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March 28, 2007
Yankee station costs climbing?
MetroNY
By Patrick Arden
There's a lot of handwringing going on in the Bronx over how to cover the "projected $15 million to $30 million shortfall" for the new Metro-North station at Yankee Stadium.
Last April, the MTA board had approved $40 million for the station to serve Yankee Stadium.
“Where are those Yankees?” wondered rider advocate Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign. “We always thought the team should chip in when the station was at $40 million. But with the inevitable increased cost, the very profitable franchise should be helping.
“The MTA is broke, and the idea that they will unendingly fund a Metro-North station is just wrong. The Yankees are going to benefit from it, and they should step up to the plate and participate.”
Click here to read the rest of the article, including Russianoff's highly excellent idea for squeezing more money out of the tight-fisted Steinbrenner.
NoLandGrab: We bring you this article to point out that there isn't any such handwringing with the Atlantic Yards project.
Part of Bruce Ratner's winning low-ball bid for the railyards is the "added value" of station infrastructure improvements. However:
- those improvements were never requested by the MTA,
- moving the tracks to make way for the arena leaves no room for a future AirTrain between JFK and Lower Manhattan,
- Bruce Ratner isn't paying for the improvements out of his own pocket, and
- any shortfalls are covered under "extraordinary infrastructure costs" and will be paid for by the taxpayers of the City of NY, in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Mayor and Ratner.
This MOU is a blank check to cover just such shortfalls that have "shockingly" materialized in the Yankee Stadium Metro-North station.
Posted by lumi at March 28, 2007 10:10 AM