NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani presented Yankees Owner George
Steinbrenner with a plan to create a "theme park" atmosphere at
Yankee Stadium, surrounding a renovated ballpark with
restaurants, parking garages and new roads. The project's cost
estimates run as high as $600M, compared with a $250M estimate
for a plan to overhaul the stadium and neighborhood presented
less than one year ago. Officials who attended the meeting said
Steinbrenner "indicated that the proposal was more to his
liking." Improvements inside the stadium call for about 100
luxury boxes and a new outer wall "that would copy the original
facade of Yankee Stadium." The "most striking" differences
between the current plan and those Steinbrenner has rejected in
the past are the roads and garages "that would allow fans to
drive from the suburbs directly to the stadium without sitting in
traffic on the streets of the South Bronx" (Matthew Purdy, N.Y.
TIMES, 1/25). Steinbrenner: "I can't say whether I'm optimistic
or not. ... What I will tell you is this was our second meeting
and this is obviously a priority for Giuliani" (Long & Guart,
N.Y. POST, 1/25).
THE YONKERS YANKEES? This morning's N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports
the team has received an offer to move to the Meadowlands Complex
in NJ, where the state of NJ would build a $350M "Camden Yards-
style stadium" that the team could lease "long term for short
money." The NJ offer also includes a guarantee on yearly
attendance and a clause in which the NJ Sports Authority would
defend the Yankees against any lawsuit by New York City over
breaking their Bronx lease which expires in 2003. Also in the
DAILY NEWS piece: A source close to NY Governor George Pataki
says "he is waiting for Giuliani 'to fall on his face' in
negotiations with Steinbrenner 'so he can save the day and the
Yankees for New York, but not necessarily the city.'" The source
says Pataki's aides have "made some preliminary investigation"
into building a stadium next to the Yonkers Raceway (Bill Madden,
N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/25).
