West side story.

by sam on 06/7/2005

So it looks like the west side stadium is dead in the water, and with it, NYC’s chances to host the 2012 games. I get that no one wants a massive stadium in their backyard, but it’s not like what’s there now (a bunch of below-street level railroad sidings) is particularly appealing. It’s not like they planned on tearing down, you know, a major cultural and architectural gem to build their sports complex (yeah, Comcast, owners of that "rabbit-warren" MSG, I’m talking to you). And Silver’s complaints about preserving lower manhattan ring particularly false, since (a) it’s his district, so he’s clearly playing neighborhood favorites, (b) they can’t find any tenants for the buildings that are already in lower manhattan, so there’s nothing to really "take away", and (c) no one likes working in lower manhattan – between the crazy security, the lack of good restaurants (particularly for lunch), and, essentially, a second commute for anyone coming in from the ‘burbs (read: law firm partners, investment bank managers, etc.), it’s the least-liked business location in the city. There’s a reason that price per square foot downtown is less than half of what it is in midtown.

I’m not saying I wanted a stadium. Not being a sports fan (and certainly not a Jets fan at that!), I wasn’t looking forward to thousands of tailgaters looking for parking spots on 9th Avenue, and the Olympics in NYC is nice, in theory, but everyone who actually lives here would actually take the two weeks off and flee like it was the largest memorial day weekend in history. And frankly, the lack of a backup plan for the Olympics rests solely on Doctoroff’s shoulders – he’s no Robert Moses. Moses, of course, being the man who, when wanting to tear down Castle Clinton (and a good portion of lower manhattan) in order to build a Brooklyn-Battery Bridge (rather than the now existing tunnel), could only be stopped by FDR sending in the Navy to form a blockade. In lower Manhattan. During World War II.

I think the thing I have the biggest problem with is the way that the state and the city relate to each other. NYC residents send, on average, $3 BILLION in taxes, per year, to the state that we never see again, but we’re constantly treated like either an afterthought or a parasite on the rest of the state. The city spent years on this proposal, and to have it held up by a three-person appointed commission and a clearly biased competing sports complex with deep pockets? annoys me to no end. That being said, I’m sure that the city thought that it could force through the proposal by shouting "olympic bid! olympic bid!" over and over again.

What is it they say? the enemy of my enemy is my friend? I didn’t like the stadium, but I don’t like the other guys even more.

Tags: , ,