Newark To Begin First Stages Of Devils’ Arena Without Lease

City Of Newark Showing Faith In The Devils

The Newark City Council has passed an ordinance and resolution to “begin spending $210[M] it has set aside” for the Devils’ $300M downtown Newark arena, but still must “reach a formal agreement on the Devils’ $100[M] contribution,” according to Jordan & Mays of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. Newark Business Administrator Richard Monteilh said that a lease and operating agreement “would take at least two months of negotiations with the Devils and $500,000 in legal fees.” Monteilh said the passing of the ordinance “simply allows the project to go forward while we negotiate.” Additionally, Jordan & Mays report the city council named the “troubled Newark Housing Authority to oversee construction” of the arena, but created a panel consisting of Monteilh, Newark Mayor Sharpe James, City Attorney JoAnne Watson, four council members and two community representatives to “oversee the expenditure of public money on the arena zone by the authority, whose spending practices are under investigation by federal housing officials” (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 10/7). A STAR-LEDGER editorial states of Newark’s $210M contribution, “The city’s nearly 12[%] unemployment rate is evidence that there are many ways for the city of Newark to use its money for the betterment of its citizens” (STAR-LEDGER, 10/7).

DEVIL DOG: New Jersey State Senate President Richard Codey, who will become acting Governor on November 15, said that the NJSEA “should withhold monthly payments of $268,000 the Devils receive as part of their lease with the state” because of the NHL lockout. Codey called the lease “one of the worst deals in sports,” adding, “To pay the Devils not to play is both ludicrous and indefensible. I talked to the lawyers and they say there are very clear issues that can be raised here.” But in Newark, Matthew Futterman notes that over the summer, the organization’s lawyers told NJSEA President George Zoffinger that “even if NHL players were on strike or locked out, the [NJSEA] had to pay the team” (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 10/7).