actually that was my point - we would have made the Eastern finals if we had to go through Columbus rather than DC. Geez - you don't know DC beat NE?
Did Nick have a powerful political sponsor driving the project? Who was it? Seems to me that with the right political sponsor, the HCIA vote would have taken place before Cody took office and Cody would playing defense right now instead of offense.
More reasons the stadium won't be in Harrison: http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr...lRUV5eTY2MTY4NTQmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2 What's going wrong now? Officials won't say much publicly, but sources close to the project say the $120 million project is trapped in a battle of wills among its key players. Advance Realty Group, the project's developer, has failed to break ground on surrounding aspects of Harrison's redevelopment project. The delay has been caused, at least in part, by Harrison changing aspects of the development agreement, changes that Advance is now using as justification for delaying construction. Why is that delaying the stadium? Because Hudson County officials are fully aware of the delays caused by Advance and Harrison, as well as growing uncertainty about the entire project because of those delays. Some officials are even wondering if Advance has the financial strength to handle the project. The result is a county board that won't consider approving $90 million in county-backed bonds until they see signs of stability and proof that Harrison's project will be strong enough to repay the bonds. Without the $90 million there is no stadium.
At times the phone line went silent, and at other times, comments by Bradley and Sakiewicz, the team's two top officials, were inaudible. Funny stuff.
I suppose I do, since I watched the E.Final and watched DC win the MLS Cup. Your point has no point. 1. There is no gaurantee we would have beaten Columbus in the home-and-home. 2. Had we 'advanced' the the E. Final we still would have lost to DC in RFK; they owned us -- so "Geez- you don't know" right back at ya, pal. Attitude breeds attitude.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooops that quote was supposed to read "you know I know." ugh. I type too fast. But really this is tangential to the main point of this thread. a comparison of New England v Metro will have to wait for some other time.
Whether there is a stadium in Harrison or not, that parking garage they will build next to the Path train station is going to be a gold mine. I cannot imagine them believing that it will not be enough to pay off the stadium. But of course without the stadium, this money flow could be put to other uses. http://wcbs880.com/njnews/NJ--PATHRidership-jn/resources_news_html
I don't know if this is still true, but back in the day when BillR4 used to post here, he said that there was a glut of PATH-related commuter parking in Newark and Harrison, and that it would be hard to get people to switch to using this garage. The biggest problem is that it's on the wrong side of the Stickle Bridge in Newark - if you wanted to go from the Essex / Morris 'burbs to a Harrison park and ride, you first had to put up with the worst bottleneck in the state to get over that damn bridge. So I wouldn't put too much faith in it being a "gold mine", just yet.
See, I think this here kinda cuts right to it. We can blame NJ politicians, but that's about as useful as blaming weather/traffic/etc. Of course NJ Politicians can be corrupt/annoying etc. But what are you going to do? Do you see Donald Trump/other developers complain about politicians? No, when they wants something built, they get the job done, and grease whatever wheels are necessary to get it done. Bribes to politicians? Yep, there on the project budget as "miscellaneous expenses". All-expense paid jaunts for key players to the world cup or european soccer finals? Yep, there under travel and entertainment. $$ for a public relations campaign? You'd be stupid not to. Some money is even allocated to "Fat Tony" to make sure there are no unexpected delays or construction hitches. Buy a sponsor, and buy-off opponents/obstacles. That's how construction gets done in NJ. If we are to judge someone on results, then the project manager should be ready to do whatever it takes to get the job done. If AEG gave Nick a direct order to keep it all above board, then that does not apply. But if not....
I might be mistaken but IIRC, there was Albio Sires, who i believe at first supported the project and in one of the latest article published about the stadium a week or two ago, was showing uncertainty or downright opposition to it now.....
Got to love it when the NY Times gets it wrong MetroStars defeat Dallas 6 points to 0 GM 1 - MET 2, DAL 1 (OT) GM 2 – MET 2, DAL 1
Gotta defend Jack Bell here. He's a good reporter, a good person, and who the hell would ever know that the Metros actually won something ???
There is absolutely, positively no way in hell that you could get a $100 million project built in Harrison, Hudson County, NJ completely on the level. It's very sad but you just can't. I know some very good upstanding citizens who had to grease the palms of some despicable people to get things built that were a lot smaller than this deal.
Sorry to take this discussion off topic a little, but when I lived in Bayonne in the late 90's, it seemed that every year there were announcements about new stadia for all the Meadowlands teams. Do the Devils and/or Nets have any relocation possibilities brewing at this time, or are they all smoke and mirrors as they were in the past. Thx, Jay!
The Devils are having an arena built in Newark. Mayor Sharpe James, one of the state's most powerful politicians, is 1000% behind the project. This is likely to get built. The Nets were recently bought by Brooklyn businessman/jerk Bruce Rattner, who immediately destroyed the team. He plans to build an arena in Brooklyn to move them too. I would guess this is likely to eventually happen as well.