April 02, 2005
The $2B stadium
It's official: The proposed New York Jets stadium has now hit an estimated price tag of $1.925 billion - and that's without including the $280 million the Jets have agreed to pay for the land. Furthermore, Jets sources tell Newsday, "the city's payment for the platform has risen from $300 million to $375 million. The state's cost for the roof remains budgeted at $300 million." This is the first I've heard of the city paying for the platform while the state pays for the roof (previously the two were to split the whole cost), but whatever - in any case, it means that Mayor Michael Bloomberg will have to dip even deeper into his public-money slush fund to get this project (literally) off the ground.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that the extension of the #7 subway line in the works to get people to the stadium - which the MTA board cited as a main reason for voting for the Jets plan, since the city was offering to pay for it - has now hit an estimated cost of $2.1 billion, only $2 billion of which the city has agreed to pay for. Asked who would be responsible for cost overruns, city budget director Mark Page replied: "I'm not sure that there's a sort of yes-or-no answer. It's a proportion of the M.T.A.'s capital plan. The city is obviously one of the sources in the M.T.A.'s capital plan." That would be more of a "we have no idea" answer.
