It Has Begun...
by Vince?Daliessio
...the fall of the American Empire, that is. And the people of this great country are already dividing up the spoils.
Last month, the City Of New York held a hearing on the proposed West Side Stadium, aka,?an $800 million subsidy to Woody Johnson and the New York Jets.
A near-riot broke out outside of the hearing facility between those opposed to and those in favor of the plan;
They came bearing sign (sic), t-shirts, and strong emotions about proposed changes here on the West Side. In particular, the building avenue(sic) West Side stadium for the jets (sic). Emotions so strong today, that outside of the public hearing a group's news conference was nearly drowned out by hecklers. The heckling soon erupted into shouting on both sides.
Opponents of this project call for more affordable housing instead. Supporters say, for them, a new stadium means more jobs.
James Wright, Local 580 Ironworkers: "It would definitely benefit me, my family. It would benefit the city."
Betsy Gotbaum, (D) NYC Public Advocate: "Of course we want more jobs, but what we are saying is the following: we need affordable housing. It is the biggest crisis in the city today."
Even former Jet (and former Delco resident) Joe Klecko weighed in on the stadium;
"To be able to play our game in front of our fans and not have to go to another state, that's what we want," said Joe Klecko, who played with the Jets from 1977 to 1987.
Aaaaannnd, the police union chief weighed in;
"The city should be investing money in its police department and paying its police officers a competitive salary to keep fully trained and experienced officers on the job so that we can protect this city at the most dangerous time in our history,"?(PBA President Patrick Lynch)?said in a statement.
But the Mayor?and an?ex-mayor?had the number of the main opposition to the stadium;
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Mayor Edward Koch addressed the crowd and criticized Cablevision, the owner of Madison Square Garden and a principal opponent of the stadium.
"We aren't going to let any company's selfish interest take away our future," the mayor said. "Cablevision, are you listening?"
"The arguments against are simply the arguments of a competitor who doesn't want competition," Koch said. "There is enough business for everyone."
Links to related sites;
http://www.fieldofschemes.com/
http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/realestate/urbandev/features/9307/
