NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Says Buffalo Bills Game Would ‘Jeopardize Public Safety’

The Buffalo Bills still plan on playing this Sunday. New York’s Governor says the game would “jeopardize public safety.”

The Buffalo area endured three-to-six feet of snow in recent days. The storms left eight dead and hundreds of motorists stranded.

“Everybody would love to see a Bills game go forward,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Thursday morning during a press conference, “but I think even more, everybody wants to make sure public safety comes first.

“At this point in time, doing what we have to do with the driving ban and everything we just said — staying off the roads — would make a Bills game impractical.”

The forecast calls for more snow. Worse still, it calls for rain and warmth for the weekend, making likely the possibility of flooding. The daunting task of clearing Ralph Wilson Stadium of 220,000 tons of snow, which necessitated the team paying fans $10 an hour and game tickets to shovel, appears less of an obstacle than road impediments for fans seeking to travel to the game. 

The Jets venture to Buffalo for a 1 p.m. Sunday kickoff. A postponement, unusual in the NFL, could give fans a second Monday-night game or possibly an unusual Tuesday or Wednesday evening game.