Good day, Sen. Schumer.
Did you happen by Niagara Falls while visiting some of Buffalo’s most forlorn neighborhoods last week?
We think Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan would have been suitably impressed enough to fully endorse your Community Regeneration, Sustainability and Innovation Act.
The bill is a $300 million program that would help cities with vacant housing that predates the nation’s foreclosure crisis.
Surely a drive downtown — no don’t stop at the casino or the state park — would be reason enough to get the Falls on board with this legislation.
Boarded up homes can be seen on most side streets — not to mention Main Street, which some long-time city residents have referred to as looking like “Berlin after the war.”
Perhaps your trip bypassed our fair city because U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins is a co-sponsor of the legislation. He’s from Buffalo.
But it seems like the bill was written just for us ... or this is blight everywhere in New York?
The legislation proposed by Schumer and Higgins would establish a three-year, $300 million demonstration program involving 15 large cities and 15 small cities with large-scale property vacancy. Cities would have the flexibility to use funding for things such as finding new uses for architecturally or historically significant buildings and redeveloping abandoned properties or preserving them as green space. A new council including members from various federal agencies would offer technical assistance and support.
Tearing down the old in the Falls is inevitable. It has to happen before it falls down.
Yet the city can experience a renaissance ... one paved street at time, one dilapidated building at a time.
We like your idea Sen. Schumer and we urge you to stop by for a visit.
Opinion
EDITORIAL: Falls needs help, too
- Opinion
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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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CHEERS & JEERS: Feb. 10's best and worst of the week
As Ken Hamilton so eloquently puts it in his column on this page — the SPCA of Niagara would probably be in a lot better shape if everyone took care of their pets.
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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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EDITORIAL: U.S. has a lot of catching up to do in War of 1812 bicentennial
Almost 200 years after President Madison declared the War of 1812 there is a distinct lack of interest on this side of the border in commemorating that milestone.
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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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EDITORIAL: Times up for SPCA board
This is no time for subtleties or polite requests.
We are now demanding the resignations of the members of the board of the Niagara County SPCA. -
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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