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April 4, 2007
Yanks’ garages in park
MetroNY
By Patrick Arden
The new Yankee Stadium parking garages are turning out to be a raw deal for the taxpayers:
While the Yankees dashed into Macombs Dam Park last August to break ground on a new stadium ahead of a community group’s lawsuit, the team’s plan for four large parking garages has lagged far behind schedule.
An initial request for proposals was pulled in 2005, and when the RFP resurfaced last June its deadline had to be extended. Few believed a private developer could actually make money from a project that would require a $250 million investment and be fully used for just 80 games a year. Now the city has turned to a not-for-profit to complete the deal, minus one garage.
Community Initiatives Development Corp. is a not-for-profit formed in 1992 to help private firms and local governments secure tax-exempt financing. For the Yankees’ garages, CIDC set up a local entity in February to act as the tax-exempt borrower for the city, which could have been liable for the full tab.
...
Dan Steinberg of Good Jobs New York, is raising his initial estimate of public subsidies going to the project, which he had pegged above $400 million. He thinks the garage money would be better spent on the planned Metro-North station, considering the garages were vehemently opposed in the neighborhood, which suffers from a high asthma rate.
NoLandGrab: Could public-subsidy creep happen with Atlantic Yards? With Bruce Ratner at the helm, you can practically guarantee it.
Posted by lumi at April 4, 2007 7:54 AM