Bloomie: Nets arena is real rival to MSG

BROOKLYN PAPERS
February 26, 2005
By Timothy Williams
AP

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday that the biggest threat to Madison Square Garden is not a proposed West Side stadium, which the owners of the Garden strongly oppose, but a planned basketball arena for he Nets in Brooklyn.

The mayor is seeking approval for a stadium that will cost at least $1.4 billion to serve as the new home of the New York Jets football team and as the centerpiece of the city’s 2012 Olympic bid.

But earlier this month, Cablevision Systems Corp., the owner of Madison Square Garden, tried to derail those plans by offering $600 million to develop the land, which is owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.  The Jets had offered $100 million to pay for the development rights.

Cablevision opposes the stadium because it fears the facility would draw away lucrative concerts and other events that would otherwise use Madison Square Garden.  The Garden is located a few blocks from the proposed stadium site.

The mayor, however, has repeatedly denounced Cablevision's bid to develop the property.

On Friday, Bloomberg suggested that Cablevision construct a new facility two blocks to the west in order to better compete with the Nets’ new arena in Brooklyn, scheduled to open in 2007.

"The best thing would be for Cablevision to build a new Madison Square Garden on the west side of the old Farley Post Office," said Bloomberg. "That will give them a great venue, especially with the Nets project in Brooklyn, because that is their real competition – the stadium is not, they just couldn’t be more wrong about that.  The number of events that will go from Madison Square garden to the stadium is negligible."

He added: "The real issue they have is that events will go over to Brooklyn, where you have as good mass transit, and you are going to have a brand new Frank Gehry designed stadium."

A Cablevision spokesman, however, quickly dismissed Bloomberg's suggestion.