May 06, 2005
Time out for Jets stadium
New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has agreed to put off its sale of land for a Jets stadium until June 2, the date that a state judge plans to rule on lawsuits against the sale. (Yesterday's court hearing was apparently for all three anti-stadium suits, not just one as was initially reported.) Madison Square Garden also must post a $35 million bond against possible damages if the Jets and MTA successfully defend their case, then claim that they suffered monetary losses because of the delay.
Meanwhile, the New York Times has caught Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office in ... let's call it a contradiction, over the amount of City Hall time and energy the Jets stadium battle is taking up. "I think this notion that we're too busy somehow to focus on Lower Manhattan is unfounded," deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff told the Times this week, saying of the stadium: "I spend a relatively small percentage of my time on it; the mayor spends a tiny percentage of his time on it." In a letter to the city conflicts of interest board in January, meanwhile, Bloomberg wrote that the stadium "is far and away the most important land use initiative of my administration. As such, planning for the project occupies a substantial amount of my time and discussions with numerous high-level members of my administration." Shh - don't tell the voters.
