Jake,
Sri Jake, but from the beginning (the beginning being when the Jets left Shea 20 yrs ago) it has been clear to most Jet fans that the Jets true home is in Queens. It was Woody who claimed his focus was to return the team to NY and elevate the team's identity to its rightful statusn in the world's greatest city. No one twisted his arm to spend millions of $$$ to research and promote the WestSide stadium which was so unpopular that Mayor Bloomberg and his minions felt they needed to slip it by the public without our consideration knowing a vote would doom the project. The fact is the stadium physically did not belong there. I am not going to beat a dead horse reciting all the reasons that Queens was always the better venue. Recall how poorly the Westside project was initially presented to the public and how it was received?? We were told that it was going to be built 'for our own good' and details and costs weren't of great concern since we didn't have a say in the matter anyway. Only when it was clear to the Mayor and Woody that they were going to need positive public sentiment to make it fly did they try to sell it to us by tying in the Olympics and the revitalization of our city. The stadium was our only hope! Many of our elected public servants felt the poltical heat applied by the Mayor and Governor and misguidely pushed for it. The NY Post, owned by one of Mayor's cronies, rejected a Queens alternative as if the location were in a foreign country. Thankfully Messrs. Silver & Bruno showed herolike courage in standing up for what was right and voted down what was wrong. Again sri Jake, but the Jets again stuck their collective foot in their mouth with that 'inspiring' press conference they held at Borough Hall in Flushing just over a month ago telling New Yorkers and Jet fans how they wanted to return to the team's true roots. "Think of the jobs that would be created (sound familiar?) from the Queens waterfront development.." What an opportunity!! They said it - I didn't. Bruno & Silver have stated that if this location was proposed initially that it would have received their blessings. The Queens location would have been better received by the voting public (have you heard the same backlash over the proposed Met stadium?) If we were really intent on landing the Olympics, Queens should have been the center from the start. But no, Queens wasn't a sexy enough venue. The Jets prior to this conference said over and over again that Queens was not an alternative by any stretch - and then suddenly it was. You yourself posted a message hailing Queens and how the Jets notified the NFL of their intentions to build there. It was a smokescreen Jake!! the WestSide project was a real-estate landgrab, pure and simple. It was perpetuated by a couple of billionaires who tried to stuff it down NY's throat. It didn't work. Like I said last winter, this whole stadium project has nothing to do with NY, Jet fans, 2012 - it was only about Woody and his company, his shareholders. great !! Jake, I'm a big boy. Business is business but please don't disguise it as something it's not. Leave that to the politcians. We pay them to do that for us. What scares me more than anything else is that Woody only sees our team as a money making tool and as long as he can sell tickets he could care less about the fans and the product that he's promoting to them. Let's face it, what does he really know or want to know about running a football team as long as he's maximizing profit. Right now, he's got a sold-out stadium with a ticket waiting list. Let's see if all that lasts and for how long. The move to Jersey says it all in volumes. Think of how true Jet fans feel now (3 of 4 still reside east of the Hudson) knowing that Woody cut a deal (with a lame-duck NJ governor no less) that ensures us of battling traffic on I-95 and back over the GWB/CrossBronx to watch the Jets, ..forever!! How does the "New Jersey" Jets sound to you Jake ??
MK
jake · 2005-10-18 Jersey's Albany Servants
I agree that the Queens Stadium was probably the easier to get from the outset, I do think we come on that conclusing only with our hindsight.
The goals for the WSS were lofty, but they were doable. There are a lot of IFs in this equation, but the big one is IF the New York Jets had gone for another, easier stadium in the first place. The problem is, there was no way to know that the West Side Stadium wasn't going to work out. It was a good idea. It had political backing. It was a plan for a part of NYC that was not being used.
In the end, Woody and the gang spent over $75,000,000 trying to make it happen over three years. While I am bummed to see them end up in New Jersey, it is clear that New York didn't want them and didn't have the same set of resources to give.
Jake
jake · 2005-10-09
Jake, Sri Jake, but from the beginning (the beginning being when the Jets left Shea 20 yrs ago) it has been clear to most Jet fans that the Jets true home is in Queens. It was Woody who claimed his focus was to return the team to NY and elevate the team's identity to its rightful statusn in the world's greatest city. No one twisted his arm to spend millions of $$$ to research and promote the WestSide stadium which was so unpopular that Mayor Bloomberg and his minions felt they needed to slip it by the public without our consideration knowing a vote would doom the project. The fact is the stadium physically did not belong there. I am not going to beat a dead horse reciting all the reasons that Queens was always the better venue. Recall how poorly the Westside project was initially presented to the public and how it was received?? We were told that it was going to be built 'for our own good' and details and costs weren't of great concern since we didn't have a say in the matter anyway. Only when it was clear to the Mayor and Woody that they were going to need positive public sentiment to make it fly did they try to sell it to us by tying in the Olympics and the revitalization of our city. The stadium was our only hope! Many of our elected public servants felt the poltical heat applied by the Mayor and Governor and misguidely pushed for it. The NY Post, owned by one of Mayor's cronies, rejected a Queens alternative as if the location were in a foreign country. Thankfully Messrs. Silver & Bruno showed herolike courage in standing up for what was right and voted down what was wrong. Again sri Jake, but the Jets again stuck their collective foot in their mouth with that 'inspiring' press conference they held at Borough Hall in Flushing just over a month ago telling New Yorkers and Jet fans how they wanted to return to the team's true roots. "Think of the jobs that would be created (sound familiar?) from the Queens waterfront development.." What an opportunity!! They said it - I didn't. Bruno & Silver have stated that if this location was proposed initially that it would have received their blessings. The Queens location would have been better received by the voting public (have you heard the same backlash over the proposed Met stadium?) If we were really intent on landing the Olympics, Queens should have been the center from the start. But no, Queens wasn't a sexy enough venue. The Jets prior to this conference said over and over again that Queens was not an alternative by any stretch - and then suddenly it was. You yourself posted a message hailing Queens and how the Jets notified the NFL of their intentions to build there. It was a smokescreen Jake!! the WestSide project was a real-estate landgrab, pure and simple. It was perpetuated by a couple of billionaires who tried to stuff it down NY's throat. It didn't work. Like I said last winter, this whole stadium project has nothing to do with NY, Jet fans, 2012 - it was only about Woody and his company, his shareholders. great !! Jake, I'm a big boy. Business is business but please don't disguise it as something it's not. Leave that to the politcians. We pay them to do that for us. What scares me more than anything else is that Woody only sees our team as a money making tool and as long as he can sell tickets he could care less about the fans and the product that he's promoting to them. Let's face it, what does he really know or want to know about running a football team as long as he's maximizing profit. Right now, he's got a sold-out stadium with a ticket waiting list. Let's see if all that lasts and for how long. The move to Jersey says it all in volumes. Think of how true Jet fans feel now (3 of 4 still reside east of the Hudson) knowing that Woody cut a deal (with a lame-duck NJ governor no less) that ensures us of battling traffic on I-95 and back over the GWB/CrossBronx to watch the Jets, ..forever!! How does the "New Jersey" Jets sound to you Jake ?? MKJersey's Albany Servants