June 01, 2003
NYC stadium funding plan stalls
To the surprise of no one, New York City's $3.7 billion plan to build an Olympic stadium and other development on Manhattan's West Side is running into money troubles. Deputy mayor for economic development (and former NYC2012 president, and West Side landowner) Dan Doctoroff abandoned his initial tax increment financing (TIF) plan in February in favor of payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT), which is largely the same plan under a different name. Now comes word from the city planning department that in order to generate enough revenue to pay off the mammoth project, they'll need to project 40 million square feet of office space development, double the initial estimate. "They are trying to make the finances fit by increasing the commercial space," West Side community activist John Fisher told Newsday. "They're just pulling numbers out of the sky."
