By Dylan Hall
Buffalo, NY – US Senator Charles Schumer is the latest official to call for the development of Buffalo's Outer Harbor shoreline.
Critical to the five-step plan he proposed Tuesday is that the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority relinquish control of the property. Senator Schumer said NFTA has failed to harvest the potential of this valuable shoreline.
"Buffalo's waterfront is a vast swath of untapped energy and economic power," Schumer said. "We also recognize that if we continue to leave the land undeveloped, we throw away a huge opportunity for the City of buffalo, for Erie county and for Western New York."
State Assemblyman Brian Higgins wants to convert part of the outer harbor into a state park. Schumer said he envisions the area as a mixture of parks, housing and commercial space.
The NFTA has said in the past that soil contamination hindered development but that the agency is making progress on coming up with its own plans for the site.