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January 15, 2009
Whatever Yankees Want
New York Times Editorial
The new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx is still months away from the first pitch of Opening Day. But suddenly a lot of people are questioning yesterday’s package deal for this luxurious ballpark in light of today’s struggling economy.
Seats for $1,500 a game? Suites fit for the royal family? A scoreboard fit for the Big Board? A fabulous steakhouse and granite ramps (no ordinary cement for this crowd)? This $1 billion-plus pavilion and park financed with a lot of taxpayer help is beginning to sound like something fit for the Wizard of Oz.
To pay for many of these add-ons, the Yankees now want — surprise! — more help from the city. They have asked the Industrial Development Agency for an additional $400 million in tax-free financing to finish the project. Unless the city’s leaders show some courage, the agency is expected to rubber-stamp that request by the end of the week, after a pro forma hearing on Thursday.
...Mayor Bloomberg has — rightly — had to cut city budgets and increase property taxes and explain to residents how times are bad and how we all will have to share the pain. It is time for Mr. Bloomberg to make that same pitch to the Yankees.
If the Yankees can sign megamillion-dollar contracts (C. C. Sabathia just landed one for $161 million over seven years), they should be flush enough to contribute more toward their new stadium and to the parks for people living nearby.
NoLandGrab: And might The Times feel differently about hundreds of millions in subsidies for Atlantic Yards? Given that developer Bruce Ratner is the paper's real estate partner, and that The Times owns a 17.5% stake in the Yankees' arch rival, the Boston Red Sox, we're not sure we can expect the same point of view.
Posted by eric at January 15, 2009 4:43 PM