U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, renewed his criticism of Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday after the governor said the poor condition of roads on and around Seneca Nation territory was due to the gaming revenue dispute.
A three-member arbitration panel ruled in January the Senecas owned the state $225 million in back payments after ending those payments in early 2017. The Senecas have appealed the decision to the federal district court in Buffalo.
Earlier this month, Reed appeared with state and local elected officials along the Thruway to point out the difference in the highway condition on and off the Cattaraugus Territory. The Thruway speed limit is reduced to 45 mph and rough road signs are posted coming onto the Cattaraugus Territory.
The same conditions can be found on state highways on and around the Allegany Territory — especially in the city of Salamanca, where officials are blaming the state for not repairing state highways that go through the city.
On Tuesday, Cuomo said, “The issue with the Senecas is larger than I-90. They are, I believe, holding I-90 and the repair of I-90 as part of the larger dispute.”
Cuomo also said that if the state repaired the Thruway it could potentially jeopardize the state’s ongoing battle with the Seneca Nation.
Reed, in a press call with reporters, expressed “great concern” that the governor “acknowledged he is putting the public safety at risk because of a political dispute he has over gaming revenues” with the Seneca Nation. He said Cuomo was being a bully, and that the governor’s “strategy to deal with the gaming issue is appalling to me.”
“These things don’t have anything to do with each other,” Reed said.
Reed said his greatest concern is the traveling public’s safety on the stretch of the Thruway on the Cattaraugus Territory in Chautauqua County. There have been accidents and damage to vehicles.
Reed’s office served the state with prior written notice of the highway’s condition. The state cannot say it hasn’t been advised of the need to repair that portion of the Interstate Highway System. “We out the state on formal written notice” of the defects, Reed said. “I’m shocked to see the governor so arrogantly and flippantly put people’s lives at risk.”
Reed said the Seneca Nation agrees with his approach. “The issues should be negotiated separately,” he stated. “The traveling public’s safety is paramount” with Seneca Nation officials.
REED WEIGHED IN on another state issue: the state’s new “red flag” gun law designed to remove guns from a home under certain circumstances.
Reed said he felt it was reasonable to have a conversation about what conditions would spark a red flag request to remove someone’s guns from their possession by court order while making sure that “law-abiding citizens rights are observed.”
Reed said people need to “have the right to have their voice heard in the process.” He said if someone “files a frivolous claims” during a divorce or family custody dispute seeking to remove someone’s firearms they should be prosecuted
Reed’s supporters in the Second Amendment community feel “New York State is going down this slippery slope of attacking law-abiding citizens when they did nothing wrong.”
(Contact reporter Rick Miller at rmiller@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @RMillerOTH)