{"id":320,"date":"2005-04-16T11:43:07","date_gmt":"2005-04-16T18:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/?p=320"},"modified":"2009-08-02T14:33:24","modified_gmt":"2009-08-02T19:33:24","slug":"white-elephant-roundup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/?p=320","title":{"rendered":"White Elephant Roundup."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Keeping track of all the schemes regional leaders dream up to fritter away our proverbial hard-earned can be a damn exhausting endeavor. What with the beautiful weather, who wants to give up their weekend trolling the internets for the skinny? Not you, and not really me either. But I made my bed, so now I must sleep in it:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Giants Stadium<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Status:<\/strong> It&#8217;s a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/04\/14\/nyregion\/14giants.html?ex=1271131200&amp;en=edc693d6a1c9a81e&amp;ei=5088&amp;partner=rssnyt\">done<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/msn.foxsports.com\/nfl\/story\/3540216\">deal<\/a>. Last week, the NJSEA and the team put aside their differences and realized how much they love each other after all. That, and the realization that there wasn&#8217;t anyone else left to go home with. Call it a sympathy lay.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stats:<\/strong> $185 million in (existing) debt service and infrastructure improvements in exchange for $6.3 million yearly PILOTs and permission to move ahead with the Xanadu entertainment complex.<br \/>\n<strong>Lawsuit?<\/strong> No word, but it&#8217;s a good bet that the squabbling from a <a href=\"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/archives\/2005\/03\/giant_stoops.html\">few weeks ago<\/a> has been put aside.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winners:<\/strong> The team owners. It&#8217;s always the team owners.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Losers:<\/strong> A tie between the state, which made barely a break even deal on a property that had a solid 15-year lease in place, and the fans, who got only a tepid &#8216;maybe&#8217; in response to the request that the new stadium not charge current season ticket holders PSLs (Personal Seat Licenses).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Westside Stadium<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Status:<\/strong> The ESDC <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/04\/13\/nyregion\/13stadium.html?ex=1271044800&amp;en=3c7a30c257fbc9bc&amp;ei=5088&amp;partner=rssnyt\">gave the thumbs<\/a> up to the Jets bid last week, surprising no one who can <a href=\"http:\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/search?q=patronage\">use a dictionary<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stats:<\/strong> The final <a href=\"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/archives\/2005\/03\/720_twice_aroun.html\">numbers aren&#8217;t in<\/a>, but you can bet it will end up costing you, me, and the lamppost a pretty penny.<br \/>\n<strong>Lawsuit?<\/strong> The suit filed by Cablevision shortly after they found out that offering the most money did not constitute a winning bid has a hearing on May 3. But folks aren&#8217;t resting easy in the interim, electing to bat each other around <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/04\/16\/nyregion\/16impact.html?ex=1271304000&amp;en=40b84e1f9c93a93d&amp;ei=5088&amp;partner=rssnyt&amp;emc=rss\">with the EIS<\/a> &#8212; which, at 7,000-plus pages, is quite a weapon.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winners:<\/strong> None yet, but it pains me to say it&#8217;s looking good for the stadium.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Losers:<\/strong> Anyone <a href=\"http:\/\/rwjf.org\/about\/founder.jhtml\">who can&#8217;t<\/a> get their K-Y free.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Yankee Stadium<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Status:<\/strong> Ha ha &#8212; you forgot all about everyone&#8217;s favorite convicted felon-cum-owner. Guiliani moved on to shaking down charities raising money for tsunami relief, and everyone forgets that his big stadium albatross was a new home for the Yankees. While the carpetbagging Johnson family was providing such a distraction, the Boss went and finagled hisself a <a href=\"http:\/\/nydailynews.com\/front\/story\/300544p-257209c.html\">pretty sweet deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stats:<\/strong> Another one of those &#8220;private&#8221; financing deals that includes $300 million in infrastructure (when this deal <a href=\"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/archives\/2004\/07\/bronx_cheer.html\">was first announced<\/a>, it was only going to be $100 million) from the city and state, including parking and a Metro North station.<br \/>\n<strong>Lawsuit?<\/strong> Maybe we can get the Dolans and Steinbrenner to revive one of their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/sports\/story\/3658p-3322c.html\">greatest hits<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winners:<\/strong> As of this week, it certainly <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/04\/17\/sports\/baseball\/17yankees.html\">isn&#8217;t the Yankees<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Losers:<\/strong> A-Rod.<\/p>\n<p><strong>West Side Tunnel<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Status:<\/strong> Pataki painted himself the knight in shining armor last week, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/04\/14\/nyregion\/14rebuild.html?ex=1271131200&amp;en=bd637309f16fc351&amp;ei=5088&amp;partner=rssnyt\">seeming to step in<\/a> and an <a href=\"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/archives\/2005\/04\/this_is_what_ha.html\">prevent the loss<\/a> of the only viable private commercial development downtown. Which is interesting, since last year he was all about leaving the decision <a href=\"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/archives\/2004\/07\/but_who_will_th.html\">to the locals<\/a>, who mostly rejected the plan. So he saved us from ourselves, or something.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stats:<\/strong> Frees up about $500 million in rebuilding funds, or saves us from finding an additional $500 million. Either way, it seems Pataki wants the $500 million to be reallocated, indulgence-like, to the JFK rail link (or, as I like to call it, the Long Island Republican Base Express)<br \/>\n<strong>Winners:<\/strong> Henry Paulson and Goldman Sachs, who are playing their cards very close, or simply being decent and waiting a week or more to announce they are indeed moving ahead with their plans and avoiding making clear that when GS wants to put the screws to somebody, they do it <em>right<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Losers:<\/strong> Lovers of high-speed subterrean vehicular improvements.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7WTC:<\/strong> [Sound of crickets, tumbleweeds, aroma of desperation]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keeping track of all the schemes regional leaders dream up to fritter away our proverbial hard-earned can be a damn exhausting endeavor. What with the beautiful weather, who wants to give up their weekend trolling the internets for the skinny? Not you, and not really me either. But I made my bed, so now I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":512,"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320\/revisions\/512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}