Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's nearly four-year quest to build a Manhattan football stadium that could spark the redevelopment of the West Side and lure the Olympic Games to New York was defeated yesterday when two of Albany's leaders refused to approve the $2.2 billion project. The decision threw into serious doubt the city's bid to bring the 2012 Olympics to the United States.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver: "Am I supposed to turn my back on Lower Manhattan as it struggles to recover? For what? A stadium?"
Another Big Idea Brought Down by Politics (June 7, 2005)
Contemplating a Future With No West Side Stadium (June 7, 2005)
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg: "Those that were on the other side will have to explain why they were against jobs, why they were against economic opportunity and growth."
By far the most contentious development project proposed for New York City in years, the stadium became a victim of the city's and state's clashing rebuilding priorities after the World Trade Center attack.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who held veto power over the stadium, said yesterday that he could not support the project on the West Side, along with the large commercial redevelopment plan the mayor has proposed, because it would undermine the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan, his district.
"Am I supposed to turn my back on Lower Manhattan as it struggles to recover?" Mr. Silver asked at an Albany news conference. "For what? A stadium? For the hope of bringing the Olympics to New York City?"
Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader, also declined to support the project, saying he had not been given enough information about it. He tried, but failed, to win support for a plan to authorize the stadium only if the city won its bid for the Olympics.
Yesterday's decision, by the state's Public Authorities Control Board, makes it far more difficult, if not impossible, for the city to guarantee the construction of an Olympic stadium, a prerequisite to its bid. Just hours earlier, the International Olympic Committee released a report generally praising New York's bid, but calling attention to the stadium's uncertainty. Paris's proposal drew unqualified praise. In less than four weeks, the Olympic committee plans to pick Paris, London, Madrid, Moscow or New York for the site of the Summer Games.
"I had not been able to persuade him," Mr. Bloomberg said after Mr. Silver's announcement. "As for our Olympic bid, rejection of the stadium will seriously damage our chances at winning the 2012 Games." Those who opposed the stadium would have to explain why they were against jobs and economic growth, he said. Aides to the mayor added that he was furious at Mr. Silver, believing the speaker had failed to negotiate in good faith after promising to do so over the weekend.
The vote also raises questions about Mr. Bloomberg's ambitious plans to redevelop the low-scale industrial neighborhood on the Far West Side and expand the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The mayor had planned the stadium as the centerpiece of a huge commercial and residential development in the old maritime district along the river, including a subway-line extension and broad new boulevards.
Mr. Bloomberg, along with the Jets, the city's construction unions and some business groups, had said the stadium would help create thousands of new jobs, new tax revenues and a new commercial district.
"Without it, we won't have the catalyst for the growth of this neighborhood, and we'll have to revise our plans to make up for it," Mr. Bloomberg said. "This delay will be measured in years, not months." He said the vote would also mean a loss of millions of dollars to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which had planned to sell the stadium site to the Jets.
In his pursuit of the stadium, the mayor failed to reckon with the power of the little-known state board, which is controlled by Albany's three leaders - Mr. Silver, Mr. Bruno and Gov. George E. Pataki. Without a unanimous decision from the board, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority could not transfer the land, and the state could not contribute its half of the $600 million public subsidy. Because Mr. Silver and Mr. Bruno each ordered their representatives on the board to abstain - the equivalent of a no vote - the project cannot go ahead.
Mr. Bloomberg could not overcome Mr. Silver's determination to fight for his downtown district, which has never recovered the economic vitality it held before the terrorist attacks. Aides to the mayor, saying they were baffled by Mr. Silver's vote, said they had offered him any number of incentives to keep businesses downtown, including commercial rent tax exemptions and penalties for moving from downtown to the West Side.
The proposals, offered in last-minute negotiations over the weekend, were met by stony silence from Mr. Silver, the aides said.