parcel 0

By Frank Parlato A city on the edge of debt. A mayor with a vision. The feasibility report came. It said: Build it.   It did not say how. Or who would come. Or what would happen if they didn’t. So, the good people of Niagara Falls now entertain Mayor Restaino’s $200 million arena dream. Based on a report that avoids every hard question. Feeble Report The mayor dreamed of a grand arena in Niagara Falls, seven thousand seats. The report failed to explain how to pay for it. No assessment of risk. It was not a report, not really.

By Tony Farina This may come as no surprise to local residents, but the average salary in Niagara Falls, N. Y., is roughly $41,430 per year or less than $20 per hour, placing the city in the lower half of U. S. cities when ranked by average salary. Local government workers make much more but things could change for the less fortunate if the leadership of the strong mayoral-form of government decides to move forward by embracing data center technology and all that it can bring to boost the local economy and help workers earn more. For now, with eight

The following was written by investigative journalist Ken Cosentino. It’s been two years since the former director of the Niagara University’s Global Tourism Institute, Pat Whalen, warned us about the looming tax burden Mayor Restaino’s Centennial Park and event center will inevitably create for us. Despite these warnings, our mayor is forging ahead with his plans which are founded upon loose and lofty sentiments.  In 2022, Niagara Gazette’s Mark Scheer reported, “Restaino, representatives of his administration and members of the city council who have agreed to pursue eminent domain for the purposes of acquiring land for Centennial Park, all acknowledge

This is Part Two of a series on the eminent domain fight between Mayor Restaino and NFR. Read the first article here. Niagara Falls’ mayor Robert Restaino is a lawyer and formerly a city court judge who famously was removed from the bench for an unfortunate episode where he locked up 30 plus innocent citizens present in his court because a cell phone purportedly went off when he was talking. Though he has never developed any projects in his life, there is a tradition in this city of mayors building a legacy project that invariably is overbuilt and costs taxpayers

An incredible battle is underway in Niagara Falls, NY. The battleground is a 10-acre piece of vacant land. The fight is over what the 10 acres will be used for – the entranceway to a sprawling AI digital data center built without taxpayer funding, a project that will contribute millions of dollars per year to the city’s budget, or a taxpayer-funded municipal arena that supposedly will boost the tourism industry by a larger amount than it will cost taxpayers annually to run. Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR), a private development company, owns the 10 acres. NFR has the funding to develop

Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) announced Thursday that it has filed a full application with the City of Niagara Falls for a Negotiated Planned Development District, more commonly referred to as a Planned Unit District (PUD). The new district would be known as “Data Center at Niagara Digital Campus PUD,” and would further NFR’s efforts to develop the $1.5 billion Niagara Digital Campus data center in downtown Niagara Falls. The nearly 500-page PUD application was submitted to the City on Monday October 21, 2024. It is the next step in the development of the innovative, state-of-the-art data center, which is anticipated

By Tony Farina Well paying high tech jobs or low tourism industry bottom-feeder pay? High tech vs. more of the same for poor Niagara Falls.  The contrast is stark and the time to step into the future with hope for a better tomorrow is now. We’ll take a look here at the road ahead and nudge the city to embrace a more forward looking agenda. The pieces appear to be in place to make something happen after years and millions of taxpayer money going over the falls to nowhere. Niagara Falls Redevelopment is still anxious to build a $1.5 billion

Niagara Falls NY – As the city’s eminent domain legal fight to take 10 acres of private property from Niagara Falls Redevelopment continues, Mayor Robert Restaino has two messages for his dwindling supporters. One, above all, the city needs Centennial Park, the mayor’s boondoggle dream – a $250 million plan with a 7,000-seat arena, a 500-car parking ramp and a four acre park crammed with a splash pad, ice-skating rink, zip lines, parking ramp climbing wall, adventure courses, and other amenities. And two: Since the city does not have the money or manpower to maintain its 35 parks. He wants

Two points keep nagging me about Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino’s plan to build an arena on NFR land – land he has gone to court to force the sale through eminent domain. The location for the arena seems to be the mayor’s deliberate plan to favor the Seneca Nation over the local business community, since the tax-free sovereign nation will get the first crack at overflow from the arena. Why would the mayor favor a sovereign but wealthy Indian nation that cannot vote for him over the taxpaying business in the city? The second concerning matter is that the

Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino is hell bent on building his Centennial Park, actually not a park but a 7000-seat arena right at the entranceway of Niagara Falls Redevelopment land, on NFR land, and in so doing block NFR’s plan to build a $1.5 billion data center. The Restaino arena, if he can borrow the funding, will be paid by taxpayers. The data center he effectively kills would not cost taxpayers anything. The owners will pay for the data center. Instead of costing taxpayers money, the data center will add money to the city’s coffers through hefty property taxes the

Niagara Falls, New York is currently at an extraordinary, perhaps historic, crossroads. At the head of the city is Mayor Robert Restaino, who is solely responsible for deciding whether Niagara Falls will move into the future and accommodate the current demand for high tech data centers or let them be built elsewhere. Niagara Falls Redevelopment and Urbacon’s offer to build a state of the art data center that will employ more than 500 people is on the table before the city. The developers have the money and know-how, have developed data centers, and have the land. The land is near

The following was written by investigative journalist Ken Cosentino. Last night’s city council meeting was further proof that Mayor Restaino’s proposed use of CDBG funds for purchasing Parcel 0 is still on the table. Last night, Councilmember Vincent Cauley attempted to rescind the authority the council granted the Mayor last December to use CDBG funds for the purchase of Parcel 0. If the authority is not rescinded, the door remains open for the Mayor to use these funds.  Mayor Restaino has stated that CDBG funds are off the table, as the community has been very clear; they want the funds focused

Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) and Toronto-based developer Urbacon have unveiled a $1.5 billion plan for the first phase of the Niagara Digital Campus, a state-of-the-art data center project in Niagara Falls, NY. The development is centered on a 12-acre plot known as “Parcel 0,” which is key to the project’s infrastructure and its first 50 MW phase. The plans detail a mega electric substation that NFR and Urbacon will construct to power the data center and significantly upgrade downtown Niagara Falls’s electric grid. Phase I of the project, which will include approximately 282,000 square feet of the total 600,000 square

By Tony Farina It looks like the Oct. 25 debate between Mayor Robert Restaino and challenger Carl Cain, a retired deputy police superintendent, has all the makings of a rip-snorting political slugfest between two long-time Niagara Falls figures, one a lawyer and the other a cop. But lost in the give and take over Cain’s personnel file that has suddenly become an issue is the overriding concern about the best road ahead for the Cataract City, with Restaino and Cain total opposites on development opportunities that may spell the future for a struggling city facing financial strain. Adding jobs and

Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) and the City of Niagara Falls clashed in New York State Appellate Court in Rochester today as NFR seeks to end the city’s attempt to take their private property through eminent domain. Mayor Robert Restaino’s fanciful vision for NFR’s land, dubbed “Centennial Park,” drew skepticism from the four-judge panel of the Appellate Division court, with judges wondering aloud whether the city’s hastily conceived land grab constitutes prudent fiscal policy. As today’s courtroom spectacle unfolded, NFR attorney John Horn argued that the city’s “Determination and Findings” failed to fulfill the essential requirement of serving a genuine “public

Spend First, Study Later At a “Special Meeting” on Wednesday, May 17, at 5:00 p.m., Niagara Falls Mayor Robert M. Restaino will seek Council approval to spend $140,000 for a feasibility study for Centennial Park, a planned 7000-seat events center and a small adjacent park. According to the mayor, the cost of the feasibility study will be reimbursed to the city by the National Grid Strategic Economic Development Program, and Empire State Development through its subsidiary USA Niagara. Normally feasibility studies come first While the City’s 2009 Comprehensive Plan required Mayor Restaino to conduct a feasibility study before commencing plans

Ken Cosentino, the writer of this article, mentions an old, failed dream of Niagara Falls, AquaFalls. An ambitious, and ultimately fanciful, plan to build an underground aquarium called AquaFalls was revealed during the administration of former Mayor James Galie. New York Governor George Pataki came to Niagara Falls to laud the brilliant project. Ground was broken in 1999 amid much hoopla, but not much happened once the one-acre, 40-foot-deep hole had been excavated. Various alleged financiers came and went, and promises of work starting in “two more weeks” abounded. Yet the pit remained, providing a huge liability risk and an

This is #5 in the Parcel 0 series. By Jim Szwedo Please do not mortgage our future for Centennial Park  When it comes to the dueling project proposals by the City and Niagara Falls Redevelopment, I believe we can have both. If the City and NFR both give a little, negotiate, and come together for the good of Niagara Falls and its residents, we can have an events center, a new park, and a high tech data center, instead of one or the other.  In this article, I will describe how For the past 20 years, I have been president

This is #4 in the Parcel 0 series. Parcel 0 – #1 –Reporter Investigates City’s Fight With NFR Over Best Use – Data Center or Events Center Parcel 0-#2: Pat Whelan, Former NGTI Director: Mayor’s Centennial Park Bound to Fail Parcel 0 -#3: The Battle Between Restaino and NFR Is on Over 12 Acres of Land– Meet the Combatants The Parcel 0 series covers the battle between Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino and Niagara Falls Redevelopment LLC. Manhattan billionaire and philanthropist Howard Milstein owns NFR. Marketing guru Roger Trevino runs NFR locally. The battle between the Mayor and NFR is

Part #3 on Parcel 0. This is Part #3 of a series on Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino’s attempt to force the sale of 12 acres of a private company’s land to develop an events center and park project that the City does not have the money to develop. The mayor said once he uses the force of government to take the land through eminent domain, he will find the $150 million he needs to build the events center. Mayor Robert Restaino wants to build a 7000-seat events center.  Weighing in against this plan is the private company, Niagara Falls

Parcel 0 is a 12-acre site in downtown Niagara Falls, owned by Niagara Falls Redevelopment LLC [NFR]. Both NFR has a plan for Parcel 0 and Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino has a plan.   NFR wants to build a Data Center on their land. Mayor Restaino wants to use eminent domain to take Parcel 0 from NFR and develop an events center and a park. Pat Whelan, the former director of the Niagara Global Tourism Institute. discusses Mayor Restaino’s plan for Centennial Park. By Pat Whalen Mayor Robert Restaino has a $150 million plan to build a park and event

A battle is heating up in Niagara Falls, NY. It is a fight over property rights, the government’s use of eminent domain to force the sale of private property, and the highest and best use for a property that is a gateway location for both the City and for a private development company with substantial holding, which owns the contested property. The company is Niagara Falls Redevelopment LLC. The company is run locally by popular businessman and a longtime resident of Niagara County, Roger Trevino. The City and NFR have widely different plans for a 12-acre parcel in downtown Niagara