NEWS & INFO

Mayor Austin Tylec used his annual State of the City address at the Riviera Theatre to highlight a wave of residential development, infrastructure upgrades and redevelopment efforts underway across North Tonawanda, while also defending the city’s financial management amid ongoing labor tensions and rising project costs.      Framing the city as one on the upswing, Tylec pointed to visible construction activity and what he described as steady fiscal footing.      “North Tonawa

A long-fought battle in downtown Niagara Falls has entered a quieter phase, but the stakes for local taxpayers may be higher than ever.      For more than two years, the City of Niagara Falls and a private development firm known as Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) have been locked in a legal and political conflict over the future of a multi-million stretch of land near John B. Daly Boulevard, directly across from Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino. At the heart of the dispute ar

A Niagara Falls student is being recognized for his calm and decisive response after stepping in to save a fellow student who was choking during lunch.      Dan O’Grady, a junior enrolled in Jeff Brown’s Computer Technology program at the Niagara Career and Technical Education Center, was eating lunch at Niagara Falls High School alongside his friend, Welding student Aiden Hewitt, when the situation turned dangerous.      “We were sitting at a table with our friends just laug

Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino traveled to Albany on Wednesday, February 12th to formally request $200 million in state funding for his proposed Centennial Park events center, using his appearance at a joint legislative budget hearing to press lawmakers for what he described as transformational investment in the city’s future.      Speaking before state legislators during the annual budget session – often referred to as “Tin Cup Day” (i.e.: begging for money) because of

Buffalo, NY — Niagara Action, Western New York’s fastest-growing multi-media news platform, has officially been acquired by two corporate entities, one of which is based in Buffalo, NY. Following a formal shareholder vote, Kristy Mazurek has been elected Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of the Niagara Action newspaper.   The announcement comes on the same day that the publication rolled out a print edition for the first time in its 10-year history, distributing 100,000 copies ac

For decades, the city of Niagara Falls has struggled with levels of violent and property crime that far outpace state and national norms, a grim reality backed by the city’s own reported statistics. According to the latest available Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), Niagara Falls recorded 237 violent crimes in 2024, translating to a violent crime rate of 501.1 incidents per 100,000 residents, roughly 40% higher than the national rate and significant

By: Sumit Majumdar, CEO of Buffalo Biodiesel & Limited Partner of Verite Capital Partners As New York State pursues aggressive decarbonization, the answer may not lie in abandoning gas infrastructure, but in changing what flows through it. PEOPLE OFTEN ASK ME: "Why are you so passionate about the environment? Why are you building an RNG plant and what the heck is RNG? How is it different, and why is it so important?" To answer that, I have to go back to the beginning. As a li

By: Sumit Majumdar, CEO of Buffalo Biodiesel & Limited Partner of Verite Capital Partners Special Report: The 2026 Venture Outlook INTRODUCTION: A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE Many people have asked me recently: How did you get into venture capital, and why did venture capital invest in your company? To provide clarity, I want to explain what venture capital looks like today for a deal like mine. There is no question that this article does not cover the entire universe of investment

In what it portrays as an effort to remedy reputational harm rather than seek a payday, Buffalo Biodiesel, Inc. (“BBD”), a Buffalo-based company that collects used cooking oil from more than 28,000 restaurants across the Northeastern United States, has filed suit in Erie County Supreme Court against The Buffalo News (“BN”) and Manhattan-based attorney Michael Collesano. BBD claims it’s seeking to restore its reputation and confront a coordinated smear campaign against its bus

The Niagara Falls City School District is asking the community to come together and support a 4th grade student at Cataract Elementary School who is facing a life-threatening medical challenge and needs a kidney transplant. The student – Amir Jones – has shown remarkable strength while dealing with kidney failure and has reached the point where a transplant is necessary. Doctors are seeking a living kidney donor with an O-positive blood type, which would dramatically improve

The story of Peter, a purported 68-year-old homeless veteran who took part in operation Desert Storm, was one that Niagara Action and several other local outlets was happy to share. It was a heartwarming story how Christopher Robert met Peter and did so much to help him and his family. From bringing him food and clothing to giving him rides to get medication, Chris went above and beyond what any stranger would do. Chris rallied a community to Peter's aid at a tremendous rate,

A Town of Niagara family is receiving help from a stranger after their financial situation left them living in a motel while a 68-year-old Desert Storm veteran spends long days asking for help on a busy corner--often with little luck. Christopher Robert - just a regular guy from the community - says he met Peter, a homeless veteran, after repeatedly seeing him sitting on a bus bench at the corner of Military Road and Niagara Falls Boulevard for hours at a time. According to R

LISTEN TO POLICE AUDIO BELOW Law enforcement received a call around 5:40pm on January 27th after reports of a medical emergency on the 9300 block of Niagara Falls Blvd. in Niagara Falls - the Sands Motel. The 911 caller - who is the motel manager - said that the occupant of room 116 was unresponsive. He attempted to yell to wake him up, but it did not work. The manager told 911 that the occupant was not breathing, nor was he alert whatsoever despite his best efforts to wake h

LISTEN TO POLICE AUDIO BELOW Law enforcement received a call around 10:25am on January 27th after reports of a medical emergency at the Amazon Fulfillment Center on Lockport Road in Niagara County. The 911 caller said that a male, unknown age, fell approx. 20 feet and was currently choking on blood. The call was deemed ALS priority. Mercy Flight was contacted to see if they could respond, but due to inclement weather they could not fly. However, they had a ground unit that wa

LISTEN TO POLICE AUDIO BELOW Law enforcement received a call around 11am on January 25th after reports of a rollover motor vehicle accident on the I-190 near Buffalo Avenue in Niagara Falls. Multiple 911 callers contacted police reporting what they described as an alarming scene involving a woman and multiple young children. The vehicle was said to have been flipped over in the median. Police, fire and medical arrived on scene. The extent of injuries was unknown at the time o

LISTEN TO POLICE AUDIO BELOW Law enforcement received a call around 11pm on January 23rd after reports of a check the welfare and medical emergency at Walmart on Niagara Falls Blvd. in North Tonawanda. The 911 caller said that a female employee was terminated and immediately began making statements about self-harm. The woman, who was in her 50's, began acting irrationally after her termination. While doing so, she began to make statements about hurting herself. As police arri

A Buffalo family is turning to the community for help as their 20-year-old daughter fights for her life following a series of medical emergencies tied to a lifelong heart condition. Danielle was born with a complex congenital heart condition known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a diagnosis that has required her to undergo numerous medical procedures and open-heart surgeries throughout her life. Despite enduring significant health challenges since birth, her resilience an

LISTEN TO POLICE AUDIO BELOW Law enforcement received a call around 6pm after reports of a serious motor vehicle accident on the 1000 block of 17th Street in Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls Police, fire and medical responded to the scene after reports of a motor vehicle accident. According to the audio, one individual was extricated from a vehicle and transported by ambulance to Mount St. Mary's for emergency medical treatment for a head injury. No further information is availab

A Niagara Falls Army veteran who survived war, cancer, and decades of hardship is now starting over after a house fire destroyed everything he owned and claimed the life of his best friend. Robert, 76, a Vietnam War veteran and Niagara Falls resident, lost his home, possessions, and beloved German shepherd in a January 11th fire. The blaze left him hospitalized for several days and facing the daunting task of rebuilding his life from nothing. The fundraiser describes a lifeti

Dante Richardson, a violent convicted felon who ran for Niagara County Legislature and lost in 2025, has recently been the subject of a series of investigative pieces by Niagara Action. In those articles, this publication has uncovered that Richardson's entire public image has been, at least in part (you can decide to what degree), a lie. Before diving into his betrayal of public trust while campaigning to represent the residents of Niagara Falls, below is a recap of what we