Report Claims Yankee Stadium Deal May Violate Tax Regulations
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Assemblyman's Report Claims Stadium Deal
May Have Violated Federal Tax Regulations |
New York Assemblyman Richard Brodsky in a report issued yesterday indicated that the Yankees and the city of N.Y. "may have violated federal tax regulations and state laws in using $943[M] in tax-exempt bonds to build" the team's new $1.3B ballpark, according to Charles Bagli of the N.Y. TIMES. Though city and team officials "hotly disputed many of the findings," Brodsky's 34-page report "concluded that the city and the state invested as much as $850[M] in cash and tax breaks in the new stadium." Brodsky, a "frequent critic" of the public financing for the ballpark, said that the report "stems from a review of thousands of pages of previously unreleased documents." The report "previews testimony he plans to give" tomorrow in front of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform. The Yankees "plan to testify next month" in front of the subcommittee. N.Y. Economic Development Corp. President Seth Pinsky, in a "spirited defense of the city's position," said, "This is a project that is in fact privately financed. ... It's a project that went through numerous hearings, almost 20 hearings, and was approved at every level, including by [Brodsky] himself." The Yankees also "took Mr. Brodsky to task for using 'inaccurate facts' for personal aggrandizement" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/17).
BATTLE GROUNDS: Brodsky's report also indicated that the "taxpayers' investment would result in creation of 'only 15 new (full-time) permanent jobs.'" Brodsky said, "The reason that this money was given has nothing to do with jobs. It has nothing to do with economic activity. It [has] to do with the political craziness that professional sports yields when it comes to people in my business." The city will possess a luxury suite in the new park, but Pinsky noted that the city has "had a suite at Shea Stadium for years, as well as at stadiums for minor league teams." Pinsky: "All that we've done here is give the city the same rights it's had for many years, at the new Yankee Stadium." N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said of Brodsky, "I don't know what his problem is. He voted for the Yankee Stadium's support to begin with" (NEWSDAY, 9/17). Brodsky also noted that city officials "never made an effort to [rein] in the team's escalating ticket prices." Brodsky in the report wrote, "The price of tickets to the new Yankee Stadium is a matter of legitimate public concern, given the enormous public subsidies involved" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/17).
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