The Bloomberg administration and the
Yankees are squabbling over the use of
a luxury suite, such as this rendering shows,
in the Yankees' new $1.3 billion stadium set
to open in 2009. (Source: HOK) |
A series of emails shows that the Bloomberg administration and the New York Yankees have been squabbling over the use of a luxury suite in the new Yankee Stadium with issues ranging to the size of the suite, to whether free food should be granted the Mayor’s office. (see images of new Yankee Stadium) As the emails reveal, Mayor Bloomberg’s office was willing to give 250 parking spaces that were earmarked for the public to the Yankees, where they have been turned into spaces for Yankee execs and VIPs. The city has also turned over the revenue rights for three billboards as part of the suite deal. The emails were obtained by Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, Democrat of Westchester. Brodsky has been highly critical of the use of taxpayer dollars associated to the $1.3 billion stadium slated to open in 2009. The New York Times has reported that the use of the suite has been a bone of contention between parties for some time. It is hard to determine the precise value of what the city gave the Yankees as part of the exchange. The public parking, though perhaps a convenience to those who drive to the stadium, was to be run by a parking garage operator, not the city, before it was turned over to the Yankees for team use. The billboards would most likely generate about $750,000 annually, given their location. The Yankees are expected to charge $600,000 to $850,000 a year for stadium luxury suites, according to reports. The project required permission from the Internal Revenue Service because of the team’s desire to use tax-exempt bonds to finance construction. In one heated exchange, city lawyers threatened they would not make the request to the I.R.S. for the use of the tax-exempt financing unless the Yankees would consider providing the luxury suite. Lonn Trust, the Yankees chief operating officer, wrote to the city on Jan. 26, 2006: “For clarity, no seats, no suites, no tickets, and as they say in Brooklyn ‘No nothin’.’ ” In response, a lawyer for the city, Joseph Gunn, warned that “No nothin’ can go both ways,” adding that if the luxury suite was not included, “We do not submit the letter ruling request.”
The article shows that there was a steady stream of emails between the Yankees and representatives of Mayor Bloomberg’s office, including whether free food would be part of the deal for the city, as is the case with all other suites in the soon-to-be-open ballpark for those that are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for their use. When the Yankees balked at the notion of free food, Mayor Bloomberg’s office shot back. “It’s really ridiculous, but it sticks like a bone in everyone’s craw, [said Stephen Lefkowitz, a Yankees lawyer]. “The Yankees feel the city should pay for any food it wants to consume, and I think it’s a little unseemly to require ‘free’ food.” He added: “For this I went to law school — sigh.”
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