Fruscione Driven From Office Because Of Urgent Hamister Hotel Deal Here?

Councilman Sam Fruscione dared to question the Hamister Hotel and was relentlessly attacked by elected officials.

If the reputation of the once popular former city Council chairman Sam Fruscione had grown as much as the Hamister hotel project has shrunk over the past year, he’d be running for state Senate right now.

Fruscione was the target of an unprecedented smear campaign last fall based solely on the fact that he questioned giving a downtown city property appraised at more than $1.5 million to do nothing developer Mark Hamister for a measly $100,000.

Mayor Paul Dyster wanted the Hamister hotel project. Badly. And he wanted rid of Fruscione, who led the former Council majority that included Bob Anderson and Glenn Choolokian.

Dyster’s enablers in Buffalo, Albany and Washington D.C. rallied to the cause, accusing Fruscione of political obstructionism, stating that Hamister’s hotel was crucial to the future of the city and that the humble councilman represented a major threat to Niagara Falls.

All of the major Western New York media, along with self serving politicians from Dyster to Gov. Andrew Cuomo to United States Sen. Charles Schumer condemned Fruscion for standing in the way of progress.

Fruscione was defeated in the Democratic primary by Andy Touma, cousin to Dyster campaign manager Craig Touma and related by marriage to Dyster appointed city Court Judge Diane Vitello.

While he went on to run on a minor party line in the general election, Fruscione – who had been the top vote getter in his previous races – finished poorly.

And now it turns out he was right. He told the truth. The Hamister hotel project – whether it gets built or not and the boys on Pine Avenue will give you even money on that – will not be the transformational project Dyster promised. In fact it will be a small, four story edifice in a neighborhood packed with similar structures. It will employ around 50 people, mostly earning minimum wage.

If it ever gets built.

One public official had the stones to call BS on this deal a year ago. Sam Fruscione. And for his trouble, and public service, he was driven out of office.

By you. The dear voters who know so much they continue to live in Niagara Falls.