February 7, 2005
West Side Rumble: Cablevision vs. Jets & The City
While this rumble involves men in suits with lawyers, there's nothing better than battling billionaires with big egos! On Friday night, Madison Square Garden owner Cablevision dangled a $600 million offer to develop the West Side railyards where the city and NY Jets want to build the NY Sports and Convention Center. The NYSCC has been a hot topic of debate amongst the community and politicians, especially since there's question as to whether or the city should be spending its money to develop it. The MTA recently disclosed that it would like an offer of $300 million for the railyards, while the Jets want to pony up $100 million. Enter Cablevision, who has been bitterly arguing against bringing another sports team about five long blocks from Madison Square Garden. The Jets called the bid "a desperate ploy and a cynical P.R. gimmick." The Mayor himself said the bid was a "joke" and a "disgrace," adding, "Some companies try to block things just by throwing up a roadblock." Cablevision is looking to develop the land as a mixed-use (commercial, residential...just no sports stadium) space.
The MTA, for its part, made the cautious statement, "This is the first indication we have received from MSG after months of public discussions that they are interested in our property," which does make Gothamist think that Cablevision's owners, the Dolan family, were looking for some extra change in the couch. It'll be interesting to see what the MTA does, because given the budget shortfall, the money would be good. But who knows if even this deal is the right one?
In the meantime, the Post notes that NJ is still trying to keep the Jets in East Rutherford, what with the construction of a new Giants stadium, saying it "makes more sense to have one stadium for $700 million that both teams play in rather than have two separate stadiums" and saying electronic signage could change the name of the stadium. Okay, West Side stadium aside, Gothamist have to say that's the stupidest thing we've heard - it makes total sense that the NY Jets would want a house of their own (versus their home stadium being "Giants" stadium) - we're just not sure it's in Manhattan.
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Does it HAVE to be on the west side of Manhattan? Bring it to Queens! We have enough room to stick a Jets Stadium next to Shea. It just takes buying out the owners of that junk yard nearby, which should be considerably less expensive then buying the rights to the west side yard.
But first redesign the stadium. Its Ugly
So... Cablevision is willing to pay double the asking price, literally in a bidding war with themselves. Reminds me of Allan Houston's contract.
So let Cablevision have the railyards, the Rangers, and Allan Houston's contract. Guess what? That $600mil goes to the MTA - who, we all know, as corrupt as they are, could REALLY use that extra money. I think it's great that there's now a bidding war. It's better than the Jets trying to steal the land for 2 cents on the dollar.
I'm really starting to dislike everyone involved in this deal, but it's still fun to watch. We're watching a legendary NY real estate battle unfold here. It's awesome!
The Dolans are evil personified. I'm not sure I want a Jets stadium in Manhattan, but I'd pick that over anything Dolan anytime.
Doug, I'm with you. I think more money for the MTA would be nice too, but I can't shake the feeling that if the Dolan's get the rights to the Yard, they're going to completely fuck it up, the same way everything else they touch turns to shit.
That was a smart and sneaky to thing to do.
Best of all, the MTA is on the spot to accept the highest bid.
Think about it... the space is open and useless for development as it is, the Knicks and Rangers can't get no worse, and the MTA will have $600 million in its pocket. If the Peter Kalikow sells the MTA on the cheap while fares keep going up, he should be indicted, convicted, and shot at dawn (okay, maybe the last part is a little over the top).
Sometimes you have to make a deal with the devil to do what's right. I don't like the Dolans, they are evil, and I don't trust their motives, but let's face it, this stadium deal is about making two rich Republicans richer, getting a lot of suburbanites drunk, and people who LIVE in the city paying the freight. If Mike Bloomberg and Woody Johnson really, really cared about the people who live in the city they claim to serve, they would put it in Queens as Kojak suggested, and listen to the people in the community as to how to develop the land.
Do you really think Cablevision has any plans to do anything over those yards? If so, I have a bridge to sell you. This is just a business ploy to put a wrench in the works for the competition and if they were to get it, suddenly there would be no money to develop the area.
No development would still be better than the stadium.
Thank God for the Dolans (Ok I just gagged a little there), with this action they have pulled away the wizard's curtain. As a article I read this morning noted, there are no other offers since Bloomie and Pataki have marked this as theirs and any pushy developer will be given the smack down if they upset the boat (ie. getting shovels in the gound ASAP). So now that the curtain has been pulled aside, we can only hope that more developers will step forward with new and different plans. And you can pretty much bet that those plans will be based on economics and not fantasy, thus they will be commercial/residential projects with no mention of a stadium. Stadiums are loss leaders at best and no one puting up their own money would ever get invloved (thus Woody's desire for us to pay for it). So "Go Dolans" and let the Jets stay in New Jersey.
Dolans aside, I believe that football stadia require parking. Why? Tailgate parties. So, it might make more sense to improve the transit links to the Meadowlands than to risk that fans would skip the games if they can't tailgate (or drive to the game.) Besides, any stadium built, in NY or NJ, will not be named for the Jets or Giants, but for corporate sponsors (any guesses?) Now hockey and basketball are "urban" sports, and "in-city" arenas (e.g, a new MSG) make sense. Don't write off the Dolans. For those of you old enough to remember, the city chose Prudential to develop the four big towers in Times Sq. The Durst family played the spoiler for years, until the city cut them in on the action. The Tailgate situation aside, a combined stadium-arena-Javits might make more sense than a stadium alone.
I hope they ram this stadium through, enough with all this antidevelopment BS.
I for one would never call myself antidevelopment but I would say I am anti-stupid-development-for-developments sake.
The stadium is a horrible idea. The MTA needs the cash - just look at the fire that crippled the A & C lines a few weeks ago. No matter how corrupt the MTA is, I think they should get as close to the appriased price ($1BN) as possible to prevent the MTA from passing on more costs to us, the riders. This is another negative impact that the Jets statium will have on EVERYONE who not only lives in New York, but anyone who uses and pays for mass transit. The cablevision bid has made the stadium look like an even bigger mistake than the interstate highway that Robert Moses proposed to cut right through the center of Manhattan!
yea i agree with you. i dont like the idea of a westside stadium.i think this is all a damn mistake.Waste of money