Field of Schemes: Return of the son of the Jets vote

May 19, 2005

Return of the son of the Jets vote

So much for that month delay in the New York Jets stadium vote: After postponing yesterday's vote at the request of state senate leader Joe Bruno, Gov. George Pataki has called a special meeting of the Public Authorities Control Board for next Wednesday to again consider the $2.2 billion stadium plan. How much this will accomplish is unclear: Bruno, who'd asked for a one-month delay, snapped to the New York Times, "Deadlines are great. But what we need to do is deal in reality." And state assembly speaker Sheldon Silver still has an unplayed "Get out of PACB vote free" card that he could use to call for another postponement - though the governor could then call another special session. The risk would be that then Silver or Bruno could just vote to kill the deal outright - though from the ever-calculating Pataki's perspective, getting the stadium monkey off his back and being able to blame "losing the Olympics" on one of the state legislative leaders might not be the worst-case scenario.

And if you really want to play Kremlinologist, read something into this: The Times reports that Silver is set to announce his own plan to redevelop downtown Manhattan today - and the midtown stadium development's impact on his downtown district has been his main gripe about the Jets plan. Could this be Silver's declaration of his quid pro quo for allowing the stadium to go through? As the speaker recently told WNYC radio: "I've let them know the problems, let them come back and give us the answers to those problems." Hmm - who did you say was on the podium?

Meanwhile, at least one party to the proceedings doesn't seem too confident that the stadium deal will pass: The Jets, who are reportedly on the verge of signing a 10-year lease extension on Giants Stadium that would allow them to stay in New Jersey through the year 2018. The Jets could still get out of their Jersey lease if the New York stadium came through, but it'd make for a nifty nonexistent Plan B.

COMMENTS

Sheldon Silver will sell out, he just hasn't named his price yet. The idea that he would vote this thing down on the merits is wishful thinking. That isnt the way he works, and it isnt the way New York politics works.
Posted by: CubeNY at May 19, 2005 10:12 AM

I dunno - when Silver was just talking about how the stadium project would be bad for downtown development, it sounded like he was fishing for a buyoff. But lately he's been complaining that the stadium costs too much, and that there should be public hearings - those are tougher positions to back off from if he cuts a deal, so why say them if that's what he's planning to do? Besides, I'm not sure Pataki cares about this thing enough to offer him much in trade. So it's hard to predict.
Posted by: Neil at May 19, 2005 09:41 PM