Published: July 21, 2008 03:14 pm            

HAMILTON: Who’s on Third?

If you think that the classic Abbot and Costello skit of “Who’s on first” is confusing and funny, you’re right.

But, there is little that’s funny about Niagara Falls’ skit, “Who’s on Third” — Third Street, that is.

Gazette city beat reporter Rick Forgione’s story on the City Council approving the funds for extra police presence on Third Street was “dead on” — remember that term, because you will see it again in this column. Third Street is becoming more and more violent and it is becoming dangerous for the bar patron, restaurant patron, tourist, civilian and the police.

I believe there’s a reason for this evolution.

Look, no one has a better reason than my few neighbors and I to want the bar on Highland and College avenues closed down. The patrons park outside of our homes and played loud and profane music in the wee hours of the weekend mornings, before speeding off and shooting at each other at closing time. I have even had my car windows shot out by a stray bullet — this while my young children were spending the night.

But the bar was there when I moved in and I have no right to ask the environment to change simply because I made an informed and questionable decision to move there. I would never do anything to prevent someone else from exercising their rights to a legal, moral business. I expressed this to the most recent owner of that bar when he flagged me down and, for some reason beyond me, asked me to do something to help him keep his Highland Avenue business open. That, I thought, was the responsibility of elected representatives. But with their track record of vowing to keep all but redundant businesses in their districts out, I can understand why he pled with me for help. His duress was obvious both on his face and in the tremor of voice.

I spoke with Niagara Falls police Superintendent John Chella on the bar owner’s behalf and, like the debate that Sandy Beach and I had on WBEN-930 AM between state power authority representative Rob Daly and Buffalo Congressman Brian Higgins, this too was clearly a sad case of all sides being absolutely correct.

In the Daly/Higgins case, both sides were largely in opposition. But in the Highland/Third Street police presence case, the sides largely agreed with each other and no one really won. However, there was one relatively big loser and nearly 50,000 smaller ones. The bar owner lost his liquor license due to the violent behavior of some of his clients (a person was shot and killed there), and the taxpayers of the City of Niagara Falls will have to spend, in addition to the $3-million of casino monies that already went into a poorly designed Third Street, an additional $43,000 for police presence to protect the interests of those bar owners.

Chella was correct in his assessment that the bar patrons on Highland tend to become more violent than the Third Street bar patrons and that in the event of an incident, an overwhelming police presence would be necessary to contain and control such crowds. The city does not have the resources to spread out that presence. While I say that we need less crime, Chella says we need more police. We may both be right.

Officers on the scene say that most of the fights on Third Street occur on the strength of “beer muscles,” and that the culprits make sure the police can see any fight in which they are involved in hopes they can have bragging rights after the fight is safely broken up. The fights on Highland are steeped deep in someone looking for a modicum of respect from someone else and whatever way they can get it. Too often it is at the barrel-end of a firearm.

The owner of the Highland bar was looking for that respect and was hoping that an increased, but unavailable police presence would control the gun play. He hoped for it at least six times. For rationalized reasons, none was forthcoming. The patrons that once frequented his bar now hang on Third Street and another literal “dead on” report is likely eminent.

One has to wonder how safe Third Street would have been today if, yesterday, the City Council would have approved an additional $43,000 in overtime expenditures for Highland Avenue. Perhaps the bar owner could still be in business, lives could have been saved and African-Americans would have felt respected and not slighted in their business opportunities on Highland — instead of feeling a loss at the expense of targeted white businesses along Third Street.

No one is at the Highland bar, so perhaps it really doesn’t make a difference about “Who’s on Third?” The dynamics have changed and now everyone will likely have a bang-up time.

Ken Hamilton is a Niagara Falls resident. Contact him at kenhamilton930@aol.com.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.