Xanadu Officials Could Delay Opening Again Due To Economy

Xanadu Could See Fewer Restaurants Than Originally Planned Due In Part To Economy

Xanadu officials "plan to decide over the next few weeks whether to open at between [60-75%] capacity in August, or to again delay the grand opening to better time it to the hoped-for economic recovery," according to John Brennan of the Bergen RECORD. Due in part to the economic downturn, "not all of the most-ballyhooed components will come to fruition" for the Meadowlands mixed-use development, as instead of "up to 20 restaurants as previously suggested, don't expect more than a dozen or so" (Bergen RECORD, 2/20). NJSEA VP/Communications John Samerjan: "Nobody invests [$2B] for a one-year window. Looking out toward 2010 or whenever we've gone through this and the economy upticks, with all that's going on, Xanadu, the new rail link, the new stadium, we're going to be in an amazing place." But in N.Y., Peter Applebome wrote Xanadu, "looking like the world's biggest air vent, built with odd angles and mismatched tiles, will never be called 'stately.'" Walking through the "largely finished shell of the project ... is to be transported to the strangest dream world of them all, the vision of unlimited commercial merriment that was the world we lived in just a year ago" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/22).

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: SI.com's Peter King reported neither the Jets nor Giants will host a "Monday Night Football" game next season, just as neither team hosted one last year. The NFL is "being sympathetic to the needs of the construction site" at the new Giants/Jets stadium, and a "lack of parking in and around the stadium when there is active construction makes a weekday night game a major headache" (SI.com, 2/23).

NEW HOME: The '10 Notre Dame-Navy football game will be played at the Giants/Jets stadium. The game will be televised nationally by CBS (Navy).