Although I agree with Joe Genco, the quotes below are the ones that caught my eye, or should I say my Google Alerts. Any time anything comes up about the Grand Island Bridges and Tolls I get plenty of emails from Google. It’s s great resource.

Authorities are at the core of so many of our economic woes from tolls, water rates, electric rates etal. Some how some way “WE” have got to get the message across to our politicos that they have got to take the power back from them. Of course that is easier said than done. The question is do the have the wherewithal to do the Right thing. If only…. I don’t see it happening on any kind of a grand scale, especially when organizations like the Partnership benefits off of bloated government like this.

Never mind the illogic of a lack of similar charges on other bridges, or the disregard for the fact it costs far less than $1 per car to operate and maintain the bridges. After all, it’s about profit and patronage, not safety or service.

This is the same organization that agreed to take over the State Barge Canal, which will always be a costly burden because of the number of miles of nothing and the fact it can’t generate enough revenue to pay its way.

The canal is an historic monument. I love the new docks in the Tonawandas, but there is a lot of nothingness all along the way and the Thruway Authority should not be in charge of it because it obscures the bottom line — we should understand the cost of the canal, grin and bear it, not see it buried among the roads and bridges of a separate bureaucracy and supported by highway tolls.

‘Authority’ never wins for Western New York

Can someone please explain to me how an “authority” ever benefits Western New York?

Long-time readers know of my disdain for the louts at the New York Power Authority.

After all, it takes a special kind of uncaring to sap $1 million per day from a downtrodden regional economy while ensuring its citizens still pay among the highest electric rates in the nation, as the Niagara Power Project does.

I still say the easiest way remedy the situation is to take a big swing of the bat and point out the stakeholders on hand never capitulated to the meager offerings of NYPA during the relicensing because they were not getting a fair shake.

North Tonawanda, Tonawanda, Town of Tonawanda, Grand Island and Buffalo all suffer the negative effects of NYPA leadership without receiving a significant benefit.

The most logical thing would be to band together and use eminent domain to take over, once and for all. The trouble is the powers that be — for example, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, which should be a regional leader in such matters — are dining at the trough of big government. When an entity like NYPA feels challenged, the first thing that happens is it begins to gather its marbles and go home.

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