| The mountain in front
of the Seneca Buffalo Creek casino has stretched a few feet higher.
Joel Giambra, the Erie County Executive, has entered the fight
against the casino. Giambra plans to link the county to two
lawsuits already in place against the casino project.
The Seneca Buffalo Creek casino is to be
constructed in Buffalo’s Cobblestone district. The tribe does not
expect the casino to have major tourist appeal. Local officials
have suspicions as to the truth of those expectations.
“It has to be designed in a way to attract new
dollars to the community,” protested Giambra. Mayor Byron Brown of
Buffalo harbors “very serious concerns” about the casino.
Both officials are against the casino and are
making their strides in opposition to it. Giambra is entering the
county into two lawsuits filed to pull the plug on the construction
of the Seneca Buffalo Creek casino. Brown is closely examining the
plans for the casino.
The Seneca tribe boasts that their casino will
spur at least 1,000 new jobs. Giambra does not disagree but stated,
“The studies are very clear, that for every job you create, you lose
1.5 to 2.7 jobs in existing businesses.” Barry Snyder, the Seneca
Nation President, still maintains hope that the tribal casino will
aid in Buffalo’s economic rebirth.
David Franczyk, the Buffalo Common Council
President is not necessarily against casinos in Buffalo, but clearly
does not support the Seneca project. “The only reason we’re going
for a casino is the projected revenue. Which I don’t think is
enough. It’s said to be about $7 million.” $7 million is city’s
estimated share from the casino’s slot machine revenue.
Buffalo officials are also unhappy with the
seemingly limited ambitions the Seneca have for the casino. Most of
the casino patrons are expected to be Buffalo residents and people
from the surrounding areas.
“They have indicated their marketing will be
exclusively in the City of Buffalo and the surrounding suburbs,”
complained Brown. “We think it’s important that if a casino comes
to Buffalo, that it be marketed aggressively outside of the region.”
Summarizing their legal angle, the lead
attorney of the plaintiffs, Joseph Finnerty said, “We came to the
conclusion that the people of Buffalo had received a bad deal. The
people who put this together were dealing from the bottom of the
deck.”
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