Ex-Falls mayoral candidate raising restitution through wing sales
Apr. 25—Former Niagara Falls mayoral candidate Demetrius Nix has a new side hustle — selling chicken wings, hamburgers and other items out of a restaurant space on Pine Avenue.
His mission: Raise the $32,000 he needs to cover the cost of restitution to the owner of a Pierce Avenue building he admitted to damaging as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors earlier this year.
Nix, the owner of Nix Construction and Property Management and the founder of the Entrepreneur School of Thought on 19th Street, opened his new business, N-Town Wingz, on April 8, the day of the solar eclipse. The restaurant is located inside the old Colosso Taco location at 2440 Pine Ave.
"The city's really supporting it," Nix said. "I've never opened a business that has taken off this fast."
Nix received permission from the owner of the space to operate rent-free for at least the first month. He is using kitchen equipment on loan from a friend to cook a limited menu of items that are available for dine-in or takeout, including fried fish, fried shrimp, hamburgers and chicken wings, with french fries on the side.
While he is getting help from a couple of cooks and staff that he's hired, Nix said he also had to learn how to fry on the fly to keep the business open. He said he's following recipes he got from his cousin that were handed down by her grandmother.
"I never cooked before," he said. "I didn't know how to make a hamburger. People are surprised right now that I'm a cook."
N-Town is open from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily and to 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Nix said he works there after he's done with his contracting duties on weekdays and on weekends. He estimates he's about halfway to the $32,000 he needs to raise to avoid a stint in state prison.
"It's a hard, hard, hard process. I'm on the road to it," he said.
Nix challenged incumbent Falls Mayor Robert Restaino in the June 2023 Democratic mayoral primary election and also ran for mayor in the 2023 general election on the We All We Got party line.
He was the subject of a police investigation into damage caused in January 2023 to the interior of a private property in the 1100 block of Pierce Avenue. He was also linked to a reported burglary at an apartment building in the 500 block of 20th Street, between Jan. 18 and 19.
He was later charged in a grand jury indictment with counts of third-degree burglary, second-degree criminal mischief and petit larceny in connection with the Pierce Avenue property incident. No charges were filed in the burglary cases.
Prosecutors alleged, and Nix admitted as part of a plea agreement in February, that he caused extensive damage to the Pierce Avenue property where he performed some contracting work. A police investigation found Nix broke into the home on Jan. 16, 2023, and prosecutors contend he caused $30,000 in damage to the building and stole $1,500 in construction equipment from the site.
The property was being renovated by Rod Davis, a Western New York developer, whose firm, Power City Ventures, LLC, had been designated by the city as the preferred developer for a housing renovation project that was eligible for up to $1 million in reimbursable grant funds through the state's Restore New York program. Davis has since withdrawn from the renovation project.
Nix claimed that Davis owed him $13,000 for work his construction company performed at the Power City-controlled properties in the Falls. Specifically, Nix claimed that he was owed money for work done at a property owned by a David-controlled subsidiary known as Akeed, Inc. A police report on the burglary at 1117 Pierce Ave., listed the property as owned by Akeed Inc.
In an interview with the Gazette last year, Nix admitted that he had been inside the Pierce Avenue property. He insisted at the time that he was only there to do renovation and repair work for Davis. He denied committing a burglary.
Law enforcement sources, with knowledge of the burglary investigation, told the Gazette that evidence linking Nix to the crime included security camera video, "fingerprints and other forensic evidence."
"Of course my fingerprints are over there," Nix told the Gazette. "I did all the work on that house."
After accepting the plea deal, Nix told the newspaper he did what he thought was best for him and his family.
Nix is now facing a possible state prison term of 1 1/3 to four years unless he can come up with $32,000 in restitution for the owner of the Pierce Avenue property by his May 26 sentencing date. Judge John Ottaviano told Nix he would sentence him to "no more than 1 year in the Niagara County jail" if he paid full restitution to his victim.
Nix said he's not sure he's going to make it but he's pleased by the city's support so far.
"I feel like I'm just going to have to work every single day and the Lord will do the rest," Nix said. "I don't feel 100 percent confident. I need the city's support."
