NFTA sitting on prime land- This is not a repeat from 1985

 
What happens when a government agency forgets they're a government agency and thinks they are actually a big business? The NFTA is born.

These jokers have had 30 years to develop the Outer Harbor and their results are atrocious. After three decades of ineptitude, the Harbor consists of three abandoned buildings and one overpriced restaurant. The Owners of Dug's Dive should pass out fly swatters to each customer as they enter the restaurant. The pop was flat and the flies ate more of my $15 chicken sandwich than I did when I ate there.

Congressman Brian Higgins is calling on the NFTA to give up it's stranglehold hold on waterfront development and sell the land for $2 (the price they paid for it.) In response, the NFTA is scoffing at the idea, saying THEY have invested $7 million dollars in the land. I hope by "they" they mean the thousands of Western New York taxpayers who pay their exorbitant salaries and fund their quasi-government organization. To hear them talk, they're successful businessmen who take financial risks for a living. Nothing could be further from the truth. The NFTA has had thirty years to make a profit over there, and instead have proven grossly incompetent. They'r ethe last remaining barrier to real waterfront development. "They" need to exit stage left and let someone with a clue take over the land. I want my two dollars!...

Higgins Wants Outer Harbor Sold for Cheap

Accident waiting to happen

I want to say first that I like most of the changes down by the waterfront. The bike trails are nice and there seems to be more accessibility. I'm glad Doug's Dive is still open, even if the food is overpriced. One thing I'm not too high on is the end of Tifft Street. It just doesn't seem like it was designed properly. I haven't talked to one motorist that likes the circle they put up. It seems like you can't see the cars coming from the opposite direction.

I have to question the intersection pictured here in front of Gallagher (formerly known as Welfare Beach). We have three one way roads to our right(the middle road is the entrance to the skyway). If you don't take it everyday, it's hard to tell which way you can go. Since people are taught to veer to the right, it seems like the road closest to you would be the entrance. I'd hate to see someone take this road and go the wrong way. I know there are signs, but there are so many signs it could easily confuse an elderly driver or someone from out of town. The first time I got to this intersection, I wasn't sure which way to go, and others have told me the same thing.


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Letter to the editor-NFTA out of the waterfront

I wonder how many drugs Penny is on? She is upset that the NFTA is selling the land on the waterfront. After 25 years of doing nothing, she thinks they were just on the brink of doing great things over there. That's the one thing I'll agree with Brian Higgins on. The NFTA has been nothing but an impediment to change. Getting them out of the picture is a great move for WNY...

Hate to see NFTA sell Small Boat Harbor

I was very disappointed to read that the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority is putting its property at the Small Boat Harbor up for sale. In the past several years, the Small Boat Harbor has changed from a utilitarian boat launch into a beautiful jewel of a facility. To its many slip holders and boating enthusiasts using the public ramps, or to its diners, who simply enjoy eating a delicious lunch or dinner at Dug’s Dive while watching the boats in the harbor, the Small Boat Harbor has finally become a destination of choice for our residents.

Finally, after years of waiting, the renovation of Fuhrmann Boulevard, with its new wide walkways, made the Small Boat Harbor easily accessible to any driver, biker or walker. It would be a shame to now have the NFTA “pull the plug” by selling the Boat Harbor to a private developer, potentially closing this waterfront access to the public forever.

Penny F. Zeplowitz

Williamsville

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Letter to the editor- Larry Quinn

I agree with this letter writer's opinion of Larry Quinn. We've seen his handling of the Buffalo Sabres. Do we really want him making any decisions regarding our waterfront? When he suggested begging Bass Pro to come back to the negotiating table, he should have been laughed out of Buffalo. Just look at the way he poses for this picture. He looks like he gets up everyday before work and practices the "out of touch rich-guy pose" in front of a full length mirror for 30 minutes. Could somebody please remind this knucklehead he lives and works in the outpost of Buffalo, NY?


Let 35 Entrepreneurs Share Bass Pro Money

Thanks to Donn Esmonde for his continued watch over the Erie Canal Harbor board; he makes us aware of what an inept group this is. While its list of folly is too long to detail here, we can now add that the board wants to go forward with parking and canals for a Bass Pro that won’t be there. Amazing.

I think we would be better served, for example, by taking the $35 million from the failed Bass Pro deal and providing $1 million each to 35 proven entrepreneurs who can make a go of the small-scale village that is a much better fit.

Larry Quinn’s proposal to beg Bass Pro one more time was the clincher for me. Isn’t this the same negotiation wizard who brokered the Sabres’ Briere, Drury and Vanek debacle? I try not to underestimate the scope of other people’s jobs, but in Quinn’s case, I will make an exception. I have an unrelated engineering background, but I am still quite confident I could do the job better than Quinn. Could he please do Buffalo a favor and resign?

Bob Tortorici

Orchard Park

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Proof-it can be done

This was a pretty interesting story on channel 4. Baltimore's waterfront was developed beautifully-by people who used to live in Western New York. You mean they don't have a guy like Brian Higgins, holding weekly press conferences to tell us the barren, inaccessible waterfront has already been developed? The sad part is that all three talented people in this story probably left Western New York because of high taxes and career politicians (like Higgins and his friends)...

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The waterfront has been developed

A bunch of grandstanders showed up to celebrate the completion of waterfront development. No this is not a joke. They were actually serious. Why didn't they inform the general public of this shameless act of self promotion? We could have shown up with eggs and rotten tomatoes to throw at them. Hey fools: why don't you stop posing for the cameras and wait until something is actually accomplished over there? You can change the names on the signs all you want, but it will still be Welfare Beach until there is actual progress over there. Try not to tear any of your rotator cuffs while patting yourselves on the back . Brian Higgins calls a press conference on the waterfront every three days. He's not announcing anything! He's just trying to get more air time for Tim Kennedy. It's blatantly, obvious. Get off my TV...


In a related story, four people were seriously injured in a crash on the dangerous Skyway, which Brian Higgins and Tim Kennedy have fought so hard to keep open...

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Dug's Dive to close for the winter

Everyone would like to see the popular Dug's Dive restaurant stay open during the winter. The owner of the waterfront restaurant, Tucker Curtin, announced he will be closing up on November 1st like in past years. The dispute between Curtin and the NFTA is over who will pay the heating and snowplowing bills...

Most of the difference was over who would pay for the additional operating costs, such as snowplowing and heating, that would come with keeping Dug’s Dive open during the late fall and winter.

Curtin offered a deal to pay for some — but not all — of the added costs. The NFTA said Curtin had to foot the whole bill, because as a public agency, it can’t be subsidizing a private business.

“It’s probably a few thousand dollars. It’s not a big deal,” Curtin said. But he was reluctant to make more concessions because winter sales likely will be much lower than during the summer.

Normally, I would be dead set against the NFTA. Their stranglehold on waterfront growth and development goes back decades. However, using just the facts as they have been presented, I feel the need to side with them. The NFTA is a public entity. Why does the owner expect them to pay the restaurant's bills? Hoak's restaurant is a popular Hamburg restaurant on the Waterfront. I never heard of them asking the government to heat their building or plow their lot. It sounds like the owner does not want to take the financial risk of operating during the winter. That's his choice. Unless I'm missing something here, the NFTA is under no obligation to heat a private building unless it is my house. If they want to pay my heating bills, then I'm all for it.

Owner says Dug’s Dive will be closed for winter - City & Region - The Buffalo News

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NFTA continues it's hijacking of waterfront

Dug's Dive owner Tucker Curtin wants to keep the popular restaurant open year round. The NFTA is dragging it's feet and giving him the runaround.

Score another one for the NFTA. The owner of Dug's Dive, the popular restaurant located at the small boat harbour, wants to keep it open year round. Instead of celebrating this as great news for the waterfront, the NFTA appears to be acting as an obstructionist...

The owner of Dug's Dive wants to keep the Small Boat Harbor restaurant open year-round, but claims his plans are being thwarted by his landlord, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.

Tucker Curtin, who operates Dug's Dive under an agreement with the NFTA, said he has approached the authority with what he contends is a viable offer to keep the restaurant open after the boating season ends.

But NFTA officials, while saying they share Curtin's interest in seeing Dug's Dive become a year-round operation, also said they need to work out an agreement that would cover all of their costs before that could happen.

The result is a stalemate that, for now, is putting Curtin's plans in limbo as the boating season comes to a close within the next month. Curtin said he needs an agreement soon if he is going to keep the restaurant open beyond its traditional October closing date.

"I just don't understand it," Curtin said.

The NFTA has outlived it's usefullness on the waterfront. It's time for them to step away so real progress can occur. I've been to Dug's Dive several times. It's a nice restaurant. Cut the red tape and let this private businessman make some money. I know you guys wouldn't know anything about taking any risks, since most of your jobs are appointed. Give Curtin an answer so he can keep the doors open.

Looking to make Dug's Dive a year-round waterfront spot - Business - The Buffalo News

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Customer upset when his car gets towed

There's got to be a better way to deal with this. People are parking at Crawdaddy's, Shanghai Reds, (or whatever they're calling it this week) to go to other events at the marina. The owner is having them towed. Some of the people towed actually had eaten dinner at the restaurant. I understand the owners frustration but I think he's shooting himself in the foot. People remember things like that...

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Bass Joke

Donn Esmonde's on again-off again love affair with Congressman Brian Higgins continued today on the topic of waterfront development. Esmonde, who thankfully and uncharacteristically neglected to describe the physical features of Higgins in his article, lauded Higgins for finally admitting that downtown redevelopment would do fine without Bass Pro (and the huge taxpayer handout that goes along with it.) Higgins states in the article:

“This community needs to move forward,” Higgins said. “We look pathetic when we allow ourselves to be held hostage to these big, glitzy projects that never materialize. It takes a psychological toll on the community. We are not going to tolerate holdups because an agreement [with Bass Pro] is not signed.”

“More than 130 [local] restaurants and retailers are interested in being part of Canal Side,” Higgins added. “We al-ready have the historic component and public space. The $105 million is enough money to do the infrastructure to make this a viable development parcel . . . We can create a vibrant attraction, with or without Bass Pro.”
I agree with Higgins on this issue. Bass Pro's lure 9 years ago was the fact they were a regional draw. Now, they have stores all over the place and are not the anomaly they once were. However, they still are demanding a huge subsidy from us. No way. They need to take a hike. Downtown does not need them. As Higgins states, there are plenty of local retailers willing to step up and open shop. I hope they are given the chance to do so.
Donn Esmonde: Bass Pro not needed to lure people : Donn Esmonde : The Buffalo News