A Pilot Light that Won’t Go Out

The number of people in my hometown peaked at around 100,000 when the population of the entire United States was around 200 million. In the time that the population of our nation doubled, the population of the city where I come from was cut in half. These numbers tell a miserable story about a town famed for a waterfall – that has been and continues to go down the drain.

Briefly, allow me to take you back to a time when city leaders built an elementary school right on top of contaminated ground. And by contaminated, I mean 21,000 tons of toxic waste… carcinogens, to be exact. The city purchased the land from the Hooker Chemical Company for $1 – and it came with a stiff “buyer beware” clause in the contract. The City Council at the time thought they’d made the Louisiana Purchase. Then…children died.

When I was in high school, I took one of these signs and had it hanging in my bedroom

Not only did kids and families get sick and perish – but other stuff happened. Like the United States Army going into neighborhoods to literally rip people from their homes. There’s a story there that Hollywood hasn’t gotten to yet. And they should. An American city has been dying for decades, and seemingly no person or company can save it. Every time I go there, I cannot believe my eyes – because it just keeps on getting worse.

Before any message of hope can evolve here – know that the damage wasn’t done by a hurricane, like Katrina; or a terrorist attack, like 9-11. The damage was done by an endless succession of people who called…and call themselves leaders.

In recent years, I’ve been within one degree of separation from a Superintendent of Schools who committed acts of sexual assault on school grounds, and another leader who draws up plans to harass employees as if they were blueprints. I’ve seen leaders applaud as their school’s budget failed and laugh at educators losing their jobs. A journalist who defends child abusers, and even a teacher who was smoking crack…in her classroom.

Looking back at it all, when city leaders decided to turn the Niagara Falls Convention Center into a casino…I mean, what could go wrong? Who in the hell would want concerts, musicals, tractor pulls, sporting events, professional conventions, and Cirque du Soleil when they could have free booze and slot machines? It seemed financially advantageous to rid a marvel of the world of family events and ensure the downtown becomes a hub of dysfunction.

Wouldn’t you love it if your childhood neighborhood could have access to more drugs, more violence, and a smattering of prostitution? While the rest of the nation is buying stock in Bitcoin, the City of Niagara Falls is investing in plywood.

It’s sad.

This picturesque 19th street home features 2 bedrooms, one bathroom, and is on Zillow for $16,900.00. Closing costs are only $600 Any interest?

On Friday, my son and I were on the Hurricane Deck in the Cave of the Winds. It’s a Niagara Falls tourist attraction. For $20 you can take an elevator down to the base of the falls and stand next to the rocks as the water bounces off. You get soaked. It’s like taking a shower under a hundred showers. The water hits so loud, you can’t hear. You have to yell. In that spot, people laugh, and dance. They give you a plastic poncho – and there’s so much water…the poncho doesn’t even have a chance.

I stood under the waterfall for $20. When I got back to my car, I had a parking ticket that cost me $50. That’s new. And shitty. But that’s all it took to get me thinking.

My city isn’t dead yet.

When my son and I looked up at the waterfall from its base, I didn’t just see wet. I saw a pilot light – just like the one on the furnace. A pilot light that has been burning since the end of the last Ice Age, 12,000 years ago. One that isn’t going out anytime soon. Long after the Leaning Tower of Pisa finishes its trip to the ground, the Hoover Dam gives way, or the Statue of Liberty gets taken down – more than 500,000 gallons of water will go over Niagara Falls every second.

20 trillion gallons per year.

A pilot light that cannot be extinguished, time, and people who care. That’s all it’s going to take.

I left there with good reason, as did many others. I couldn’t see how things would improve in the city. And maybe I never would have…until I was able to see how things could improve right here. Right now. For me. For my son.

For a long time, I saw Niagara Falls as a place that taught me what happens when potential is wasted. Now, I see it differently. The Falls aren’t defined by the broken leadership or the boarded-up streets – they’re defined by motion, by the refusal to stop flowing no matter what’s built or destroyed around them.

I’ve been working to live the same way. I’ve stripped away distractions and bad habits. I’ve fought to think more clearly, act with more purpose, and put my time into people who matter – family and friends who keep me grounded. I’m more deliberate now. Stronger. Less willing to let life’s noise pull me away from what matters most.

The Falls have never waited for perfect conditions to keep moving forward. Neither should I. Neither should you.

That steady current is all Niagara Falls needs to rebuild – and I believe it can. People are like cities, too. We rebuild with consistency, love, courage, and care.

Conditions don’t have to be perfect.

They just need the pilot light to stay lit.