Tag: Buffalo Billion

Jul 12

2017

Hurdles ahead for Metro Rail extension

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An extension of Buffalo’s light rail system to Amherst is as close as it’s ever been – which still isn’t very close. The plan gained momentum when Gov. Cuomo threw his support behind it in his State of the State earlier this year, as part of the second phase of the Buffalo Billion initiative. Still, the decision to build an extension has not yet been made, said Thomas George, director of public transit for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. “We’re not moving along in a process to the construction, we’re moving along in the evaluation process,” he said. “It’s absolutely not[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Jun 19

2017

“Sloppy” management of state projects

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The second of two reports issued by Bart Schwartz, hired by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to look into the management of state development projects, including the Buffalo Billion, found a “sloppy process” and “systemic problems.” Jim Heaney, speaking to WGRZ’s Michael Wooten, said the reports lack details and “raise as many questions as they answer.” He also noted that the second report was issued two months ago, but that it took a Freedom of Information request from The Buffalo News to bring the documents to public light.

Posted 7 years ago

Jun 6

2017

Keith talks ‘Billion contract perks on WBFO

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Investigative Post reporter Charlotte Keith discusses her recent story on the unusual perks of LPCiminelli’s contract to build the vast factory for SolarCity in Buffalo, the centerpiece of Gov. Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion initiative. Keith found that the company was reimbursed for thousands of dollars in lavish meal and entertainment expenses that went far beyond what state agencies usually pay for. She spoke about her reporting with Jay Moran on WBFO’s Press Pass.    

Posted 7 years ago

May 25

2017

Heaney talks ‘Billion abuses on ‘Pressroom

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Jim Heaney tells Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom about the “outrageous” payments made by the Fort Schuyler Management Corp. to LPCiminelli on the SolarCity project. The reimbursements were reported Tuesday by Charlotte Keith of Investigative Post. Heaney and Arbetter conclude their conversation with a brief discussion on another Investigative Post story, this one done by Dan Telvock, about the state stocking a badly polluted creek in Niagara County with fish despite an advisory to not eat fish caught in the creek.

Posted 7 years ago

May 23

2017

Perks of LPCiminelli’s Buffalo Billion contract

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It was an expensive dinner after a long day of meetings on the SolarCity project. A senior executive at LPCiminelli, the company building the factory, ate at an upscale Italian restaurant in Albany, joined by two architects working on the project. The cost of the meal topped $120 each. That night, LPCiminelli picked up the tab. But, ultimately, state taxpayers footed the bill. A few months later, the company listed the meal as a reimbursable expense under its contract to build the vast solar panel factory, the marquee project of the governor’s Buffalo Billion initiative, and was paid back, in[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Mar 28

2017

Heaney talks subsidies with ‘Pressroom

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Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom interviews Jim Heaney on the “State of Subsidies” series being published this week by Investigative Post and select newspapers across the state. They were joined partway through the interview by E.J. McMahon, research director of the Empire Center for Public Policy, and Ron Deutsch, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute.

Posted 7 years ago

Jan 9

2017

Heaney weighs in on Buffalo Billion II

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WGRZ News Anchor Maryalice Demler interviewed Editor Jim Heaney hours after Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled a broad outline of a $500 million extension of his Buffalo Billion program. You can catch Heaney’s comments in the video below or in the slightly revised text that follows. Heaney also provided analysis to WBFO. What do you find striking in the governor’s proposal? It’s very short on spending details. There’s no talk of reforms to avoid the corruption we’ve seen so far in the programs. But more than that, a lot of the spending has little or nothing to do with economic development. I[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Nov 15

2016

Second Buffalo Billion deal benefits Ciminelli

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U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara says the way LPCiminelli won the contract to build the SolarCity factory in Buffalo was criminal. The deal-making behind another Buffalo Billion project that LPCiminelli had previously landed, to build space for biotech company Albany Molecular Research Inc., bears some striking similarities to the way the company won the SolarCity work, Investigative Post has found. In both cases, for example, lobbyist Todd Howe worked for LPCiminelli and the state-affiliated economic development agency that managed Buffalo Billion projects and chose which companies would win contracts. Howe has pled guilty to federal corruption charges and is cooperating with[...]

Posted 7 years ago
Investigative Post

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