At least 2 workers removed from Bills stadium project
The workers responsible for what has been described as vulgar and homophobic graffiti inside the Buffalo Bills' new stadium that caused around $150,000 in damage were “out-of-town” independent contractors and not part of any local union, a union official says.
At least two workers have been removed from the Buffalo Bills stadium construction project after the vandalism incident last month that shut down the site for almost a week.
The workers responsible for what has been described as vulgar and homophobic graffiti inside the stadium that caused around $150,000 in damage reportedly were “out-of-town” independent contractors and not part of any local union, according to Paul Brown, president of Buffalo Building Trades Council and the Niagara Building Trades Council.
Brown said they got “at least two” of the workers reportedly responsible for the vandalism, which means there may be some others who could still be identified as being part of the incident and removed from the job.
Nonunion contractors can bid on the jobs at the stadium, but those companies must use union members with their staff at a ratio of 1 to 1. For these two workers, that did not mean expulsion from the union, since they were not in the union, Brown said.
Construction continues on the new Buffalo Bills stadium. A union official said “at least two” of the workers
reportedly responsible for costly vandalism last month have been removed from the job. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
Steve Ranalli, president of the Erie County Stadium Corp., confirmed that two workers have been removed recently from the project, but would not say whether it was due to the damage that was done at the more than $2 billion stadium, mostly in the suite areas as they were being completed.
No charges have been brought by the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the matter.
“They weren’t local guys,” Brown said Monday after a meeting of the Erie County Stadium Corp., the state entity overseeing the construction project.
“It was an out-of-town contractor, and it was his guys – two of them that they caught, that I know of,” he added.
WGRZ-TV reported that one or more workers involved in the vandalism were connected to 34Group, the commercial construction company run by Bills Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas, but the state would not say with what company the workers removed from the project were affiliated.
Ranalli said all companies doing contracted work on the stadium are still on board, and none have been removed as a result of the vandalism.
A spokesperson for 34Group confirmed that three independent contractors the company was using were recently "reduced" from the construction site. But it was part of the “normal course of business,” in which manpower is ramped up and down during a project, the company said.
34Group is in its third year of being on-site for the stadium project in Orchard Park to assist in general contracting efforts and do some of the work on the interior of the building, set to open for the 2026 NFL season.
In the state’s first comment about the incident, Ranalli said they were “extremely disappointed that anyone would go and do that out at this job.”
“I don’t want to say too much more, because it is still under investigation by the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, so I want to be respectful of that, but we’re hoping that it gets cleared up, and we do not expect to have that problem again,” Ranalli said. “Until we all know what happened out there, I don’t think it’s fair to speculate.”
The vandalism that shut down construction for four days was done to luxury suites on the west side of the facility, Erie County Public Works Commissioner William Geary told The Buffalo News last month.
Crude remarks were sprayed on granite countertops, tile and flooring over the course of a weekend. The 200-level suites were 90% done, but the porous finishes weren't sealed yet, so there was no way to salvage them.
The damage is estimated at $150,000, officials said, which would likely need to be absorbed or covered by insurance for Gilbane Turner, the stadium's general contractor.
Brown has said the vandalism is a black eye for a project that has otherwise brought positive attention to Western New York. The project has shined a light on the work of the trades in the region, as well as bringing many companies to Buffalo.
Gilbane Turner issued a $100,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the vandal.
Brown said Monday that the graffiti is all cleaned up and the project is “still on track” to be substantially done this summer.
“We are moving on,” Brown said. “We’re on schedule. We’ll get it done.”