A BRONX TALE: IS STEINBRENNER STUCK UNTIL AFTER ELECTION?

          The Yankees are "two months past their self-imposed
     deadline for announcing whether they'll stay in The Bronx,
     but don't be surprised if owner George Steinbrenner holds
     off until after Election Day," according to Robert Hardt in
     the N.Y. POST.  Officials "familiar with stadium
     negotiations" between NYC Mayor Rudolph Guiliani's
     administration and the Yankees call Steinbrenner's decision
     a "political hot potato," with the mayoral election coming
     up in November.  If the team stays in Yankee Stadium, "it
     will look like a victory for Bronx Borough President
     Fernando Ferrer and Manhattan Borough President Ruth
     Messinger, both Democratic mayoral candidates."  If the team
     moves to Manhattan after its lease expires in 2002, Guiliani
     will "have to defend helping the team finance a $1.1 billion
     domed stadium on the West Side."  One insider said
     Steinbrenner "has been hoping" that N.J. Gov. Christine
     Whitman would "offer to build a stadium so he could use it
     as a bargaining chip" (N.Y. POST, 3/10).