NEW YORK (AP) -The New York Yankees and Mets won their fight to get public backing for additional financing for their new ballpark that will save them hundreds of millions of dollars interest payments.
The city’s Industrial Development Agency on Friday approved additional public bond requests for the teams, which were given hundreds of millions in tax-exempt bonds when construction began in 2006.
The teams sought to issue more bonds as costs increased on the new ballparks, both scheduled to open with exhibition games on April 3. Opponents say the original deals were unfair to taxpayers.
anism wasn’t passed, and I thank you for doing it, there would be no Yankee stadium, there wouldn’t,” Yankees president Randy Levine said.
The Yankees were granted another $259 million in tax-exempt bonds and $111 million in taxable bonds, on top of $940 million in tax-exempt bonds and $25 million in taxable bonds already granted for its $1.5 billion new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
The Mets got an additional $83 million, after the $615 million already approved for $800 million Citi Field.
The vote Friday by the 14-member board followed two contentious hearings this week. Critics of the financing plan said the original deals were made without enough taxpayers input, and argued the city cannot afford to help sports teams with their stadiums during an economic slowdown.
Comptroller Bill Thompson, who initially supported the stadium deals, voted against the additional funding for the Yankees on Friday. He supported the smaller amount for the Mets.
Thompson, a Democrat running for mayor this year, said he voted no partly because he claimed the city had messed up the Yankees deal by underestimating costs for infrastructure and parkland.
to the community.
The city’s Independent Budget Office estimated the Yankees deal would save the team $787 million over 40 years, and cost the city $362 million, including the money the city put into infrastructure at the Bronx site.
The Mets, under their deal, save $513 million and cost the city $138 million.
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