Governor Hochul: “For me to be able to be here as Governor of New York and to sign the steel beam that is going to be part of history, all of you should be so very, very proud of that. It doesn't happen without you. And someday, when you're sitting in the stands, and you're able to tell your families that, ‘I helped make this,’ make sure that you have that smile, that sense of pride, and root the Bills on to yet another victory.”
Hochul: “I had one job and that was to unite New York – Downstate, Upstate. And I knew that if we made it to the playoffs, and I could unite all the Jets and Giants fans from the rest of the state and convert them into Buffalo Bills fans, I'd be successful, and we did it. People all across New York, and indeed the nation, were rooting for us over the last couple of weeks. It's powerful.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul joined Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and other local officials to announce that structural steel will begin going up on the Buffalo Bills’ new state-of-the-art stadium and celebrate the more than 800 laborers who contributed to this significant milestone. The new 60,000-seat facility, designed by the Bills in conjunction with Legends and the architectural firm Populous, is ready for the more visible large-scale structural steel work. The first steel beam hoisted into place will signify the impressive progress taking place at the site of the new Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.
PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
I have one question: is labor in the house? All right, all right. I hear you. Well, first of all, Penny, thank you for the introduction, and there's no place like home. I grew up just minutes from here in Hamburg. You could hear the roar of the crowds after 1973, almost 50 years ago when we built the stadium just across the way. But they don't last forever. I knew is a brand-new Governor, sworn-in in August of 2021 as a Buffalo Bills fan and the Governor of the great State of New York, I had one major priority I had to take care to make sure that the Buffalo Bills stay in Buffalo, and to do that we had to build a new stadium. And you're the ones making it happen. So, thank you. Thank you for helping deliver on the dreams of tens of thousands of Buffalo Bills fans, who's not just they'll be able to watch the games, their children will be able to watch the games, and their grandchildren's children will be able to watch the games because of what you're doing here today. So, give yourselves a round of applause. I know you've worked so hard.
You have put your heart and soul into this project. You showed up day after day. Blizzards and storms and heavy rains didn't stop you. You knew you had to get the job done. You showed up every single day, in the toughest of times, and I'm so grateful that you've done that. We had over 800 people, 136,000 hours just since we launched this project, and in seven months we're ready for the next phase.
At first, we had to dig the hole, and you're the ones responsible, and now we put in the steel. And my dad and my grandpa worked at the Bethlehem Steel Plant, so for me to be able to be here as Governor of New York and to sign the steel beam that is going to be part of history, all of you should be so very, very proud of that. It doesn't happen without you. And someday, when you're sitting in the stands, and you're able to tell your families that, “I helped make this,” make sure that you have that smile, that sense of pride, and root the Bills on to yet another victory.
And I'll just say one thing. I know it's been a tough week for our fans. But I said as Governor from Buffalo, the first Governor from Buffalo since the 1800s, I had one job and that was to unite New York – Downstate, Upstate. And I knew that if we made it to the playoffs,and I could unite all the Jets and Giants fans from the rest of the state and convert them into Buffalo Bills fans, I'd be successful, and we did it. People all across New York, and indeed the nation, were rooting for us over the last couple of weeks. It's powerful. There's a sense of pride because we're so tough, we're so resilient. We love our team through good times and tough times, and we always come back for another season. That's what's in the DNA of Buffalonians, we always come back.
And I want to thank the Buffalo Bills organization, Penny, and so many others who really do believe in this community. They believe in Buffalo the way we believe. I want to thank people like Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Senator Tim Kennedy, who had to help me get this through the legislature. It was not an easy task, but we made sure that we could fund this so this project would go forward, and we'd have $11 billion of economic impact over the next 30 years. That's real money coming back to these communities.
But also, to County Executive Mark Poloncarz, he was with me in the trenches, making sure we got this deal done. I want to thank him as well. He's being represented by Lisa Chimera here today as Deputy County Executive. And all my partners in state government who were introduced, they made this happen.
To get the money, but the money means nothing if we don't have you, and your hard work, and your dedication making this day happen. I could not be prouder of all of you. And I say, “thank you.” And onward to the next season where we will continue to be victorious and bring home those big wins for the beloved fans of Western New York and all across this nation. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Let's enjoy the rest of the day.
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