The NJ Sports & Exposition Authority (NJSEA) has presented
Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner with plans for a new 50,000-
seat stadium to be built in northern NJ, according to the N.Y.
TIMES. The "old-fashioned," baseball-only facility would be
ready for play when the club's current Bronx lease expires in
2002. Cost estimates range between $400-500M and "would vary
largely due to environmental factors." The figures connected
with NJSEA plans are approximately 50% less than estimates for a
proposed $1B retractable-domed stadium on Manhattan's West Side.
NJ Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, who has "insisted" the state
would not use tax dollars to build a stadium: "We're not going
to get into a bidding war with someone else. ... If the Yankees
are interested in moving, the sports authority has put a proposal
out." NJSEA CEO Robert Mulcahy: "There is no hard and fast
plan, but we have to do it within Governor Whitman's parameters."
Steinbrenner had no comment, but one source did say he is
"concerned" about the reaction of NYC fans (Brett Pulley, N.Y.
TIMES, 4/13).
NOW BATTING -- THE TAXPAYERS: New York Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani acknowledged for the first time the city and state
"might have to come up with significant amounts" to pay for
infrastructure costs associated with the West Side ballpark,
according to the N.Y. TIMES. On WABC-AM on Friday, Giuliani
estimated such costs at between $20-40M. Meanwhile, Steven Lee
Myers reports, in anticipation of opposition to the proposed
stadium, Giuliani has begun a campaign to rally the city's
business leaders around the idea (N.Y. TIMES, 4/13).
Additionally, in light of the Manhattan facility's potential $1B
price tag, Giuliani has ordered a new study to examine how to
finance a single- or double-use stadium either in Manhattan or
the Bronx (Susan Rubinowitz, N.Y. POST, 4/13).
