BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – An audit has found that a local business owes the city of Buffalo tens of thousands of dollars in back rent while using space at Buffalo City Hall.
The audit, conducted by the City Comptroller's Office, found that the operator of Buffalo City Hall cafeteria owes the city more than $100,000 in back rent.
Sue's NY Deli serves breakfast and lunch to many city employees in the basement of City Hall.
The city is supposed to receive $2,150 in monthly rent from the deli, according to the audit, but the rent hasn't been paid in more than four years, since the pandemic began in March 2020. Sue's has been operating under an expired contract with the city and is overdue in rent payments of more than $103,000.
“The inquiry late last year was when staff were looking at other contracts, particularly revenue generating contracts, and they were saying, wait a minute, we haven't received payment, and we realized that for this particular account, we hadn't been paid in quite some time,” Buffalo Comptroller Barbara Miller Williams said. “We were definitely surprised because it's a significant amount of money and it's a long period of time. It was excessive for a contract that was fulfilled and renewed, and we didn't have the authority to renew it again. We were really surprised.”
Miller Williams says the audit isn't a reflection on the quality of the deli. She says she wants to see if there's another vendor to take over the cafeteria, and that process appears to already be underway. A request for proposals was sent out two weeks ago to see if a new foodservice vendor would step in, according to a city spokesperson.
The Ministry of Public Works has yet to make any decision on what to do about the unpaid rent.
News 4 reached out to Sue's NY Deli for comment about the unpaid rent but did not receive a response.
Statement from Councilman Mitch Nowakowski:
“The people who run Sue's are great people, but the contracts are lacking. Nothing is free and we have concerns. We need to hold the Department of Public Works accountable to ensure that City of Buffalo contractors are paying the taxpayers and the city what they are getting paid for, such as the marina audit last year and the NY Sue's Deli at City Hall.”
I look forward to further discussing this matter at the Finance Committee meeting at 10 a.m. on July 2, and I would like to thank the Comptroller and his office for their work on this audit.”
Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. Learn more about his work here..