Stadium Discussion

Where Do You Want The Stadium?

  • Manhattan

    Votes: 54 16.6%
  • Queens

    Votes: 99 30.5%
  • Brooklyn

    Votes: 19 5.8%
  • Staten Island

    Votes: 7 2.2%
  • Westchester

    Votes: 18 5.5%
  • The Bronx

    Votes: 113 34.8%
  • Long Island

    Votes: 7 2.2%
  • Dual-Boroughs

    Votes: 3 0.9%
  • Etihad Island

    Votes: 5 1.5%

  • Total voters
    325
I don't recall if there was City money involved (I don't think there was), but Big Bill certainly had his hand in the proceedings. He had some sort of quid pro quo deal with Ratner.
Barclay's pre-dated DeBlasio though no?
 
I'd have to go look to double check my facts, but he was some sort of city advocate of one kind or another and Ratner was a good friend and $upporter of Big Bill. There was some sort of deal where housing would be involved, but in typical NYC fashion its been 9 years and I believe they only recently started building the first units (or they were just finished).
 
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I'd have to go look to double check my facts, but he was some sort of city advocate of one kind or another and Ratner was a good friend and $upporter of Big Bill. There was some sort of deal where housing would be involved, but in typical NYC fashion its been 9 years and I believe they only recently started building the first units (or they were just finished).
gotcha, kinda figured you were alluding to something like that. You're last sentence really worries me when it comes to our predicament
 
Understood on the interpretation, fair point. Was there government funding in the Barclay's deal? That's one piece I don't see happening under DeBlasio. But agreed if you could tie in affordable housing it would go along way towards swaying DeBlasio. CFG has been involved in housing in Manchester, as well, so not unprecedented for them.

The difference with Manchester, of course, is that in Manchester the city council is absolutely bending backwards to invite as much CFG investment as possible, mainly because they had absolutely no-one willing to invest any money whatsoever in revitalising the city until CFG came out of nowhere and offered them a 10-digit figure. In NYC, clearly the city is simply not interested at all, but then in NYC you have literally dozens of companies building and rebuilding all over the place at any one time.
 
He was the public advocate, and it took 10 year to get Barclays Center to get approved.

Just the right amount of time to get the Nets to suck enough that nobody showed up anymore to the Meadowlands. During 2000-2006, the Nets were a good team.
 
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Not sure I necessarily agree with that. If CFG puts up the money to clean up the site that might be just what the city is looking for from a developer. And even though CFG aren't really developers, in a sense that's what they'd be doing with *any* site that gets chosen. Surely they could afford a single year's Man City payroll (approximately the amount needed to clean up the site) to grease the wheels here in New York to get this done. If anything I think that article makes this easier, even though it said the city's not interested in a stadium. CFG can afford it, and in the long term will get back their investment if they own (or perhaps manage if not own) the land.
 
I agree Seth. Still some disheartening points in the article, however.

"The Mayor’s Office told Gothamist that despite interest from MLS, a soccer stadium would not be considered for the site." - Fuck DeBlasio. I have a feeling we won't see any progress until he is gone. Bloomberg could at least play ball. DeBlasio will just be a prick about it and ride it out.

Also, even if CFG pay for the cleanup (which is the defacto price of the land, as the City is selling it for $1), then it will take years to make any progress. The amount of legal bullshit you have to go through to clean up a site like this is insane. I'm taking environmental law right now in law school, and my professor worked for National Grid on the Gowanus Canal job. There are lawyers who have spent their entire careers working on that one project alone. The public comment record basically needs to be hauled around on a hand truck.
 
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Only way I see the mayor playing ball with CFG is if they build affordable housing for the city. And what are the odds of that happening
 
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Rumors had begun to swirl that other developers looking into the area included a possible stadium proposal from Major League Soccer, who tried and failed to get approval to build a stadium at a nearby site. The Mayor’s Office told Gothamist that despite interest from MLS, a soccer stadium would not be considered for the site.

That being the only portion that refers to MLS.
That situation could change as quickly as wind direction.
 
it's 174 pages of pure forum gold.

I agree. The process for something like this requires public comment, and usually its public comment from those most immediately affected (which is almost always negative from nearby residents), and organizations created specifically to address those concerns (using those residents for their standing in court).

What I'd really like to see is us getting involved in public comments for anything CFG proposes. They will need our support in getting anything passed. This thread can help alert us all to something like that and we can organize to offer that support when it is called for.