New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie sat in a luxury suite at a Boston Celtics home game in March 2026 with at least four staffers, a trip he celebrated online with the post “Team Heastie road trip to the Boston Gahden!” Less than three months later, the company that owns that suite, Delaware North, received a new tax break tucked into the 2026 New York state budget that could save it more than $18 million.
The connection was laid out in a investigation by New York Focus, written by reporter Sam Mellins, which found Delaware North donated similar Celtics suite packages to DACC in 2024, 2025 and 2026, totaling nearly $37,000; Heastie and his staff used the packages. One of those packages, a $13,800 luxury-suite donation, went to the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee, known as DACC, which Heastie has chaired as honorary leader since becoming speaker in 2015. Delaware North owns TD Garden, where the Celtics play. Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack, a slot parlor and horse-racing track, also stood to benefit from the budget change.
A Pattern of Suites, Selfies and Concessions
The March 2026 Celtics game was not an isolated outing. During a 2024 Celtics trip, Heastie posed for photos with three retired NBA stars, including Dominique Wilkins, according to the New York Focus report. The outlet identified seven specific days on which Heastie attended sporting events in box seats or suites likely funded by DACC, including a Buffalo Bills home game against the Dallas Cowboys in 2023, where the team set public-official ticket prices at $177, below market cost, and after which Heastie donated $370 to charity.
The Celtics won 115-93. In September 2026, Heastie and Jenkins traveled to Rio de Janeiro to watch the Cowboys play the Baltimore Ravens, though who paid for that trip remains unclear, per the New York Focus account.
Spending Climbed Sharply Under Heastie's Leadership
DACC's sports-related spending has ballooned since Heastie took the gavel. The committee averaged less than $5,000 a year on sports in the decade before he became speaker, but has since spent nearly $90,000 annually, paying more than $1 million since 2015 to teams, stadiums and sports-related companies including the Yankees, Mets, Buffalo Sabres, Barclays Center, Madison Square Garden and UBS Arena. DACC paid the Yankees $90,000 on April 20, 2026, the New York Focus report found.
The committee has also spent six figures on a company that arranges meet-and-greets with retired Yankees stars. DACC also purchased two Subway Series games at Citi Field and two Knicks playoff games.
The Finger Lakes Tax Break
The 2026 budget change included a tax break affecting Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack.
The final budget, approved by lawmakers in late May 2026, included a tax break for slot parlors. The tax break could save Delaware North more than $18 million. This marks the second time such a break has aided the track: a 2016 tax break reported by the Daily Racing Form had already helped Finger Lakes retain its 155-day racing meet amid nearby casino competition and was expected to drop its tax rate on slot revenue to about 59 percent.
How DACC Says the Money Flows
DACC made all of its sports purchases from its housekeeping fund, which can accept unlimited contributions for party expenses but, by law, cannot spend money supporting specific candidates or campaigns. Election lawyer Sarah Steiner said housekeeping accounts allow nonpolitical operating contributions but come with flexible use and little oversight, according to the New York Focus report. DACC exists to support Democratic state Assembly candidates across New York and is funded mostly by donations from major corporations and unions, including entities that lobby Heastie and other lawmakers.
DACC's broader financial footprint extends well beyond sports. Jeffrey Dinowitz, who represents the northwest Bronx, serves as DACC's official head, while David Waterman is its executive director. Separately, as City & State New York has reported, DACC spent nearly $25,000 supporting Assembly Member Didi Barrett and almost $29,000 supporting Assembly Member Bill Magnarelli ahead of recent Democratic primaries, with a spokesperson telling City & State New York, “it offered services to several campaigns, but most opted to use their own consultants in the primary.” That same committee gave to 13 Assembly candidates in the 2024 primaries and 27 in 2022, according to the outlet.
Legal Lines and Pointed Reactions
New York law permits campaign resources to fund sports-game attendance when it is connected to a campaign, a party role or job duties, but prohibits politicians and political committees from using campaign donations for personal benefit. State election law specifically bars converting contributions to personal use unrelated to a political campaign, holding public office, or a party position, according to New York State Senate, Election Law § 14-130. Government law professor Richard Briffault told New York Focus that primarily personal use of campaign money would be misuse and probably illegal, while former state lobbying regulator David Grandeau said the Delaware North donations appeared potentially corrupt and could constitute a bribe.
Delaware North told the outlet it donated its suite for three Celtics games so it could host political fundraising events there, and said it did not discuss political matters with Heastie or his staff at the games. Company spokesperson Glen White said the government-affairs team and its lobbyists comply with lobbying and campaign-finance laws. State regulations do not classify campaign donations such as Delaware North's suite packages as gifts, and Heastie has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the outings; his office and DACC did not respond to detailed requests for comment from New York Focus.
The pattern echoes a more severe precedent: former Governor David Paterson was fined for taking free Yankees tickets, as reported by Reuters.
