For years now, we've been asking state officials why they've continued to award Jimmy Glynn's Maid of the Mist company hundreds of millions of dollars worth of no-bid contracts to operate his boat ride below the falls in Niagara River waters controlled by the New York State Parks Commission.
And for years we've gotten the same answer: The Canadians gave Glynn the rights to operate on their side of the river, where the docks are located, and whoever had control of the docks was the sole source provider of the boat ride on both sides of the mighty Niagara.
Well, as of last week, Glynn no longer controls the docks.
The Canadians, in their infinite wisdom, realized that the Maid of the Mist contract represented a rip-off of major proportions for the taxpayers of Ontario.
New York taxpayers are being ripped off even worse than the Canadians were under Glynn's sweetheart deal, but the politicians here are taking a different tack.
Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster and Sen. Charles Schumer rushed to come to the defense of -- not the taxpayer -- but of Jimmy Glynn, who, over the years, has given each of them scads of money.
You get what you pay for, they say, and Glynn seems to have the backing of the best politicians money can buy.
Dyster, who most recently opposed Nik Wallenda's high-wire walk across the falls on the grounds that it would upset the fragile ecology of the state park, now appears ready to back Glynn in the construction of docks and other infrastructure in the gorge, a mammoth construction project that would destroy wildlife habitat and disrupt whatever serenity the park currently possesses.
And while the ecosystem has never been high on Schumer's list of priorities, his tawdry pandering on behalf of a sideshow promoter like Glynn is unseemly.
Has the state changed its "official" sole source provider policy? Or was that policy merely a ruse used to funnel money into Jimmy Glynn's pocket for later distribution to the politicians who enacted it?
Both Dyster and Schumer seem to be working for Glynn, at the expense of those who stupidly voted them into office. They are little more than puppets, dancing on the string pulled by a wealthy master.
They should be ashamed of themselves.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | Feb. 28 2012 |