ODDS ARE BETTOR
Decisions suit Kat hubby biz
Gov. Hochul’s administration took steps in recent disputes involving lucrative upstate gambling rights that were in line with the interests of Delaware North, where hubby Bill Hochul works, a report says.
Last month, she agreed to a lastminute tweak to the state budget to restructure the public-private board overseeing western New York’s Batavia Downs hotel and casino, a competitor of the multibillion-dollar firm where Bill Hochul is senior counsel, The New York Times said.
While Delaware North says it is no longer interested in acquiring Batavia, the restructuring could presumably make such a move easier, the outlet said — but acknowledged there is no evidence Hochul or her husband has done any wrongdoing in any of the cases.
‘Politics over people’
The board’s restructuring came after the Hochul administration froze $564 million in assets of the Seneca Nation — another Delaware North rival — and used $418 million of the money last year for a new stadium for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
According to the governor’s office, the state froze Seneca’s assets because the company defaulted on payments that were part of an agreement to pay off overdue revenue.
Delaware North was reportedly in line for the concessions contract at the new Bills venue, although the stadium’s overseers have since said they will award the contract to another company in 2026.
“What the governor did was literally putting politics over people,” Seneca President Matthew Pagels alleged in November.
Hochul aides are negotiating a new agreement with Seneca Nation for the state’s share of gambling revenue from its three casinos, as well as defining the area where it would have exclusive casino rights — a decision that would affect Delaware North, the Times said.
The current deal is set to expire at the end of the year, the Buffalo News reported this month.
Director of State Operations Kathryn Garcia and Counsel Liz Fine are to handle the final agreement — which Hochul would have to sign off on, the Buffalo outlet said.
Hochul made a big show in 2021 of signing a recusal agreement for any dealings involving Delaware North, although there is no record that the document was ever sent to the state ethics board.
Seneca council member JC Seneca said Sunday a new gambling agreement with the state “should have been negotiated sooner” but that Hochul’s recusing herself due to ties to rival Delaware North “certainly makes negotiations more difficult than they should be.”
The governor’s office on Sunday denied any impropriety in dealings involving Delaware North, saying, “Governor Hochul has taken unprecedented steps to restore trust in government.”
Delaware North is not a party to any dealings involving Seneca Nation, officials said.