New York, NY —
Just days before the International Olympic Committee comes to New York, the Mayor's plans to build a stadium on the West Side of Manhattan has received a punch in the stomach. The MTA said late yesterday it would seek bids for its West Side sites. WNYC's Andrea Bernstein has more.
The MTA's announcement means, even if everything goes right for the Jets, the stadium won't be approved until April at the earliest. That's long after next week's visit by the International Olympic site selection committee. The Bloomberg administration had hoped to show the 13-member team shovels in the ground. But the plans were delayed. First by an offer ten days ago that Madison Square wanted the site for $600 million – many times what the Jets were willing to pay. And then by the announcement the MTA would take that offer seriously. But the Mayor insisted he hadn't been outsmarted.
Bloomberg: there is no one person being maneuvered or outmaneuvered this is 8.1 million people's future versus one companies selfish interests. Don't make any mistake about it one company stood up and said I've got a monopoly to hell with everybody else!
Still, a Jets spokeswoman acknowledged reporters learned about the announcement before the company did, and frequently loquacious Jets officials were silent. Spokeswoman Marissa Shorenstein issued this terse statement.
Shorenstein: In the end, a cablevision gimmick on the eve of the Olympic evaluation committee visit will not replace four years of planning and an agreement to build the world’s greatest sports and convention center in New York City.
For some, like Council Speaker Gifford Miller, if the selection process proves to be fair, that would mean certain death for the Jets proposal.
Miller: We already know that there's another bidder that’s prepared to bid six times what the jets are bidding in the first place and we haven’t actually had an open process yet!
But Robert Yaro, President of the Regional Plan Association, said the MTA announcement was a PR move rather than a serious attempt to open up the process. He says the MTA request limits bidders to existing zoning, which is for manufacturing use – not very lucrative. But Yaro says the Jets have already been promised the zoning they need.
Yaro: so what looks like an open competitive process is basically wired to the jets and its not going to produce what the mta says they want
Yaro and the City councilmembers predicted some developers would be afraid to come forward with proposals. They said developers tell them they’re afraid of appearing to jettison the stadium and the Olympics bid, so important to Mayor Bloomberg. But others predicted privately to us there may well be interest in the site, particularly if the area is rezoned to accommodate higher buildings. Speaker Miller and Councilmember Quinn said today they would consider rezoning to what's known in zoning parlance as a 12 Floor Area Ratio.
Miller and Quinn: Certainly its within the range. Obviously its within the range since what is it across the street --19 ½. So I said it should be done consistent with zoning in the area and across the street its more than 50 percent more density than that so clearly that's within the range.
But Mayor Bloomberg says the rezoning would take way too long and kill the city's Olympics bid. He sees the bid as key to New York City’s economic future. And key to the bid he says is proving to the International Olympic committee that there will be a stadium.
Bloomberg: If you want em you have to give them something that you can't get elsewheres. Just a promise they are not going to commit to do something on a promise from us. They want to see its that is real and just to promise that someday well build something its just not going to get em!
Though Jets supporters were clearly shaken, they expressed confidence that the stadium WOULD get the final nod at the end of the day. The Jets after all, are armed with of study and political maneuvering. Still the supporters acknowledged, the Jets may end up paying the MTA a whole lot more than the $100 million the sports team wanted to lay out. For WNYC, I'm Andrea Bernstein.