|
Tragically Green in Niagara Falls Saturday |
|
Saturday, 10 July 2010 00:00 |
|
You know the music of our Canadian neighbor Gord Downie but what you may not know is that His Tragical Hipness is also a big environmental booster. Like Natalie Merchant helping Western New York put the kaibash on logging in Allegany State Park, Gord isn't afraid to put his cred on the line for the cause of Green. And in a summer where even southern Republican governors have publicly thrown their arms around the environment, we would expect nothing less than some environmental Big Love from Gord on his next visit our way. And visit our side of the border he will, this Saturday night in Niagara Falls, with environmental message in tow.
Read the article at Buffalo Rising |
|
WNY's Greenest, Most Complete Street |
|
Friday, 21 May 2010 00:00 |
|
Green streets and complete streets have been a frequent topic on Buffalo Rising, but sadly -- to date -- some of the best examples we've covered have been from out of the area. Well, those days may be over, thanks to a building trend in infrastructure planning in western New York that is beginning to come to fruition in a major way. In a spectacular way, actually, resulting in the opening this weekend of a street which will be second-to-none anywhere in the world in terms of green, complete, sustainable design -- and the creation of a new "public realm" and human-scale attraction for western New York's second largest downtown.
Read the full story on Buffalo Rising |
|
Welcoming Remarks by Mayor Paul Dyster at the Boundary Waters Treaty Signing |
|
Saturday, 13 June 2009 00:00 |
Welcoming Remarks by Mayor Paul Dyster
Boundary Waters Treaty Signing, Rainbow Bridge, Niagara Falls
June 13, 2009
Honored guests, Canadian and American friends, and visitors from other lands, welcome. There could be no more fitting place to celebrate the centennial of the Boundary Waters Treaty than here in Niagara Falls, a truly bi-national city united, rather than divided, by the river that runs through it.
The spirit of friendship and cooperation that has marked the organization and staging of this celebration is a direct outgrowth of the tradition of consensus-based decision-making that has characterized the International Joint Commission since its inception. The IJC is a model of international cooperation that could well be emulated by nations around the world as they search for peaceful methods to resolve issues related to cooperative management of scarce and often threatened resources.
In communities here on the border, we have a long history of jointly commemorating our shared triumphs and tribulations as military allies in the 20th century. Now, we stand at the beginning of a new century full of new challenges. We, citizens of the cross-border region are confident that the same bonds of trust and goodwill that have served us well in times of war will form the foundation for the next hundred years of successful collaboration as we address emerging issues of the economy and the environment.
We who live our lives every day in sight of the border and of this great Niagara River must be especially careful never to take for granted the things that are most precious to us: the abundance of fresh water with which we have been blessed; the clean, renewable energy that it allows us to produce; and the love and friendship of our neighbors across the river.
Mayor Salci has already extended thanks on behalf of the committee to many people responsible for organizing this great event. By I want to extend a special thanks to my Canadian friend and counterpart Mayor Ted Salci, who everyday embodies all that is good about the great nation of Canada–and that is quite a lot.
The last hundred years of binational cooperation along the border have been a model for peaceful resolution of international issues. There is much for which we should be thankful. The future no doubt holds both challenges and opportunities as we face issues of climate change, water scarcity and energy shortage on a global level. But here in Niagara Falls, we are confident that when our descendants look back on the next hundred years of the Boundary Waters Treaty and International Joint Commission, they will declare, “that was their finest hour.”
|
|
|
Paul Dyster's dedication of the New Niagara Falls Public Safety Building |
|
Wednesday, 17 June 2009 00:00 |
|
Dedication Remarks by Mayor Paul Dyster
Niagara Falls Public Safety Building, June 17, 2009
In our society, we have a tradition of using grand architecture for our public buildings–our schools, courts, government offices, and so forth. It is a tradition we have inherited from our Roman forebearers, from whom we also have inherited the precious concept of the rule of law.
When we think of the accomplishments of the Romans, we often think of their great public works like the aqueducts and the Coliseum, of their cultural and scientific achievements, or of their military conquests. But perhaps their greatest accomplishment as a civilization was that they found a chaotic world, ruled by brute force and barbarism, and transformed it into an orderly one, ruled by law.
To remind their citizens of the importance of the rule of law, the Romans invested in public buildings, and paid a great deal of attention to their design and construction. They viewed them as symbols of the permanence of their civilization and institutions, the power of their state, and the pride they had in these things as citizens.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
NY Power Authority Reform |
|
Sunday, 26 April 2009 19:20 |
|
We may finally be seeing some movement towards reforming business practices at the New York Power Authority. Paul Dyster has been championing the efforts since the start of his term as Mayor. You can see a June 2008 interview by the Buffalo New's Jim Heaney where Paul discusses the importance of reform in the allocation of power and how Niagara Falls would benefit by the reform. Then check out the latest "Progress on the Power Front" that was discussed at a press conference that Paul attended. |
|
|
