The Lawsuit Phase of the Battle for the West Side

All Gothamist has to say about the Jets suing Cablevision for being a monopoly is that it took them long enough. With all the blah public relations blah MTA auction blah battle, we figured it would just be a matter of time until they decided to direct their money into various law firms. Now, while Gothamist waits for these two billionaire backed organizations to waste some money in money-siphoning ventures like, says, weblogs, we would like a special edition of Monopoly to have special tracts of land that the MTA owns up for grabs, and the player figures be a football helmet, basketball hoop, and a gas company thingy, and then instead of building apartments and hotels, players will build stadiums and restaurants and raze neighborhoods.

The Jets' website explaining the lawsuit, Jets Fight Back is funny; there are attorney bios and everything. And Gothamist on the West Side Stadium.

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By Jen Chung in News on March 17, 2005 12:42 PM

Comments [rss]

Dennis W.

WTF. Do you people really think that Cablevision wants anything else but to protect their monopoly in NY. To block any chances of getting a competing stadium and convention center. Do you really think their bid on the yards is realistic (I bet none of you have looked at it) when it contains so many contingencies and costs to be eaten up by the city it makes the Jet's offer look great. Do you think anything will be built on that spot...there was such a rush to it over the past century. Give me a break. Let the titans duke it out, but I think the mayor is right about one thing, without this stadium, the neighborood, my neighborood, will continue to languish as developers move to other sections of the city as in years past. If this thing was going to demolish a lot of housing or some classic buildings I would be against it, but as it stands it removes an eyesore and improves a dangerous section of NY and will bring other development with it.

toyochin

It's kinda funny that the Jets are complaining about antitrust violations considering they're a benficiary of a pretty profitable cartel.

iceberg

(from my eponymous blog)

Far from being an honest disagreement, it's quite sad that the Jets have escalated this dispute to the federal level, by launching an anti-trust lawsuit against a competitor vying for the Hudson railyard real estate. If anyone is being anti-competitive, it's the NY Jets, along with numerous politicians who are propping this whole stadium shenanigans and are trying to keep this massive tract of real estate from undergoing any sort of development other than their pet stadium project.

And that is just for starters, never mind the fact that the stadium plans call for $600 million to be funded by John Q. Taxpayer; and we all know quite well that taxpayer funded projects containing a high number of dollars only turn into even higher sums later on, as if by magic.

But that is not all; the NY Jets are also suing because Cablevision refuses to air pro-stadium advertisements on Cablevision's cable TV network(!!!) That's like Snapple suing McDonald's to force them to sell their brand of soft-drinks in their restaurants.

And to add insult to injury, it's the Jets who are accusing Cablevision of playing dirty!

Did Cablevision try to usurp taxpayer funds in their bid to develop the railyards?

Did Cablevision launch federal-level lawsuits to stop competitors from bidding on the land?

Did Cablevision try to deprive the MTA of much needed funds by underbidding on the land, and trying to force the undersell with the hands of politicians?

Oh the bitter irony!

Tim N.

A gas company thingy?

Is that like a whatsit?

PS: Eric, I share your outrage, but WJ and BR can't be bought off, because they've already done the buying. Anyone who thinks that Mayor Bling jumping through hoop after hoop to make a guy who just happens to be one of the top three donors to Republicans happy is just a coincidence is kidding themselves.

iceberg

S.M. Oliva (http://www.voluntarytrade.org/... said it best:

"Keep in mind that the Jets don't simply want to build a stadium. They want to build a stadium with over $600 million in funds confiscated from taxpayers by the state and city governments. And now Boies claims that it's an antitrust violation for Cablevision to bid against the Jets and refusing to provide a forum for the team's propaganda.

The Jets' complaint goes beyond the normal realm of antitrust extortion. This is an attempt to criminalize opposition to any government-backed "economic development" scheme. If any case can discredit the notion of antitrust as consumer protection, it is probably this one.

The Oakland Raiders have long had the reputation for being "outlaws" in the NFL, but now it is the New York Jets masterminding a truly criminal enterprise with David Boies, one of the most infamous enemies of free market principles. Then again the current NFL commissioner, Paul Tagliabue, is a former antitrust lawyer. Maybe the apple--er, franchise--doesn't fall from the tree."

Rose

And in keeping with your sports theme for a Monopoly game, some more metal playing pieces could be syringes (for the steroid injections), nude female figures (for the strip joints frequented by many sports players), bottles of booze, stacked money, wads of tobacco spit, etc.

Eric

Can't we just buy off Woody Johnson and Bruce Ratner and have them take their stupid teams back to New Jersey already? A couple hundred million each from the city treasury to just shut up? I don't know about you, but I'd gladly pay $2.50 a subway ride if I would never have to read or hear of them again.