City Fields of Bad Taxpayer Dreams
It’s a typically acerbic New York City political ploy, the suggestion that the New York Mets rename their new ballpark Citi/Taxpayer Field in recognition of those who will ultimately foot the bill for Citigroup’s bailout.
But there is more than a little irony in the suggestion from Staten Island Republicans Vincent Ignizio and James Oddo, considering the construction bill that New York City and state taxpayers were already going to pay for infrastructure costs tied to the Mets’ and Yankees’ new fields of greenback dreams.
The issue goes far beyond the $400 million Citigroup is slated to pay for the stadium naming rights to the Mets over the next decade. The city initially signed on to both projects for projected infrastructure costs of $281 million in 2005, covering parks, garages and transportation improvements. That figure has balooned to $481 million, with the state kicking in an additional $201 million.
New York’s baseball teams are paying approximately $2 billion to build their new ballparks, but along with those infrastructure costs they won’t be paying, they’re also getting a reported $480 million in city, state and federal tax breaks. (A rather nice symmetry that, equal to the city’s updated costs on both projects.) And neither team will pay rent or property taxes on their new digs, although both stadiums are being built on city-owned land.
In fact, the Bronx Bombers are ruining what was a valuable parcel of two public parks in a borough that sorely needs them, in a neighborhood that the Yankees have never done anything to upgrade. The city has agreed to replace that park land, but the price tag for that has also risen, from an original estimate of $129.2 million to $177 million and counting.
Meanwhile, the total cost of the Mets’ Citi Field has mushroomed from $645 million – with the Mets paying 65%, or $423 million and the city paying $221 million for site preparation, pilings and mass transit construction – to $900 million.
If you’re wondering where the teams will find the money to pay their players’ Cadillac salaries, look no further than the inflated ticket prices both teams plan for next season. The words to that popular rock anthem “We are the champions” some fans love to sing should be “We are the chumps.”
