Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Representatives of the Seneca Nation rallied Friday outside Buffalo City Hall Friday to protest economic injustice.
"We are here today because we are in a huge fight against New York State and we are here today to protest and fight against economic injustice," says Leslie Logan, spokeswoman and member of Seneca's Mothers of the Nation.
New York State issued a subpoena to the Seneca Nation on March 25, putting a freeze on multiple Seneca bank accounts due to unpaid slot revenues from the Seneca casino properties in Buffalo, Salamanca and Niagara Falls. The freeze of this account was settled and lifted resulting in a transfer of $564,842,625.20 from the nation to the state.
"In the gaming compact dispute, the money that was in question was always, for five years, in a restricted Escrow account. They are protected so they money was always there," said Logan. "The problem with this was that Governor Kathy Hochul reached in to freeze all of the nations accounts, throwing us into a state of economic paralysis and we couldn't make payroll by the Thursday of that week. We felt this was an act of aggression." Seneca businesses employ over 4500 people.
Seneca's Mothers of The Nation is calling for a seat at the table to negotiate a better deal for revenue, "The Seneca gaming compact is the worst in the United States," says a founding member of Mothers of the Nation, Odie Brant Porter. "We have to fight to have better terms. Right now, New York State is getting a significant portion of our revenues."
Most revenue accrued from the Seneca gaming properties is in slot machines, "We have what is considered a net slot drop. We have money go into a slot machine, we pay our customers. Whatever is leftover, 25% of that goes right to New York State, whatever is leftover, we pay 4500 employees. We pay all the vendors in our area, we contribute significantly to Western New York and what has New York state given us? NOTHING! We've gotten zero from New York State," exclaimed Odie Brant Porter.
A cold and windy day didn't stop supporters from coming out to the rally outside Buffalo City Hall.Max Faery, WBEN.com
"The fight isn't over and we are going to continue to fight as a grassroots community organization to ensure that we do get justice to protect our resources," Logan said.
