ALBANY, N.Y. (WBEN) A new statewide poll finds widespread disapproval of
600 million dollars in public subsidies for a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills.
The funding was recently approved by the governor and state legislature
in the newly adopted New York State budget.
Between April 18 and April 21, Siena College asked voters across the state, "Do you approve or disapprove of NYS contributing 600 million dollars toward the building of a new football stadium in Erie County for the Buffalo Bills?"
"Nearly a quarter, or 24% of New Yorkers said they approve of it, but nearly two-thirds, or 63%, disapprove of it," said Siena College pollster Steve Greenberg.
Siena College
Disapproval runs across party lines, democrat(60% opposed), independent (64% opposed) and republican(70% opposed).
"Interestingly," he said, "those polled in New York City were less opposed than those polled upstate." New York City voters opposed the stadium funding 55% to 33%. But upstate voters opposed it 68% to 18%."
It was pointed out to Greenberg that there is a big difference between upstate and Western New York.
He responded, "We start with a statewide sample of 806 registered voters. Upstate is about 40% of that. That brings the sample down to about 320 voters. Of that, 57 were from Western New York counties across Buffalo and the Finger Lakes. This segment of the poll opposed the stadium deal 65% to 31%. Greenberg admitting that the smaller the sample size, the biggest the
margin of error.
Greenberg puts the stadium issue in the context of the political times. "Right now New Yorkers are not bullish about the direction of the state. They are focused on crime and economic issues are a close second. So, the mood of voters right now is not good." He said pessimism is built into many questions before voters at this time.
The Siena poll also looked at Governor Kathy Hochul's job performance rating. It's the worst rating she's ever received while in office. Right now only 36% of New York voters give her a positive job performance rating. 57% give her a negative job performance rating. That's 21 points under water. It was under water by 11 points last month and just two points under water at the start of the year.
You can see the entire poll here.
