Sam Hoyt – Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Right Hand
In 2008, Sam Hoyt was a New York State Assemblyman with a checkered past: Years prior, he took some heat when it was exposed that he was having sex with one of his interns. Hoyt, a married man, hadn’t done anything illegal… or immoral, in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s eyes. Instead of removing him from office, Hoyt was slapped on the wrist. His punishment? The state decided that Hoyt was no longer allowed to have any interaction with interns. So basically at that point, Andrew Cuomo was dismissing Hoyt’s actions under the “boys will be boys” defense, and in doing so, he condoned Hoyt’s more recent sexual exploits. (You can read some of Hoyt’s saucy emails to his intern by following this link).
In Hoyt, Governor Andrew Cuomo saw a fine candidate for the position of Regional President of Empire State Development. So not only did Cuomo dismiss Sam Hoyt’s adultery, in 2011 he promoted Hoyt to a very prestigious position (just three years after Hoyt was officially forbidden from interacting with interns).
In August, I wrote an exclusive article for The Hype Magazine entitled “Niagara Falls in Critical Condition“, a story in which Sam Hoyt played no small part. You see, I’ve stood openly opposed to Sam Hoyt and Andrew Cuomo since January, when Hoyt tried to publicly convince me that the destruction of sacred Native American burial grounds and our natural wonder of the world, perpetrated by New York State, was all done in the name of “progress.” Listen to the audio recording yourself:
The Buffalo News broke a story yesterday saying that Sam Hoyt abruptly quit his position as Regional President of Empire State Development in a series of emails. He was even hailed as being a fine fellow with many accolades. I scoffed at the article, knowing full well that Hoyt would only give up his prestigious position if he was in some serious dog dirt… and I was right. News is breaking, every hour it seems, of sexual allegations against Sam Hoyt from an unidentified female who was a former state employee. Apparently, Hoyt paid her $50,000 last year to keep quiet. She signed a confidentiality agreement with Hoyt but is now breaking that agreement in order to make the truth public. Apparently she was quite upset with the original story from the Buffalo News which made Hoyt seem like a hero.
Sam Hoyt is no hero. Under Governor Andrew Cuomo, Hoyt has orchestrated the destruction of the city of Niagara Falls; my hometown.
The city of Niagara Falls is broke. We are facing financial collapse and an economic crisis. Our mayor is conveniently absent from city council meetings; ashamed to face the public face-to-face. It’s sad but true. Our mayor has taken Governor Andrew Cuomo’s side against the cries of his people. Our city council, which is meant to be the voice of the people, has been infiltrated by New York State. Our city is penniless, crime-ridden and drug stricken.
On October 6th, while giving an interview to WGRZ reporter Dave McKinley, Cuomo made a candid remark against the people of Niagara Falls. He implied that we should “pay him back for the shortfall”, before laughing maniacally and being hurried away by a panicked PR aid. Check out the interview here.
As for Sam Hoyt… well, he is currently the victim of his own karma. In a time when sexual allegations are not being taken lightly by the media or by the masses, it seems Hoyt’s sexual escapades were just too much for the Governor this time. Our city is in shambles. Our mayor has deserted the people. The Governor laughs at our financial misfortune and his right hand here in Niagara Falls? A bonafide sexual deviant.
Ken Hamilton’s article in the Niagara Gazette drew a good take on my juxtaposition against Sam Hoyt back in July. Hamilton says, “Personally, I have always liked the affable Hoyt and I have known him since his days as a state assemblyman. But, in the disagreement between Hoyt and local moviemaker Ken Cosentino, my own fence-sitting feet fall on the greener side with Cosentino.”
Mark Scheer of the Niagara Gazette put it differently in a January article:
“During a special presentation of Cuomo’s 2017 budget plan at city hall on Friday, Cosentino told the governor’s representative, former state Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, that he’s not happy with the direction of things.
He said he’s tired of crumbling neighborhoods, the “subpar” quality of life, lack of opportunities and failure to address big problems like heroin addiction.
Cosentino saved some of his more pointed criticism for the people who run state parks, asking why they are doing so much construction in what should be an all-natural Niagara Falls State Park, putting up fences that prevent people from fully accessing the mighty cataracts in the process.
“Jobs with livable wages are still few and far between, meanwhile the state park flourishes during the tourism season with millions of visitors spending countless dollars,” he said.
Hoyt, the regional president of the state’s economic development department in Western New York, listened quietly as Cosentino finished his letter.
He then did what guys who have been in the business of politics and government as long as him get appointed to do — attempt to convince critics in the room that the boss is doing a good job and things are turning around.”
Jim Hufnagel of the Niagara Falls Reporter was also present at my initial opposition to Sam Hoyt. In his article, Jim writes:
“Seated up front, directly behind Assemblyman Angelo Morinello, who has pledged to address the issue of the state’s monopoly of the local tourist trade, and Niagara Falls Councilwoman Kristen Grandinetti, Cosentino waited out a handful of irrelevant questions from the floor, before standing up and challenging the governor’s hireling, Hoyt, in front of an audience that largely consisted of Niagara Falls elite who, directly or indirectly, depend on the status quo both here and in Albany for their positions and influence.”
In a later article, Hufnagel continued his reporting of my opposition to Hoyt:
“The latest skirmish between the David of the citizens of the city of Niagara Falls and the Goliath of state agencies such as State Parks, USA Niagara and the New York Power Authority, when it comes to waterfront development, appears to have been settled in our favor, at least for now.”
So what is my part in all of this? Until today, I knew nothing of the recent allegations of sexual misconduct. After all, the current victim of Hoyt’s sexual cravings was paid to keep quiet. It makes me wonder how many others are out there, paid off by high ranking state employees, keeping quiet about the misdeeds they know about and/or suffered? My guess is that there’s a lot of them, and hopefully many more will begin speaking out. My own crusade has been to keep the spotlight on Sam Hoyt since our clash in January… keep his name in the headlines… make people aware of his character. That is all… just keep the light on him.
As for Governor Andrew Cuomo, well let’s just keep in mind that ten of his top aids have been charged with embezzling, bid-rigging and bribery in regards to the Buffalo Billions scheme. Millions of pages of evidence have been compiled against them, and as the city of Niagara Falls rots and dies a sad death at the hands of Governor Andrew Cuomo and his constituents; Cuomo and Sam Hoyt elected to spend tens of millions of dollars from the Buffalo Billions in the Niagara Falls State Park instead of offering financial assistance to the city itself.
Follow me on Twitter: @KenCosentino
Items of opinion are those of the writer and not statements on behalf of The Hype Magazine
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About the Author
Ken Cosentino Ken Cosentino is an artist from Niagara Falls, NY. He is an award winning filmmaker, CEO of White Lion Studios, LLC and a published author.
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