Stakes Raised for Mayor as Stadium Faces Scrutiny

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The New York Sun

When Mayor Bloomberg was elected 3 1/2 years ago, one of his first decisions was to scrap plans to build new baseball stadiums for the Yankees and Mets, saying the city could not afford them.


Now, despite continuing budget deficits, Mr. Bloomberg has staked a good chunk of his political capital on a $1.4 billion stadium that would be the home of the New York Jets and the linchpin of the city’s effort to secure the 2012 Olympic Games.


The City Council is set to hold hearings today – the first of several hurdles Mr. Bloomberg and stadium proponents will need to clear in coming weeks, culminating in a visit by International Olympic Committee representatives in February.


Besides its $600 million cost to city and state taxpayers, the stadium plan poses significant risks for Mr. Bloomberg, a Republican, as he prepares to face a pack of Democrats who intend to use the stadium as a key campaign issue for the November 2005 mayoral election, especially if the city fails to win an Olympic bid.


“This is like a Christmas gift of an issue,” said one of the likely candidates, Rep. Anthony Weiner.


Public opinion polls say voters support a stadium, but only if tax dollars do not pay for it. Opposition on the west side of Manhattan, especially in the neighborhoods where the stadium would be located, is especially high, the area’s elected representatives say.


Discussion about the stadium plan spilled into the public arena this summer after a series of television advertisements attacked the mayor’s proposal to use public funds to pay for a portion of the stadium.


The ads were funded at a cost of more than $8 million by Cablevision Systems Corp., the owner of Madison Square Garden, the Knicks, and the Rangers.


The ads have drawn Mr. Bloomberg into a public feud with the company and its chairman, James Dolan. Mr. Bloomberg even lashed out at the Knicks.


“I think the coach is a good coach,” Mr. Bloomberg said last month. “He could use a lot more money. They’d be better off spending their money there than [on] these ridiculous ads. As for these ads, they are outrageous lies.”


A season-ticket holder, Mr. Bloomberg has taken to boycotting Knicks games.


The Cablevision ads have prompted a series of ads in response paid for by the Jets that target Mr. Dolan. In turn, Mr. Dolan has said he would be happy to back someone who would run for mayor against Mr. Bloomberg.


The back-and-forth over the stadium has degenerated at times into a personality battle between the two men, who happen to be two of the richest people in the city.


While the Jets will underwrite most of the cost, the city and state have each agreed to pay $300 million, leaving many voters wary.


“If you look at where New Yorkers are on this issue, they certainly don’t want to see a lot of public investment on this issue and don’t want their mayor to invest so much time, energy, and resources for what’s at best a peripheral issue,” said a spokesman for City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, Steve Sigmund. Mr. Miller is another Democrat likely to challenge Mr. Bloomberg.


But a spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg, Ed Skyler, said the mayor’s support of the stadium, which would be linked to an expanded convention center and an extension of an existing subway line, would prove to be a political benefit, particularly due to the construction and other union jobs it would create.


Mr. Skyler also cited an Independent Budget Office study that said the stadium plan would eventually pay for itself by creating new tax revenues.


“If others want to run as anti-job, anti-economic development NIMBYs, they can go ahead,” said Mr. Skyler. “I am sure the hard-working New Yorkers who work in construction, restaurant, hospitality, and hotel industries will remember them when the time comes.”


The stadium issue will likely be resolved during the next two months. The key date is February 21, when the International Olympic Evaluation Commission visits to vet the city’s 2012 bid.


But for Mr. Bloomberg, the key date might be November 8, 2005, when he goes before voters for reelection after a campaign likely to feature a citywide debate over the stadium.


“It’s hard to imagine that this won’t be the dominating issue for at least the beginning part of the mayoral campaign,” Mr. Weiner said.


The New York Sun

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