June 09, 2005

All over but the shouting

Three days after the proposed New York Jets/Olympic stadium met its apparent demise, the New York media are all a-flurry with rumors of what happens now:

• City councilmember David Weprin says he'll try to get a West Side stadium built without state help: "It could be done and I would carry the ball in the Council to get it done." Weprin suggested costs could be trimmed by building a fixed dome rather than a retractable roof, but even then his plan would face huge obstacles: Contrary to most media reports, Monday's stadium thumbs-down blocked not only $300 million in state funds, but also the use of the state Empire State Development Corporation to sell bonds and institute necessary zoning changes for the project. Switching now to a city-only plan would require starting over with another year-long land-use oversight process, and in any case state approval would likely be necessary for any zoning changes for what is now state land. (None of which, however, prevents Weprin from immediately getting his name in the paper.)
• The Hudson Yards plan, which would have used $2 billion in property-tax fees to subsidize a new subway line and office towers around the new stadium, remains in limbo: Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared that without the "catalyst" of the stadium "we'll have to revise our plans to make up for it," and "this delay will be measured in years, not months." As for the state officials who blocked the stadium plan, senate leader Joe Bruno backs Hudson Yards, while assembly speaker Sheldon Silver opposes it as unfair competition to lower Manhattan. It remains uncertain whether Silver would have the authority to block Hudson Yards if the mayor tries to press ahead with it.
• And as for the Jets - remember them? - they're still officially focused on a Manhattan stadium, but likely to soon consider an offer to join the Giants in building a new stadium in New Jersey, where they'd have to split stadium revenues but could save as much as a billion dollars in construction costs.
• Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that the Brooklyn Nets arena plans are "quietly coming to fruition" thanks to "a seasoned team of lobbyists who immediately went to work building support among political leaders." This is the latest in the Times' "Lobbyists rock!" series, following a pair of articles by reporter Jennifer Steinhauer bemoaning how hard it is for developers to get politicians to do their bidding.
• Finally, the New York Post cites unnamed sources as saying that Bloomberg will be "shutting off the pipeline of huge campaign contributions" to Bruno after last week's stadium vote. (Bloomberg and his top execs have given more than $200,000 to the state senate Republican campaign committee since 2003.) The Post also reported that a call from an "unemployed construction worker" to city council speaker Giff Miller's office complaining about his opposition to the stadium turned out to have been placed from a phone at Mayor Bloomberg's media company.

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