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Sources in Albany and others close to the Seneca Nation told the Reporter last week that a recent round of talks with Buffalo Mayor Anthony Masiello, Mayor Irene Elia and representatives of the Baltimore-based Cordish Co. were more in the nature of "courtesy calls," and would be unlikely to result in any serious effort to bring Native American gaming to Western New York.
That doesn't mean, however, that the Senecas won't play a very real role in the future of legalized gaming here. For the first time, Seneca Nation Council President Cyrus Schindler has the backing of a majority of council members to go ahead with a gaming plan.
Gov. George Pataki, state Senate Speaker Joe Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver also are reportedly on board if the move could benefit the area's beleaguered economy.
"The serious negotiations are occurring in Albany, not at the Niagara Falls City Hall," one source said.
As many as three other developers--who have kept their negotiations with both the Senecas and the Governor's office a closely guarded secret--would seem to have the upper hand.
"No one involved in this wants the Niagara Falls city government involved in this in any way," one state capitol source told the Reporter. "It's just that, at this point, everyone is being very cordial."
Those close to the talks between the Senecas and the state government maintain that the important discussions concerning possible Seneca gaming here are not being made in public. "If you're hearing about it, it's just for show," an insider said. "The (talks) with the real meat are going on behind the scenes."
The reticence of officials to deal with representatives of Niagara Falls or Niagara County governments was echoed in a recent Reporter interview with state senators George Maziarz and Byron Brown, and Assemblymembers David Seaman and Francine DelMonte.
And some say Elia's attempts to steer the Senecas toward Cordish's deserted Rainbow Centre Mall may be doing the developer more harm than good.
"For whatever reason, Mayor Elia is still courting Cordish," one source said. "If anything, his association with her is hurting his chances with the Senecas."
Meanwhile, officials in Albany who asked not to be identified described the empty mall as "a perfect candidate" for takeover under New York's eminent domain laws, which will take effect when the Empire State Development Corp. launches its downtown Niagara Falls project. And local officials, including City Council members John Accardo, Barbara Geracitano and Joe D'Angelo, have questioned whether the Cordish Co. is in violation of its contract with the city, which calls for the mall to be operated in a "first class" manner.
In a Jan. 10 Reporter exclusive, highly placed Seneca sources described the chances of Native American gaming coming to the deserted Rainbow Centre Mall as "slim to none," and said they resented Elia going public about preliminary discussions that had taken place.
Since closing in September, the 282,000-square-foot downtown mall has been the subject of considerable speculation by the news media. At that time, a Cordish official said it would be up and running by the start of this year's tourist season as a "family entertainment complex," a promise echoed by Cordish partner Joel Weinberg and City Administrator Al Joseph, who said the reconfigured mall would feature "a multi-screen theater, video parlors and ticketed attractions."
In December, Elia stunned reporters when she claimed she had been involved since 1999 in talks with the Senecas to bring high-stakes bingo here, and it became known that the Cordish Co. had flown some tribal leaders to Florida to see a gaming development the company was working on with the Seminole Nation.
But with less than 60 days to go before the start of the tourist season, it appears likely that the promises were as empty as the mall itself. Visitors to the Falls most likely will be met by nothing more than an all-but-abandoned building many here refer to as an eyesore.
"It's the most hideous building there is downtown," one Niagara Street regular said. "It was supposed to be a parking ramp, and they made it into a mall."
While both Cordish representatives and city officials maintain the derelict mall currently is up to date in its real estate taxes, records made available to the Reporter show that as recently as June 19 of last year, the company owed some $185,925 in back taxes. Cordish successfully brought legal action against the city to have the amount reduced, and subsequently paid a lesser tab.
Later, it became known that City Administrator Joseph had stiffed Cordish for nearly $50,000 in a 1999 bankruptcy prior to embarking on negotiations with the company on behalf of the city.