The politician who killed the Jets’ dream of a West Side stadium said yesterday he hasn’t made up his mind about the Nets’ planned arena in Brooklyn, hours after that proposal cleared a major hurdle.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver “is aware that there is support for the project from members of the Assembly, but before the speaker can make a decision he wants to see more details of the proposal,” his spokesman said.
The stadium would also have to be OK’d by the Public Authorities Control Board, the same state-controlled panel that officially sacked the Jets plan earlier this year. The board is controlled by Silver, who led the charge against the Jets; state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who supported him; and Gov. Pataki, who wanted the new stadium and now backs the Nets plan.
The Nets’ big score yesterday came when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as expected, voted to approve the sale of the Long Island Rail Road yards to team owner Bruce Ratner.
The $100 million sale, which passed by a vote of 10 to 1, paves the way toward making Ratner’s towering $3.5 billion, 21-acre plan for commercial and residential skyscrapers anchored by a basketball arena, a reality.
But despite the MTA’s overwhelming support for the project, it did not pass without a spirited tussle between authority Chairman Peter Kalikow and dissident board member Mitchell Pally, who argued, “We are not getting as much money as we should be getting.”
Ratner’s offer fell well below the MTA’s $214 million appraisal, which was released in July.
Ratner executives argued that infrastructure improvements and the cost of a platform over the rail yards brought the value of their bid to $445 million.
An offer from a competing bidder, Extell Development Co., for $150 million was deemed “incomplete” by the MTA board. For the last 45 days, the agency has negotiated exclusively with Ratner, who doubled his original $50 million bid last week.
Extell released a statement that said, “Our bid still stands.”
The deal gives Ratner 80 percent of the land he needs to build.
Patti Hagan, one of the founding members of arena opposition group Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, pledged that “there will be lawsuits coming down the pike.”
Forest City Ratner vice president Jim Stuckey said the Nets could be playing in Brooklyn by the 2008-09 season.
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The next hurdles
Bruce Ratner’s plan for an NBA arena and skyscrapers (right) could still face tough opponents.
* A lengthy environmental review will stretch into next year.
* The Public Authorities Control Board, a state-controlled five-member panel, must vote to approve the $100 million in state subsidies for the plan.
* Some private property may have to be taken through eminent domain.
* There could be possible lawsuits from local residents.