Harrison Stadium - The rumours of my demise..

MetroStars president Nick Sakiewicz and Harrison Mayor Ray McDonough could not be reached for comment.


It's going to be easier to find Bin Laden than it is to find Nick.

At least Ives is in agreement that the stadium wouldn't be ready for 2006 anyway, regardless of where it's built.

 

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/

$850m in stadiums for Jersey?

New Jersey state senate president Richard Codey, set to take over as acting governor once James "I am a gay American" McGreevey steps down next week, has proclaimed that he wants to build $850 million in new stadiums at the Meadowlands sports complex for the New York Giants, New York/New Jersey MetroStars, and an unspecified minor-league team. Codey was vague about financing details beyond indicating that the teams would be asked to pay the bulk of the cost: "The Giants have indicated to me that building a new stadium is their first option. I've said to them, if they pay for it, they can run it."

As you may recall, the MetroStars have been working on a $160 million soccer stadium plan in Harrison, N.J. (across the river from Newark), but Codey declared those talks dead this week, saying, "The county doesn't want to back these bonds." Harrison Redevelopment Authority director Peter Higgins retorted that this was "nothing more than a temporary setback." As always, take all this with the requisite grains of salt until you can see the green of somebody's greenbacks.

 

in a nutshell...

so if aeg guarantees the bonds, we have a stadium.

if not, we look at the meadowlands.

 

Good nutshell, with a slightly different possibility. If the dollar amount of the bond is reduced from $90 million, Hudson County might accept that. So if the project goes from $30 mm (AEG) / $90 mm (HCIA) to something else, like $60 mm (AEG) / $60 mm (HCIA), that might be more acceptable to HCIA and get a deal done on substantially similar terms.

 

The whole MetroStars saga has been a disappointment both on and off the field. Normally I would say, don't believe anything you hear until the shovels hit the ground. But seeing how (I'm not sure what word to use: "disappointing", "unlucky",..) this team has been with stadium construction (and other things, like results on the field, player aquisitions, etc..), don't belive anything until you're standing in front of the stadium with your tickets in your hands and a few thousand other people around you.

 

"said Codey, who later said that a potential MetroStars Stadium could be built at the Meadowlands if the MetroStars paid for it.

Let me get this straight, if Metro Pays for it Metor can buy it?

Jeez, this guy's on the ball.......

And what about the whole parking lot issue($10-15 a spot) and the fact that conecession rights are already spoken for ?$?$?

Metro needs to be physically, financially and geographically independent of the swamp if they are ever to have any hope of this.

Separation of Stadium and State, isn't that what our forefathers came over here in the first place for?

 

i've been there, plenty of times...then that damn buzzing sound comes on....next thing i know, i'm in the shower and on my way to work.

 

In other news: Yassir Arafat not dead, just buried alive per Suha.

 

I feel. . .happy. . . I feel. . .happy

*BONK!*

 

I'm not a politician and/or lawyer, but Codey's proclamation sounds to me like he's got friends in the Meadowlands to whom he owes favors.

In any case, do we take his word about the HCIA as fact because he controls them, has a veto over them, or because there has been independent verification of the HCIA itself saying they don't want to guarantee the bonds?

Look, I'm as skeptical as anyone that this stadium deal gets done but I'm not sure exactly what weight Cody's remarks carry in all this, if any.

=NLK=

 

He may, but that's not why he said what he said. When Albio Sires also says that the plan doesn't have the votes in the HCIA, it means that it doesn't have the votes. Codey was just telling us something that he knew and we didn't. And, the fact that AEG has already jumped head-first into NJSEA discussions should tell you something as well.

 

Exactly. There will be no Harrison stadium.


My next question is, will the planned rail service to the Meadowlands connect to PATH? Because if it does, then a lot of peoples bitching about Meadowlands is minimized.

I think we should still explore Newark. Obie is right in that we probably need an underground parking garage. However, the Metros could possibly score big with the Ironbound section of Newark, something near there. I don't know, it's an idea.

 

Oh, OK Obie, thanks. I didn't know anything about Sires (maybe I didn't read everything there was to read). That makes sense.

=NLK=

 

In a word, no.

This is one of the reasons I HATE the Xanadu option that Codey is dangling in front of Metro.



From NY Penn and Newark Penn, passengers can travel to the new Secaucus Junction station, then transfer to a train heading north on the Pascack Valley line. Right now there is very limited service on this line. Trains will go beyond the Meadowlands before doubling back on the new trackage indicated in pink. This line is planned to cost $150 million.

In the long run, a more direct – and more expensive – elevated route would be built along the dotted pink line. It would reportedly cost $244 million.

Mills Corp seems to have complete control over Codey/NJT and the PA.

How come there was no mention in any of the articles that this multi-stadium proposal completely overloads the Xanadu environmental impact review? The Sierra Club is sueing to block the original proposal for lack of detail, and now they want to add at least two more stadia?

 

I started reading that Star Ledger article and I all can think of is...why does this guy want the teams to stay that horrible swamp? Does he understand that no one likes going to the game with a normal car? By normal car, I mean your standard car, not a limo. It seriously feels as if he wants to lock everything up and keep it there thinking that they are all happy about it where in fact the teams and fans aren't.

 

Well, if the Bond plan is changed to something more palatable for Hudson County, it may still happen. It's wait and see...again.

 

A couple of the articles have said that if the HCIA got a private guarantor on the bonds, they'd float them. The problem with that is that a private guarantor (say, AEG) causes the bonds to lose their tax-exempt status, which decreases their value on the market, which increases the bond interest rate, and makes the whole deal more expensive for everybody involved.

Unless AEG is willing to up its contribution from $30 million, a number from which they haven't budged in over a year, I'm with Arisrules -- this deal is dead. It's back to the NJSEA with hat in hand.

 

They have got to know that the league needs a strong team in NYC, and one that doesn't just lead the league in losing money. Or do they?

What perplexes me about this is the stalling of the parking garage deal. It's a sure money-maker and good for the environment and public transportation. There just aren't enough public parking garages near commuter stations. In my part of LI, near Hicksville, the parking lots and garages by the LIRR are full by 8 AM. Maybe there is some room at a private $7 per day parking lot. If they had more parking spots available, ridership would increase on the LIRR, and less people would be driving into NYC. It's a win-win situation.

 

This is true, provided you don't have the economic numbers from the
studies to hold over the heads of the freeholders who might have some
reason to kill the deal that you're not aware of in spite of the fact that
the numbers from the study might work, or might be flawed in basic
assumptions because the freeholders didn't want the numbers to work.

If there is no risk of Shenanigans Exposure, you get Shenanigans.

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-bs

 

Additional stadium discussion taking place here

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/news/archives/000911.html#comments

 

Please let's not use that site for a prolonged discussion. Nothing good will come out of getting that site tied into stadium discussions. They're anti any new stadium pretty much (maybe not if 100% privately funded). It's a good site for info, but they know who to contact to get groups protesting against getting any deal done. I'd prefer for soccer to be more under their radar until all teams have SSS's.

 

Garber clarifies the Metrostars stadium.
The Metrostars have 2 options. Meadowlands or Harrison.
Garber sais MLS is still cozy with Harrison.

 

Garber is posturing on national television for his job.

What do you expect him to say? He has lost grip on a SSS for the largest market in the United States? That under his guidance as commisioner the efforts to find a SSS for the Metros has been at best a wild goose chase? That many believe that the development of the NY market is key to the development of MLS as a whole and this failure is an incredible setback?

No. I think he'll continue to posture. I think he'll pretend like the Meadowlands are a paletable option, and I think one of the largest failures will be the lack of a SSS for the Metros.

But hey, lets talk about Freddy Adu some more....

 

Just was reporting what Garber said....... Don't kill the messanger.