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State representatives hail decision by Canadian officials to allow Wallenda walk across Niagara Falls

by jmaloni
Wed, Feb 15th 2012 11:35 am

Permission granted by NPC clears the way for walk to take place in 2012

Today, State Sen. George D. Maziarz and assemblymen John D. Ceretto and Dennis H. Gabryszak praised the Canadian Niagara Parks Commission for its decision to grant permission to Nik Wallenda to traverse the Niagara Gorge on a high wire. The parties will now enter into negotiations to address safety measures, financial issues and logistics of the walk.

Previous legislation sponsored by Maziarz, Ceretto, and Gabryszak overwhelmingly passed the New York State Legislature in June of 2011 and was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in September of the same year.

Today's approval by the NPC sets the stage for an event that is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to the region in 2012.

Maziarz, Ceretto and Gabryszak lent significant support to Wallenda in his attempts to win support among Canadian officials in the Parks Commission, the Ministry of Tourism and Parliament.

"Today is a great day for the Niagara region on both sides of the border," Maziarz said. "A premiere event by a true professional like Nik Wallenda will attract tourists on an international level. I congratulate the Niagara Parks Commission for their careful study and recognizing the tremendous benefit to the region this will be."

"Nik Wallenda is a professional and the Parks Commission recognized that," Ceretto said. "I am thrilled that Nik will be traversing the gorge. In marketing this walk, Nik will be a tremendous ambassador for the city and will present the region to the world."

"I am pleased to hear that the Niagara Parks Commission gave Nik Wallenda and his team the green light," Gabryszak said. "We are one step closer to watching Nik fulfill his dream of traversing the gorge. This is an exciting moment for everyone who has worked hard make this happen."

The legislation states that Wallenda has one year to complete the walk from the time Cuomo signed the bill in September.

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