ESPN: NFL refuses to hold draft at Garden

[1niksder]

NFL refuses to hold draft at Garden

NEW YORK -- One week after their 11th hour bid on the property targeted for a new football stadium, Madison Square Garden officials on Friday answered questions about their $600 million proposal and asked for an expedited review of their bid.



In a letter sent to the property's owner, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the MSG group addressed 46 queries posed by MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow about price, payment and other questions related to the bid.



The Garden group, firing the latest salvo in its bitter fight with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and stadium proponents, stressed that it was eager to move ahead with its offer and asked the MTA to speed up its review process.



"MSG and its affiliates propose to pay $600 million out of cash on hand and available borrowing capacity ... to move forward with the transaction without delay," said a letter from MSG Vice Chairman Hank Ratner.



The Garden, owner of the New York Knicks, is battling with Bloomberg and the New York Jets for control of the site above the Hudson Yards, where the proposed stadium would house the NFL team and possibly the 2012 Olympics.


The NFL, citing MSG's attempts to block the stadium, even pulled its annual draft from Madison Square Garden


"Is the dispute over the Jets stadium an issue or a factor? Our comment is, 'Yes, it's a factor,' " Greg Aiello, an NFL spokesman told the New York Times on Thursday. "The contract we have with the Garden is up. We have not finalized any contract for the 2005 draft, so we are continuing to explore different venues. We expect to have it resolved in the next couple of weeks."


Supporters of the stadium deal were quick to rip the Garden's continuing efforts, headed by the Dolan family, owners of Cablevision and the arena. MSG has proposed a "dynamic mixed-use community centered on residential development" as opposed to the NFL stadium.



"If putting together lousy business deals and losing teams was an Olympic sport, Cablevision would surely take the gold," said Edward J. Malloy, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council. "Nobody experienced with big projects in our industry takes this amateurish proposal seriously."


Jets spokesman Matthew Higgins dismissed the Garden's offer, saying "we think it's time to move on with the [stadium] project." The mayor's office didn't immediately respond to the bid.


MTA spokesman Tom Kelly confirmed that the MSG letter arrived at their offices.



"We received a 12-page document from Madison Square Garden shortly after 4 p.m. today, and we are reviewing it," MTA spokesman Tom Kelly said.



The value of the property has become an enormous sticking point in negotiations between the MTA and the Jets, which hope to become the stadium's prime tenant at the start of the 2009 season.



The MTA's appraisal set the site value at $923 million for 6.8 million square feet of development rights. Since the proposed stadium would occupy only 2 million square feet, the appraisers subtracted about $600 million, for an end value of $330 million, the MTA says.



The Jets appraiser came up with a price tag for the property of $36.9 million -- the presumed worth of the site minus the $316 million cost of building a platform over the rail yards. Politicians immediately questioned why the Jets would receive credit for building the platform, considering that the city and state agreed to pay $600 million for it and a retractable roof for the stadium.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1989591

[Primetime42]

Jim Dolan can seriously go to hell.

He's not only going to ruin the Jets' chances of EVER having their own stadium, but also robbing the city of the millions it would get by hosting a Super Bowl.

All this because he wants his little MSG Monopoly His father should come out of wherever he's been and take over the company again. Then he can start cleaning house, maybe even make the New York Knicks a competitive basketball team

The saddest part is that he is so against the NYSCC, he would bankrupt HIMSELF just to stop it.

[air_hog]

I wish more guys would attend the Draft in person. I know that they want to be with their family but they can come too.

[ANT7088]

Jim Dolan can seriously go to hell.

He's not only going to ruin the Jets' chances of EVER having their own stadium, but also robbing the city of the millions it would get by hosting a Super Bowl.

All this because he wants his little MSG Monopoly His father should come out of wherever he's been and take over the company again. Then he can start cleaning house, maybe even make the New York Knicks a competitive basketball team

The saddest part is that he is so against the NYSCC, he would bankrupt HIMSELF just to stop it.

Have you ever been to NYC????? There is traffic almost 24 hours a day, any kind of stadium would make it even worse. If it was only the 8 home games a year for the NFL season it wouldn't be that bad, but it's the stuff they will host between games & off-seasons that will suck. There are alot of other places I'm sure they can find to put a stadium, NYC shuldn't be one of them!!!!!!

[Redskin in Canada]

Have you ever been to NYC?????

How about the subway? Just a thoought...

For our fans in England that would be the underground. But if you say the underground in NY you would probably be arrested for inciting an anti-establishment political movement...

[tcwest10]

I couldn't care less if the Jets/Giants get a new stadium or not. It's not as if I would be stuck in the traffic, personally. I do know that Dolan messes things up with my tv programming, though. This guy is a major, major pain in the ass.
As I did last year, I was planning to make the draft at MSG this time. ("Made plans", that is. I didn't make the actual event. The things that got in the way of my attendance aren't there this year.)
It's a shame to pull it from the city.
Oh, well. It'll be televised somewhere, unless Dolan goes and screws up the tv again.

[ANT7088]

Have you ever been to NYC?????

How about the subway? Just a thoought...

For our fans in England that would be the underground. But if you say the underground in NY you would probably be arrested for inciting an anti-establishment political movement...

Whether it's "driving", "walking" or any kind of "public" trans. there WILL be traffic. Subway's will be like the inside of a crowed nightclub!

[Redskin in Canada]

Subway's will be like the inside of a crowed nightclub!

Good looking girls, tight spaces, music, and drinks? Geeee! And you do not want it?

I am kidding all the way man. It does not make a difference to me one way or another.

[Primetime42]

Jim Dolan can seriously go to hell.

He's not only going to ruin the Jets' chances of EVER having their own stadium, but also robbing the city of the millions it would get by hosting a Super Bowl.

All this because he wants his little MSG Monopoly His father should come out of wherever he's been and take over the company again. Then he can start cleaning house, maybe even make the New York Knicks a competitive basketball team

The saddest part is that he is so against the NYSCC, he would bankrupt HIMSELF just to stop it.

Have you ever been to NYC????? There is traffic almost 24 hours a day, any kind of stadium would make it even worse. If it was only the 8 home games a year for the NFL season it wouldn't be that bad, but it's the stuff they will host between games & off-seasons that will suck. There are alot of other places I'm sure they can find to put a stadium, NYC shuldn't be one of them!!!!!!

Um, I was not only BORN in NYC, I have WORKED there.

If you would read up on the proposed stadium, you would know that this is nowhere near as big an issue as you just made it to be. Trust me, traffic won't get much worse if there is no actual parking lot at the stadium.

There are plans to extend the 7 train onto that area. There will be a new ferry to bring people from Jersey City.

There will also be a park next to the stadium where patrons can party before and after games.

Traffic in Manhattan is always gonna be bad no matter what you do or don't do.

[ANT7088]

With no parking lot, where do you think the people that drive are going to park???? 60,000+ people are not going to take the 7 train & the Ferry! I don't think you've worked here enought to know what you're talking about. A stadium in NYC would make the traffic 1,000,000x worse.

How long did you work in NYC????

[Primetime42]

With no parking lot, where do you think the people that drive are going to park???? 60,000+ people are not going to take the 7 train & the Ferry! I don't think you've worked here enought to know what you're talking about. A stadium in NYC would make the traffic 1,000,000x worse.

How long did you work in NYC????

Again, you're missing the point.

They DON'T want people to drive directly to the stadium...if they DID, they'd build it in Queens or something. Drive to some point in or out of Manhattan and take public transportation to the stadium.

It's not a perfect plan, and in Manhattan, nothing is.

But it would not make traffic worse to the extent that people couldn't get around. It'd be no worse than Madison Square on game day back when the Knicks were good.

[ANT7088]

With no parking lot, where do you think the people that drive are going to park???? 60,000+ people are not going to take the 7 train & the Ferry! I don't think you've worked here enought to know what you're talking about. A stadium in NYC would make the traffic 1,000,000x worse.

How long did you work in NYC????

Again, you're missing the point.

They DON'T want people to drive directly to the stadium...if they DID, they'd build it in Queens or something. Drive to some point in or out of Manhattan and take public transportation to the stadium.

It's not a perfect plan, and in Manhattan, nothing is.

But it would not make traffic worse to the extent that people couldn't get around. It'd be no worse than Madison Square on game day back when the Knicks were good.

There will be about a 40,000 people difference, r u serious???? You can't compare a Basketball crowd to a Football crowd! Like I said before, 60,000 people aren't going to take public trans., it will never happen.

On a normal working day it takes 2 1/2 hours (at least) to get to the end of the NYC from my house, at night with no traffic 20-25 minutes, on a Sunday about 1 hour (depending on the time). So now you add the 60,000 people & you think it will be a normal day??? NO WAY! It will be terrible! Whether they drive or not all those people will be walking through the streets. It will cause major problems!

Yankee Stadium is about 10 minutes (no traffic) from my house, on gameday about an hour. If I wanted to go to NYC during a game it would take forever.

MSG & Yankee stadium have been here for a very long time, way before we were here, they are just to more building that we (I) grew up with, they've always been there. Now to add something new, it's just not needed there.

Thay can really find somewhere a little less populated in NY to put it.

[Primetime42]

With no parking lot, where do you think the people that drive are going to park???? 60,000+ people are not going to take the 7 train & the Ferry! I don't think you've worked here enought to know what you're talking about. A stadium in NYC would make the traffic 1,000,000x worse.

How long did you work in NYC????

Again, you're missing the point.

They DON'T want people to drive directly to the stadium...if they DID, they'd build it in Queens or something. Drive to some point in or out of Manhattan and take public transportation to the stadium.

It's not a perfect plan, and in Manhattan, nothing is.

But it would not make traffic worse to the extent that people couldn't get around. It'd be no worse than Madison Square on game day back when the Knicks were good.

There will be about a 40,000 people difference, r u serious???? You can't compare a Basketball crowd to a Football crowd! Like I said before, 60,000 people aren't going to take public trans., it will never happen.

On a normal working day it takes 2 1/2 hours (at least) to get to the end of the NYC from my house, at night with no traffic 20-25 minutes, on a Sunday about 1 hour (depending on the time). So now you add the 60,000 people & you think it will be a normal day??? NO WAY! It will be terrible! Whether they drive or not all those people will be walking through the streets. It will cause major problems!

Yankee Stadium is about 10 minutes (no traffic) from my house, on gameday about an hour. If I wanted to go to NYC during a game it would take forever.

MSG & Yankee stadium have been here for a very long time, way before we were here, they are just to more building that we (I) grew up with, they've always been there. Now to add something new, it's just not needed there.

Thay can really find somewhere a little less populated in NY to put it.

I'm sure Woody Johnson is open to suggestions, maybe you know something he doesn't?

Put yourself in his position for a moment, you own this team, but you pay rent to another team of the same area. He's not exactly Dan Snyder, but he DOES want to make a little bit of a profit, that IS part of the reason he bought the team, you know.

Again, YES traffic will increase. I am not denying that. Noor did I ever. But the object of this stadium is not to build another parking lot/deck.

I assume you've seen the lots for the ferry. They plan to make that bigger. They plan on fixing the 7 train to get there.

Hell, imagine what the taxi drivers would make on this deal!

Yes, NYC has traffic problems. Yes, they will compound with this new stadium but...

a) it will not be at the level you describe

b) It is not the reason Dolan put down money for the land. He wants to have a monopoly at the Garden, plain and simple.

c) If it generates MONEY (aka something YOUR team's owner loves and uses to "better" his team, just like everyone else), then it's gonna get built.

Besides, from all that I've heard on the Jets front, it seems the majority wants the stadium. The only people who DON'T want it are those who live by the Javits Center and those who supposedly lose money because of it.

And that's the case ANYTIME you build a stadium within city limits.

[ANT7088]

Don't get me wrong, there are alot of positives! What pisses me off the most, I don't like the Jets, but I will be donating to the Stadium with my Tax money! LOL

[General Failure]

You think that's bad? I have (or is it had? I don't keep track) to donate to the Steelers, Pirates, and Phillies.

[tcwest10]

Why not donate FredEx to Pittsburgh for vindication ?

[General Failure]

I think they have a team policy of not signing free agents unless they're named Duce.