[quote] JERSEY'S ALBANY SERVANTS
Mon Oct 3, 6:01 AM ET
Are you happy now, Shelly Silver and Joe Bruno? Now that the Jets and Gi ants have agreed to build a new sta dium in Jersey — and to shun New York for at least the next century?
Apparently, it wasn't enough that Gotham hasn't had a pro football team for the past 21 years.
So back in June, with the Jets begging to come to the West Side and spend some $1.6 billion of their own money for a new stadium, Assembly Speaker Silver and state Senate Majority Leader Bruno slammed the door in the team's face.
Silver's excuse? West Side development might compete with his district.
Bruno? His son had (overnight) become a handsomely paid lobbyist for Cablevision, which owns nearby Madison Square Garden and didn't want competition from a new stadium (more on that below).
Silver — and others, like mayoral wannabe Freddy Ferrer — said the Jets could eat cake, and build in Queens.
"I'm sure the Jets feel beholden to Mike Bloomberg" for backing their bid for the West Side, Ferrer said just last month. "But the simple fact is, we all knew that Jets stadium belonged in Queens."
Too bad no one told the Jets that.
Yes, the team considered Queens. But it really wanted Manhattan — and spent $70 million trying to get it.
At one point, the Jets said they'd never go to Queens. And the deal inked Thursday with the Giants for a facility in the Meadowlands (at a fraction of what they'd have spent in Manhattan) defines "never" as at least 99 years.
But Silver and Ferrer and Bruno never cared about giving the Culture Capital of the World a pro football team.
Or boosting the chances of winning the Olympics in 2012, which depended on building a West Side stadium.
Or all the money and jobs the Jets and Olympics would have brought.
Ferrer just wanted public money spent to lure the Jets to go, instead, into the pockets of his friends in the teachers and health-care unions. (Which, of course, was never possible anyway — and the unions won't get a dime more, even with the West Side plan scuttled.)
Silver, again, cared only about thwarting development he saw as too competitive with his district. Of course, that development, too, will take place anyway.
Bruno's son got his money from Cablevision — so the majority leader is happy.
But if you thought Cablevision was acting in good faith when it "outbid" the Jets for the rights to the MTA site where the stadium was to be built, consider the story Tom Topousis reported exclusively in Wednesday's Post: In e-mails sent during the battle over the stadium, Cablevision urged the supposedly independent Regional Plan Association to hike its estimate of the property's value.
"I told [RPA officials] their number [$475 million for the site] was low," Cablevision veep Andrew Lynn wrote in the e-mail. "In response, they are now thinking of modifying their numbers."
Cablevision also "donated" $10,000 to the RPA this year and last. And, lo and behold, the RPA's number came in at $900 million, nearly twice the original amount.
Clearly, the company was merely trying to make it harder for the Jets to get the site and had no plans to build anything there itself.
As Jets lawyer David Boies points out, "If you're a buyer" — as Cablevision pretended it was — "you don't try to double the price."
In the end, Gotham lost out on pro football, the Olympics and all the business and jobs that would have gone with them.
And the MTA is stuck with the site, even as some said it would be "grabbed up" if put out to bid; the agency could have had hundreds of millions in the bank by now if it had sold the site to the Jets.
What a travesty. Shelly, Joe and Freddy should be ashamed.
[/quote]
A nice rap up of all the crap that went on.
Jake http://news.yahoo.com/s/nypost/20051003/cm_nypost/jersey39salbanyservants
jake · 2005-10-03
[quote] JERSEY'S ALBANY SERVANTS Mon Oct 3, 6:01 AM ET Are you happy now, Shelly Silver and Joe Bruno? Now that the Jets and Gi ants have agreed to build a new sta dium in Jersey — and to shun New York for at least the next century? Apparently, it wasn't enough that Gotham hasn't had a pro football team for the past 21 years. So back in June, with the Jets begging to come to the West Side and spend some $1.6 billion of their own money for a new stadium, Assembly Speaker Silver and state Senate Majority Leader Bruno slammed the door in the team's face. Silver's excuse? West Side development might compete with his district. Bruno? His son had (overnight) become a handsomely paid lobbyist for Cablevision, which owns nearby Madison Square Garden and didn't want competition from a new stadium (more on that below). Silver — and others, like mayoral wannabe Freddy Ferrer — said the Jets could eat cake, and build in Queens. "I'm sure the Jets feel beholden to Mike Bloomberg" for backing their bid for the West Side, Ferrer said just last month. "But the simple fact is, we all knew that Jets stadium belonged in Queens." Too bad no one told the Jets that. Yes, the team considered Queens. But it really wanted Manhattan — and spent $70 million trying to get it. At one point, the Jets said they'd never go to Queens. And the deal inked Thursday with the Giants for a facility in the Meadowlands (at a fraction of what they'd have spent in Manhattan) defines "never" as at least 99 years. But Silver and Ferrer and Bruno never cared about giving the Culture Capital of the World a pro football team. Or boosting the chances of winning the Olympics in 2012, which depended on building a West Side stadium. Or all the money and jobs the Jets and Olympics would have brought. Ferrer just wanted public money spent to lure the Jets to go, instead, into the pockets of his friends in the teachers and health-care unions. (Which, of course, was never possible anyway — and the unions won't get a dime more, even with the West Side plan scuttled.) Silver, again, cared only about thwarting development he saw as too competitive with his district. Of course, that development, too, will take place anyway. Bruno's son got his money from Cablevision — so the majority leader is happy. But if you thought Cablevision was acting in good faith when it "outbid" the Jets for the rights to the MTA site where the stadium was to be built, consider the story Tom Topousis reported exclusively in Wednesday's Post: In e-mails sent during the battle over the stadium, Cablevision urged the supposedly independent Regional Plan Association to hike its estimate of the property's value. "I told [RPA officials] their number [$475 million for the site] was low," Cablevision veep Andrew Lynn wrote in the e-mail. "In response, they are now thinking of modifying their numbers." Cablevision also "donated" $10,000 to the RPA this year and last. And, lo and behold, the RPA's number came in at $900 million, nearly twice the original amount. Clearly, the company was merely trying to make it harder for the Jets to get the site and had no plans to build anything there itself. As Jets lawyer David Boies points out, "If you're a buyer" — as Cablevision pretended it was — "you don't try to double the price." In the end, Gotham lost out on pro football, the Olympics and all the business and jobs that would have gone with them. And the MTA is stuck with the site, even as some said it would be "grabbed up" if put out to bid; the agency could have had hundreds of millions in the bank by now if it had sold the site to the Jets. What a travesty. Shelly, Joe and Freddy should be ashamed. [/quote] A nice rap up of all the crap that went on. JakeJersey's Albany Servants (A)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nypost/20051003/cm_nypost/jersey39salbanyservants