Jets Stadium Opponents File Suit; Giants Continue NJ Talks

Opponents File MSG-Backed Lawsuit Against Jets Over “Push Poll”

Opponents of the proposed West Side stadium for the Jets Wednesday filed a lawsuit claiming the team “conspired with the city” and the Metropolitan Transit Authority to conduct a “‘push poll’ to mislead the public about” the stadium’s impact on traffic, according to Michael Saul of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. “Push” questions are phrased to “subtly influence – rather than gauge – public opinion.” The lawsuit, which is being paid for by MSG, cites an April 16 e-mail message in which Jets VP/Development Thad Sheely wrote he “made a few changes in the order of the ‘push’ questions for the inveterate drivers.” N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg spokesperson Jennifer Falk said, “The survey questions were reviewed and approved by a professional survey consultant and were appropriate. In any event, the so-called ‘push questions’ – a term used by the Jets, not the city –- were not relied upon in the analysis” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/23). Falk called the lawsuit “another ill-disguised and frivolous attempt by Cablevision to rehash their earlier baseless allegations” (NEWSDAY, 12/23).

GIANTS: NEWSDAY’s Bob Glauber reports acting New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey met with Giants execs Wednesday to continue discussions about a proposed $700M stadium to be built adjacent to Giants Stadium. An official familiar with the meeting, in reference to the West Side proposal, said, “There’s no public money involved in this. That’s unlike a certain other NFL team in a certain NFL city that’s talking about figures that are astronomically higher than what this is about. There’s a significant contrast there” (NEWSDAY, 12/23). In Newark, Politi & Futterman report Codey “will not accept any deal that does not include rent payments from the Giants.” While the team has proposed paying only $1 a year to the state as rent, two Giants sources said that the team “is willing to move” on the issue (STAR-LEDGER, 12/23).

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