June 10, 2005
Death and taxes
New York's 2012 Olympic bid is not quite dead yet, as the International Olympic Committee says it would allow NYC2012 to submit an alternative stadium proposal if it wants. Of course, it's not like there are a ton of good fallback options - Queens? New Jersey? - but the bid committee will no doubt try to cobble together something before the IOC meets in July.
Meanwhile, state assembly speaker Sheldon "The Stadium Killa" Silver may now be setting his sights on another part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's West Side redevelopment plan: The $2 billion subway line extension that the mayor has proposed funding with developer payments in lieu of property taxes (PILOTs), in a deal that some charge could cost the city billions more in tax breaks. The Daily News reports that Silver could veto the subway line as well, this time through his seat on a different obscure state agency, the MTA Capital Program Review Board, noting: "Charles Carrier, a Silver aide, told the Daily News that the speaker is 'reviewing' the No. 7 proposal - using the same term Silver took until the very moment he killed the stadium."
Finally, New York Times columnist Richard Sandomir continues the paper's series lauding developers who know how to grease the wheels of government, this time praising New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for proposing a new stadium "without public money for construction [sic] or discourtesy to egos and agendas in the State Legislature." The only real news item revealed by Sandomir: A statement by Yankees stadium guru (and former city deputy mayor) Randy Levine that "we expect to announce in a few weeks." Isn't this where we came in?
