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Seneca never built a new casino building. They took our Convention Center and added a facade . |
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This property is on the boundary of Seneca showing results of casino spin off in Niagara Falls. |
On the recent Fourth of July holiday, Americans celebrated the events surrounding the expulsion of the odious British from the United States. Along the border, Canadians and Americans are commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812.
So where’s the 10-year celebration of the foreign occupation, by the Seneca Nation of Indians, of 50 acres of what was formerly Niagara Falls?
The Seneca didn’t even have to come up with $24 worth of beads and trinkets to gain ownership and immediate sovereignty. It was all but shoved down their throats by then-Gov. George Pataki and every other elected official in New York, including a freshman Niagara Falls City Council member named Paul Dyster.
Local business organizations and community groups favored the Seneca casino, as did much of the media. In fact, Seneca leaders like Barry Snyder and Maurice John faced more opposition from other Seneca’s than from anyone connected to Niagara Falls.
The deal was simple: In return for the Seneca Nation dropping its long-standing claim to Grand Island, they would receive a new reservation in the heart of Niagara Falls, along with a multimillion-dollar convention center designed by acclaimed architect Phillip Glass that they could fix up and use for an interim casino while they were building the real casino.
The blighted residential neighborhoods immediately adjoining the casino complex to the north and east would be transformed, we were told, as the Seneca’s were prepared to build first-class housing for the thousands of workers they planned to employ.
Nearby nightclubs, taverns and restaurants would overflow with casino workers looking to unwind after their shifts and patronized by tens of thousands of gamblers who, after going to the casino, would stop in.
And Niagara Falls real estate taxes could be kept at bay or even reduced due to the expanding tax base and payments the city was to receive under the terms of the gaming compact.
Additional monies were earmarked for the airport, the school district and Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center to expand facilities, improve programs and hire key personnel.
Despite their enthusiasm, local leaders were kept away from the negotiations. Former Mayor Irene Elia and Dyster – her go-to city council member – ceded authority to dealmakers in Albany. The general feeling was, “We may not know what this is all about, but it’s something, and anything is better than what we have now.”
Now, a decade later, many aren’t so sure. Most of the bars and restaurants formerly located along Niagara and Third streets are shuttered today. Business at places like the Press Box and the Arterial Lounge fell off dramatically almost overnight. The planned housing never materialized, nor did most of what the Seneca’s said they were going to build once they took possession of the property. The interim casino is still the only casino and the Seneca’s are now in arrears on their payments to the state for reimbursement to the city by $58 million.
Programs are going unfunded, police cruisers are being repaired instead of replaced and the possibility of layoffs by the city – the first in recent memory – has been seriously discussed. Still, the casino and its Seneca owners benefit from the use of our roads and bridges, our water and sewers, and our emergency responders. They just don’t pay for any of it with tax money.
How did everything go so wrong? How could our leaders in Albany, the Seneca’s and the same empty suits we pay to make sure City Hall is open Mondays through Fridays come up with a deal that ended up costing us
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With less than four years to go under the current Seneca compact, is anything being done to ensure that the people of Niagara Falls will get a better deal the next time around?
Don’t bet on it. |