Niagara Falls
THE
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER
LOCAL NEWS  •  LOCAL VOICES  •  LOCAL MATTERS
Niagara Falls

Parks and Threats to our space

S
Staff  ·  April 7, 2017
Parks and Threats to our space
SharefXin✉
by Nate McMurray
Town Supervisor of Grand Island

Since I have been Supervisor of Grand Island, I have met with developers who have come to my office trying to hawk the white elephant gift of sprawl as a solution to Grand Island’s problems. 
Let me say it here clearly, “I DON’T WANT IT.” 
You can keep your cloned apartment complexes and cut rate subdivisions. We don’t have the infrastructure to support it. And further, there is no apparent need or desire to have it. I don’t have droves of people coming in demanding more apartments. Quite the opposite.

Let me also say this clearly, “I did not, and do not support the apartments on Grand Island Blvd.” That was  underway before I took office.

I hope the apartments are a success, but I miss the green space that was there. Those apartments (no matter how fancy they claim to be) were a mistake. It’s too big, too costly, and poorly conceived.
I’m not just against superfluous apartments. I don’t want big box stores covering Grand Island either. I would support (and am actively trying to find) a grocery store that would come here. But you can keep Walmart. Would a few chains make Grand Island a more convenient place to live? Maybe. But at what cost to our existing stores and our town?
The path to success for Grand Island is keeping it unique and protecting its green space and not mimic the failed development schemes of other cities and towns in America.

Master Plan

Some people think a Master Plan means a plan to carve up the Island for developers. Or they think we should sell out to the big box chains.

I have seen the circles of decaying apartment complexes and strip malls in  Phoenix and Houston. Once they build one complex, they are off to the next, with each layer of development leaving its predecessor behind to decay.

Never been to those places? Well, try Amherst. There are many empty and ugly buildings in Amherst. Remember, when you build something, it might last many years. And it might not. Even the much-vaunted Clarence has its fair share of empty gas stations and beaten down plazas—it’s not a plague unique to Grand Island Boulevard. 
That’s why proper zoning and long-term planning matter. That’s why we are working on the Master Plan.

I want to build—parks! 

I am supportive of ecotourism, snowmobiling, kayaking, and hiking and I recently wrote about our most recent attempt to protect farming on Grand Island. I fought for the West River Parkway project, working with the State.

If you think parks don’t make money, they are the hub of a $646 billion recreational industry. And today, I’m proud to announce that the much talked about Scenic Woods Project will be completed this year.


IT’S OFFICIAL! SCENIC WOODS IS UNDERWAY!

Scenic Woods stretching from the East River shoreline westward to Sturbridge Lane

Scenic Woods stretching from the East River shoreline westward to Sturbridge Lane

Scenic Woods is a 220-acre wooded and green space the town has long sought to turn into a nature refuge with trails and boardwalks. The town was awarded a grant to complete Phase 1  before I was in office. The grant lapsed because of lack of progress.  Once Greenway grants lapse, it’s almost impossible to revive them. But with much effort and persistence, we were able to restore the grant. There is more work to do. I’m already working on the grant for Phase 2  which is the trail to the river.
SharefXin✉

Comments (0)

Leave a comment

More From Niagara Falls Reporter

Craig Bucki Stands Out in Race for Supreme Court, Has All the Tools to Be Strong Judge
Featured

Craig Bucki Stands Out in Race for Supreme Court, Has All the Tools to Be Strong Judge

By tony Farina · September 16, 2026

By Tony Farina I’ve covered many court proceedings and trials in my more than 35 years as a newspaper and television reporter and I want to make the point at the beginning of this story that whether elected or appointed, some judges are fair and honest and many others fall short of the mark. In other words, the word jurist does not convey skill and knowledge of the law; it is just a role that some serve with distinction, and others do not. By definition, a jurist is a person who has expert or thorough knowledge of the law but

Is Niagara Falls Crisis Self-Inflicted? Lots of Questions, Few Answers
Featured

Is Niagara Falls Crisis Self-Inflicted? Lots of Questions, Few Answers

By tony Farina · September 15, 2026

By Tony Farina There are certainly many questions swirling around the mayor’s declaration of a state of emergency in Niagara Falls over trash, blight, and deteriorating streets that was declared back on July 20 and has been extended several times since because, according to Mayor Robert Restaino, the City Council refused to approve contractor agreements. But some observers point to depleted staff at City Hall, like in Public Works and Code Enforcement and other departments, as really self-inflicted wounds that are the underlying reasons work is not getting done in the city. Or is there even more to the story,

NIAGARA FALLS BUILT THE MODERN WORLD ON ITS POWER. IT CAN DO IT AGAIN.
Featured

NIAGARA FALLS BUILT THE MODERN WORLD ON ITS POWER. IT CAN DO IT AGAIN.

By Niagara Reporter- · September 11, 2026

The  Data Center That Answers Hochul’s Objections There was a time when Niagara Falls did not ask Albany whether it was permitted to prosper. The river was here. That was enough. The town had something Albany couldn’t give it. It used what was here. Water. Power. Work. Jobs. Industry. A future. In 1895, the Adams plant took the river and put it into wire. The current went to Buffalo. It changed the industrial world. Tesla supplied the designs. Westinghouse built the machines. Niagara supplied the falling water. Then industries came. Electrochemical. Electrometallurgical. They came because Niagara offered abundant, inexpensive electricity.

Niagara Falls Has Millions of Tourists But Needs to Find a Way to Capture That Wealth
Featured

Niagara Falls Has Millions of Tourists But Needs to Find a Way to Capture That Wealth

By tony Farina · September 8, 2026

By Tony Farina The City of Niagara Falls, N.Y., boasts one of the world’s greatest natural wonders that people from around the world come to see, but despite incredible tourism numbers of more than nine million visitors a year, the city of now less than 50,000 people is still pretty darn poor. Niagara Falls does not have a tourism problem; it has a tourism-capture problem, and the distinction should be a starting point for a serious new discussion about the city’s future. And ladies and gentlemen, that discussion needs to start now. The question is no longer whether Niagara Falls