Taxpayer Subsidy Hearing for Yankee Stadium on Thursday, March 2 at 4pm at Hostos Community College, Bronx

Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) Hearing
Thursday, March 2, 2006
4 pm to 6pm

Hostos Community College
450 Grand Concourse
Bronx
Main theatre, building C, first floor

You can speak out against what the ESDC is proposing:

• $70 milllion dollars in State finds appropriated through the ESDC for parking garages containing about 5,000 spaces
• $4.7 million in cash grants towards the parking garages

Issue Highlights

Open Government/Open Space: In June 2005 the state legislature and city council quietly seized 24 acres of John Mullaly and Macomb’s Dam Park to be used for the new stadium and garages. Public officials failed to notify or consult the community beforehand and have since taken great pains to expedite the public review and subsidy allocation processes.

Hidden Costs: Direct and indirect subsidies for the Yankee Stadium project could exceed $480 million. The city and state would contribute about $210 million for replacement parks, parking garages and the demolition of the current stadium. In addition, the Yankees would not be required to pay property taxes, sales tax or rent, and would have access to tax-exempt bonds to finance the stadium’s construction.

Jobs: Subsidizing this stadium is a costly and inefficient strategy for creating jobs. Most of the 900 “permanent jobs” would be seasonal and low-wage positions that would not effectively address the high rates of poverty and unemployment in the surrounding community.

Garages vs. Mass Transit: A new Metro-North station would allow thousands of more fans to utilize mass transit each game while connecting the South Bronx community to the surrounding region. However, the state is instead investing $70 million in new parking garages that will increase traffic and pollution in a neighborhood already suffering from alarmingly high Asthma rates

To request copies of ESDC, contact Maria Mooney at (212) 803-3133.

For more information on this proposal, and to read GJNY’s report “Loot, Loot, Loot for the Home Team” go to www.goodjobsny.org or call Dan Steinberg at Good Jobs New York: (212) 721-4865.