A jubilant Gov. Kathy Hochul never mentioned this year's primary and general elections Monday as she unveiled a tentative deal for a new Buffalo Bills stadium.
Neither did some of her rivals, who were lying low and avoiding comment on a long-sought agreement requiring the state and Erie County to commit $850 million for a new $1.4 billion facility in Orchard Park. Opposing a deal to keep a National Football League franchise considered part of the community's "psyche," after all, might prove a tough sell in Bills-crazy Western New York.
So Hochul, a Buffalo resident who placed a new stadium deal near the top of her agenda since assuming office last August, seemed to own the moment. Some were taking shots at particulars of her agreement. Others insisted that Bills ownership should assume more of the costs.
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But on Monday, at least, Hochul was controlling a message that dwelled on guaranteeing the Bills will remain in Buffalo for the next 30 years under an agreement she claimed ranks favorably against recent deals for other teams.
"You don't give away taxpayer money without a deal to keep them here in the State of New York," she said during a virtual conversation with local reporters, adding that the new agreement "answers the anxiety a lot of us have."
After succeeding Andrew M. Cuomo following his resignation seven months ago, Hochul was looking for a solid accomplishment of her own – especially one that resonates in Western New York – as she seeks a full, four-year term. The stadium deal, which she said will result in the biggest construction project in Western New York history, now appears to kick off the "Hochul era."
It will result in all kinds of claims she can now tout on the campaign trail:
• 10,000 new construction jobs.
• $27 million annually in sales and use taxes.
• An economic impact she estimated at more than $385 million annually.
Indeed, Republicans such as state Chairman Nicholas A. Langworthy and gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Neither did Cuomo, whom Hochul on Monday indirectly claimed was slow to jump-start the stadium deal.
"I made sure this was one of my priorities," she said. "There was a lot of time invested to make up for lost time."
New York and Erie County provided some clarity on how much the public will spend on a new, $1.4 billion Buffalo Bills stadium. But government officials left some specific questions unanswered.
Cuomo, who has recently issued press releases on other megaprojects in which he was involved like a rebuilt LaGuardia International Airport, reacted publicly only to a new Siena College poll showing him with substantial support.
"When New Yorkers have the facts, they realize the politicalization and the corruption of the process that was used to force from office a governor with a real record of results that improved people’s lives," said spokesman Rich Azzopardi of the Siena poll following Cuomo's series of statewide TV ads and major speeches in recent weeks.
Rep. Thomas R. Suozzi of Nassau County ripped into Hochul's deal as he looks for traction in his Democratic primary challenge against her as "the biggest tax giveaway for an NFL team in the history of the League … for eight home games a year."
"I support a new Bills stadium, and there was a way to get it built without having the governor forcing hard working New Yorkers to fork over their tax dollars to help a billionaire donor get even richer," he added. "She’ll enjoy the new skybox, leaving New Yorkers saddled with higher taxes.”
The Working Families Party, which has endorsed New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams for governor, also blasted Hochul's efforts on Monday following similar questions raised last week by Williams.
"The Bills stadium deal is a continuation of trickle-down economic development schemes that have enriched wealthy investors on the backs of Black, brown, and working class communities," said party Director Sochie Naemeka. "Our public dollars should be going toward public goods, and not subsidizing an oil billionaire's new stadium."
Although the negotiations that concluded with an announcement Monday have spanned the last several months, the deal for a new Buffalo Bills stadium has, in some ways, been a decade in the making.
All of this now enters intensifying discussions over a proposed $214 billion budget expected to be finalized this week. Last week, Senate Finance Chairwoman Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, said she would not approve such significant amounts of taxpayer dollars for private purposes, and noted "games" that could result in figures less than the $1 billion in state money commonly discussed for a more palpable deal. (In the deal announced Monday, the state contribution is $600 million.)
But key local representatives like Sens. Timothy M. Kennedy and Sean M. Ryan, along with Assembly Minority Leader Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, all issued statements of strong approval heading into final budget negotiations.
And County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz said Monday he had received positive feedback from both Democrats and Republicans over the past 12 hours, including county legislators on both sides of the aisle who are both surprised and pleased that the public cost of the deal isn’t greater.
“They’re very, very pleased with the terms we were able to negotiate,” he said.
News Reporter Sandra Tan contributed to this report.
