Photograph from Diamond Hoggers
It appears that various members of local and state government have lost their cool with the Yankees and their struggles to finance their soon to open new stadium without the additional financial assistance. City Comptroller William Thompson came out swinging with the harshest rhetoric yesterday when discussing the ongoing state of the project stating, "Costs don't go up that dramatically in that period of time. Either someone did that intentionally or it is the worst job of management that I have ever seen."
Longtime critic of the stadium's financing and the team's relationship with the Bloomberg administration State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky issued subpoenas for Yankees president Randy Levine and Seth Pinsky, chairman of the city's Industrial Development Agency for a hearing today investigating stadium financing. Brodsky claims that the Yankees and the city have "continued to stonewall" the committee's requests for documents about the Yankees' request for an additional $430 million in public-backed financing.
The Times questions whether the city's dealings with the Yankees could become an Achilles heel for the mayor's reelection campaign. They compare the situation to the mayor's attempts push for a West Side stadium before the '05 campaign, but with higher stakes given the current economic state. One Quinnipiac pollster speculates that close ties with the Yankees might do more harm than good just due to the fact that "people are being told we’ve got to economize, we’ve got to tighten our belts, and the Yankees are blowing money by the carload for players.”
Earlier this week, another Bloomberg opponent in the mayoral race Anthony Weiner took a jab at the Yankees fundraising efforts saying, “Maybe CC Sabathia can buy the big-screen TVs.” Comments like that have made it easier for Bloomberg aides to brush off the criticisms as nothing more than "political theater." Yankees President Randy Levine added, “Surprise, surprise — Billy Thompson is running for mayor. Billy voted for this deal in the beginning, I continually briefed him, and only after the term-limits law does he now decide to criticize the deal. What a coincidence.”
