September 24, 2004
NYC stadium backers: "Tastes great!"
The big story at yesterday's public hearing on New York's multi-billion-dollar Hudson Yards plan was the scene on the sidewalk outside, where supporters and opponents of the stadium/convention center/office development plan engaged in a brief shouting match during a press conference by state assemblyman Richard Gottfried. While the altercation - Crain's, in an exceptionally lyrical moment, called it a "ruckus" - made the headlines, there were relatively few reports of what actually went on inside the hearing room: Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum was quoted as saying the financing for the plan looked "very, very risky," while Mayor Michael Bloomberg insisted that the project would create jobs and revenue. Vishaan Chakrabarti of the City Planning Commission again promoted the argument that the proposed Jets stadium would meet the city's need for additional convention, which Heywood Sanders covered yesterday.
Yesterday's public hearing - the only one scheduled on the $5-billion-plus plan, though there will almost certainly be more city council and state legislative hearings to come - almost didn't come off, going ahead only after a judge ruled against granting an injunction to opponents of the plan who claim the city's environmental impact statement is inadequate. The opponents' lawsuit against the EIS will still go forward, though; no word on when court proceedings are expected to begin, but presumably it would need to be before the city council holds its final vote on the plan next January.
