Restaino Administration Withholding Casino Funds from Schools, Hospital, NFTA and UGRR Museum
The following was written by investigative journalist Ken Cosentino.
Last month, the City of Niagara Falls, NY received $7,614,846 from New York State as a result of Governor Kathy Hochul strong-arming the Seneca Nation of Indians in 2022 for $564 million in casino money. According to the operations of the original gaming compact, the City of Niagara Falls was obligated to pay shares of the funds to the Niagara Falls Independent School District, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, Niagara Falls USA (tourism), the Underground Railroad Museum and the NFTA. Insiders within several of these organizations have confirmed to the Reporter that Mayor Restaino’s administration has not yet distributed the funds in accordance with the compact.
On December 31st, 2023 the 99H clause expired and it was not renewed despite efforts from the aforementioned organizations to be heard in Albany. Mayor Restaino did not support the renewal, and without a Democratic co-sponsor the bill has remained stagnant.
Each of these organizations are dependent on their share of casino revenue as a part of their annual budget. A member of Niagara Falls USA (wishing to remain anonymous for fear of Restaino reprisal), questioned Mayor Restaino’s motives, stating “The Mayor states he is concerned with tourism and the ‘little guy’ yet, when he has the opportunity to assist with funds that are due to the agency anyway, he pulls a power trip and withholds the funds. He thinks he is a master negotiator and is always seeking something extra, even though it is something that he already owes… he doesn’t give a shit but, that’s just Bobby!”
The money was in an escrow account which the Seneca Nation of Indians was paying into. November is almost over and these organizations are in dire need of the money. Concerning Niagara Falls USA, I do not believe that they should receive anything from the City of Niagara Falls, NY. Up until 2018 the city was paying “Destination Niagara,” the predecessor of Niagara Falls USA, one million dollars annually. This is basically the state funneling money through our community and right back into their own pockets.
In any event, one would believe that Mayor Restaino would be more diplomatic in rendering payments for what is owed to the hospital, the schools, the NFTA and the UGRR museum; but apparently Restaino is not authorizing the payments that the city received over a month ago. Niagara Falls is a very close-knit community where whispers travel on the wind, but no one seems to be able to provide a valid reason why Restaino is not paying what is due.
Mayor Restaino has displayed “magical” abilities to conjure up American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds from a coffer both he and City Corporation Counsel Tom DeBoy claim is empty. Others, such as City Councilman Donta Myles, estimate an untouched sum as high as $25 million in ARP funds. It seemed effortless for the Mayor to authorize $4.5 million from ARP funds for a dog shelter in Hyde Park for the Pit Chic to operate.
Whenever anyone suggests using the ARP funds for anything (such as the Beech Avenue Project or to combat the horrific invasion of enormous rats in LaSalle), Mayor Restaino and his cronies pretend like there is no ARP money. It’s no stretch of the imagination to speculate that Mayor Restaino is withholding casino cash to divert it towards his Centennial Park legacy project or perhaps the Pit Chic’s operations. Restaino’s total lack of transparency has earned him a bad reputation for being dishonest and deceitful.
Nobody wants a weasel for a mayor, and nobody wants a snake. Somehow we have a weird mutation of both but it wears oversized suit jackets and sports white hair. Many individuals (both public and private), have told the Reporter in past interviews that Mayor Restaino treats taxpayer dollars as if they were his own. His administration’s opaqueness has earned Restaino the title of “repeat offender” on the New York Coalition for Open Government’s “naughty list.” Our mayor has shown us that he doesn’t care about the average citizen. He doesn’t care about the hundreds of people battling hordes of rats in their homes; he doesn’t care about the entire Fourth District. He didn’t care about the families of murder victims who rallied outside of his house; instead he allegedly called the SWAT team on them to only further their suffering. Mayor Restaino has once again forgotten that he is a public servant.
Feeling powerless, some locals have turned to our City Council for help, only to find that it’s mostly compromised by Restaino’s bullying and dirty politics. Locals have been censored from speaking at the podium and their First Amendment Rights have been violated. Democracy is crumbling right here in our local government and Mayor Robert Restaino is absolutely 100% to blame for it. Those public officials who fall in line with his lunacy are just as guilty and should be ashamed to call themselves public servants.
Mayor Restaino does not attend City Council meetings anyway, and he’s turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to pleas from residents. He proved this himself after making a rare public appearance to discuss the rat infestation with residents; only to turn around and slap them in the face with his practical joke coupon. There are no checks-and-balances in the City of Niagara Falls because Mayor Restaino also happens to be the attorney who rewrote the city charter prior to taking office. We the People are handcuffed by his tyrannical oppression of our rights while he rules over the weak-willed through his abusive fear-mongering. One could only imagine the skeletons in the closet of such a diminutive man who has disgraced himself once already on a global stage, while revealing to the world that he is a failure as a public servant.
