Appeals court ruling ignites war of words between city and NFR
Both the mayor and NFR released statements addressing the latest ruling from the Appellate Division Fourth Department of New York State Supreme Court which rejected a request from NFR asking that the appeals panel overturn its previous eminent domain ruling based on efforts by city officials to reclaim ownership of approximately 5 of the roughly 12 acres of property subject to the eminent domain decision because NFR never properly gained title to what was previously the 10th Street Park.
An NFR spokesperson expressed disappointment with the latest ruling.
'... we have argued for years that the taking of private property for so speculative a project as Centennial Park is illegal — particularly when, two years after it was authorized by the city council, there still has been no feasibility study completed to show the best location for the mayor's unfunded and tenantless event center,' spokesman James Haggerty wrote in an email to the Gazette.
Restiano argued that NFR is simply trying to stall development in the city with its legal challenges.
'The ruling by the New York State Appellate Division clearly demonstrates that Niagara Falls Redevelopment is running out of legal options in its latest attempt to persuade the courts to reject the city's eminent domain action in our efforts to build Centennial Park,' the mayor said in a statement released to news media. 'NFR owns approximately 140 acres of property in downtown Niagara Falls and the fact that they are pulling out all the stops fighting the city over a few acres in which we are offering a fair market value for is revealing.'
NFR filed a motion with the Appellate Division in March asking the justices there to review and reverse their July 28, 2023, unanimous ruling that the city was justified in seeking to use eminent domain to take up to 12 acres of undeveloped land for its park and events center project. Lawyers for NFR had argued that the claim by the city that it already owns some of the proposed park property, based on newly discovered evidence, 'probably would have produced a different result' if the appeals court justices had been aware of it in 2023.
In an unsigned, three-sentence decision released on Friday, the court wrote, 'Now upon reading and filing the papers with respect to the motion, and due deliberation having been had thereon, it is hereby ordered that the motion is denied.'
Haggerty noted that the city and NFR are now locked in a legal battle over who actually owns the former 10th Street Park property, within the eminent domain acreage footprint.
The Niagara Falls City Council has directed the city's corporation counsel to 'take all necessary steps to commence any and all legal action ... in order to declare the transfer of (10th Street Playground, 907 Falls St.) null and void.' The city's special counsel for the Centennial Park project, the Buffalo-based law firm of Hodgson Russ, has filed what is known as a quiet title action to reclaim the former parkland.
Haggerty said NFR has 'invested millions of dollars (in the park) preparing for the Niagara Digital Campus', its proposed $1.5 billion nine-building data center project.
'Through court-supervised document disclosures and depositions, we will learn how — and by whom — this new idea was hatched, and whether the mayor's scheme is simply aimed at trying to lower the valuation of NFR's property,' Haggerty wrote. 'Sadly, taxpayers continue to pay legal fees for all the mayor's litigation, and are forced to watch as, for reasons nobody understands, he works to prevent NFR from building its economy-transforming, privately funded, $1.5 billion data center.
Despite recent action by the city council to have the data center project proposal reviewed by the county and city Planning Boards and the city's Zoning Board of Appeals, officials have said they do not believe NFR will ever build the project.
'NFR has accused the city for 25 years that their rationale for not developing one acre of property they own was due to the lack of development by the city in and around NFR's footprint,' Restaino said. 'This is not about a multi-billion-dollar data center as proposed by NFR, that without the disputed acreage of 10th Street Park will not happen, it's about a continued illogical pattern of preventing Niagara Falls from fulfilling its potential as a true world-class tourism destination.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Yahoo
Planning boards will weigh NFR request to modify high energy use industries restrictions
The Niagara Falls City Council has voted to 'accept as complete' a request from Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) asking the city to amend its zoning code and modify recently enacted restrictions on high-energy use industries so that it can move forward with its proposed $1.5 billion data center campus in the South End. Council members also approved taking on the role of 'Lead Agency' in the environmental review of the proposed zoning code changes. The vote to accept the change application was 3-2 with Council Members Brian Archie (D), Donta Myles (D) and David Zajac (R) in favor. Council Chair James Perry (D) and Member Traci Bax (R) were opposed. Perry and Bax attacked the application as an attempt to undue a series of amendments to the Falls zoning code, adopted in 2022, after public protests over noise and other complaints about the operation of high-energy use industries, like data centers and bitcoin mines, in the city. 'This would be the first step in undoing (the high-energy use overlay zoning requirements),' Perry said. Bax said the council has fought hard, including winning a series of court challenges, to defend the tough restrictions on high-energy use industries. 'We've held the bitcoin operators' feet to the fire,' Bax said. 'We shouldn't stop now.' Archie noted that the application would be referred to both the city and county planning boards and would need to come back to the council for action after their review. 'I'm OK with it,' the council member said, 'because it's just going to the planning board.' An attorney for NFR, Melissa Valle, admitted that her clients were looking to change both the city zoning code and the Falls' zoning map. But she called the changes 'minor' and described the noise restrictions as lower than background noise. 'The time is now to revisit this law,' Valle said. 'These are very minor changes.' The council action will send NFR's request to the Niagara County and city planning boards for hearings and recommendations. Those agencies are also currently considering an NFR application to establish a Negotiated Planned Development District, also known as a Planned Unit District (PUD) for the purpose of developing its proposed digital data center campus in the South End. The first stage of the project, which NFR has dubbed 'Data Center at Niagara Digital Campus PUD,' is projected to occupy the same parcel of 12 to 15 acres of prime South End tourist district land that the city has proposed to use for its Centennial Park project. Control of that land has already been awarded to the city through the courts by an eminent domain proceeding. The city has also recently filed a claim that asserts that roughly 5 acres of the disputed land, formerly the 10th Street Park, was never properly transferred to NFR as part of a 2003 settlement of an earlier lawsuit between the Falls and the South End land owner. The council has specifically stated that nothing in its actions on NFR's applications 'waives any rights of the city to recover the park property.' NFR has said its data center campus project 'is anticipated to bring 5,600 jobs to Niagara Falls during construction, as well as more than 550 permanent jobs when all phases of the data center are up and running.' NFR's original project application, filed in October, was determined to be incomplete by city planners. At close to 700 pages, the application calls for the Data Center at Niagara Digital Campus to be developed in five phases. The campus would include eight two-story buildings and one one-story building, for a total of 1,232,715 square feet of space. The full development would cover approximately 53 acres of what NFR has described as 'mostly vacant land.' The property would be bounded by John B. Daly Boulevard, Falls Street, 15th Street and Buffalo Avenue. Included in the application, in addition to the rezoning request, are copies of traffic and noise studies, an environmental and energy impact plan, a full environment assessment form, a verified ownership petition, a survey and legal description, a historical property assessment, and aerial maps showing the placement of the data center and various other key elements of the plan. The project application was originally filed just over a month after New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, rejected a second appeal by NFR seeking to have its justices weigh in on the legality of the use of eminent domain to take NFR's land, described as 907 Falls St. and an adjacent portion of property along John Daly Memorial Parkway, for the proposed Centennial Park project. The council has also acted to authorize a more than $4 million offer to pay for the eminent domain land parcels.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Restaino says paper dabbling in 'conspiracy' over arena study release
Hours after the Niagara Gazette filed a formal request for a copy of the draft feasibility study for his proposed Centennial Park project, Mayor Robert Restaino accused the newspaper of conjuring up a 'conspiracy' about his administration's lack of transparency where the release of the document's contents is concerned. The Gazette on June 5 filed a Freedom of Information Law request with the city clerk's office, seeking a copy of the Centennial Park feasibility study prepared by Florida-based consultant, Sports Facilities Advisory, LLC. In an interview last month with local media members, Restaino confirmed that the consulting firm provided his office with what he described at the time as an incomplete version of the study. In its FOIL request, the newspaper asserts that, even in a draft form, the study — commissioned to assess various aspects of the project, including potential locations — warrants release under state law. Restaino has said that he intends to release the study's findings before the end of June, once he has shared them with 'stakeholders,' specifically representatives from the state-run economic development agency, Empire State Development Corp. and National Grid. Both entities provided the city with a total of $140,000 used to hire Sports Facilities Advisory to analyze the proposed arena and events campus Restaino wants to build across from Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino on 10 acres of land currently owned by the private firm Niagara Falls Redevelopment. On Friday, in a weekly update posted to the mayor's office YouTube channel, Restaino denied any 'failure to disclose' on his administration's part, while describing the Gazette's coverage as being part of a 'narrative that really has no basis in fact.' 'It's more about spinning things, how can they convince people about a conspiracy,' Restaino said. The mayor again indicated that he intends to make the results of the study public before the end of the month. 'There's never been a suggestion that it's not going to be disclosed to the public, never insinuated that it wasn't going to be disclosed to the public,' Restaino said on Friday. 'You know how crack reporting is,' the mayor added. 'They like to find some conspiracy in everything. Unfortunately, I don't think they've listened carefully to what has been said and that is, for a period of time, it was just getting the additional information that was necessary so that the feasibility study could be complete. Also, sharing the feasibility study with the entities that financed it. Ultimately, the feasibility study can and will be disclosed to the entire public, everybody. Everybody will have access to it. Everybody will know what is contained in it.' The city issued a request for proposals for the 'Centennial Park Market Analysis and Feasibility Study' on Oct. 2, 2023. The RFP sought qualified firms to perform the market analysis and feasibility study based on the 'conceptual design' for the project. The objective of the study was to assist the city in determining 'if and where to build a project of this nature.' The RFP required the preferred consultant to complete five tasks, including: • Needs assessment. This task involved using the city's concept plan to identify potential Centennial Park programming. Suggestions listed in the RFP included athletic programs, winter activities, learning spaces and event spaces. • Site analysis. Under this task, the preferred consultant was expected to examine the utility and other infrastructure needs for the project as well as look at the proposed NFR site and 'other potential alternative sites' for the project. • Market analysis. This task involved a look at the facility's potential use by outside groups and an examination of comparable facilities and an assessment of competition within the market. It also called for an estimate on the approximate number and type of events such a facility could reasonably expect to host per year and probable attendance figures. • Financial analysis. This task sought information about preliminary capital budget development, facility funding options, preliminary operating budget and potential revenue streams to support the facility. • Presentation of findings. Under the RFP, the preferred consultant was expected to prepare to 'present and defend' their findings to the mayor, other city officials and stakeholders prior to the conclusion of the study. The RFP notes that the process 'may' include in-person and virtual meetings with both elected officials and the general public. The city clerk's office acknowledged receipt of the Gazette's FOIL request on June 5, noting that, under state law, the city has 20 business days to either deny or grant the study's release. In the response, the clerk's office indicated that the city would advise the newspaper of a 'new estimated response date' should 'circumstances arise' that would prevent the city from responding within 20 business days. 'Examples of circumstances that may lead to extended response times include staff shortages, requests for a large volume of records and requests that require significant document redaction and/or seek documents that are not maintained electronically,' the response from the clerk's office notes. Under state Freedom of Information Law, the city can grant the newspaper's request, deny it or deny it in part. State law outlines specific circumstances under which public agencies can deny requests for copies of documents considered to be matters of public interest. The law also allows agencies to redact information contained in documents under limited circumstances. Council Chairman Jim Perry last week acknowledged that he has talked about the feasibility study with Restaino but said he has not actually seen the unfinished product. He indicated that he considered the study the mayor's to release publicly, adding that, from what he's been told, it is largely 'positive' where the Centennial Park project is concerned.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Appeals court ruling ignites war of words between city and NFR
A new war of words has erupted between Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino and South End land owner Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) in the aftermath of a ruling by a state appellate court that has affirmed the city's use of an eminent domain proceeding to acquire 10 to 12 acres of land for the proposed Centennial Park project. Both the mayor and NFR released statements addressing the latest ruling from the Appellate Division Fourth Department of New York State Supreme Court which rejected a request from NFR asking that the appeals panel overturn its previous eminent domain ruling based on efforts by city officials to reclaim ownership of approximately 5 of the roughly 12 acres of property subject to the eminent domain decision because NFR never properly gained title to what was previously the 10th Street Park. An NFR spokesperson expressed disappointment with the latest ruling. '... we have argued for years that the taking of private property for so speculative a project as Centennial Park is illegal — particularly when, two years after it was authorized by the city council, there still has been no feasibility study completed to show the best location for the mayor's unfunded and tenantless event center,' spokesman James Haggerty wrote in an email to the Gazette. Restiano argued that NFR is simply trying to stall development in the city with its legal challenges. 'The ruling by the New York State Appellate Division clearly demonstrates that Niagara Falls Redevelopment is running out of legal options in its latest attempt to persuade the courts to reject the city's eminent domain action in our efforts to build Centennial Park,' the mayor said in a statement released to news media. 'NFR owns approximately 140 acres of property in downtown Niagara Falls and the fact that they are pulling out all the stops fighting the city over a few acres in which we are offering a fair market value for is revealing.' NFR filed a motion with the Appellate Division in March asking the justices there to review and reverse their July 28, 2023, unanimous ruling that the city was justified in seeking to use eminent domain to take up to 12 acres of undeveloped land for its park and events center project. Lawyers for NFR had argued that the claim by the city that it already owns some of the proposed park property, based on newly discovered evidence, 'probably would have produced a different result' if the appeals court justices had been aware of it in 2023. In an unsigned, three-sentence decision released on Friday, the court wrote, 'Now upon reading and filing the papers with respect to the motion, and due deliberation having been had thereon, it is hereby ordered that the motion is denied.' Haggerty noted that the city and NFR are now locked in a legal battle over who actually owns the former 10th Street Park property, within the eminent domain acreage footprint. The Niagara Falls City Council has directed the city's corporation counsel to 'take all necessary steps to commence any and all legal action ... in order to declare the transfer of (10th Street Playground, 907 Falls St.) null and void.' The city's special counsel for the Centennial Park project, the Buffalo-based law firm of Hodgson Russ, has filed what is known as a quiet title action to reclaim the former parkland. Haggerty said NFR has 'invested millions of dollars (in the park) preparing for the Niagara Digital Campus', its proposed $1.5 billion nine-building data center project. 'Through court-supervised document disclosures and depositions, we will learn how — and by whom — this new idea was hatched, and whether the mayor's scheme is simply aimed at trying to lower the valuation of NFR's property,' Haggerty wrote. 'Sadly, taxpayers continue to pay legal fees for all the mayor's litigation, and are forced to watch as, for reasons nobody understands, he works to prevent NFR from building its economy-transforming, privately funded, $1.5 billion data center. Despite recent action by the city council to have the data center project proposal reviewed by the county and city Planning Boards and the city's Zoning Board of Appeals, officials have said they do not believe NFR will ever build the project. 'NFR has accused the city for 25 years that their rationale for not developing one acre of property they own was due to the lack of development by the city in and around NFR's footprint,' Restaino said. 'This is not about a multi-billion-dollar data center as proposed by NFR, that without the disputed acreage of 10th Street Park will not happen, it's about a continued illogical pattern of preventing Niagara Falls from fulfilling its potential as a true world-class tourism destination.'
