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July 26, 2005
Reverend Al and The Man, and a warning to the MTA
Fans For Fair Play
The specter of the Jets West Side Stadium debacle makes an encore appearance in Rev. Sharpton's support and the MTA's possible rush to pick the lower bid.
Sharpton's support:
...must be, at best, a seriously mixed blessing for [Forest City Ratner]. Sure, they get another tenuous toehold in the Black community, but they also get a guy who anyone can approach on the street and ask "hey, Reverend, that Jets stadium thingie you endorsed, how's that coming along?"
The MTA can ill-afford another fiasco like the Jets stadium. The Brooklyn process is the same deal. After being forced by an angry public to create an open bidding process, the favored bidder -- a sports-team-owning pal of the governor and mayor -- submits the worst bid, fraught with add-ons nicked from Peter to pretend to pay Paul. The MTA board's vote appears, at this stage, to be a slap-dash rush-job. The principles of fairness and democracy lose again.
Posted by lumi at July 26, 2005 7:04 AM