need to promote our youth. We need to promote the school's program every summer that they've had. We need to work together.' The six candidates are vying for three open slots as the Democratic council candidates who will appear on the ballot for the November general election. The three top vote-getters in the primary will face three Republican candidates, including incumbent Councilman David Zajac, former Falls lawmaker Vincent Cauley and political newcomer Tanya Barone in the general election. Former Falls Councilman John Accardo has also qualified to appear on the general election ballot for city council as a Conservative Party candidate. Residents who are registered as Democrats in the City of Niagara Falls are eligible to vote in the Democratic primary. Early voting is now open. Primary election day is Tuesday.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Still a chance for NY packaging reduction bill to reach assembly floor
A spokesperson for the leader of the New York State Assembly said it's possible lawmakers in Albany will consider a packaging reduction bill supported by local and statewide environmental advocates before the session ends next week. Whether there will be enough votes to actually approve the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act remains to be seen. In response to questions from the Niagara Gazette this week, Thomas O'Neil White, a spokesperson for assembly Majority Leader and Buffalo Democrat Crystal Peoples-Stokes, said the bill is not on the agenda yet, but People-Stokes believes it will make it to the floor for a vote before the end of the session, which is expected to close either Tuesday or Wednesday. 'It depends on what is in the bill as it could change a few times before coming up for a vote,' O'Neil White said. Supporters of the bill said on Friday that 'possible' consideration was not good enough. Renae Kimble, president of the Niagara Falls chapter of the NAACP, who joined local and statewide environmental advocates in calling for the bill's passage earlier this week, described the bill on Friday as 'vitally important' to protect the health of every Western New Yorker. 'Given the toxic legacy of Western New York, we need all of the assembly members to lead and support this bill,' Kimble said. 'The bill has already been amended 26 times at the request of various businesses. The Senate has already adjourned meaning there is no time for further amendments, so we need the assembly to vote on the bill, as is, before they also adjourn in the coming days.' The act would impose a 30% reduction on packaging statewide over the next 12 years and calls for the phasing out of 17 toxic chemicals currently found in various forms of packaging. Supporters say it would cut plastic waste, improve public health and reduce costs for taxpayers. They also warn that remnants from plastic waste impact health and wellness, resulting in higher costs of care borne by New York residents and local governments. Environmental advocates say plastic waste is particularly harmful to the environment, especially the Great Lakes, including Lake Ontario. Kimble said the impacts have proven particularly harmful to minorities living in cities like Niagara Falls and Buffalo. 'Black, brown, disabled, and marginalized members of our communities across the state have been subjected to the deadly effects of toxic pollutants due to the disproportionate amount of contaminated packing waste sent to landfills and incinerators in heavily populated Environmental Justice communities,' Kimble said. Supporters of the bill's passage have also noted that existing state and local policies, such as the State Agency Green Purchasing Executive Order, and retailer programs, such as Walmart, already work to avoid the use of high-hazard toxic chemicals in packaging and products. Patti Wood, executive director of Grassroots Environmental Education, said the bill builds upon Governor Paterson's 2008 State Agency Green Purchasing Executive Order, which requires state agencies to prioritize the procurement of products. The former governor's order requires the state to reduce or eliminate the health and environmental risks from the use or release of toxic substances, minimize the risks of the discharge of pollutants into the environment and minimize the volume and toxicity of packaging. 'This bill builds on smart green purchasing state and local policies that have been requiring manufacturers to avoid highly toxic chemicals in their products and packaging and 'green the marketplace' since 2008,' Wood said.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Restaino says paper dabbling in 'conspiracy' over arena study release
Hours after the Niagara Gazette filed a formal request for a copy of the draft feasibility study for his proposed Centennial Park project, Mayor Robert Restaino accused the newspaper of conjuring up a 'conspiracy' about his administration's lack of transparency where the release of the document's contents is concerned. The Gazette on June 5 filed a Freedom of Information Law request with the city clerk's office, seeking a copy of the Centennial Park feasibility study prepared by Florida-based consultant, Sports Facilities Advisory, LLC. In an interview last month with local media members, Restaino confirmed that the consulting firm provided his office with what he described at the time as an incomplete version of the study. In its FOIL request, the newspaper asserts that, even in a draft form, the study — commissioned to assess various aspects of the project, including potential locations — warrants release under state law. Restaino has said that he intends to release the study's findings before the end of June, once he has shared them with 'stakeholders,' specifically representatives from the state-run economic development agency, Empire State Development Corp. and National Grid. Both entities provided the city with a total of $140,000 used to hire Sports Facilities Advisory to analyze the proposed arena and events campus Restaino wants to build across from Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino on 10 acres of land currently owned by the private firm Niagara Falls Redevelopment. On Friday, in a weekly update posted to the mayor's office YouTube channel, Restaino denied any 'failure to disclose' on his administration's part, while describing the Gazette's coverage as being part of a 'narrative that really has no basis in fact.' 'It's more about spinning things, how can they convince people about a conspiracy,' Restaino said. The mayor again indicated that he intends to make the results of the study public before the end of the month. 'There's never been a suggestion that it's not going to be disclosed to the public, never insinuated that it wasn't going to be disclosed to the public,' Restaino said on Friday. 'You know how crack reporting is,' the mayor added. 'They like to find some conspiracy in everything. Unfortunately, I don't think they've listened carefully to what has been said and that is, for a period of time, it was just getting the additional information that was necessary so that the feasibility study could be complete. Also, sharing the feasibility study with the entities that financed it. Ultimately, the feasibility study can and will be disclosed to the entire public, everybody. Everybody will have access to it. Everybody will know what is contained in it.' The city issued a request for proposals for the 'Centennial Park Market Analysis and Feasibility Study' on Oct. 2, 2023. The RFP sought qualified firms to perform the market analysis and feasibility study based on the 'conceptual design' for the project. The objective of the study was to assist the city in determining 'if and where to build a project of this nature.' The RFP required the preferred consultant to complete five tasks, including: • Needs assessment. This task involved using the city's concept plan to identify potential Centennial Park programming. Suggestions listed in the RFP included athletic programs, winter activities, learning spaces and event spaces. • Site analysis. Under this task, the preferred consultant was expected to examine the utility and other infrastructure needs for the project as well as look at the proposed NFR site and 'other potential alternative sites' for the project. • Market analysis. This task involved a look at the facility's potential use by outside groups and an examination of comparable facilities and an assessment of competition within the market. It also called for an estimate on the approximate number and type of events such a facility could reasonably expect to host per year and probable attendance figures. • Financial analysis. This task sought information about preliminary capital budget development, facility funding options, preliminary operating budget and potential revenue streams to support the facility. • Presentation of findings. Under the RFP, the preferred consultant was expected to prepare to 'present and defend' their findings to the mayor, other city officials and stakeholders prior to the conclusion of the study. The RFP notes that the process 'may' include in-person and virtual meetings with both elected officials and the general public. The city clerk's office acknowledged receipt of the Gazette's FOIL request on June 5, noting that, under state law, the city has 20 business days to either deny or grant the study's release. In the response, the clerk's office indicated that the city would advise the newspaper of a 'new estimated response date' should 'circumstances arise' that would prevent the city from responding within 20 business days. 'Examples of circumstances that may lead to extended response times include staff shortages, requests for a large volume of records and requests that require significant document redaction and/or seek documents that are not maintained electronically,' the response from the clerk's office notes. Under state Freedom of Information Law, the city can grant the newspaper's request, deny it or deny it in part. State law outlines specific circumstances under which public agencies can deny requests for copies of documents considered to be matters of public interest. The law also allows agencies to redact information contained in documents under limited circumstances. Council Chairman Jim Perry last week acknowledged that he has talked about the feasibility study with Restaino but said he has not actually seen the unfinished product. He indicated that he considered the study the mayor's to release publicly, adding that, from what he's been told, it is largely 'positive' where the Centennial Park project is concerned.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democratic city council forum on June 17
In the lead-up to the June 24 primary election, the Niagara Gazette and Niagara Falls NAACP are hosting a forum for the Democratic candidates in the Niagara Falls City Council race. The forum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17 at Bloneva Bond Primary School, 2513 Niagara St. The six Democratic candidates for council have been invited and include: • John Kinney Jr. • Michia Lee • Noah Munoz • Bridgette Myles • Donta Myles • Sylvana Rahman. Munoz, Kinney and Bridgette Myles have received backing from both the city and county Democrats. There are three open seats on the city council this election cycle. Candidates in attendance at June 17's forum will be questioned by representatives from the debate partners. There are currently no plans to take questions from the audience during the forum. City residents are urged to send in their questions prior to the event to Gazette managing editor Matt Winterhalter at The forum is expected to last from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
