A couple of thoughts worth mentioning in Dyster-ville

Rumor has it that the $500,000 fire hall renovation by Isaiah 61 has once again proven the incompetence of the Dyster administration.

After spending more than $100,000 fixing the roof, the city just discovered that the back wall is caving in.

Reminds us of when Isaiah 61 was renovating a home on Centre Street and forgot to brace it and it collapsed.

The Reporter said back when the city was first proposing to rehab the Highland Ave. abandoned fire hall that it would be far less expensive to demolish it and rebuild a new building for Isaiah 61.

That was when it was only supposed to cost $500,000.

Who knows with the collapsing back wall if it can be fixed at all.

After all the money that has already been spent, it may be demolished after all.

While everyone is jubilant about the Amtrak lease with the City to move into the new $43 million behemoth train station, we smell a rat.

Has anybody seen the actual lease which spells out how Amtrak is going to pay 63 percent of the overhead costs? Something is fishy here. Either the language is going to be Dyster-like vague, giving lots of wiggle room for Amtrak – which Dyster will then slide over on city taxpayers, or somehow Amtrak is getting a grant or subsidy to get them to move.

Why else would Amtrak go from paying no rent to what is now estimated by Dyster (and very suspiciously, too) at about $170,000.

With the city picking up about $60,000 per year.

Forget that city taxpayers used to pay nothing for the train station.

Also forget the fact that the train station is going to be empty almost all the time because it is 10 times larger than it should be. Consider this:

Dyster plans for only a couple of maintenance people to keep up and clean this 20,000 plus square foot train station.

Are you kidding? Two government workers are expected to maintain one of the largest train stations in New York?

Even though Niagara Falls has nearly the lowest ridership numbers in New York, and only about 90 riders on average per day will be inside the building, which is bigger than your average supermarket, it still has to be maintained.

Something is fishy alright and once we see the lease, we are pretty confident that we will discover that Amtrak will be paying a percentage based not on real cost but some ridiculously underestimated BS calculation Dyster created as a fiction to save face to get Amtrak in.

Like so many of our predictions, they come true a year or more later.

The Seneca Gas Station and Retail Store is about to open. When it does it will wipe out local gas stations who don’t deserve to live in the Dyster world of “don’t protect local businesses.”

How can they compete with a tax free gas station?

Of course it may be a boon for local consumers who can save on gasoline taxes.

The retail element of the large store Seneca is building as part of their gas station should be revelatory.

How many tax free items will be sold there remain to be seen but one would think that it should wipe out the convenience stores in the area.

Perhaps they will sell clothing and other retail items.

This is the beginning of Seneca veering away from casino businesses to regular businesses meant to attract the general public who have no intention of gambling.

They want tax free products and will drive to get them and will ignore the local businesses here who pay giant taxes (Niagara Falls is the highest taxed city in New York).

And amid the highest taxes are the no -taxed.

That’s the kind of justice New York State serves up.

And Dyster remains silent.

He should propose a tax free zone for the stores in direct competition with Seneca as part of a plan for a level playing field.

But don’t count on it.