Remarks By Speaker Sheldon Silver

Announcement Of Investments In Downtown Buffalo

700 Ellicott Street, The Lobby, Buffalo, NY
Friday, January 20, 2006 [10:30 A.M.]

	Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (center) was joined by (left) George DeTitta, chief executive officer, Hauptman / Woodward Medical Research Institute, and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown at the Institute for a news conference to announce the reallocation of state funding to benefit several high-profile economic-development projects, including $14.8 million for the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus.
	Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz also participated in the news conference and explained the Assembly and Senate’s efforts to redirect the $44 million in state funds initially earmarked for the Adelphia Project to other worthy economic-development initiatives in Buffalo.

As part of our ongoing and longstanding commitment to spurring strong job growth in Western New York, we have gathered together here at the Hauptman/Woodward Medical Research Institute in our world-class Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus to announce that the State of New York is investing $44 million dollars in seven key economic development and cultural tourism projects across Downtown Buffalo.

To Buffalo's new mayor, Mayor Byron Brown, let me say I hope this is the first of many such announcements to come. The investments we are announcing today are as follows:

• The State of New York is investing $21 million dollars to help Bass Pro Shops open a new superstore in the now vacant Memorial Auditorium; a project that will create 400 new jobs.

• We are making a $14.8 million capital investment in the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus to enhance its infrastructure, renovate laboratories, and for the acquisition of cutting-edge equipment.

• The State is investing $3 million to complete the construction projects at the Buffalo Transportation/Pierce Arrow Museum.

• We are investing $2.5 million to help HealthNow complete construction of a new parking facility. This allocation is part of the $17 million incentive package provided by the State to relocate Health-Now's corporate headquarters to the City of Buffalo.

• We are investing $1 million in Frank Lloyd Wright's Rowing Boathouse Corporation to support construction of a new recreational facility.

• One million dollars is being invested to support renovation of Nash House and to complete construction of a related museum.

• And, the State is investing $700,000 to continue the renovation and rehabilitation of Shea's Buffalo Theater.

These investments were made possible thanks to a bipartisan agreement between the Assembly, the Senate and the Governor to re-allocate state dollars that had been earmarked for Adelphia, so that we could get the most "bang for the buck" here in Western New York.

Let me commend Governor Pataki, Senator Bruno and our Senate colleagues (represented here by Senator Dale Volker) for joining us in achieving consensus on these important projects.

Let me also take a moment to acknowledge my colleagues in the Assembly's Erie County Delegation, whose determined leadership has once again delivered good news for Western New Yorkers.

• Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz;

• Assembly Member Robin Schimminger, who is Chair of the Assembly's Committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry;

• Assembly Member Sam Hoyt;

• And Assembly Member Crystal Peoples.

Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, chair of the Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry Committee, also spoke at the news conference about the investment the state was making in Western New York.
Silver and Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples met with William Miles of the Michigan Avenue Redevelopment Project, whose organization will receive a portion of the state funds for the renovation of Nash House in the City of Buffalo.

As I said back in 1999, when I came to Buffalo and delivered on the Assembly's promise to provide a Western New York Economic Plan, the way we're going to elevate the economy of Upstate New York is by looking at this state as a collection of regional economies.

We must identify each region's assets and comparative advantages, tailor our strategies to each region's unique circumstances, and target our limited dollars to those projects that will create jobs and become building blocks for future economic development.

Western New York is blessed with a powerful biomedical community.

We're building on that.

Western New York is blessed with great tourism destinations and recreational potential.

We're building on that.

Western New York is blessed with a great workforce.

We're building on that.

Western New York is blessed with outstanding public- and private-sector leadership.

Many of those leaders are right here today, eager to talk about the good things that are happening - AND CAN HAPPEN - in Western New York.

My congratulations to the City of Buffalo and to Mayor Brown. We look forward to working with you to build a better, more prosperous future for this great city and for all of Western New York.

Now, if Marv Levy can take the Buffalo Bills back to the Super Bowl, that really will be the icing on the cake.