Published: July 08, 2008 10:30 pm      

NIAGARA FALLS: Parlato ready to gamble on change

One Niagara owner to set up slot machines, hopes challenge state’s casino stance in court

Niagara Falls business owner Frank Parlato Jr. has already ordered six slot machines from Las Vegas.

The owner of the former Occidental Chemical building on Rainbow Boulevard said Tuesday that he intends to use them as soon as they arrive.

He’s hoping, in time, other business owners in the city will join him in openly defying state gaming laws as he tries to prove a larger point about New York’s stance on extending casino development rights and tax-free status to certain groups in certain areas, and in Niagara Falls in particular.

“The jury is the only legal means to hold a capricious government’s feet to the fire and we have a capricious government in Albany,” he said.

On the same day a federal judge ruled against the legality of a Seneca Nation of Indians casino operation in downtown Buffalo, Parlato announced that he’s looking to build a coalition of local, tax-paying business owners and citizens who would be willing to challenge the state on gaming and tax issues and, if necessary, defend their positions in court.

“I think a jury of 12 citizens with common sense will see that all of Niagara Falls has equality with the Seneca and we are tax free,” said Parlato, the developer of building now known as One Niagara. “I want the Seneca to prosper and thrive. We can thrive too, as long as we are equal.”

Parlato said he intends to host a public meeting in September in which he will field suggestions from city residents about what they would like to see done about what he calls the “lopsided” economic playing field that has been established in the city since the Seneca Nation of Indians received permission to open a Class III gaming facility on sovereign territory downtown.

While supportive of the Senecas and their business operations, Parlato said he does not believe the Nation should be allowed to operate a casino, several restaurants and a hotel downtown without paying the same property, sales, bed and other taxes that are applied to their non-indian neighbors.

“It’s just simple equality,” he said. “I’m an American. I want equality. That’s all.”

With the Senecas planning to expand their operations to include additional gaming facilities, hotels and restaurants, Parlato said the economic balance downtown will only continue to shift to the detriment of taxpayers in the area.

“We haven’t seen the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “Business owners are going to have to compete toe-to-toe with a tax-free behemoth.”

Parlato said he has been in contact with several attorneys and is prepared to defend what he believes are his rights in court. Those rights, he said, may include allowing visitors to his One Niagara building to gamble on his own slot machines, a form of gaming that is the exclusive domain of the Seneca Nation under its gaming compact with New York state.

Parlato said Tuesdays’ decision by U.S. District Judge Wiliam Skretny that said gambling is not legal on the proposed Seneca Creek Casino site in Buffalo may be a sign that views on the subject are changing on the legal front.

“The significance of Skretny’s decision may embolden the rest of the judiciary to look at the preposteriousness of what’s going on,” Parlato said.

Parlato’s attorney, Paul Grenga, said he believes many residents in the city would agree with Parlato’s stance and that there are legal grounds to believe the courts may in time as well.

“Ask any homeowner in Niagara Falls if they should be paying more real property taxes than a 600-room casino?” he said. “Can you think of a better case to bring to a jury?”