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June 13, 2008
Funding the new Yankee ballpark
Behind the News
Eyewitness News (ABC 7)
The old "in for a dime, in for a dollar" theory may be what comes into play in the current flap involving the New York Yankees.
There are many people who expressed skepticism over any public contributions to the construction of the new ballparks for the Yankees or the Mets or the Nets, who want to move from New Jersey to Brooklyn as an anchor tenant of the new Atlantic Yards.
There's the valid argument that the presence of a new facility increases tax revenues, so the City gets money from these teams. But the truth is that these teams are cash cows and the profits redound not to taxpayers -- some of whom double as fans who pay the among highest ticket prices in the nation - but to the owners and highly paid players on the teams.
And so the critics say the teams should dang well fund these facilities themselves.
Posted by eric at June 13, 2008 9:24 AM