February 27, 2004
NYC sets price for West Side MTA land: bupkis
When last asked how much New York City planned to pay the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority for development rights to the West Side rail yards where a new Jets/Olympics stadium would be built, deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff replied: "We need to work out a deal with the MTA for those." Today Deputy Dan's initial offer was revealed: How about, umm, nothing? As reported in Newsday, the city considers its plan to extend the #7 subway line to the new stadium a "land swap" for the MTA development rights, valued at an estimated $1.7 billion; as one unnamed state official put it: "They're getting a subway line for free." MTA chair Peter Kalikow, who is facing a billion-dollar-plus deficit that already has the authority considering hiking bus and subway fares for the second time in two years, would say only that "we think that, in the end, there'll be a process that they'll be satisfied with and we'll be satisfied with."
In related news, the city has announced that the seven-month land-review process for the Hudson Yards project surrounding the stadium will begin in April - leaving just enough time to report on the results in the Olympic bid book due to the IOC on November 15. That's assuming, of course, that anyone still wants the Olympics after August.
