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The City Council voted 40-3 to end the tax breaks Madison Square Garden has enjoyed since 1982. It's estimated that the city has lost almost $300 million in potential revenue in subsidies to the "World's Most Famous Arena."
Although the City Council wants the tax breaks to end (our favorite quote is from Councilman Lew Fidler: "I have spent my entire life as as Knicks fan, and I doubt if there's anyone who loves the Rangers as much as I do, but there's still the matter of right and wrong") and would most likely have the support of Mayor Bloomberg, there's another hurdle to denying the tax breaks: The State Legislature. Friend of Dolan family Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver seems unlikely to support the measure, especially since he'd take the advice of the Assembly member in that district. Assemblyman Richard Gottfried said other sports teams have tax breaks, "It's wrong to pick and choose one company or another."
On the other hand, former mayor Ed Koch said he thought the subsidy would end after 10 years, but, per the Times, "the Legislature kept the breaks in place for as long as the Knicks and the Rangers continued to play their home games at the Garden" - it's an open-ended tax break!
Is it so wrong for Mayor Bloomberg, still hurting over the Dolans quashing his West Side Stadium dreams, to want to get back at them? He has said that if MSG moves west, to the redeveloped Moynihan station, the tax break should definitely go.
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Chinese restaurants are going to go wild with this MSG tax break.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH
FINALLY!
Would it really be bad if sports teams left for the suburbs? No, since it would allow for the space they take up to be used for other things that are more worthwhile.
such as?
New York Giants? Where playing?
New York Jets? Where playing?
New York Yankees? Where playing?
New York Mets? Where playing?
Basketball sucks so who cares where they play.
This is totally stupid. If a team wins the world series, the super bowl, the whatever the jungle bunnies hoopsters do. Who really gives a fuck? Does NYC recover all the costs for building infrastructure for this crap?
bxbrian:
Would you rather have say, one arena or a corporate headquarters? Which one would have the greater value to the city?
Would you rather have a baseball stadium or a park?
arena and baseball stadium.
just because you don't like it doesn't make it superior. sports might not be your bag but there's room for all tastes--is that not why you and i are here?
additionally, what good would a park do on top of penn station? i'm not saying you have to like sports, but there's no reason a city shouldn't have an arena.
find me one city where there's no arena.
arena and baseball stadium.
just because you don't like something doesn't make it inferio. sports might not be your bag but there's room for all tastes--is that not why you and i are here?
additionally, what good would a park do on top of penn station? i'm not saying you have to like sports, but there's no reason a city shouldn't have an arena.
find me one city where there's no MSG equivalent. have you not considered the revenue such an establishment brings to a city?
moreover, couldn't your logic be used to advocate the demolition of something like the Lincoln Center? we could just as easily reclaim that for parks, but i think you'd be more hesitant to advocate that.