September 06, 2007
Carrion demands info on Yanks garages
Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion dropped a minor bombshell today when he sent a staffer to testify that the city hasn't provided enough information on the New York Yankees stadium's $218 million parking garage plan. (In particular, he demanded copies of the draft lease and city feasibility study of the project.) While this is undeniably true, it was a huge surprise coming from Carrion - who not only was such a staunch supporter of the stadium plan that he fired a community board chair for not backing it strongly enough, but actually has an appointee on the board of the Industrial Development Agency, the city agency he was publicly telling off.
On the other hand, though, Carrion did insist on "stipulations" for his endorsement of the stadium plan itself - stipulations that were universally ignored by the Yankees and the city, none of which caused the borough president to speak up in opposition to the $799 million subsidy deal. The IDA board votes on Tuesday; if it endorses the garage plan, it either means Carrion is effectively powerless, or he never seriously intended to block it in the first place.
