Field of Schemes: Trains, buses and automobiles

July 07, 2006

Trains, buses and automobiles

Best things about Greyhound buses: They're cheap, and they get you where you're going (eventually). Worst thing about Greyhound buses: Being subjected to bad sequels and worse remakes en route. Can't we get JetBlue to start a bus company?

And with that gripe aside, on with the news:

All that tough talk from the D.C. Zoning Commission turned out not to amount to much, as the commission voted 4-0 (with one absence) yesterday to approve Mayor Anthony Williams' plan for parking garages wrapped in condos alongside the new Washington Nationals stadium. The city council still must approve the garage plan, and D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi says he can't endorse it yet because of remaining unknowns in the finance plan; "If we just run and throw something up because we've got a time frame that is making us a nervous wreck, no one will be happy with the result," councilmember Carol Schwartz told the Washington Post. She certainly has experience in that regard.
The city of New York, which claimed last year that no one would offer to buy Manhattan's West Side rail yards if a Jets football stadium fell through, has found another willing buyer: itself. The city has offered to spend $500 million to buy development rights to two sets of rail yards from the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority, though what it plans to do with the site is unclear: city council speaker Christine Quinn declared that the city purchase would "allow our community and city to have control over the future planning and development of the site," while deputy mayor for economic development Dan Doctoroff stated his intent to "produce a plan for the western railyards consistent with our overall vision for the area" - a vision that's been notably lacking in public input. Also unclear: Whether $500 million is a good price for the parcel - last year's Jets bid for the land was so convoluted that it's hard to say if the MTA would be getting a higher price under this offer; state assemblymember Richard Brodsky, who chairs the state authorities board, says he may hold hearings into the sale to ensure that it complies with state competitive-bidding law. This should be fun.
In other New York City news, the New Jersey Nets are reportedly considering signing a lease extension through 2012 to remain in the Meadowlands, though it would likely include an escape clause if owner Bruce Ratner's planned Brooklyn arena is ready by then. If nothing else, it's a sign that Ratner's massive Atlantic Yards project isn't moving as fast as the developer would like through the public approvals process; who knew that Jonathan Lethem wielded such immense power?
Though the city of Toronto is putting up $10 million towards a new soccer stadium, residents will get free use of the facility only 14 days a year. They will get to rent it out for much of the rest of the year - something that would be anathema in the U.S., where teams invariably retain exclusive control over the playing fields that they rent from public agencies - but Toronto city councillor Maria Augimeri still called it "a kick in the pants."
And there's yet another soccer stadium growing in Canada: The Montreal Impact minor-league club have announced that they're going ahead with their planned $22.5 million soccer-only stadium, only now it'll be next to Olympic Stadium. The entire $22.5 million price tag is set to be paid for with private money - we'll see that happen in the U.S. when a man can have a baby.

COMMENTS