Results tagged “richardbrodsky”

With an extensive list of maintenance problems stemming from faulty wiring, falling signs, crumbling concrete and collapsing pipes, insiders are apparently referring to the Mets' new stadium as "Shitty Field." Even Jerry Seinfeld must be scratching his head and asking himself who the ad wizards are behind that one with word that Seinfeld's luxury suite was one of a handful of $500,000 boxes that had to have the walls knocked down because water damage created molding in them.

The Yankees have done all right for themselves with politicians when they've needed officials to sign off on financial assistance for their new stadium. But when team brass has had to come in and answer to some representatives who have been more than skeptical of the deals the team has received, their treatment hasn't been quite so cushy.

It appears that various members of local and state government have lost their cool with the Yankees and their struggles to finance their soon to open new stadium without the additional financial assistance. City Comptroller William Thompson came out swinging with the harshest rhetoric yesterday when discussing the ongoing state of the project stating, "Costs don't go up that dramatically in that period of time. Either someone did that intentionally or it is the worst job of management that I have ever seen."

After the city has been taken to task in recent months for its dealings with the Yankees in the process of financing the team's new stadium--so far as being accused that it served no public interest--it can't be good PR for the Bloomberg administration for everyone to know just how strongly they pushed to get the best luxury box possible for themselves. Well new e-mails made public do just that in revealing how the mayor's office put on a full court press in its attempts to obtain a luxury box at the new Yankee Stadium.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky had strong words--and a damning report--for the new Yankee Stadium yesterday. Brodsky believes the Yankees got too good a deal from the city, "This stadium is being built by the people of the city and the state of New York. In return, they’re getting almost nothing. This deal does not serve the public’s interest. It serves the Yankees’ interest.”

Thank you, Governor David Paterson because now we have the long-awaited NY Post Photoshop job of Sheldon Silver as Count Dracula. The Governor caused a commotion after telling advocates for the disabled, "I used to sit in my legislative office and think about how difficult it is to travel 150 miles to Albany on a bus...and how there were legislators who I used to think practiced their own versions of being Count Dracula. They would be very nice to the advocates when they came to Albany and then...the sun would go down and they'd go back to who they really are, a bunch of bloodsuckers."

Mayor Bloomberg stood up for rich New Yorkers when he advised against the state raising income taxes on the wealthy. Why? He said, "I think at this point, where we're in competition with other cities around the world for entrepreneurs and the best and the brightest, it's not the time to be raising taxes."

A New York State Assemblyman ticked off about congestion pricing for suburban drivers is retaliating by proposing a $4-per-ride surcharge for taxi riders, rather than the congestion fee of $8 for motorists entering Manhattan below 60th St. That taxis are another form of mass transit that allow New Yorkers to get around without owning a car escapes Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, whose district includes parts of Westchester County.

The Independent Budget Office released a report examining who might be affected by congestion pricing. The report, "Behind the Wheel: Who Drives Into The Proposed 'Congestion Zone'" can be read here (PDF) but the topline is that drivers are middle-class and over half are from Nassau County, Westchester, NJ, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The report states, "Looking at the extremes of the earnings distribution for all congestion zone commuters, motor vehicle users were less likely...