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May 23, 2005
WNBC Gabe Pressman Interview: Sheldon Silver
WNBC
Pressman and Silver add up the costs of the West Side Stadium: * Financing of bonds by Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOTS), * Eminent Domain condemnations, * conversions of City streets.
"Well, people advertise it as a $600 million public commitment for a $2 billion-plus stadium. But there are many questions as to that. Part of the so-called Jet payment is a $450 million tax-exempt bond issue by the local development corporation that is designed to finance the Jets' payments for the stadium. In order to pay those bonds off, the Jets will receive a virtual real estate tax exemption and will pay taxes to the city in lieu of real estate taxes. And that money will go to pay the $450 bond issue. So the way I count, that's another public commitment to this stadium..."
These are just the KNOWN costs.
The Public Authorities Control Board was set up to authorize debt issued by the State through various channels, even Local Development Corporations (LDCs). Silver points out that there are still several questions that remain before the board can vote.
NoLandGrab: For folks following Bruce Ratner's controversial Atlantic Yards proposal, this conversation will sound very familiar, expect that the PILOT financing of the bond debt for Ratner's project is even higher than the West Side Stadium.
Posted by lumi at May 23, 2005 7:28 AM