Sue’s NY Deli to be phased out of Buffalo City Hall after scathing audit

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – A Buffalo City Hall business has not paid its rent for years and city officials are trying to figure out what to do about it, according to a recent city audit.

The unpaid rent issue involves Sue’s NY Deli, located in the basement of Buffalo City Hall and in business for years.

The city’s audit found that Sue owed the city more than $100,000, had not made any payments in four years and was working under an expired contract.

Sue did not respond to News 4’s requests for comment.

At a finance committee meeting Tuesday, city lawmakers questioned the public works department and the city comptroller’s office about those findings.

Some council members said the audit revealed a bigger problem at City Hall.

“This speaks to an overall issue of contracts that the city has with operators that are not in compliance or not paying their fair share to the city and the city is not in a financial position to absorb the cost of it all,” said Buffalo Common Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski.

Nate Marton, the city’s public works commissioner, said the city is working with the law department to find some sort of resolution to the money Sue owes the city.
In the meantime, a request for proposals has been issued to find a new supplier for the cafeteria.

Going forward, council members, the comptroller’s office and city officials said they want to ensure there is better oversight of city contracts.

“We’ll look at how we got here, how we get the money back in the future and how we find a new supplier, but I think going forward it’s really about making sure we have the mechanisms in place so that we don’t have to wait for an audit from our controller to see that we didn’t collect that revenue,” Nowakowski said.

The DPW said seven companies have conducted tours of the cafeteria and Sue does not intend to reapply for the contract.

“I spoke with the current operator, who came to my office yesterday, and we spoke in person,” Nowakowski said. “I kept that aside because I believe at some point he would like to address the board members to clarify his version of events.”