Gov. Kathy Hochul defended her record against her two primary opponents in a debate held on WCBS-TV and CBS Newsradio 880 Tuesday night, where topics ranged from abortion rights to cryptocurrency mining.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who is running to the left of Hochul, and Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi, a moderate Democrat to the right of the governor, ganged up to attack Hochul on the deal she struck to keep the Buffalo Bills playing in Western New York.
Suozzi said Hochul authorized over $1 billion in taxpayer funds to subsidize the NFL team.
“That’s the biggest taxpayer giveaway in the history of the NFL,” Suozzi said. “And even worse, it was announced four days before the budget was due.”
Williams also criticized the stadium plan, which will be built in the suburbs, as not doing enough for people in Black and brown communities.
Both raised questions about a potential conflict of interest between Hochul and her husband, William Hochul, who is the general counsel at the hospitality company Delaware North. It runs the concession stands at the current Bills stadium.
Hochul said the new stadium’s revenues will more than pay for the state and local government subsidies. And she said she and her husband, who was the former U.S. Attorney for Western New York during President Barack Obama’s tenure, keep their business and political interests separate.
“We’ve had to always have a separation between our responsibilities,” said Hochul. “I’m proud of his work. His ethics are second to none, as our mine.”
