« Brooklyn Politics: FAN MAIL | Main | New Urbanism in Denver »
May 31, 2005
Scrutiny for stadium funding
State leaders are questioning whether plan for Jets to borrow more than $1B violates New York City law
NY Newsday
The most expensive stadium ever proposed, the West Side Stadium, is being scrutinized in Albany on several fronts. These same maneuvers are being attempted in Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards proposal.
CURCUMVENTION OF LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL
"Everything that they've done was designed to stay away from legislative approval on a city and state basis," said one state legislative staffer who did not want to be identified.
FINANCING FUNDED BY DIVERTING PROPERTY TAXES (PILOTs)
Instead of paying real estate taxes, the Jets would use their own PILOTs to pay back the city and state, which are borrowing $450 million at reduced interest on the team's behalf.
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (LDC) EVADES OVERSIGHT WHILE COMMITTING $$$
Critics say that, in an attempt to evade votes by the State Legislature and the City Council, Pataki and Bloomberg agreed to create one or more local development corporations, run jointly by the city and state, that would borrow $1.05 billion on the football team's behalf.
MTA SWEETHEART DEAL
The stadium is also jeopardized by lawsuits that claim the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which owns the site on which the facility would be built, gave a sweetheart deal to the team when it approved the Jets' $250 million bid although the authority had appraised the property at $900 million.
Posted by lumi at May 31, 2005 8:36 AM