As a wise man once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” In light of the overwhelming evidence that casinos located in urban areas do little or nothing for the economy, for politicians to endorse a casino project and to lead the citizens to expect any other outcome except continued urban blight is at least irresponsible and maybe even insane in its logic.
Looking at this issue from a broader perspective, we must remember that the casino is not located in Niagara Falls, but on sovereign land controlled by the Seneca Nation. The Seneca Gaming Corp. has about as much motivation to assist Niagara Falls economically as the bordering City of Niagara Falls, Ont., has, in the sense that every dollar spent on leisure and recreation that finds its way to Niagara Falls is one less dollar that accrues to the Seneca Gaming Corp. and Niagara Falls, Ont.
Therefore, when Brian Hansberry, in an effort to distract from the sad economic realities discussed in the article, states “. . . the [Seneca Gaming] corporation has made a $450 million investment in the city” he is being disingenuous. He might add that this investment on the Senecas’ own land has yielded more than $1 billion for the Senecas and $23 million for Niagara Falls.
If Hansberry didn’t “spin” the investment issue enough, when asked why the casino’s hotel refuses to book rooms to larger nongambling conventions, he states that they do not yet have enough rooms to meet both the casino’s and the city’s needs for space.
What Hansberry doesn’t tell us is that on average, approximately 440 rooms per day, every day, are given away free to gamblers (source: filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission). Remarkably, the corporation would rather provide a free room to a gambler then allow a nongambler, who might spend money outside of the casino, to pay for the same room. This behavior is very cynical and anathema to the corporation’s claims of being an economic stimulus to Niagara Falls. Perhaps the corporation could see fit to allow a few of these 161,000 free rooms given away per year to be booked by nongambling conventioneers; after all, the city gave the Seneca Nation the former Niagara Falls Convention Center to be developed as the casino.
Perhaps the corporation will voluntarily change this pattern of greed and self-interest in Niagara Falls. But in any event, The News’ article merely serves to confirm why it is so critical that the federal lawsuit to stop the proposed casino in downtown Buffalo succeeds.