MSG or the New York Jets: Who Can We Trust to Close that 26 Acre Hole in the Ground?

Which offer is going to close that 26 acre hole in the ground that is the Hudson train yards? That is the question.

If the MTA goes ahead with the Jets proposal, we know for certain that that hole will start to close. If, on the other hand, the MTA decides to look long and hard at Cablevision’s last minute proposal, what will the city get in return?

Simple. A 26 acre hole in the ground. If the Jets walk away, what incentive is there for Cablevision to spend one additional penny on the site? Wouldn’t it make more economic sense to hold the property for ten or twenty years, if not longer, as an investment?

While Cablevision claims that they can build the deck for $250 million, which seems dubios (and unlike the Jets, Cablevision is not promising to pay for all cost overruns) what is the incentive for them to move forward once they kill the Jets offer?

The Jets have agreed to arbitration, with former Democratic Senator George Mitchell of Maine at the head of the table. Senator Mitchell has been deemed by the past couple of administrations in Washington, both Democratic and Republican, as being up to the task of arbitrating intense, violent crises, such as in Northern Ireland. He should be able to handle New York.

In the end, the Jets will have to chose whether they want to move forward with Mitchell's final number or not.

If it comes down to a twenty or thirty million dollar difference, shouldn’t the MTA then ask, who is going to close that hole? If, for an extra twenty or thirty million dollars in the MTA’s bank account, we get stuck with a 26 acre hole, then the city is being screwed by the MTA.

Jim Whalen of the Hudson Yards Coalition noted that it would take five years, minimum, for the site to be brought up to the standards, particularly with zoning, that Cablevision is demanding be met. As Whalen said yesterday about the Cablevision proposal, “It’s a sham, very little detail in it. They’ve been at it for three years, you’d think they would be a little further along.”

Congressman Meeks of Queens said of Cablevision, “Their purported offer is really an attempt to stop something that is in their way. They are just looking to stop the project. They saw that their scare tactics weren’t working. This project calls for the city to face short term pain for huge long term gain. This project will bring into the city money, and jobs, and when people of color face the highest unemployment in the city, that is important.”

Five years before Cablevision would be ready to act. Jimmy Dolan will wink and smile. The Jets will long have moved on by then. But that hole will still be there. As it will be in twenty years, and beyond.

Because Cablevision is interested in one thing only. Killing this project.