Richard Brodsky and Randy Levine, those two titans of New York and its stadium politics, are at it again. While the two have clashed over public financing for new Yankee Stadium in the arena of the New York State Assembly, yesterday, they squared off in court over a subpoena Brodsky has issued calling for internal Yankee documents about stadium financing. The Yankees, rightly so, claim that Brodsky is singling them out unfairly when other New York entities have enjoyed sweetheart tax breaks as well. For what it’s worth, the Mets have complied with Brodsky’s document request, took over a parking lot and not a park for their new stadium and required less in public financing to build Citi Field.
Meanwhile, the Yankees allege that Brodsky’s request for document production could cost taxpayers around $5 million. At this point, I have to wonder if it’s worth it. As Neil deMause wrote in September, Brodsky is garnering headlines and not much else. It’s doubtful that the IRS will revoke the tax-exempt status of the bonds, and Brodsky is continuing to burn through public money and good will. The Yankees, a very rich entity, relied on more public money than they should have to build the stadium, and we can debate the true economic impact of the new park until the cows come home..
For more on the issue, check out this post at Fack Youk. Their resident law student feels that the team should comply for the sake of transparency. In principle, I agree, but it’s getting to the point, though, at which Brodsky should consider just dropping it.
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