I have to admit, I am addicted to Facebook.
For those who aren’t Internet savvy, Facebook is a social networking Internet site that continues to grow in popularity. It allows you to keep in touch with a best friend in another state or reconnect with members of your high school graduating class.
It’s fun to look at pictures and profiles of people you haven’t seen since you had a super-cool mustache and a full head of hair. And it’s always inspiring to find others like me who decided to stay in Niagara Falls after high school and make a living here.
Recently, one of those former classmates sent me a “gift from Niagara Falls” — an application that has more than two dozen photos of things any Falls resident would instantly recognize and relate to.
The photo I got was a tray of Trusellos pizza, bringing back fond memories of me gorging myself on the saucy slices. By accepting the gift, I was granted access to the other icons people associate with my hometown.
You can see where this is going.
Some were positive things like Sal Maglie, DiCamillo’s bread, Viola’s steak and cheese sub, Johnnie Ryan soda, the St. John’s Carnival beer tent and Colosso Taco at 2 a.m. (those last two are for the drinkers).
But the most popular ones being sent were an abandoned Love Canal home, a mob hit, a crooked politician (complete with shamed Eliot Spitzer head shot), a bar fight, dirty snow, potholes, pollution and a crackhead.
So far, I’ve been sent three crackheads, a crooked politician, two potholes and the afore-mentioned pizza tray. In full disclosure, I’ve sent my fair share of crackheads, potholes and dirty snow to my Facebook friends with the mindset of, “This is so Niagara Falls.”
Aside from the gifts, I’ve gotten numerous messages from former residents wondering why I still live here and how every time they come “home” it’s worse than before.
I bring this up because I spend hours upon hours each year covering meetings filled with politicians and others stressing the need to be positive about the city and how a brighter future is just around the corner.
I hope that’s true, I really do.
The problem is, a lot of real people in our city don’t share that opinion, and anyone who has the audacity to point out the quality of life around here isn’t up to par is written off as being too negative and not part of the solution.
I’m sure I will take some criticism for writing this column, but the fact is I’m just echoing what many of our fellow residents are saying about our city. They may not be the same people attending black-tie dinners or donating to political campaigns, but their opinions do count.
If how we view ourselves is what really matters, we have a longer way to go than some want to admit.
Columns
FORGIONE: Hows Niagara Falls? Ask Facebook
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PFEIFFER: Something that really 'bugs' me
Who would ever think that roaches, as in cockroaches, not your left-over weed, and valentines are a good match?
As the greatest Hallmark holiday ever created looms large, my friends at the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Bronx Zoo have concocted a Valentines Day fundraising promotion that just makes you want to say, “Really?” -
HAMILTON: The SPCA and the pineapple upside-down pie
It is said that, as free Americans, we often get the things for which we ask; we also often get exactly what we deserve. Sometimes it works out to our good, and sometimes it doesn’t.
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GLYNN: Slim chance now for a real thick ice bridge
If you’re not convinced about the unpredictability of Western New York weather, consider that this area was experiencing temperatures in the mid-40s on the 100th anniversary of the ice bridge tragedy in the gorge.
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BRADBERRY: Is Black History Month Still Relevant?
I am uncomfortably recovering and slowly recuperating from a relatively minor, but medically necessary procedure which has kept me out of circulation, out of touch and essentially on my back for a lot longer than I have personally believed was justifiable; however, in this case my opinion matters not; the doctor’s diagnosis and promising prognosis trumped mine, so here I lay almost completely befuddled, nearly unable to pen a clear sentence.
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CONFER: Time to end the NFL’s blackout rule
Long ago, in a much simpler time, ticket sales accounted for the majority of revenues for professional football teams.
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CITY BEAT: Stuck on traffic
Sometimes I feel like the traffic signal reporter in Niagara Falls.
Traffic signals have been making a lot of news around here lately. There’s the whole flap about what to do to improve public safety near the Como Restaurant in the 2200 block of Pine Avenue. -
HIGGS: Discussing crime and punishment in the Falls
Have to take a detour off Pine Avenue in 1956 this week to report on an event held by the Niagara Falls Block Club Council for its member clubs and other interested citizens.
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GLYNN: Hotel Niagara plan exciting for the Falls
It all sounds like a re-run of a TV program you’ve seen a dozen times. This time, however, there is every reason to believe that the landmark Hotel Niagara on Rainbow Boulevard will be restored to the splendid atmosphere that guests enjoyed for decades.
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HAMILTON: BOE and kids, or the SPCA dogs?
There is example after example of otherwise qualified Niagara Falls’ board of education members and staffers lending their time and efforts to organizations outside of the school district’s core business.
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GLYNN: Trust in SPCA shelter must be restored
Stories about the operations at the Niagara SPCA shelter shape the image of sickening and disgusting treatment of animals.
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