Posted on 10/03/2007 10:14:16 PM PDT by ellery
Yanks deduct meals — and more — from rent
MANHATTAN. Maybe that $444 steak dinner was brain food.
The New York Yankees counted this meal ticket as part of a food-and-bar tab it deducted from the rent it pays to the city, using a clause inserted into its Parks Dept. lease by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on his last day in office. That provision allowed the team to deduct all “planning costs” for a new stadium up to $25 million through Dec. 31, 2005.
Since the deal was inked in 2001, the Yanks have subtracted at least $22.5 million from its city rent to pay for all sorts of things, from $700-an-hour lobbyists to a portion of executive salaries. But by the end of 2005 the team had yet to use up its allotment.
That might explain why the team was allowed to deduct $9,035,636 from its rent after the lease clause had expired, as revealed by journalist Neil deMause and the government watchdog group Good Jobs New York. Under a Freedom of Information Law request, they reviewed receipts and invoices the Yankees presented to the Parks Dept., including $28,000 in souvenirs and $31,364 for food and drinks over just two nights of the 2005 postseason.
“No cost was too small,” said Bettina Damiani of Good Jobs New York, who sent out an itemized list yesterday that had such “planning expenses” as a dozen crystal baseballs, meals for umpires, sending batting helmets to Tampa, a farewell lunch for an intern and a tow-truck bill.
“Elected officials are turning a blind eye to the fact that the Yankees seem to have unfettered access to the public trough,” Damiani said. Good Jobs’ running tally of government subsidies going to the new stadium now stands at $737.6 million.
DeMause published the findings in yesterday’s Village Voice. A mayoral spokesman told Metro the provision allowing for these deductions from rent had been “extended when the stadium project was delayed.” The Yankees did not return calls.
The city comptroller last audited the planning-cost deductions in 2002, though it frequently finds overstatements in annual maintenance deductions. While some city officials have pinned the blame on Giuliani’s love of the Yankees, Damiani also blames Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“Never once did Giuliani claim the stadium would cost taxpayers nothing,” she said.
ping
GO YANKEES!
:)
For the richest team in baseball as well.
George Steinbrenner has been pining for a new Yankee Stadium for several years. Even though the Yankees are flush with revenue (especially from television contracts), they maintain that they cannot compete with other teams that play in new ballparks, ignoring the fact that they won the World Series in 1996, 1998, and 1999. So, since at least 1995, Steinbrenner has been performing the baseball version of Hamlet, trying to decide whether he should keep his team in the Bronx (in a completely refurbished Yankee Stadium, which, incidentally, was completely rebuilt in 1974-75 after decaying since its 1923 opening) or move to a new facility on the west side of Manhattan. Moving the team to New Jersey is another proclaimed option, though the latter state has exhibited no interest in picking up the tab.Republican Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has made it clear that he is willing to do anything to make sure the Yankees remain somewhere within the Big Apple's borders. Giuliani even made sure that a November, 1998, referendum regarding public tax dollars for a new stadium on the West Side was removed from the ballot, so voters will have no direct voice in the Yankee Stadium question.
If the Yankees were to move to Manhattan, the price tag for a new ballpark is estimated at more than $1,000,000,000, while a refurbished Yankee Stadium in the Bronx is projected to cost $535,000,000. Given New York's ability to underestimate the true costs of such ventures, the actual costs of any of the proposed projects will undoubtedly rise considerably, with $1,500,000,000 for a West Side ballpark well within probability.
Ping!
Trying to build on his legacy, Mayor Giuliani announced yesterday what he called a dream deal - plans for building new domed ballparks for the Yankees and Mets.The self-proclaimed No. 1 Yankee fan argued it was imperative to move ahead now to prove the terror attacks haven't deterred the city, especially when the clubs are picking up half the $1.6 billion construction tab under 35-year leases.
The cost to the city would be $800 million and the city's debt payments would be about $50 million a year. ... Bonds would be issued to raise the $1.6 billion, with debt service delayed until the ballparks open in 2006 and 2007.
"From a budget point of view, this is a very, very good deal for the city," the mayor insisted. "You can't underestimate the effect on civic pride and the economy of the city."
(snip)
The terms of the deals provide the city 4 percent of gate receipts and 35 percent of net revenues for non-baseball events. The ballclubs would bear all operating costs, which are now the responsibility of the city. The city would issue tax-exempt construction bonds to cover the construction costs.
Under the proposal, the state also would pick up a $150 million tab for infrastructure improvement around Yankee Stadium - including parking and a new Metro-North station in the South Bronx, the mayor said.
The outgoing mayor insisted the stadium deal would pay for itself. Giuliani said the stadium proposals would not create any new taxes as the city rebuilds lower Manhattan and battles a faltering economy. Giuliani claimed both of the city-owned ballparks are in such bad shape that they're "imperiling the lives of people" and "can't be fixed." (snip)
E-mail/ping me if you want on/off the list! SPREAD THE WORD!!!
Well, calcowgirl - what’s a half billion or even a billion dollars of taxpayer money between friends? After all, Rudy911 loves the Yankees and thinks they should get taxpayer money so his team can play in an improved stadium. And we all know that Rudy911 is a pro at deciding what’s best for us on our behalf. Rudy911 doesn’t like guns in his city, so he takes them away - for our own good, you know! Thank goodness Rudy911 is there to make the decisions on our behalf,........phew! Could you imagine his baseball team having to try and compete without taxpayer dollars?! I mean, isn’t a king entitled to spend from the coffers on luxuries he personally likes? What’s your problem, calcowgirl?!?!?
“Unfortunately, when the boom ended and the economic cycle turned south, we were left with a tax structure that provided $3 billion less in revenue every fiscal year than it did at the beginning of the Œ90s, but with an expense burden almost 70 percent greater than existed back then. Let me repeat those numbers. Our annual tax revenues are $3 billion less per year, our expense our 70 percent more over the decade. And the attacks of 9/11 just exacerbated that problem.” - Mayor Michael Bloomberg
December 7, 2002
Financial ventriloquist Rudy, Niner-one-one was the chief architect and shell mover overseeing that period.
LOL! Thank you for clarifying that for me!
King Rudy911 must know what is best for all of us. ;-)
"Hello, Jooty. Yeah, it worked. I posed as one of them redneck gun-toting conservatives, and those dumb Christians believed it. Watta buncha dummies."
"I got this election locked up. Go ahead and buy that $2.5 million dollar
diamond necklace and $250,000 Vera Wang gown you been wanting. Keep
spending, baby. Tell Bulgari and Vera they'll get paid from the White House
'entertainment' budget."
LOL! That picture is great! :)
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