The New York City Industrial Development Agency is moving the date of a special vote on additional bond financing for the new New York Yankees and New York Mets stadiums at the request of a board member after having first scheduled it on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day.
The new date had not been announced at press time.
New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. last week blasted IDA’s decision to hold a vote on that day. “It’s unbelievably outrageous that the IDA would choose a pivotal moment in our country’s history to hold this meeting,” Thompson said in a statement. “It’s obvious this was planned for one reason: to hope that a distracted public will not pay attention to a highly controversial deal.”
The comptroller has a seat on the board.
IDA spokesman David Lombino said in an e-mail that the IDA was moving the meeting at the request of a board member. The IDA will hold a hearing on the financing on Jan. 15.
The Yankees are seeking $260 million of tax-exempt bonds and $110 million of taxable bonds, as well as a $60 million refunding of outstanding debt.
The IDA sold $942.6 million of tax-exempt bonds backed by payments in lieu of taxes and $25 million of taxable bonds in 2006 on behalf of the Yankees.
The Mets are seeking an additional $82.3 million of tax-exempt bonds in addition to 547.5 million of tax-exempt PILOT bonds and $65.4 million of taxable debt sold in 2006.
Questions have been raised whether land assessments of the property where Yankee Stadium is being built were inflated to qualify for PILOT bond financing.
