Tag: Buffalo Bills

Feb 3

2022

Stadium benefits campaign goes public

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 A coalition that wants a community benefits agreement attached to public subsidies for a new Buffalo Bills stadium has taken their campaign public, after months of quiet organizing. The coalition held a press conference Tuesday morning at Johnnie B. Wiley stadium on the city’s East Side — the old Rockpile, the original home of the Bills. The speakers included community activist Karima Amin, Tanvier Peart and Miles Gresham of Partnership for the Public Good, Bridge Rauch of Buffalo Transit Riders United, and Dr. Myron Glick, the founder and CEO of Jericho Road Community Health Center. The coalition wants a legally[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 28

2022

CBA proponents here seeking first win

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Third in a three-part series. Western New York has never adopted a community benefits agreement the likes of which is being proposed for a new Buffalo Bills stadium. Twice, coalitions of community groups and elected officials have tried to attach CBAs to big, taxpayer-funded development projects in Buffalo. Those efforts — the first for Canalside, the second for the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus — yielded mixed results: Both campaigns coaxed concessions from developers, but neither yielded the kind of legally binding agreement that has become common in other communities across the country over the past 20 years.  Now, many of[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 27

2022

Linking community benefits to a Bills stadium

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This is the second of a three-day series in our continuing in-depth coverage of issues related to a proposed stadium for the Buffalo Bills. Erie County Legislature Chair April Baskin doesn’t concern herself with whether a new Buffalo Bills stadium will be built in Buffalo or Orchard Park.  She’s not particularly worried about its cost. What matters most, Baskin told Investigative Post, is what the community gets in exchange for the taxpayer dollars the team’s owners want from the state and county.  Pegula Sports and Entertainment has made it clear the team expects significant public subsidies — as much as[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 26

2022

Heaney discusses Bills stadium on ‘Pressroom

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Jim Heaney covered a lot of ground regarding the proposed Bills stadium in his interview on The Capitol Pressroom. Heaney updated host David Lombardo on recent developments and reporting by Investigative Post, including a story last week that detailed how taxpayers are on the hook for about $13 million a year of stadium expenses.  

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 25

2022

How a stadium can benefit the community

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This is the first of a three-day series in our continuing in-depth coverage of issues related to a proposed stadium for the Buffalo Bills. Before the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers broke ground last summer on a new arena, the team’s owners, elected officials and civic groups made certain the $1.8 billion project would benefit the entire community. In September 2020, the parties signed a community benefits agreement, or CBA, that outlined who would get jobs and contracts during and after construction, how much those jobs would pay, what the project would look like, and how the city and its residents[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 25

2022

The Pegulas should pay up

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Note: A version of this column first appeared in the current issue of Buffalo Spree. It’s been updated to reflect recent developments. Let’s suppose a company wanted to build a factory in Buffalo. The plant would be used only 10 times a year.  It wouldn’t employ many people, and a fair share of its front-line workers would suffer injuries that would haunt them later in life. The factory owner is wealthy – a billionaire, in fact – and his business highly profitable. Nevertheless, the owner demands that taxpayers provide hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies to build his factory.[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 20

2022

A lack of urgency on Bills stadium

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There’s been talk lately from the Buffalo Bills and government officials that time is running out to decide on a new stadium for the team.  It’s worth noting, however, that a committee was put together at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s behest to consider stadium options – eight years ago.  It only met once. Eight years ago. The group wasn’t lacking in clout. Notable New Stadium Working Group members included U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, LP Ciminelli Chairman Louis Ciminelli, Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy, Empire State Development Corp. President Kenneth Adams and Kathy Hochul,[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 17

2022

The hidden costs of housing the Bills

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There was a time when Erie County made money from Buffalo Bills games in Orchard Park.  From the opening of the football stadium in 1973 through 1997, the county collected millions of dollars from parking, concessions and the sale of stadium naming rights. No more.  Erie County in 1998 made major concessions that gave all the revenue from parking, concessions and naming rights to the Bills.  The county and New York State also agreed to take on a host of expenses previously covered by the Bills, ranging from stadium maintenance to the cost of ushers and ticket takers. The bottom[...]

Posted 2 years ago
Investigative Post

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