Inside the News

A new reason to be talkin' proud

   Jordan Levy wants to make Buffalonians proud again. Proud of where they're from. Proud of their history. Proud of where their community is headed.

   One of the ways he's trying to do that is by heading the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., the state agency overseeing the redevelopment of Buffalo's downtown inner harbor.

   The first real sign of the agency's work, the Erie Canal Harbor, will make its official debut today.

   So far, the reviews -- except for a minor encounter with sewage -- are positive. Even true cynics seem impressed by what's been done so far.

   Is it enough to make you a believer, or are you still one of those naysayers demanding to see more?

   -- Phil Fairbanks

   

No welcome mat for patio homes

      Patio homes are a booming business in Western New York. They offer a single-family home lifestyle without the single-family home upkeep.

   Targeted toward older adults and empty nesters, the homes frequently sell for big bucks. They're special because they look like traditional homes but are built in private developments and carry condominium status.

   Because of that, patio homeowners get huge breaks on their property tax bill. In exchange, they pay hefty homeowner fees to maintain their yards and roadways, which are considered "common areas."

   Town boards in Amherst, Lancaster and Hamburg want tax breaks for these homes to come to and end and support legislation to keep developers from taking advantage of what they consider to be a "loophole" in the state condo law.

   Developers say these homes meet an important housing need in Western New York. Patio homeowners use fewer town services and therefore deserve to be taxed less.

   Who do you believe?

   -- Sandra Tan

Both sides have a point on Peace Bridge neighborhood plan

   WASHINGTON — So if the National Trust for Historic Preservation is to be believed, the Peace Bridge Authority wants to "pave paradise to put up a parking lot," which is why the preservation group put the Peace Bridge neighborhood on its list of most endangered historic sites.

   But in the view of the Peace Bridge Authority, its plan for an expanded truck plaza — which would wipe out good sections of the historic neighborhoods nearby — is an absolute necessity to ensure smooth passage of truck traffic from Canada into the United States.

   Who's right?

   I went to the neighborhood last week for the first time in many years to take a look, and sure enough, the homes and trees and streetscapes are exquisite. It's the kind of neighborhood that gives Buffalo its timeless appeal.

   Yet when I looked into the distance, I saw a line of trucks stacked up for entry at the border, and thought: there's money being lost in a long wait.

   And it all brings to mind a question.

   Could this be one of those tough public policy debates where both sides are right?

   And if so, what should be done?

   -- Jerry Zremski

Pearl Street's new look

   The Pearl Street Grill & Brewery is undergoing a $3 million renovation that's adding up to three levels of terraces and the 25-foot-tall "Lake Effect Man" statue that was suspended last week from the top of the four-story building.

   The Buffalo Preservation Board has twice rejected changes to the building put forth by managing parter Earl Ketry, saying they were inappropriate for a building that dates back to 1840 and is in the city's Ellicott Historic District.

  The Common Council approved some of the changes anyway.

   Should a building's appearance always reflect its history, or does the here and now have a say in it, too?

   

… Mark Sommer

A bird and a fish determine Peace Bridge design

   Thank you, snail darter, from all the common terns and emerald shiners around here.

   The snail darter, a small fish in East Tennessee, became legendary in the 1970s when lawsuits were filed to protect it from the Tennessee Valley Authority's plan to build a dam.

   Thirty years ago, the case reached the Supreme Court. In the end, the dam was built anyway. And the snail darter, described recently by the Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel as a "not-so-beautiful, little brown bottom-hugger," has survived.

   The snail darter case helped shape environmental law that came after it.

   And today, that law has prompted state and federal environmental agencies to reject the idea of a cable-stayed bridge as a Peace Bridge companion span across the Niagara River.

   They say Christian Menn's two-tower concept would be too tall for the common tern to fly over. And the piers near the shorelines would disrupt the swimming grounds of the emerald shiners.

   Federal and state regulators say they'll approve only a new bridge that's slightly taller -- not a lot -- than the existing Peace Bridge.

   That's likely to disappoint those who campaigned for a signature bridge like the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay.

   What's your opinion?

   -- Patrick Lakamp

Casinos roll the dice on glitzy amenities

     Casinos are racing to build luxury hotels, shopping malls and gourmet restaurants, and Indian-run asinos are chasing the same trend.

     Fine wines, steaks, massages and mud wraps are among the luxury accommodations either planned or available at the three casinos run by the Seneca Gaming Corp. in Western New York.

     But gambling revenue in Indian-run casinos in New York far outpaces money made on non-gambling amenities.
     Casinos in New York today look like Las Vegas before a 1990s evolution changed the strip.

     The proliferation of legalized gambling across the country Ñ from the growth of Native American casinos to the addition of slot machines at many race tracks Ñ has forced Las Vegas to change. Hotels, restaurants and attractions in Las Vegas have taken on their own prominence as a race to build giant resorts has transformed the industry there.

     Non-gambling revenue outpaced gambling revenue on the Las Vegas strip for the first time in 1999, said David G. Schwartz, author of "Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling."

     "The rooms and the restaurants are profit centers now," he said. "It used to be that they were loss leaders, where you would give away the food, give away the rooms, the expectation that you would make it up on the gaming."

     Schwartz pinpoints the beginning of the evolution in the Las Vegas casino to the opening of the Mirage in 1989. The casino boasted a range of amenities that included a rain forest and white tiger habitat.

     "This is the hook. This is the thing that gets them in the door. Nobody's going to come here just to play slot machines," Schwartz said. "That kind of opened the floodgates for, 'We've got to rethink the casino.' They figured out that there are people out there that will come to Vegas just for the food, the hotels and the rooms."
     What do you think Seneca Gaming casinos will look like five, 10 or 15 years in the future? What do you think of the amenities offered or planned for the casinos in Niagara Falls, Salamanca and Buffalo?

     -- Denise Jewell Gee