May 6
2013
Residents and environmentalists don’t want additional truck traffic motoring through a poor neighborhood with high asthma rates. The battle is almost identical to the one being fought here in Buffalo at the Peace Bridge.
May 4
2013
A female engineer assigned to manage work on the U.S. side of the bridge told Investigative Post of a sexual harassment charge she lodged in December against a Canadian board member after he introduced her as the “governor’s concubine.” Canadian officials, meanwhile, continue to dispute claims they aren’t cooperating with their American counterparts.
May 2
2013
Sen. Chuck Schumer decries finger pointing between U.S. and Canadian officials, saying it could delay progress on bridge improvements if it continues. A report from WBFO.
Apr 27
2013
Peace Bridge General Manager Ron Rienas has become a lightning rod over deeper divisions within the board that manages the Peace Bridge. American board members contend the Canadians are not cooperating with efforts to improve the bridge on the Buffalo side; the Canadians label the charge “absurd.” Jim Heaney reports for WGRZ.
Apr 4
2013
Governor Andrew Cuomo a month ago announced a project to reconfigure traffic routes leading to and from the Peace Bridge as all but a done deal. Not so fast. The $22 million project faces a review that officials want to expedite to finish in a year. Part of the process involves something that project planners have resisted to this point, but which Cuomo advocated for when he was running for governor: consulting with neighborhoods populated with low-income residents and minorities on projects with potential health and environmental consequences. State officials believe the project will improve traffic flow, reduce congestion and[...]
Feb 28
2013
Ron Rienas, general manager of the Public Bridge Authority, tells Jim Heaney of Investigative Post why he won’t talk about his salary or perks or release other payroll records or a detailed budget that spells out what the authority does with the $33 million it takes in annually.
Feb 27
2013
Editor’s note: The story below provides the full details, but to get the full effect, readers should view the television version posted above and, especially, the video of the complete unedited interview with Peace Bridge General Manager Ron Rienas posted below. New York’s labyrinth of authorities are widely decried as shadow governments that shield their activities from public scrutiny. But they are a model of transparency compared to the Public Bridge Authority that operates the Peace Bridge connecting Buffalo and Fort Erie, Investigative Post has found. Authorities and other governmental bodies on both sides of the border are obligated to[...]
Feb 20
2013
Residents in Buffalo’s Lower West Side continue to be left in the dark about the Public Bridge Authority’s expansion plans for the U.S. plaza. On Feb. 11, Kathy Mecca, representing the Prospect Hill Neighborhood Alliance, and three other neighborhood leaders sent state Sen. Timothy Kennedy a letter asking him to not support using funds for any road projects related to the Peace Bridge without first demanding full transparency of what exactly those plans are for the neighborhood. Kennedy’s district includes the neighborhood around the Peace Bridge. I reported about a month ago how revenue from truck tolls and duty free[...]