Taylor Swift wasn’t the only VIP at the Buffalo Bills’ playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs in January.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration has invited Tom Perez, President Biden’s top adviser tasked with helping New York state respond to the immigration crisis, as one of its guests, at the same venue at Highmark Stadium. I watched the game sitting in the state’s cozy “I Love New York” suite. January 21st match, new record show.
VIP Suites is operated by the Empire State Development Authority, which is responsible for stimulating New York’s economy.
Critics wondered what Perez, a Buffalo native and huge Bills fan, had done to deserve VIP treatment.
“I wasn’t on the guest list. But if I were, I would have asked Mr. Perez about the Biden border crisis,” said Republican state Sen. George Borrero, who represents the Buffalo area.
“If Mr. Perez and the Biden administration love New York, they should secure our border,” said Rep. Jamie Williams, a Brooklyn Democrat who represents the area surrounding the Floyd Bennett Field Emergency Migrant Shelter. said.
Empire State Development is required to issue an annual report on who is invited to watch Bills games in the “I Love New York” suite.
Hochul and her husband, William, who worked as chief executive officer of Delaware North Corp., the Bills Stadium concessionaire, frequently stay at the hotel.
But records show the governor held his own Bills-themed fundraiser in Manhattan, while Mr. Perez, accompanied by a guest, Hamburg resident Dr. Jose Perez, watched the Bills lose to the Chiefs from his suite. It is said that he was watching.
Perez had no immediate comment through the White House.
Other guests from the state include House Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), who was in the suite for the Dec. 17 game against the Dallas Cowboys. Heastie is a Cowboys fan.
Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, D-Buffalo, also attended with guests.
Heastie’s friend, lobbyist Patrick Jenkins, who is close to the governor and the Queens Democratic Party, and his wife, Dawn Cotter Jenkins, were also in the VIP suite.
Another lobbyist, Kathleen Achibar, a Bolton-St. John’s Boyd resident with ties to the Buffalo area, was also in the suite for the Cowboys game.
At the Bills-Miami Dolphins game on Oct. 1, actor William Fitchner, along with 10 members of Oscar-winner Guilliermo del Toro’s Toronto-based staff, filed a lawsuit against the state. I was sitting there.
New York State offers generous tax breaks to film and television companies that produce programming in the state.
The guests, except for Perez, made charitable donations equal to the cost of their tickets, according to a report from Empire State Development. The report does not indicate that he was asked for or made such a donation.
In response to questions about not attending the Bills game with Perez, Hochul’s office said he has been in contact with the White House about the immigration crisis and other issues.
A spokesperson for Governor Hochul said, “Governor Hochul has multiple conversations each week with White House officials, including Chief of Staff Zients and Senior Advisor Perez during his visit to the White House in the past two weeks. This includes long, direct conversations with people.”
In 2022, Hochul, a Buffalo native, signed a controversial deal with Bills ownership to build a new stadium across from their current 1970s facility in Orchard Park, outside Buffalo.
The new stadium is scheduled to open in 2026 and originally came with a $1.4 billion price tag, most of which is being collected by New York state taxpayers.
New York state will provide a $600 million grant, and Erie County will contribute an additional $250 million toward the new stadium.
Until the Tennessee Titans last year announced a splurge of $1.26 billion in public funds to build a new stadium, the $850 million total was the largest taxpayer subsidy for a stadium in NFL history.
Empire State Development announced Monday night that the Bills Stadium Suites will be managed to promote economic development in Western New York.
For example, an agency spokesperson said six tickets were provided to the Western New York Amherst Chamber of Commerce.
According to the office, suite guests can donate the price of their ticket (billing determined) to a charity of their choice.
The state denied the use of suites in the new stadium.
In exchange, Erie County will be provided with room for the new stadium, and county officials will determine its purpose and compliance.
