The PBA stinkith of fowl odor, they are an embarrassment to Buffalo. This entire process is a joke. The canadiens had this bridge ready to build, so did the owners of the ambassador bridge in Detroit. HOW CAN WE GET RID OF THIS IDIOTIC ORGANIZATION?
The PBA stinkith of fowl odor, they are an embarrassment to Buffalo. This entire process is a joke. The canadiens had this bridge ready to build, so did the owners of the ambassador bridge in Detroit. HOW CAN WE GET RID OF THIS IDIOTIC ORGANIZATION?
RonR...I doubt you are the real Ron Rienas...and doubt the real Ron Rienas would want you shilling here for him. The real Ron Rienas speaks much more articulately than you do.
Zimmerman- lose the attitude and ask the questions. You're trying to hard to be a hero here.
First of all I am not a PBA stooge. Presently, I have not committed to either side of the debate. I would prefer that the bridge stay small, but do not have enough information say that it absolutely should. On the other hand I question the anti-PBA conspiracy-theory-rhetoric. I am not new to buffalo rising (although my info would suggest that) and yes I did listen to the interview and have read every post in this series. But enough about me, and back to this interview: it was very unprofessional. And not because I am defending the PBA. I want to see a good debate; I want to have a legitimate opinion. But when the interviewer is completely biased, openly slanderous, and he doesn’t let the interviewee refute any accusations, the anti-PBA stance comes across as uneducated and fanatical. I really want a fair debate between both side, but this interview only made me question the legitimacy of the anti-PBA group.
One part of this conversation was very odd and I would like Bill to clarify the discrepancy between particle size and concentration. Bill, please clarify the argument that I am referring to. It is my impression, from your word and previous posts, that in the past the PBA said smaller size particles were less toxic, which is completely illogical from a scientific point of view. The PBA, in this interview, contested that and stated what you were referring to was concentration (e.g. ppm), and in that case smaller numbers are better. What is your understanding of this topic?
Furthermore Bill, I don’t understand why everyone who questions your case, becomes a sider with the PBA. Am I a racist like the PBA too? And please quit the double-talk, don’t tell me you want me join the conversation when it is painfully obvious you do not want to hear criticism. All the criticism I have given is because I expect more. I expect people to think for themselves and understand the subject matter. If you choose to represent a community of 90 homes, or 1,000 people, or all the way from Niagara street to Oakland (what ever the case may be), you should be really know what you are taking about. I expect a professionalism at all times, I expect civility, and if you choose to accuse people of wide spread harm, please have some actual data to back you up.
If you want to reach those of us who are in-between opinions, and don’t know that “it’s Zimmerman” (referring to one of the last posts) try and make a logical progression in your debate with the PBA. I am not writing this to refute your views, I am writing this because if you are right and hundreds (or thousands) of people are being affected, they deserve a rational representative, who can make a difference. You will not make a difference by being slanderous and close minded. If you really want questions answered, and to start a debate, then ask the question (without miscellaneous, accusational commentary), listen to the answers, and refute the answer with a thoughtful, supported response regarding the topic. You will not impress people by making a free-for-all lambasting interview.
This last paragraph is to everyone. Like I said in a previous post, if you and your family and/or children are truly suffering from bridge fumes then get out of there. Don’t live in sickness, or die for a house, or for a neighborhood. Don’t be a martyr for this. Life is too important. Life is worth more that your mortgage, breathing is more important than bankruptcy. Do not suffer or have your children suffer because Americans need cheaper commodities, and you feel like this is a just cause. As justified as your cause may be, it cannot be worth the price of asthma.
Zimm: c’mon here.
You throw a bunch of half truths at the guy and expect them to stick and get insulted when he corrects the misnomers and accusations. The bottom line is he made you look bad. You came in with an agenda, verbally navigated all over the place (the interview police could suspect a possible DUI), and you let your temper and anger cloud the interview. You just set back your movement back.
Did you prepare for this and/or conduct a mock interview beforehand? Next time please do so. Train wreck.
We heard presentations on the border crossing plans for PBA and the Ambassador Group yesterday at a bridge engineering conference here in Buffalo. Ambassador group submitted their draft EIS to the Department of State yesterday. They are approximately two months behind the PBA's course.
The Ambassador group was well prepared and answered all questions openly and honestly. These guys are on the ball. The PBA sent an Engineer who works for the consulting engineer doing the work for the PBA, but he was not even directly involved in the project and went on to present plans for a shared border management scheme, which has already been shot down by both governments.
I suggest you guys talk to Brian Mirson, PE at American Consulting Professionals of NY who is doing the work for the Ambassador group and present their scheme on BR. As an Engineer myself, it is obvious that their plan is superb to the PBA. They utilize essentially vacant industrial land for the plaza away from the waterfront on the US side, as well as the existing rail corridor on the Canadian side. Their project is 100% privately funded, with no taxpayer dollars. We need to get their plan out there for all to see. The Bflo News is not reporting on it.
"I suggest you guys talk to Brian Mirson, PE at American Consulting Professionals of NY who is doing the work for the Ambassador group and present their scheme on BR. As an Engineer myself, it is obvious that their plan is superb to the PBA. They utilize essentially vacant industrial land for the plaza away from the waterfront on the US side, as well as the existing rail corridor on the Canadian side. Their project is 100% privately funded, with no taxpayer dollars. We need to get their plan out there for all to see. The Bflo News is not reporting on it."
Thank You, Xosder.
Jim Kane Ambassador Bridge Group
RonR-- thanks.
But please learn yourself this-- this PBA interview was not edited (i.e., not hacked whatsoever). It runs with the pauses and all the hic-ups--no hacks (edits) at all. It is what it is. The PBA is what it is-- apparently Your Authority on your health.
If Buffalo wants an Authority spelling its terms, wants an Authority spewing diesel emissons causing asthma among hundred of west siders, then accept the lobbyist's view.Otherwise, join the fight to ask more questions, which we will when next we meet.
You are the hack not the interview. You were pathetic in the interview. You are pathetic for deleting comments. You are a joke.
After extensive coverage on this issue there is the opportunity to speak one on one with the director of the PBA and they send you? You were unprepared for the interview! That makes you a hack. You were all over the place in the interview! That makes you a hack. You insinuated lies and said half truths during the interview! That makes you a hack. You were rude during the interview! That makes you a hack.
You made a complete fool of yourself and made BRO look bad...regardless of your intentions.
This interview was an unprofessional, single and closed minded attack. I was embarrassed for the interviewer. I am a brand new member to Buffalo Rising and a relatively new resident of the city, moving from East Aurora into Buffalo. It is extremely easy to see the challenges that face this city of good, hard working folks and beautiful architecture; however, if Mr. Zimmerman's approach is typical of the agenda of Buffalo Rising I am disappointed. This approach is not a path to a solution, it only paves the road to confrontation.
Good, move these residents to a safer neighborhood in the lower West Side. Give them the vacant houses and pay for the repairs as compensation. They will be safe from the toxic fumes from the Peace Bridge traffic, and will have a nicer home in a better community. Give people the same opportunity to move to any vacant or city owned home in Buffalo. The Bridge Authority could foot the bill for the move and the repairs, that would give them freedom to do what they want with the surrounding area.
If bloggers want main stream reporting, subscribe to the Buffalo News or turn on local news. Ron Rienas doesn't present facts but fabrications that suit the PBA on any given day. The number game has been played between the PBA and West Side residents for more than 20 years. Ron Rienas knows that the PBA expansion plans past and present remain fluid on any given day to suit the needs of the Public Bridge Authority.
1.Just look at the PBA DEIS (Draft of Environmental Impact Study 2007) which became available to the public just last month.
2. In the DEIS, Historical Loses 2007, Section 4-f, " Alternative 1 includes the construction of an expanded US plaza in Buffalo and associated connecting roadways. It would require the acquisition of 120 parcels of land totaling 6.0 hectares (14.9 acres) of right-away and the relocation of 128 households and 10 businesses."
3. Once again, Ron Rienas contradicts the facts as stated by the PBA itself. Listen carefully, and you'll hear him splitting hairs on what constitutes a homeownership v. a household. The DEIS lists 128 not 90 households.
4. The DEIS also states, "fifty-eight architectural resources and two historical districts are listed eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) within the proposed project's area of Potential Effect (APE). Alternative 1 would directly impact (i.e. demolish) eight of these architectural resources."
5." Other architectural resources and two historical districts, though not directly impacted by the Build Alternatives, would experience indirect impacts, including changes in setting, alterations of view sheds, and/or increase in traffic volumes passing by the resources (depending on the design of the Build Alternative)."
6. How much time did Ron Rienas devote to the demolition of historical treasures or the dislocation of hundreds?
7. Rienas states that the PBA has never purchased properties from the City of Buffalo. Technically, that maybe true but what he doesn't say is that the PBA purchased several houses and a business on Busti Ave. during the mid 1990's.
8. They spent close to $2 million dollars buying less than 10 properties.
9. Those properties have become the biggest eye sores in a historically significant community. The properties have remained unoccupied and blighted for more than a decade. And they don't pay property tax like the little people do.
11. The PBA does not abide by the same housing code standards as other taxpaying property owners because they hold themselves above the law. And they get away with it. They call themselves a 'Compact Entity'. Ever hear of it? You won't because they made it up.
12. How much time did Rienas devote to discussing how the expansion will forever change the footprint of the only remaining historical waterfront community in the City of Buffalo?
13. "The whole point of doing the plaza".....according to Rienas....to increase truck traffic so that diesel fuel emissions don't build up because of too many idling trucks. That makes sense!
14. Don't people belong in neighborhoods and not trucks? Nope. Not according to the Buffalo Bills, Rich Products and General Motors. Ron Rienas says that we should just go and ask them....People or Trucks?
15. Why do other cities falsely believe that tourists want to visit places with Victorian charm and historical landmarks. A restored historical waterfront that people can walk, bike, hike or play in, surrounded by 4 jeweled parks designed by true genius at the turn of the 19th century.
16. Rienas would answer that is just a fallacy. We all know or should know that tourists from all over the world would rather flock to see 45 acres of concrete and monster trucks where 58 architectural resources, 2 historic districts, a jeweled waterfront, 128 households and 10 businesses once stood.
Now that Mr. Rienas is a real plan! Just ask the Gov., Higgins and the Mayor.
This interview is completely unprofessional, I can't even believe it. In his post's Bill Z writes fairly unprofessional, but the interview is 10 times worse. This is a real set back for any cause Bill is trying to represent. The interview sounds uneducated, unorganized, confused, and yes paranoid. It's too bad too, because if the people fighting the bridge have any merit this interview deeply discredits them.
My God! I've spent the better part of an hour reading al this bantering back and forth...and for what? All I've ever seen with this Peace Bridge debate is a lot of debate...and NOTHING gets accomplished. I do know the tone of this interview WAS on the bitter side...and who can blame Bill Zimmerman? Any of us that have watched this PBA steamroll over everyone and everything, would have a hard time sounding any different. I, for one, appreciate the Bill Zimmermans out there for standing in the way of what will become our next Main Place Mall blunder. The 'authority's' power is only what we allow it to be. Give um hell Bill! Those homes they intend to take and the people their decision affects, need you. Sticks and stones to the rest of you. So much annalism with this bantering. Stop knit picking and criticizing. Start saying something of substance. You could also have a private debate. You all know each others phone numbers. Spare us the backbiting. I've got high speed, but the amount of time it took to get this page up was ridiculous . Just for the record...and not that any cares, but, I wouldn't trust The News to tell me squat. They lost their credibility with me a long time ago and it's their own fault they did...
You people are MORONS! So0 am I!!!!!!! Read the comments Damp. I am not Ron from the PBA. RonR stands for Ruby on Rails. If I could change it I would.
I am against ANY and ALL Authorities. Have said it before. I can see the public's frustration with the PBA.
I am for building the bridge just to get the damn thing done. Yes SOME people would be effected but it would be less then 1% of the region. Sorry...it is life! I WAS looking for information that makes me feel it is a bad idea but have yet to see it. I have seen one sided efforts to discredit the PBA but not the mission of the PBA. I hope you can see the difference.
I am not against a second bridge, I am only against a private company being involved. I am against the lack of research by BRO with the ABG. No matter how much they "talk" about building a bridge....THEY CAN NOT DO IT. The PBA has rights up the river for 6 MILES. No matter how much talking the ABG does it will never happen. Now if BRO and people want to talk about how to reverse this CANADIAN law, I am all for it. But people on this site, both members and editors just want to present info that makes their case.
If Bill would have not deleted comments or edited my comments Damp you would see my frustration is simply on the hack job Bill did in this interview. I am not protecting anyone or defending the PBA.
All I am saying is the interview was a joke. Bill was rude, unprepared and told lies.
I love Buffalo Rising. I love the positive that comes from this site. Bill has mocked this site with his actions in the interview, changing his article multiple times and by editing comments and deleting comments. My frustration is on what Bill did to the Buffalo Rising COMMUNITY of which I have been a member for almost a year!
Maybe the makers of the city hall snow globe ( posted on BR), should make one of the new Peace Bridge. Shake the snow globe and dream about the new Peace Bridge that will never be built. It's only a dream......
Really, Bill? You're going to accuse me of being a "PBA Stooge"? I did, in fact, listen to that embarrassing interview and couldn't believe the way you were hectoring Reinas. It's one thing to go into an interview with a bias, it's another to display it so vividly.
During the second half of the interview, you would interrupt on a regular basis, you were insulting this guy who was taking time out to be berated by you, your interview was poorly researched; as heavy as they were on emotion, they were concurrently light on substance.
For instance, Reinas was explaining how ULSD and particulate filters will render the diesel emissions (including NOx and particulate) to a level lower than that of a lawn mower. So, if the hypothesis is that diesel emissions from trucks on the Peace Bridge cause asthma rates to be so high on the West Side, new EPA and DOT rules will soon get rid of the theorized cause.
When Reinas gets through explaining that to you, you turn it on him, (paraphrasing): so you admit that the Peace Bridge is a public health disaster.
The allegations of personal enrichment of PBA officials through the Duty Free or whatever else is better suited for the official organ of the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade, and not BRO.
Also, Reinas told you trucks don't idle on that bridge 24/7, yet you continue to repeat that.
Maybe get someone who's not a zealot to conduct these interviews, and they'll sound better and be more informative.
My screen name is the name of my on-line blog: crystalbeachstrand.com. I have an article from the Fort Erie perspective in my archives. It's called "There's (a big bowel) Movement on the Peace Bridge." I am very careful about what I write because the opposition has very deep pockets. Fort Erie is owned by the PBA.
Sorry Billy not really putting to much time into my posts on this thread Why don't you create a list of things you do not want people to say about you, regardless if we are right, so we know what you are going to censor.
If anyone I am not blaming you... I AM MOCKING. Huge difference.
heather_b: you say this "Good, move these residents to a safer neighborhood in the lower West Side. Give them the vacant houses and pay for the repairs as compensation. They will be safe from the toxic fumes from the Peace Bridge traffic, and will have a nicer home in a better community." — which tells me you know nothing of that neighborhood. Go read and listen to the original BRO post by Queenseye:
http://www.buffalorising.com/story/the_process_the_plan_and_the_p
Maybe, get the PBA map and walk around the area to be taken. You're in for a rude (of the PBA) awakening.
RonR- Your insults are pathetic ! Mr. Ron if you'd like facts go back and read PBK's comment ,those are REAL FACTS that a majority of the public is unaware of. If you did a little research it would be absolutely clear to you what is really happening here .
Zimmermann is a hack! He could have asked the same questions without being an asshole. While I agree with the stance his buddy took with the Pan Am house, you can not get down on your knees for one post and then flip the bird to someone on another. Hack job and not up to BRO standards. Other interviews are done in a very professional manner. Even if I disagree with them, I enjoy listing to them. This one made me want to punch Bill in the face for simply being such an aggressive jack ass.
We have gone from deleting comments to editing them. My post today had much much more to say. Pathetic and sad you can not take the heat for being a joke.
Really is funny at this point more then anything.
I have NEVER said I was Ron Rienas you tool! RonR stands for Ruby on Rails you moron. It is a programming language. I am a software programmer. I have been RonR for almost a year.
Once again you do NO RESEARCH. You would think since you have the power to edit and delete comments..which you are really using the last 24 hours, you would look up when I joined.
You are a joke!!!
Ron Rienas is a paid lobbyist-manager.
His shills are answering here, and they're most welcome...and we'll be talking with Ron again soon...with a very strict agenda of point counterpoint detail.
The PBA's main point of argument is this (listen to the interview): 1) PBA will exact strict standards for emissions in years to come, and 2) that will improve upon the asthma-infliction heretofore. Rediculous and selfish lobbyist talk.
What about another bridge? The IRR area's proposed Ambasador bridge? And what about the truth?
hamp - did you read the article? There should be 0 (ZERO) no home being destroyed.
Hard-hitting reporting should not sound like a pro se litigant's clumsy , too. I'm shocked you posted this podcast, but I post to be humorous.
90 homes = 90 structures, maybe containing 128 homes??? Splitting hairs here.
heather_b: you lived in the Columbus Park neighborhood or, another one nearby? No one is disputing the health concerns. I only question that you would want to displace a lovely neighborhood instead of advocating for the truck crossing to be moved off the current bridge (and out of that neighborhood).
Doc,
Thoroughly agree. That's the first question I ask Mr. Rienas in the interview-- and he expressly says he accepts the name Peace Bridge Authority-- though it never existed until the Buffalo News policy stated to called the acronym as such some years back now. It is presumptive and false.
When you think of a Public Bridge Authority (PBA), you can imagine bids and sources from alldirections of public and private resourcing and multiple choices.
However, when those in the Say project the acronym PBA to falsely stand for "Peace Bridge Authority," it wrongly builds an innocent community's belief that the power lieswithin the particular bridge management itself, which it wasn't supposed to.
Glad you cited that particularly.
Why can they not figure out a design that can run adjacent to the current bridge without displacing anyone. One that can either compliment the existing one or totally replace it. Creating the same landing points on both ends. Seens to be plenty of land on both sides to do that... Seems like it would be easy (George Washington Bridge, Tobin Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, etc did the same with over/under thought). We could create a really innovative on that was a semi circle around the existing Peace Bridge... One for trucks and one for cars...
Hoss, sites like these are not journalism so to speak. They are a sort of "town meeting". That is the nature of Blogs. Never have I read that this was journalism from a responding person. There are professional journalists who may state an issue but everyone is welcome to debate equally.
Think of an Op Ed piece in any newspaper and response, as frustrating as it may seem to you that your views may not be shared; it is a very unbiased forum. Immediate too... I commend this site and really enjoy the debates on it. My views have changed on many issues by reading some very well thought out posts here.
Citizen journalismmay be a term that iis on the rise but I would not call this that... I would call it an open town hall meeting where everyone is welcome to participate... This is more like a forum to me... Yes there are leaders in presenting opinions but that is their job, create a public forum of thought and sometimes discourse that makes us think, react and care. I like this site and the people on it. I respect everyone who cares so much to contribute. Buffalo is a city I love and am sure glad there are so many opinions out there (some I share, others I do not) who care as equally as I...
Thank you that someone else has spoken up about this goofball. This guy is the poster child for what's killed Buffalo for the last 60 years. There's such a thing as a compromise. Do you think the people undergoing *crushing poverty* all over the buffalo region *might* want to risk the potential exposure to diesel fumes in order to have a better life? Buffalo is one of the poorest cities in the nation and this zimmerman dude is right out in front continuing to administer the same old medicine while being completely unaware that it is killing the patient in yhr process.
Hey WeLovePanos...et al
Not to change the subject...but to change the subject. I checked out what you wrote before Mr. "WeLove Panos"--and hey-- how'd you like today's Bill's game? You in fact recently here and so erroneously said:
"th4e BILLS WILL BE GONE IN UNDER 5 YEARS, SAVE YOUR BREATH,... ALL OF YOU... A NEW OWNER CANNOT JUSTIFY KEEPING THE TEAM HERE"
I'll tell you this, my friend-- Mr. "WeLOvePanos"-- that the BILLS will definmtely stay HERE...
...Mr. Wilson will celebrate his 100th birthday HERE in 2018, with a significant but smaller portion of ownership.
Mr. Wilson leads the heralding clarion cry from the very roots of the NFL-AFL beginnings...and Chairman Kemp, President Jim Kelly and Vice President Thurmon Thomas just may be in the flanks of ownership too.
That's what's gonna happen HERE in OUR Buffalo, because that is what should happen...and it damn well will.
Comptart_lws - I spent my teenage years in this neighborhood and still have quite a few a few friends there. The premise of this series is correct, people are getting sick because of the Peace Bridge.
It cracks me up that people consider this site to be 'journalism'. There is definitely some enlightening content, but it is too often part of a bigger, and/or, not so obvious agenda. An agenda I often side with (not always, not now), but nonetheless.
We do need a new bridge. A bigger bridge. A car/pedestrian only bridge. A bridge with more Homeland Security agents to speed things up. Send the commercial traffic to a different crossing on Grand Island or somewhere more sparsely populated, and closer to I-90.
The interview is like the maple leafs signed Michael Moore to play defense. how many loaded questions can you ask and no hospitality?
whoa 23 mins in.. it sounds like he shoots him. I guess i just wonder why some of these homes can not just evolve out.. like people have to do with nothing from a natural disaster.
Zimmermann crashed and burned. i love buffalo rising but that was a awful interview. you can ask questions and get information with out going all colbert. .. a flat earther. haha.. thanks for the laughs.
Here in Fort Erie, we're well aware of the stranglehold that the PBA has on our town. Ron Reinas vaulted from a town post to the PBA and the Fort Erie contingent of the PBA Board is littered with patronage appointments. The Chair of the PBA Board is Tony Annunziata, late of Casino Niagara, whose mother, Anna, is administrative assistant to MP Rob Nicholson (Now Minister of Justice - how ironic,) and little brother Sandy is on the Town Council - or, as we refer to him, Clowncillor Annuziata who was just accused by a colleague of plagiarism of a Code of Conduct for business association members. Many of us are so sick of the PBA lies and distortions. The PBA has no money to build a bridge. Ambassador does. And, despite what Reinass says, we're still worried that the customs plaza will end up on this side of the Niagara. WE DON'T WANT IT! We have enough truck pollution already. Keep chipping away at Reinass and friends. There are a lot of bodies buried very deep. Just follow the money and you'll find them.
Exactly. Build this stupid bridge in 2033 after twenty commissions and 16 redesigns and just get it right! Why settle for a noxious program when there's so much life still left in the old Peace Bridge and so much bitterness that hasn't been surmounted?
and down goes another one... and another...and another...and another LOL this is fun!!!!!!!!
This just reflects poorly on Buffalo Rising. Consistently advancing false statements, accusations without any data to back them up, repeatedly not allowing him to answer. This could have been an interesting and informative discussion instead of an extended rant.
Questions for Ron Rienas and the PB AUTHORITY... many of these questions were reveiwed and discussed on the interview...and many warrant more time and attention than the mere 30 minutes we talked.
Ron, why of the 59 options the PBA claims to have studied – only one option was presented as viable? (let’s forget about the 3 shared border management plans as you knew going into the Oct 11th presentation that was not an option). Hard to believe that all options were seriously considered and this was the only one viable – more like this is the only one the PBA wanted to pursue.
PBA blindsided the community by presenting the worst possible plan – one that builds ramps through a waterfront community, crossing Rhode Island down to Vermont and to add insult to injury, not a single option was presented that included any of the public workshop input from the neighborhood residents – why?
What about the slums the PBA owns on Busti Ave – they have been decaying for several years. You can’t expect the city residents to believe you are improving the neighborhood.
If it was determined that the Peace Bridge has seen its day and we'd do it "better, faster, cheaper" by knocking it down and just building a new bridge, what would happen to the PBA? (my sources say if the Peace Bridge goes, the PBA goes too)
What happens when the PBA no longer owes money for construction and maintenance on the Peace Bridge?
...and then there's the issues on:
"International Compact Entity vs. Public Trust"
1. First of all: What is the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority? Officially?
2. Why are you and your team of lawyers fighting ( currently ) a federal law suit based on the assertion that you are not a NYS Authority?
3. What is an "international compact entity" and why should the public give it tax dollars? Who benefits? Where is the trust there?
4.. Why should the public put their trust and public tax dollars into a entity that states in federal court that they are not subject to any laws in NYS?
5. Why is the PBA in court in the first place? Why did they get sued again after the Fahey ruling in 1999? Why insist that no laws apply to you?
6. NYS Supreme court Judge Eugene Fahey ordered the PBA to do an EIS on the bridge and both the US and Canadian plaza's environmental impacts - but yet the PBA has ignored that ruling and proceeded with plaza construction on both sides of the border, why? Is that something we should call being trustworthy?
7. Has the PBA done an EA (an EIS in CA.) in Canada? if no, why not?
8. Given the current court case and Judge Fahey rulings being ignored, why should anyone TRUST what you say?
9.. What is the basis for the PBA not subjecting itself to FOIA laws or open meeting laws and what does that say to the public who's money you are so pleased to take? Is that trust building Canadian style?
10. Why did the PBA sue a private citizen in Canada for exercising freedom of speech? And does that lend to the trust factor or detract from it? Can we publish the details of that suit and not expect to get sued on the US side? Do you believe in the right to free speech?
11. Why did you recently attend a (Nick Bonafacio) Bi-National Bridge Task Force mtg and basically read a 3 page tirade of counter-charges and threats against US citizens who exercised their right to free speech and spoke out against the PBA plan to demolish more than 120 homes on the West side? Why should anyone trust you after reading the way YOU act when being criticized? (Which we are going to post on BRO, btw)/
11 (a) Why should we be so trusting and restrained in our criticism when you are either self-proclaimed "above" any criticism itself or so-thinned skinned upon hearing any that you rant, rave and otherwise threaten all self-respecting citizens or residents that dare speak out? Where is the trust there?
12. What is the true condition of the Peace bridge? Why won't the PBA provide to the public the true condition and cost of maintaining the bridge? Why would anyone trust what you say about the bridge when you also say the PBA in not subject to public scrutiny?
13. 1994, the PBA told the public that the public bridge was in serious disrepair and that it would require redecking and other rehab or its deck would literally fall into the Niagara River? It is 2007, and not a further word or dollar spent on the deck repair? Was the PBA lying about that to get the public fears aroused and thus a new twin span quickly approved? What was the "trust us" part of that strategy? Why believe anything the PBA says now?
14. Given the PBA's poor reputation in dealing with its neighbors in the US and CA and your poor public record of telling the truth to the public over the last 10 years - Why should the public TRUST the PBA?
15. Why is a Canadian citizen such as yourself in charge of condemning 120 homes in the USA? Would Canadians subject themselves to the opposite?
16. Do any current or past PBA commissioners benefit financially, profit in any way, or get paid from the PBA or ANY affiliated companies?
17. Are all the PBA commissioners politically appointed and how do you hold your post? Were you appointed? For how long? Why were you hired?
18. Do you privately profit in any way other that your salary and pension from the PBA? If so, how?
19. Why did Jake Lamb get fired by the PBA? Was it because he advocated for expansion in the IRR corridor? If he was not fired, what does he do now?
20. Why did the PBA fire Steve Mayer and 2 other US employees when you also came on board? Did they receive any payment not to talk about how they got fired ?
21. How much US fed tax dollars have been spent on the DEIS? And why US tax dollars only? Why is it so one sided -- US loses neighborhoods and homes and parks and FtE loses nothing? Would you or the PBA allow it to happen in reverse? Why not?
22. Why does the PBA expect the GSA and US taxpayers to pay for the bridge and plaza when the Canadian government pays NO RENT to the PBA at all and the PBA floated new bonds to pay for all the new construction on the Ca. side?
22. How does GSA feel about paying for improvements that will benefit Canadians?
23. You recently stated the DHS was to "blame" for all the condemnation requirements, not the PBA, why? and why use the word blame? Does DHS know they are being "blamed" by the PBA for destroying a historic neighborhood?
24. What is the ultimate cost of this project and how much will be paid by US/NYS taxpayers vs. Canadian taxpayers?
25. Who is your boss?
If our 30 munite interview seemed like a gattling gun, sorry-- but the NEWS is not covering this story, not engaging the PBA to answer these questions.
I take my hat off to Mr. Rienas sincerely for his openly engaging in debate. Our first encounter may have seemed hurried, but we each promised a second conversation, with research prepared for both concerns....may the above provide fodder for some of Mr. Rienas's research. We'll be talking again soon, here on BRO-- the media that engages such debate.
We have gone from deleting comments to editing them. My post today had much much more to say. Pathetic and sad you can not take the heat for being a joke.
Really is funny at this point more then anything.
Hey, You Three PBA Stooges,
There's those of us wondering whether you even listened to this great interview or are just gumshoe-blog responding like so many monitor-mites.
Maybe You fear truth getting out on this serious PBA health-infliction issue. But please have your myopic, fopic and misfortuned opinions and share them all you will.
Just ask this: Is the PBA a proper authority over thousands of human lives's going through respiratory issues because of their 24-7 diesel emissions from trucks going miles bck, with southwestyerly winds combing the west side?
This is a real set back for any cause Bill is trying to represent. ... It's too bad too, because if the people fighting the bridge have any merit this interview deeply discredits them.
Good point and that makes me wonder.... is maybe Bill secretly trying to help the PBA by attacking it so clumsily?
Could Bill and Judy have been using us all as pawns this whole time? Kind of a bad cop, drunk cop routine?
In Part 7, Judy wrote "Smart feels good." Who talks that way? Was that a code to Bill? Or were we being taunted? Has anyone ever seen Karl Rove and Bill at the same time?
Seriously, Jim Kane (if this isn't deleted yet) - you gotta get more in the game, man. Your ABG web site is slightly better than last time I complained about it but still looks like a B+ undergrad media studies project from 2002 or so. And why don't we hear you on radio, TV, anything? Just here. Not good. Really not good. As others pointed out, Bill's advocacy is amature hour at best, and anyhow hardly anybody reads this site, and ever fewer take it seriously. Please tell us BRO is not supposed to be a major leg of your strategy. Hire a PR firm or something, will ya? Your plan is a much better spot for a bridge, but you're getting nowhere fast.
I have gone to taking pictures of my posts before they can be edited and deleted.
(read my "Seriously," above as "But seriously folks,..." - First part of my comment was tounge-in-cheek... figured that should be obvious, but sometimes it isn't... however I do really think it's counter-productive to make any serious case raving-AlGorish-attack-style rather than by calm reason and logic... too just my myopic opinion...)
It's all a conspracy to undermine your shitty bridge design with its shitty truck plaza and your shitty attitude, isn't it, RonR? If the PBA is as all-powerfull and self-indulgent as it behaves on a regular basis, what have you to fear from the likes of Bill Zimmerman? Has BRO censored? Yes. Do they circumscribe certain editorializations? Yes. Is it the end of the world? NO. Get over yourself dude. If this overblown turkey of a proposal were laudable, it would have been self-evident. What is self-evident is that you and your claque are getting VERY DEFENSIVE about your crappy scheme. Why? Because it transparently sucks in every direction, especially down. Thus you are, in the words of the lovely Elena, a "Suckhole".
I have a hard time trusting anything to do wih "Authority!" Peace Bridge, NFTA, NYS Power Authority, and the never popular Thruway Authority. I'm all for the Ambassador Bridge. I've used the bridge in Detroit, I see nothing wrong with it. Let the private sector build one!
...where are the men in white coats for Rambling RonR? Please Ronny-- first think, then write, and then hit the "add your comment" button. You're your own editor. Just do better at it. Don't so easily blame the man behind the curtain.
gooole zierman had been deleng posts for a while now... just look at the at\\tack he puts on people in the Pan Am Expo Hse Al Coppola owns... ... Come on Bilant just edit and cut peoes c omments like that, we hething to say... god
This interview was an unprofessional, single and closed minded attack. I was embarrassed for the interviewer. I am a brand new member to Buffalo Rising and a relatively new resident of the city, moving from East Aurora into Buffalo. It is extremely easy to see the challenges that face this city of good, hard working folks and beautiful architecture; however, if Mr. Zimmerman's approach is typical of the agenda of Buffalo Rising I am disappointed. This approach is not a path to a solution, it only paves the road to confrontation.
not that this thread of random insults isnt just a wonderful example of thoughtful debate, however, let me interject.
for clarity's sake, i believe that this the bridge is basically a boondoggle without any real payoff for buffalo sacrificing a neighborhood.
that being said, for many decades, large scale public works projects (again, with dubious returns) have basically subsidized the continuing urban flight from buffalo. so, instead of a flat market rate payoff for property, the city should pay a premium for those willing to stay within the city limits (say 25% on top of the market rate? ish?).
perhaps even more, if they stay within 3/4 of a mile of the old home?
hell. everything else here gets a subsidy, why shouldnt a home owner? isnt keeping a family in the city worth an extra couple 10k? id say yes.
Ruby Ron...RonR-- "Rum on rails"-- whatever your moniker-- you need to take some responsibility. You're a heckler, for sure, but can you demonstrate a position on this argument?
I welcome you to write an article specifically and soley stating your views about the Peace Bridge issue.
When can I see that RonR? Can you prepare it for post, say, by Tuesday? When you're ready, email it to me at wnysail@yahoo.com.
The same goes for my friend, BuffaloGeek, comptart_lws, somewhereGreen, and anyone else who wishes to expound and deliver their ideas. This needs to be a community's discussion. Whether you agree with me or anyone else doesn't matter. I'll fight for your right to speak and feature you in this ongoing series.
That is how the series began. That is how the series will continue.
I have to say that I have no problem with Zimmerman's podcast. He never put himself out to be a professional journalist, but he certainly does have a passion where certain things are involved, and this Peace Bridge topic...the very enormity of any decision that will be made now...and it's effects on the West Side, the homeowners and homes there, and the future health of people in the surrounding areas is worthy of posting.
I didn't feel as though I'd watched a newscast. I felt as if I was eavesdropping on a conversation--a CONVERSATION, people--between two opposing sides of an imminent (we hope) decision by the PBA. I don't have a problem w/ Zimmerman's stance, his tactics...hell, I don't even have a problem with the way the whole thing goes slightly Abbott and Costello for a bit. You know why? Because it's Zimmerman.
And I don't like censoring of any kind, but I really don't like Zimmerman attacked. As for calling him unprofessional, pffft. I still like the conversation (as wild as it gets). It's a citizen's passionate stab at a person of power who represents an entity, the motives of which might not consider citizens on either side of the border. Take it for what it's worth and join the conversation about the topic, please. But lay off Zimmerman. It's about the PBA.
I didn't see that disclaimer in your above posts, RonR, it must have been "deleted".
How could I take this post seriously when it speaks of an entity that does not exist. Please. There is no such thing as the Peace Bridge Authority. The correct name is the Public Bridge Authority. Its like people in Buffalo, and ones who are in a position to influence, live in a vacuum. What the hell is wrong here? Its worse than referring to the Walden Galleria as the "Walden Galleria Mall." There is no such thing. Get your head on straight. Pathetic.
CrystalBeachStrand-Thank you for speaking up about the Canadian side. Please encourage more people to speak up from your side of the border or point us in a direction where there is equal comment and voice from your side.
Maybe people are afraid to speak in fear of being sued by Ron Rienas and the PBA!
Some of you who are critical of Bill's reporting should be asking the mainstream media why they haven't reported the many sides of this story Bill has had the guts to inquire about. I wrote the news this week asking them why they haven't reported about the health problems on the west side. Don't hold your breath waiting for responsible journalistic reporting on this issue from them. Only Art Voice and BRO have ever asked the hard questions.
"only" 90? What's "only" about 90? And the other residents have a concrete retaining wall and parking garage in their backyard. Let's not be mouthpieces for the Public Bridge Authority's propoganda. They are pretty good at it themselves.
audigit
While you just say move if it is bad for you, I can understand your feeling that way. But don't you think it should be as simple to say the trucks should just move out.
My family's life is not that simple. I have very senior parents who have lived in this house forever. They are at a critical turning point in their lives. Right now, with the arrangement we have, they have semi assisted living with me being next door to them. For them, survival is knowing their environment, knowing where the towels and the silverware are. Putting them in a new environment now will KILL them, emotionally, mentally and physically. Their world has gotten very small. Knowing our neighbors and having small gatherings with them is their life. You can not put any price tag on the quality of life they have now and you will never be able to replicate that for them.
Moving does not solve the health problems for the entire neighborhood. When they bring in more trucks they will get closer to the next neighborhood and the health problems will just encircle a bigger neighboring area. It may be good for my health if I leave, but it will be terrible for those left behind.
12-12-07:
I relistened to the interview...and while it could use a litte editing, it's pretty darn good actually...
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