N.Y. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani "backed away" yesterday
from his support for moving Yankee Stadium to Manhattan and
"instead proposed" a sports complex that would include a
domed football stadium for the Jets, a relocated Madison
Square Garden and a subway line connecting the facility to
the rest of the city, according to Dan Barry of the N.Y
TIMES. In his State of the City address, Giuliani said that
he would "assume" that the Yankees would remain in the Bronx
and revealed a layout of his plan "to consider using that
West Side site to acquire a football team." The complex
would be built on land owned by the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority. The Administration "refused to
rule out the possibility" that the stadium could also be
used by the Yankees for baseball some day. Barry writes
that the new plan "represented a distinct change in
emphasis" for the Administration, although "it was not clear
whether that shift arose from any new calculation about the
likelihood of a Yankee move to New Jersey." Although
Giuliani did not provide any insight about the "intentions"
of the Jets, whose lease with the NJ Sports & Exposition
Authority at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands expires in
2008, sources close to the administration said Giuliani had
"preliminary discussions" with Jets Owner Leon Hess about
eventually moving the team back to N.Y. Cablevision
President & MSG Owner James Dolan said he had "great
interest in the inclusion" of MSG in the plans, adding, "We
will do everything we can to support this development." The
Yankees had no immediate response (N.Y. TIMES, 1/15).
WHAT'S IT GONNA COST? Giuliani did not specify how much
the project would cost, but "promised it would pay for
itself -- `many, many times over' -- with its economic
impact on the city" (N.Y. POST, 1/15). Cyphers & Grant of
the N.Y. DAILY NEWS write that experts "estimated" the
complex could cost as much as $5B (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/15).
NEWSDAY's Polner & Zipay report that the stadium might seat
over 70,000 fans, and that Giuliani said it would involve
"significant public and private investment (NEWSDAY, 1/15).
