Niagara Falls, NY

The City Behind One of the World’s Most Recognized Tourist Destinations

Mayor Robert Restaino is Betting $70 Million in Development Projects, and a Radical Economic Diversification Strategy Can Finally Liberate America’s Most Famous Waterfront City from the Boom-Bust Cycles of Tourist Dollars.

In the shadow of one of the world’s most powerful natural wonders, Niagara Falls, New York, is forging an identity that extends far beyond its iconic cascades. The city, which welcomes an astonishing 12 to 14 million visitors annually, is a unique blend of a global tourist magnet and a tight-knit American community. Yet beneath the tourist veneer lies a community wrestling with its identity; caught between serving global audiences and preserving local character.

“It’s hard to have that small town sense when millions of people starting in April and going all the way through November are traipsing through here,” Mayor Robert M. Restaino acknowledges. The visitors bring “not so little agitation from time to time by the locals,” he admits, but residents recognize their city belongs to the world. “In the main, they’re very generous and very welcoming.”

Mayor Restaino, who took office in 2020 just weeks before COVID shuttered the tourism economy, describes Niagara Falls residents as “more Midwestern than coastal” hardworking, family-oriented people who care deeply about their community. His administration has engineered a remarkable fiscal turnaround, generating $8.6 million in consecutive budget surpluses and removing the city from New York State’s financially distressed list. The 2024 budget allocates $18 million for infrastructure while reducing residential property taxes by 3.1%.

Revitalizing Downtown Niagara Falls

Downtown Niagara Falls is experiencing its most significant transformation in decades, with multiple developments reshaping the tourist corridor. Old Falls Street, the historic heart of the city’s hospitality district, has become the focal point for a wave of new investment that promises to push the tourist season beyond summer months.

“We are expecting some incredible development along that main corridor, several new restaurants as well as some other entertainment venues, distilleries and microbreweries,” Mayor Restaino explains. “We’ve also been able to add some family friendly options downtown. I mean that in terms of food options. When you have children, it’s important to have those locations that are familiar to them.”

The downtown renaissance builds on existing momentum. Eighteen new hotel projects representing over 6,000 rooms are currently in development, including a 126-room SpringHill Suites opening in 2025. Hotel revenue per available room reached 122% of 2019 levels in 2024, demonstrating strong recovery despite lower occupancy rates.

At the eastern edge of downtown, plans for a major events center have attracted serious interest. “We continue with our plans just at the east side of it, on the other side of the casino, for our events center, a venue that we have already had interest in from the Ontario Hockey League for a franchise,” the mayor reveals. The proposed $200 million Centennial Park arena would seat 6,000 and potentially host professional hockey, though critics question whether projected revenues can justify the investment.

“Niagara Falls is seeing some very, very heightened interest for development as well as for entertainment here on the state side,” Mayor Restaino concludes, positioning the city to compete more effectively with its Canadian counterpart.

Building Tomorrow’s Economy

Manufacturing once defined Niagara Falls, employing thousands in factories along Buffalo Avenue. Today, those shuttered plants represent both painful decline and untapped potential. The city’s new 60-acre industrial park north of Porter Road signals a strategic pivot toward modern industry, leveraging unique assets that few communities can match.

“We already have sold 15 acres to a Stony Creek firm,” Mayor Restaino reports. “We have a lot of interest from Canadian businesses that want to have a US footprint. This particular light manufacturing company makes parts for wind turbines in the aerospace industry. We’ve had interest and proposals from medical equipment manufacturers also for that site.”

The state has invested $3.25 million to achieve “shovel ready” status, with infrastructure improvements capitalizing on proximity to CSX Transportation rail yards and abundant hydroelectric transmission lines. The timing appears fortuitous as manufacturers seek locations with reliable, low-cost power, a critical advantage as energy costs soar elsewhere.

“All those old factory locations along Buffalo Avenue have an enormous amount of power dedicated to them, and it’s very attractive in some of today’s high-tech industries,” the mayor notes. The city’s Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant produces 2.6 million kilowatts, making it New York State’s largest electricity producer. This capacity flows from 748,000 gallons of water per second through turbines located 4.5 miles downstream.

“It’s always easy to sit back and just hope that somebody will knock on your door,” Mayor Restaino reflects. “This team, our team hasn’t done that. They’ve gone out and pursued opportunities and have done so in a positive way.” With 15 acres already sold and multiple prospects evaluating sites, the industrial park represents tangible progress toward economic diversification.

University Housing Transforms North Main Street

North Main Street tells the story of American retail’s rise and fall: once bustling with shoppers, now lined with vacant storefronts. Mayor Restaino’s administration sees opportunity where others see blight, partnering with Niagara University to transform 38 properties into student housing that could revitalize an entire district.

The project emerged from practical necessity. “Ninety-eight percent of these students are fabulous. They’ll help seniors, they’ll do different things, but there’s always going to be that team that’s celebrating a fabulous season,” Mayor Restaino explains. “If you’re living next to them, the 16 teammates turn into 200 college kids coming over for a party, and that ends up being somewhat disturbing to the neighborhoods.”

Rather than simply restricting student rentals, the city acquired foreclosed properties for $1.5 million through the Urban Renewal Agency, including the former Blue Cardinal Capital holdings. “We were able to negotiate with the bank involved for the acquisition at less than the lien price,” the mayor notes. The package includes the historic Rapids Theatre, purchased for $800,000 out of foreclosure in November 2024.

“We’ve taken a page out of so many other communities, both in New York state and around the country that have used university housing to sort of kickstart a section of their community,” Mayor Restaino says. Two developers are currently negotiating for the properties, with plans to house 200-300 students.

The ripple effects could transform North Main. “There are other ancillary developments, grocers, pharmacies, those kinds of things that are going to come into the area along with coffee shops and pizza shops that are going to be necessary once you start nestling in students,” the mayor predicts.

Infrastructure and Housing as a Foundation for Growth

Building a sustainable future requires more than development projects, it demands comprehensive infrastructure and housing strategies. Niagara Falls has embarked on ambitious upgrades while confronting a housing market transformed by pandemic-era price surges and persistent neighborhood challenges.

“In terms of electricity and water, we’re well established,” Mayor Restaino affirms. “We’ve just completed a complete conversion of our streetlights to low-cost LED along with some technology. So, across the board, we’re pretty good in that vein.” High-speed internet remains the missing piece, though developers have shown interest in bringing broadband to eastern neighborhoods.

The housing market presents both opportunities and obstacles. Median property values increased 10% to $104,400 in 2023, while homes sell quickly in a competitive market. Yet the city must balance growth with neighborhood preservation. “We had an entire survey done of our housing stock, again in partnership with Niagara University and a few others,” the mayor explains. “We’ve kind of gotten a handle on where in our city we have to do some work to shore up housing.”

Mayor Restaino employs a strategic approach to neighborhood stabilization. “When you look at the map, if it was color coded, we want to make sure that we’re looking at those areas that are very, very pale pink, hardly noticeable, and shore them up before we jump into the red areas because you could spend an eternity there and lose track of the other spaces.”

Park improvements complement housing initiatives. “We’re embarking on a nearly $3 million investment in about 13 of our 37 parks,” the mayor notes, with most funding directed to Hyde Park, the largest park in New York state outside New York City.

Cross-Border Dynamics

The Rainbow Bridge once symbolized seamless connection between two nations sharing one of the world’s great natural wonders. Today, political rhetoric threatens the economic lifeblood that has sustained Niagara Falls for generations, as Canadian visitors, the city’s most reliable tourist base, reconsider their travel plans.

“We have seen a downturn in some of our daily and weekly travel across the border,” Mayor Restaino acknowledges. The numbers tell a blunt story: Canadian road trips dropped 38% in May 2025, marking the fifth consecutive month of decline. International spending at Niagara Falls State Park fell 4.7%, reversing years of steady growth.

The mayor draws a crucial distinction between economic impacts and emotional wounds. “Tariffs and all of that stuff, it’s going to take a while for it to hit manufacturing, and it’ll take even longer to hit retailers and even longer to hit households,” he explains. “But off the cuff commentary, those things that create emotional responses, they take longer to heal. They hit harder, faster, and sometimes take longer to heal.”

Personal ties amplify professional concerns. “I have family living between Niagara Falls, Ontario and the greater Toronto area. So, I’m a regular back and forth,” Mayor Restaino shares. Local relationships remain strong, but broader Canadian sentiment has shifted. “My concern is people who travelled to us in Canada from other parts of either Ontario or other locations within the country of Canada. They’re impacted by the rhetoric, and I can appreciate that.”

Despite tensions, the mayor maintains optimism. “We do our best locally to advertise our welcoming spirit,” he says, working to preserve relationships that transcend political cycles.

Priorities and Vision for the Next 24 Months

Every city faces defining moments when ambitious plans meet fiscal reality. For Niagara Falls, the next two years will determine whether decades of decline finally give way to sustainable growth, or whether promised transformations remain perpetually just beyond reach.

“If I had to target priorities, obviously getting the North Main Street project with the University housing and Theatre, that would be one,” Mayor Restaino states. “Finalizing control of the land to create the event center would be another one. And then obviously sort of hanging out there is the industrial park. Those projects would represent a turning of the corner.”

The $50.8 million Hotel Niagara renovation embodies both promise and peril. “The Hotel Niagara has been sitting in the situation that it’s in for well over a dozen years,” the mayor notes. “They are finalizing some of their financing and should get underway with preparation and construction work, I’d like to think before the end of this calendar year.” Legal disputes between developers have already delayed the 160-room project multiple times since 2021.

Mayor Restaino’s deepest concern stems from hard-learned lessons. “We walked into a life without hospitality. We were here for a little less than 10 weeks when COVID hit,” he recalls. “Suddenly we had to deal with an economy that really had its legs cut out from under it. We need to prepare for a balanced economy, one that is able to navigate through anything.”

After five years steering Niagara Falls through a crisis toward recovery, Mayor Restaino understands that sustainable success requires more than tourist dollars. It demands diversified industry, authentic community development, and the patience to build beyond political cycles. The falls will always draw millions. The question remains whether the city can finally harness that power for lasting transformation.

AT A GLANCE

Who: City of Niagara Falls, New York

What: Historic tourist destination undergoing economic transformation through industrial development, university partnerships, and downtown revitalization

Where: Niagara Falls, New York, USA

Website: niagarafallsusa.org