Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) – A number of local community advocates gathered outside the Tesla Gigafactory in South Buffalo on Monday, calling for New York State to explore new and better business opportunities for the site, and to not agree to a new lease agreement with the company.
The state is considering extending the lease on the Tesla property that the state owns along South Park Avenue from 2029 to 2034. Advocates strongly feel this deal was corrupt and wasteful from its very inception, and it’s only gotten worse over time.
“The State of New York has a choice in terms of who it’s going to do business with, who it’s going to partner with. Who it’s going to give public money to or subsidies to. Is Tesla really the best choice, given where the company is at right now, and given its track record here at this site? The targets it’s missed, the mass layoffs that have occurred here, the complaints of racial harassment and sexual harassment, and union busting from workers who have worked here. And the increasingly bleak prospects that Tesla as a business faces,” said Sam Magavern, senior policy follow at Partnership for the Public Good…