Nik Wallenda walks over Niagara Falls on a tightrope, June 15, 2012

Nik Wallenda took most of the glory last Friday night, as he should, for his historic feat in walking a tightrope directly over the falls before an estimated worldwide audience of 400 million, including tens of thousands who came to the river on both sides of the border to see the event in person as best they could.

The Los Angeles Times headlined the story, Wallenda “fulfilled his dream,” and it was front page news across the country and around the world as Niagara Falls gained fame for being the scene of such a visually stunning event.

Wallenda, 33, a seventh-generation acrobat who first dreamed of walking across the falls as a six-year-old boy, brought his dream to life in a prime-time ABC special that also starred the mighty world wonder in all its thundering glory—a spectacular backdrop for the red-shirted Wallenda who made the 1,800-foot crossing in 26 minutes, talking virtually all the way on his live microphone.

Wallenda climbed aboard the two-inch wire rope on Goat Island and walked across to the Canadian side where tens of thousands of spectators were lined up to greet him. The crowds, although much smaller, were equally enthusiastic on the American side but as is the norm, the greater spotlight—and the post-walk press conference---took place in Canada where ABC had more room to operate and a better view.

There’s little question that despite being tethered to a harness for safety reasons, Wallenda lived up to the hype. He never wanted to be tethered to the harness and it seemed to hardly matter as he walked through close encounters with birds and braved strong winds and thick mist over the Horseshoe Falls to complete his historic crossing, a daring figure in a bright red shirt on a rope who may have done more for the Niagara Falls tourism industry, especially on the American side, than anyone or any promotional campaign has ever done.

It seemed that Mayor Paul Dyster did not want to be left out of all the excitement—and the glory-- and he bravely did his own kind of walk in a television interview on the local ABC affiliate during which he sounded like he had done everything but hoist Wallenda onto the cable as the interviewers lobbed him soft balls that he handled with mayoral aplomb. His Honor also used the occasion to trumpet bringing the Holiday Market to Old Falls Street last winter, a feat that still has many people scratching their heads over whether the city got the return in dollars, and especially in people, on its big investment. The mayor also used his moment in the sun given to him by Wallenda to boast of his many successes in attempting to revive the city, real or imagined, as he held court on the biggest stage he’ll ever enjoy. And remember, the city’s biggest success under Dyster’s reign is clearly Wallenda and he was initially cool to the idea before it began to gain momentum.

But I guess even the mayor should be given a pass on the Wallenda night because while many people are taking credit for putting on the show, the important thing now is what will it mean down the road. Did Niagara Falls become a world wonder again? Will tourists from around the globe come to see the magnificent falls that shined under the spotlight of the Wallenda crossing? And will some of the seeds planted to get the city moving again, some of which hold promise, reach their full bloom thanks to all the publicity the city received?

Visitors from around the state who came to Niagara Falls last week may offer a clue as to what Wallenda has done for the ailing cataract city, even in New York. Some who had never been here before liked what they saw that night when Old Falls Street and downtown bustled with activity and people. Some who hadn’t been here in years said they were glad they came and hoped the city would be able to capitalize on the Wallenda visit and reverse the economic decline of the past several decades.

Despite Mayor Dyster’s “heroic” efforts, there is still much to do to make Niagara Falls a world class city to go with its mighty world wonder. And Mayor Dyster, even as he basks in the spotlight of the Wallenda excitement, needs to seize the moment along with other local and state officials to build on what happened last week. And it was encouraging. Overall, the city seemed to perform well in making Wallenda a big event even if things got off to a shaky start.

Let’s give credit to the mayor for finally coming around, and also to Roger Trevino of NFR fame who first approached Wallenda nearly two years ago in Orlando about walking across the falls. And certainly Sen. George Maziarz played a major role in helping Wallenda get through all the government red tape to secure a special exemption for last week’s spectacular show. And Assemblyman John Ceretto who pushed hard in the State Assembly.

As for Wallenda, he could have given up many times during the cross-border efforts to get permission to live out his dream, but he never did. He stayed with it and got the permission he needed, and in the process won over a lot of people who, in typical local fashion, were less than enthusiastic about this circus performer coming to town, or anything new or different, for that matter. Unfortunately, in Niagara Falls and throughout Western New York, new ideas sometimes are treated with the same grudging hospitality as snake venom, a fact that makes catching up with the rest of the world seem like, well, walking across the falls on a tightrope.

So where do we go from here? Nik is gone, his next big challenge: walking across the Grand Canyon. But the rest of us are still here and we can only hope that Wallenda’s high wire act will serve as a beacon around the world, letting people know the once-famous world wonder is still here and still a powerful force that must be seen in person to be believed.

On the local front, in the end it took people working together to make Wallenda a success, from police who did their job in handling traffic and safety to city lawmakers who took steps to make sure special permits were available for street vendors to get in on the act. Visitors seemed to have a great experience and now it’s time to build on what happened here on June 15, 2012, so that it becomes more than a distant memory and another tidbit in the legacy of daredevil stunts that have become part of Niagara Falls lore.

Here’s a toast to Nik Wallenda for putting Niagara Falls on the map again.
The challenge now is to keep it there.