Monday, December 22, 2008

Sports columnist wonders why no one is concerned

...one of these days Bloomberg and the people who work for him - or used to work for him when he was trying to get the deal done on the financing of the new Yankee Stadium - need to explain something to the citizens of New York, and to the Congress, in a way those of us who aren't financial wizards can understand:

How more than two years ago the appraised value of the land around the new stadium, land the Yankees need to build the richest baseball stadium ever built, suddenly and magically went from $27 million to $204 million because that made the deal work best for the New York Yankees.

And this really needs to be explained before the city's Industrial Development Agency holds hearings on Jan. 15 about handing over an additional $259 million to the Yankees in tax-exempt bonds so they can finish building this stadium, along with $111 million in taxable bonds.

Because if the city just hands over the bonds at a time like this, it will tell you everything about the way Bloomberg's New York actually works for the rich and the powerful.

The Mets were originally allowed to raise $547 million in tax-exempt bonds, and have gone back to the city now for money they didn't take on the front end. The Yankees were authorized to get $940 million, and now want 30% on top of that. And what happened for them and didn't happen for the Mets was that there was this one magical day when the appraised value suddenly was 10 times more than it had been the day before.


It's a wonderful lie

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its called Honest Graft.

http://www.panarchy.org/plunkitt/graft.1905.html

Its one of the reasons that government is not responsive to YOUR needs.

They are in office for THEIR needs.

Queens Crapper said...

Here's a direct link:

"Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft"

georgetheatheist said...

My advice to everyone: See your opportunity. Then take it.

It's dog-eat-dog time.

georgetheatheist said...

Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero*. - the Roman poet Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus, 65 BC-8 BC)

*Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future.

Anonymous said...

Bloomberg's modus operandi is exposed quite well in this single case study. Multiply it many times over and this is the state of the city. This scheme, which started before Bloomberg, can be exposed by focusing on case after case after case. The are dipping into our pockets, and they are mortgaging our futures--all while devastating our neighborhoods. Honest graft--yep! I congratulate, and thank, Crappy for establishing this increasingly important forum.

Anonymous said...

Well said!

Anonymous said...

vote him out

Anonymous said...

$My advice to everyone: See your opportunity. Then take it.

It's dog-eat-dog time.

Just dont go as far as your capitalist brethen because thats how we got to dog eat dog in the first place.Let it reign,watch it eat itself.

Anonymous said...

Commissar Death and Taxes is just bailing out (rescuing) an organization that plays for a living.

Dear leader is frightened that we will soon run out of throwing, hitting, running, etc., capacity in this great country if we don't keep these vitally required activities going.

How are we to fend off terrorism if we no longer have people who can hit a ball for hundreds of millions of dollars each year?