The Issue: Gov. Hochul’s deal with the Bills to put $850 million in taxpayer cash toward a new stadium.
In ancient Rome, government attempted to curry favor with the masses by offering free bread and circuses (“Hochul’s Daft Bills Giveaway,” Editorial, March 30).
Today, we have sports pork. Public dollars are being used as corporate welfare to subsidize a private-sector business.
The only real beneficiaries of these expenditures are team owners and their players, who earn far more than the average fan.
It is impossible to judge the amount of new economic activities that these so-called public benefits will generate.
Between season sky boxes, concession refreshment and souvenir sales along with rental income for other sports, rock concerts and commercial events, why can’t the Buffalo Bills’ owners finance the new stadium on their own?
Professional sports are not an essential service and should not qualify for government subsidy.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
Our unelected governor makes a huge $850 million deal for a new stadium in Buffalo.
Her husband, Bill Hochul, is a senior vice president for a major food concessionaire company. Anybody see a conflict of interest on this deal?
No wonder the rich make millions. It’s insider deals like this that go unopposed.
Vincent Conti
Staten Island
Before spending $850 million of taxpayer dollars on a new stadium to tether the Bills to western New York, legislators should understand its impact.
Gov. Hochul claims that 10,000 union jobs will be created. However, these jobs will only last two to three years unless remodeling the new stadium becomes an annual affair.
States and municipalities have been blackmailed by team owners who threaten to move their franchises if demands to build new stadia aren’t met.
This legal extortion has resulted in state-financed sports arenas, a.k.a “welfare for the wealthy,” instead of taxpayer dollars being spent on improving schools, hospitals, libraries and other institutions of social betterment.
Paul L. Newman
Merion Station, Pa.
I like football as much as the next guy, but who is Hochul to give away $850 million for a stadium that hosts eight games a year?
She could have built schools, parks, day-care centers or maybe even a dirt track so the kids don’t have to ride motorcycles on city streets.
But not this genius. She chose to fund a billionaire who threatened to leave if he didn’t get his way. Not to mention, Kathy is a Buffalo native, and her husband is in the industry.
The state needed all that federal COVID money, and she spends $850 million to build a stadium?
Did anyone ask me if that’s where I want my tax money going? No wonder the state is broke. People like her keep getting elected.
Joe Micare
Malta
Giving away $850 million of taxpayer money to billionaire owners to build a new stadium in Buffalo is the height of irresponsibility.
How we can justify any public money being used to build these arenas in this day and age is beyond me.
The funny thing is once the stadium is built, the cost of tickets will be through the roof and unaffordable to the average taxpayer and family. Another example of trickle up — not trickle down.
Tony Giametta
Oceanside
Hochul decides to fund the new stadium for the Buffalo Bills. So who foots the bill? Taxpayers.
I believe, as many others in New York do, that the Jets or Giants could very well use a new stadium located in the five boroughs which can be used by both teams, essentially killing two birds with one stone. This would create thousands of jobs here, along with millions of dollars in revenue.
This seems to be a politically motivated move, instead of doing the right thing for the city, especially considering all the revenue lost during the pandemic.
Joseph Comperchio
Brooklyn
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