Saving Niagara Falls, One (Tightrope) Step At A Time

From WNYC Public Radio (you can listen to the 5-minute audio segment):

Niagara Falls has long been a magnet for daredevils, but strict laws have kept them away for more than a century. That’s expected to change Friday, when circus performer Nik Wallenda will walk a two-inch-thick wire above the giant waterfall. It’s an exception officials hope will rescue tourism — and the city’s economy.

At the Haunted House of Wax in Niagara Falls, tourists are greeted by two signs: one that beckons visitors to meet ghoulish wax figurines and another advertising that the building is for sale. It’s a common sight in a downtown that’s also dotted with empty lots and tacky gift shops.

Paul Gromosiak has lived here for 70 years, and he still remembers the glory days. He keeps a homemade model of Niagara Falls on his kitchen table with little flags on toothpicks to mark stunts from the past 200 years. He’s already added one for Nik Wallenda.

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