Time for our monthly mayor check-in with Niagara Falls mayor Jim Diodati for an update on what is going on in the city.

Currently there are over 1000 vacation rental units operating illegally in Niagara Falls. People from out of town will buy properties in residential areas and rent them out on sites like Airbnb and VRBO. Rental properties are only allowed in tourist and commercial areas. People can now report these rentals and if deemed illegal the city will notify the mortgage holder and insurance company and often times they will be taken to court. For these properties to be legal, it has to be in the right zone, it can’t be more than three bedrooms and you have to have a license.

In good news, Niagara Falls Tourism says with the lifting the fire bans in the area, they can resume the nightly firework show at 10. The 5-minute long program – which was set to run every night until October – has been paused for almost a week because of smoke from wildfires burning in northern Ontario and Quebec.

There are also a lot of events happening in the Falls in the coming months. On June 16th-18th you can check out the Rotary Ribfest and on Canada Day there is going to be a celebration at Firemen’s Park from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm. There will be food vendors, activities, music, and a kid zone.

Mayor Diodati also talked about the fun he has had recently with celebrities in the Falls, including the Trailer Park Boys and Canadian professional wrestler, Trish Stratus.