Well, that's one way to keep the Jets from getting a sweetheart deal. How much would the property be worth if one didn't have the agenda of either building the stadium to attract the Jets and maybe the 2012 Olympics, on the one hand, or of stopping the entire project like Cablevision? Owner of Garden Outbids Jets For Site of Proposed Stadium By CHARLES V. BAGLI Published: February 5, 2005 The owner of Madison Square Garden, after spending many months and millions of dollars trying to prevent the Jets and the city from building a football stadium on the West Side, played its boldest card yet yesterday, offering to pay far more for the land than the Jets have proposed. Cablevision, which owns the Garden, said it would pay $600 million to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the right to build office buildings and housing at the 13-acre West Side railyards. The offer includes the price of a $250 million deck over the yards for the development. The Jets, on the other hand, have offered the M.T.A. $100 million for the land, with the city and state splitting the cost of the deck. The authority has asked the Jets to pay $300 million for the parcel.With the Jets and the authority heading toward arbitration in the matter, the Cablevision offer throws a deliberate wrench into the politically charged negotiation between the parties. The authority has been buttailed by stadium opponents and transit advocates who have said that it is not seeking enough money from the Jets for the land, and that it could make more money for the transit system if it considered another proposal. Whether Cablevision is serious about becoming a real estate developer or whether it is simply trying to embarrbutt the Jets and the M.T.A., its offer demonstrates the enormous sums and political forces at stake in the stadium battle. It could succeed at driving up the price of the land beyond the point at which the Jets would be able to afford a stadium - ending what the Dolan family, which owns Cablevision, has always said would be a threat to its sports arena over Pennsylvania Station. And the move comes just two weeks before the International Olympic Committee is due in New York to buttess the city's bid for the 2012 Olympic games, which hinges on the use of the stadium for Olympic events. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has hoped to demonstrate to the committee that the stadium is a virtual certainty. Homes For Unwanted Pets and Pet Products InfoPunkRocker all the pet adoption centers in austin will kill your pet. please do not use these adoption centers. there are many pet rescuers in austin who are individuals who take... The Bloomberg administration and the Jets took a harsh view of the latest tactic from a company that has paid for television ads denouncing the stadium proposal and Mayor Bloomberg. City officials said the Cablevision plan would take longer to evolve than the stadium, depriving the city of years of revenue. "This is a desperate, last minute attempt to derail a project that will create thousands of jobs, more than $1 billion in tax revenue, and allow New York to realize its Olympic dreams by building a world clbutt sports and convention center," said Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff in a statement released yesterday. "A Friday afternoon press release doesn't replace years of planning, design, negotiation and public review from which this project has benefited." City officials also said Cablevision had not explained how it would pay for the project, although the city has never fully described its financial plan for a share of the stadium costs. The Jets, who recently redesigned plans for the stadium in an attempt to mollify critics, also blasted Cablevision. "This is a desperate ploy and a cynical P.R. gimmick by a company that has already demonstrated that it will do anything to protect its monopoly," said Marissa Shorenstein, a Jets spokeswoman. Cablevision's $600 million offer came in the form of a letter to Peter S. Kalikow, chairman of the M.T.A., from the Garden's vice chairman, Hank Ratner. He said the Garden would develop a "dynamic mixed-use community," including a hotel, housing, recreation, entertainment and office space that would serve as "a beautiful, dramatic and vital neighbor to the newly expanded Javits Convention Center." Mr. Ratner estimated that it would cost $250 million to build a deck and expressed a willingness to share the cost of any overruns. Although the Garden is not known for building skyscrapers, real estate executives say the company would have little trouble finding an experienced development partner. The offer came as a surprise to the M.T.A. and stunned City Hall, which had been hoping that the M.T.A. board would agree next week to send its dispute with the Jets to arbitration. "This is the first indication we have received from the Garden after months of public discussion that they are interested in our property," said Tom Kelly, a spokesman for the authority. "We are reviewing the proposal." The M.T.A., which is facing service cuts and multibillion-dollar gaps in its capital budget, will not reject the offer out of hand. Mr. Kelly said that Mr. Kalikow's main concern is obtaining the best financial deal he can for the M.T.A. and its customers. But the authority does want to conclude a deal quickly and, executives involved in West Side development say, the authority could ask for final offers for the site before the M.T.A. board meets on Feb. 24. Gov. George E. Pataki has publicly supported the Bloomberg administration's effort to build the $1.4 billion stadium and the state's development arm would oversee the project, which would be on state-controlled land. But despite pledging $300 million for the stadium, the governor has often left it to Mr. Bloomberg to do the heavy lifting. Many real estate executives say privately that land on the once dormant West Side has recently become a hot commodity. "This underscores what we've said all along," said Robert Yaro, president of the Regional Plan buttociation, which opposes the stadium. "This is a valuable site and the M.T.A. has a responsibility to get the highest dollar amount." State Senator Thomas K. Duane, a Democrat who represents the West Side and opposes the stadium, embraced Cablevision's offer. "We always wanted compebreastion, to see what's best for the site, for the M.T.A., the West Side and for the city. I think this is a genuine attempt to provide other options for the use of this site." Cablevision's stock closed yesterday at $27.32, down 10 cents.
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