Roswell Park Announces Long-term Commitment to Niagara Falls, N.Y. for its Ride For Roswell and Empire State Ride

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Following unprecedented success of a new Canada route for The Ride For Roswell, interest in the new Empire State Ride and exciting biker-friendly re-development plans, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center announced a long-term commitment for its biking events to route through or conclude in Niagara Falls, N.Y. on Saturday. Niagara Falls, N.Y. Mayor Paul Dyster joined Mitch Flynn, Founder of The Ride For Roswell, at the announcement and shared his biker-friendly redevelopment plans with The Ride team.

Immediately preceding the announcement, a Ride For Roswell team biked through the Niagara Falls, N.Y. portion of the event’s new Canada route for the first time to begin familiarizing themselves with the new path and develop a route safety plan.

“We’re very excited by the interest in the new Canada route for The Ride For Roswell as well as for the new Empire State Ride,” said Bryan Sidorowicz, Director, Ride For Roswell and Co-Director, Empire State Ride. “We know part of this excitement is the opportunity to bike through Niagara Falls, N.Y., which would not be possible without the incredible support from Mayor Dyster and the City of Niagara Falls. While our event participants will enjoy the ride experience, ultimately it is those affected by cancer and their families at Roswell Park who will benefit from their efforts.”

The Ride For Roswell, the single largest annual fundraising event in Western New York and North America’s largest single-day cycling event, benefits research and patient care programs at Roswell Park. The Ride involves more than 8,000 riders, 2,000 volunteers and countless other supporters. This year, the 20th annual Ride For Roswell includes a new 44 mile, international route to Canada with a path through Niagara Falls, N.Y. Due to a tremendous response, the Canada route has reached its safety capacity for 2015. Those interested in The Ride For Roswell can still consider registering for any of The Ride’s several other available routes, ranging from 3 miles to 102 miles. The 20th annual Ride For Roswell will begin with the Celebration of Hope on Friday, June 26 with the Ride on Saturday, June 27. More information is available online at rideforroswell.org.

The Empire State Ride, a fully supported, seven day, 518 mile biking adventure embarks from New York City’s Battery Park on Saturday, August 15 and concludes in Niagara Falls State Park on Saturday, August 22 in front of one of the natural wonders of the world. This first-time event to benefit Roswell Park is the only existing, organized bike event to cross New York State. More information is available online at empirestateride.com.

“For our inaugural year in these premier events, you’ll have to “pardon our progress” while working around some transformational changes to our City’s waterfront,” said Niagara Falls Mayor Paul A. Dyster. “We are in the process of removing a mile of former elevated expressway—the Robert Moses Parkway—that ran along the Upper Niagara River in the state park. It is being replaced it with the ‘Riverway,’ a landscaped park road that will evoke Frederick Law Olmsted’s original vision for a proper entry to this globally-recognized destination. The project will fully open access between downtown and state parkland along the River, and will include new bicycle trail access connecting to downtown neighborhoods and the larger Shoreline Trail system.” Mayor Dyster added, “And this is only the beginning—we’ve already begun preliminary design for the next phase of expressway removal on the northern section of the Parkway, along the Niagara River Gorge between downtown and Whirlpool State Park.”

The promise of this new waterfront access, along with other major downtown improvements, have already begun to spark redevelopment interest. Downtown is experiencing a number of new projects, including four new mixed-use hotel projects under construction along Buffalo Avenue Heritage District near the Riverway, totaling roughly 450 rooms and at least five new food/beverage establishments. Other upcoming projects include a major new mixed-use hotel/retail/banquet project on Old Falls Street and the final phase of the adaptive reuse of the former Rainbow Centre Mall to join the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute. To be called the “Wonder Falls Resort” by the designated preferred developer, it will include an indoor waterpark, hotel/spa, restaurants, and a family entertainment complex. This is all part of the “City in the Park” strategy – the plan is to progressively facilitate and achieve a number of mixed-use infill projects to create a denser, more walkable and “bike-able” downtown that is fully connected to adjoining parkland along the Upper and Lower Niagara River.

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The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1898, Roswell Park is one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email AskRoswell@Roswellpark.org. Follow Roswell Park on Facebook and Twitter.