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September 26, 2011
Yankees community benefits list includes dodgy groups
The community benefits fund that the New York Yankees and then-Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion set up in 2006 to help grease the wheels of their new stadium deal is back in the news again, and just like last time, when it was suing its own chair for mismanagement of funds, this time the news isn't good. The New York Post found that among the beneficiaries of the Yankees' charity have been:
- A for-profit gym that has since obtained non-profit status, but still requires hefty fees for membership;
- A tap-dance troupe that hasn't filed with the IRS since 2007, and was just stripped of its non-profit status as a result;
- Something called "Praise, Peace and Pride," which after years of reporting no activities at all now says it intends to "provide medical-health and dental-care assistance for all hip-hop pioneers and their families."
The Yankees issued a statement that they would be "extremely disappointed" if the fund was found to be misallocating funds, which is either a sign that community benefits agreements make for great plausible deniability, or that the Yankees don't know their movie quotes that well.
