Jets poised to score stadium

[Papa_Bull]

Jets poised to score stadium

Seven MTA board members

support the West Side football plan

BY PETE DONOHUE and MICHAEL SAUL

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

These plans may really come to life soon.  

The Jets should get ready for a victory dance in the end zone - the team is on the verge of winning the MTA's West Side railyards.

Seven members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, including the head of the agency's real estate committee, plan to vote for the Jets' offer, the Daily News has learned.

"The Jets' deal is hands-down the best deal," said James Simpson, chairman of the MTA's real estate committee. "The Jets is a much better deal for the city and the state."

The MTA board - a panel composed of 17 voting members, four of whom cast one collective vote - will consider the bids tomorrow. If the Jets get one more vote, the team will have the land for the stadium. If the balloting is tied 7 to 7, MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow, who has not yet declared his position, can cast an extra, deciding vote.

Whit Clay, a spokesman for Cablevision, one of the three bidders for the site and the stadium's chief foe, said favoring the Jets' proposal meant "throwing away hundreds of millions of dollars."

Cablevision sent the MTA a letter yesterday clarifying that the company is prepared "to pay the full purchase price" - $400 million - "immediately following its selection."

Although the Jets have offered $720 million, only $50 million would be upfront.

A source told The News that all four of the mayor's appointees are expected to vote for the Jets.

One board member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, predicted: "There will be broad support on the board, from both city and gubernatorial representatives, for the Jets. The bid is that superior."

Another board member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "I'm going to go with the Jets. It's a better deal in the long run, it's a better deal for New York, and for the MTA, too."

Mark Lebow, one of Mayor Bloomberg's four representatives on the MTA board, told The News that board members still are deciding. But he added, "The Jets have a lot of advantages. It's hard money."

Board members received briefings on the three remaining bids for the property yesterday.

Gov. Pataki, who supports the stadium and appoints the majority of the MTA's board, said yesterday he's confident the Jets will prevail.

The stadium serves as the centerpiece of the city's bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Awarding the property to the Jets would be an enormous victory for the team and an embarrassing defeat for Cablevision, which has spent more than $20million during the past year on lobbying and an ad campaign to defeat the stadium - competition for itsMadison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall.

Even if the Jets get the MTA's nod, the deal still needs the approval of two state boards, the Empire State Development Corp. and the Public Authorities Control Board.

Originally published on March 30, 2005

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/294724p-252317c.html

[Guest 19usf96]

Wasn't there talk of a "Big Apple Bowl" possibly being created not too long ago that would give the BE a tie-in and solodify college football in the NE for the BE even more?

If this stadium becomes a reality the BE could score major points with the BCS and their bolw scheme in the future.  Especially if they start the 4+1 deal.

[Papa_Bull]

That's why I posted it.  ;D

[Apis Bull]

Agency Backs Plan for Jets Stadium in NYC

By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - A plan for a $1.7 billion stadium that could serve as the centerpiece of the 2012 Olympics cleared a major hurdle Thursday with approval of the New York Jets' bid by the state agency that owns the proposed site.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted unanimously in favor of the football team's $720 million offer for rights to develop the site over a remote railyard adjoining the Hudson River. The board rejected two competing proposals.

"This is a tremendous project with tremendous jobs, and I can go home at night and sleep soundly knowing I am pushing this forward," said James Simpson, chairman of the MTA's real estate committee.

The Jets' proposal for the 75,000-seat, $1.7 billion stadium is backed by the city and state and is crucial to New York's attempt to host the 2012 Olympics.

But it has also attracted bitter opposition from some residents and is expected to be a factor in Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg's bid for re-election this fall.

Before the vote was taken, City Council speaker Gifford Miller, a Democratic mayoral hopeful, warned that the fight would continue.

"Why are you doing this?" Miller asked the panel as the audience inside MTA headquarters cheered and booed. "This is not over. This is a terrible mistake."

The Jets currently play home games at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The team hopes to play at the new facility starting in 2009.

Anti-stadium demonstrators began chanting "Sweetheart deal!" once the vote was completed, while union workers backing the plan replied, "Jobs! Jobs!"

New York is competing with four other cities for the 2012 Olympics. A decision is expected in July.

"Today's decision is a tremendous victory for our bid, all New Yorkers and the economic future of our city," Laz Benitez, spokesman for NYC2012, the group organizing the city's Olympic bid, said in a statement.

Among those who submitted competing bids for the site was Cablevision, the company that owns Madison Square Garden. It fears the new facility, just a few blocks away, would compete with the Garden and drain its revenue.

Agency Backs Plan for Jets Stadium in NYC