November 29, 2003
Announcement of Jets announcement rumors still rumored
The New York Times is reporting that the New York Jets are moving closer to announcing a "nonbinding agreement" with the city and state of New York to build a football stadium on the West Side of Manhattan, with the Jets paying $800 million, and the public paying $300-400 million. (A "nonbinding agreement," it appears, means that if the damn thing ever gets built, this is how the costs will be divided - unless it isn't.)
Still left uncertain in the announcement of the rumored announcement: Who would pay for any cost overruns, who would pay for modifications to ready the stadium for the 2012 Summer Olympics (which could include temporarily extending the stadium over a highway), who would get revenue from non-football events at the stadium (if it's used as extra exhibition space for the state-run Javits Convention Center as planned, would the state have to pay rent to the Jets?), whether the Knicks and Rangers would relocate there from Madison Square Garden (as proposed in this illustration showing the world's largest basketball court), and - oh, yeah - where the city will find another $4 billion to fund the rest of the Hudson Yards development project, including a $1.6 billion (or so) subway extension to get people to the stadium.
"This is an incredibly complicated jigsaw puzzle," Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff told the Times. "We want to make sure that we have all the right pieces in all the right places." Hint: If you find a piece with $4 billion in it, use it to plug that hole in your budget.
