The results of the Quinnipiac Poll released yesterday suggest a reservoir of skepticism among the people of New York about the new football stadium proposed for Midtown. Asked, “Do you favor or oppose the government using tax dollars to help build a new stadium for the Jets and for the 2012 Summer Olympics on the West Side of Manhattan?”only 33% favored the idea, while 60% opposed it. Jets sympathizers say that tax dollars aren’t going to the stadium, but to a retractable roof ($200 million) and a platform over the rail yards where the stadium ($400 million) is to be built. The poll omitted that distinction.

Still, the public seems resistant. A follow-up question in the Quinnipiac Poll asked, “Would you favor or oppose the building of a new stadium for the Jets and for the 2012 Summer Olympics on the West Side of Manhattan, if the only tax dollars used came from the increased tax revenue from new office and apartment buildings in the surrounding neighborhood?” Support rose to 38% in that scenario, while 53% still opposed it.

There was a day not so long ago when sports in America were thought of as the opiate of the masses. But the press has been paying more and more attention to economists who question whether publicly funded stadiums actually deliver the economic benefits their proponents and their consultants promise. It looks like the public here in the city is getting the message. That’s a positive development for those of us who, as a general principle, don’t believe the government should be in the business of handing out special subsidies to some businesses, but who would prefer instead that taxes be lowered across the board.

New York is fortunate to have in Michael Bloomberg a mayor who is pro-development and who is uncowed by the not-in-my-backyard types. New construction is a sign of vitality and prosperity in the city. But development is done in lots of other cities and counties by identifying a site and zoning guidelines, then opening it up for competing proposals from various private developers. If Mr. Bloomberg and Governor Pataki think the Long Island Rail Road yard on the West Side is a promising site, they can press the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which controls the LIRR, to put the site up for genuinely competitive bid. If, after such a bidding process, the Jets were the only bidder, or the high bidder, then it would be a clear signal from the market about what the right use for the land is, and we don’t doubt that the public would recognize it as such.

Right now, the Jets are willing to invest $800 million of their own against $600 million total in city and state investment. That’s a net $200 million positive for the city — but it doesn’t count all sorts of related infrastructure costs, like an expansion of the no. 7 subway line.

Maybe there’s a developer or business willing to offer to invest more than $200 million net for the site. And maybe if the city and state spent the $600 million another way — on across-the-board tax cuts, say — they could generate more economic growth. We interpret the Quinnipiac Poll as a signal from the voters that they’d like some clearer answers to these questions before signing up as Jets cheerleaders.