June 02, 2005
Jets stadium vote on again, maybe, sorta
New York Gov. George Pataki has finally officially called for a Jets stadium vote for this Friday, but it's unclear it one will happen, as state legislative leaders Sheldon Silver and Joe Bruno are reportedly considering forcing a delay by not showing up for the vote, which must be unanimous. The Daily News' Juan Gonzalez reports that an unnamed state legislator told him there was "a very bad meeting" on Tuesday among represenatives of the governor, mayor, Jets and legislative leaders; Silver told Gonzalez following the meeting that there are still "25 to 30 major contracts" for which the governor has provided insufficient financial information.
Today is D-day for the lawsuits against the sale of state land to the Jets, and Gonzalez has potentially bad news for the team there, too: State judge Herman Cahn has given indications he might "bifurcate the suits," ruling against the state on some issues but not others. Even a partial victory for the plaintiffs could force the Jets land sale back to the drawing board, and give Silver and Bruno additional reasons to put off a vote.
Bruno, meanwhile, came out of left field this week with a suggestion that "there are private-sector investors who believe that the entire project can be funded with private-investor money. If it's a good business deal, it's a good business deal for the private sector." An unnamed Jets official immediately pooh-poohed this idea, declaring: "There's no room for additional debt." Sounds like somebody's been taking p.r. lessons from Joe Maloof.
