You Got The Silver
By Nice to come back and see that Sheldon Silver has killed the harebrained West Side Stadium scheme of Mayor Richie Rich and his dog Dollar [(c)Alicublog]. Even for state-funded stadium boondoggles, a mutli-billion dollar football stadium in Manhattan is a remarkably bad idea. I mean, the arguments about economic benefits brought about by such things are remarkably implausible when it comes to baseball stadiums, which are used at least 80 times a year, and have games that significant amounts of city dwellers actually attend. But a football stadium in the midst of an dense urban area with already exceptionally clogged roads? Jeebus. Look, Woody, build it in Flushing or remain the Giants’ tenants, and either way use your own damned money.
The other striking thing about Bloomberg’s strategy was to tie the stadium to the Olympics. So you’re telling me that this ends New York’s chances of getting the Olympics? I believe that it’s this sort of thing for which the phrase “feature, not a bug” was coined. And this is true not only on the merits, but politically. I’m not sure who told Bloomberg that getting the Olympics would be popular, but boy did he screw the pooch on this one. Anyway, it’s always nice to see a win-win outcome.
Alright, I guess I should get some sleep…