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Highlight the blight during Falls city council slideshows
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Highlight the blight during Falls city council slideshows

by Joseph KisselJuly 3, 2016
Buffalo, which is in the midst of a renaissance a long time coming, was once known as the City of Light. In Niagara Falls, however, a short walk from the Seneca Niagara Casino or nearly anywhere else in the city would reveal it as a City of Blight.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The council stopped this practice during the last quarter of 2016.

Derelict buildings throughout the city continually confront residents as well as tourists that stumble off the main drag. Other buildings are occupied but sadly dilapidated and many of these are owned by out-of-town landlords.

It’s downright depressing.

But not so in the common-council chambers at Niagara Falls’ City Hall.

There, a constant loop of beautiful images of the Falls plays on twin monitors, reminding council members of what helps pay the bills here.

But everybody knows that already.

What the council also knows is that the city is falling apart — most of it looking horrible for a “world-class destination.”

But what’s being done about it?

Instead of seeing pretty pictures of the Falls, council members, city employees and residents should be confronted by the images of the blight around the city at every meeting until each and every example is remedied.

About The Author
Joseph Kissel
Joseph Kissel is a journalist, editor and photographer. He is also the Vice President of the New York Coalition for Open Government, a non-partisan, non-profit group that advocates for transparency and the public's right to freedom of information.