Maid of the Mist

A longtime attraction at Niagara Falls is introducing two new all-electric, zero-emission vessels to its fleet. Maid of the Mist will carry its first passengers aboard these new boats beginning Tuesday morning.

Close to 5,000 patients go to and from the Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center each year using the CARExpress shuttle. The long-running service began through the support of a generous donor, and expanded on Monday with the help of another.

A local state assemblyman is welcoming Governor Andrew Cuomo's call for an investigation into last weekend's discharge of wastewater near the base of Niagara Falls. That lawmaker is pointing his own finger directly at the Niagara Falls Water Board for an incident he says should never have happened.

The Maid of the Mist tour boats have been working out of the American side of Niagara Falls for 167 years. Development has just resumed on the operation’s new maintenance dock, after delays caused by local opposition.

Good crowds greeted the Maid of the Mist for the opening of its 2012 season today.   The question is whether we may be witnesses to the beginning of the end for the world-famous company. 

Maid of the Mist Steamboat Co. President Christopher Glynn rejected that notion in a brief meeting with reporters at the dock by the American Falls today.

The Maid of the Mist Tour boats will be operating on both sides of Niagara Falls this season.  But future operations of the boats along the Niagara River Gorge remain unknown.

“I think the Maid operating this year, on both sides and hopefully the New York side for a long time come,” said State Senator George Maziarz of Newfane after learning the Maid of the Mist will be moving forward with its tours at least for this year.  

The decision was issued Tuesday after Maid of the Mist officials completed discussions with the Niagara Parks Commission.