bring the Jets home

jake · 2005-06-07
bring the Jets home

Dear Fellow Jet Fans, I am a life long Jet fan and my family and I have been Jet season ticket holders since the Jets became the Jets some 42 years ago. We still bleed green!! I have supported the team's move back across the river but since today's vote (or non-vote) against the Westside Stadium, I cannot understand our team's position that if the Westside is dead, anywhere (New Jersey included) is a better alternative to moving back to Queens where so many of us lived and died with this team for 3 decades. I can't believe management's assertion that our core fan base has shifted to Jersey in the past 20 years since the Jets moved. Many fans who felt betrayed by the team when they left the city for Jersey with the promise that they would return soon, are still holding their breath. The most conservative estimates I have read have shown that Mr.Johnson and his group of private investors were there to spend over a billion dollars to support the building of the Westside Stadium (with another $600 million coming from the city&state). The NY Giants have agreed to build a stadium in Jersey for reportedly less than half that much. I recall that NYC2012 originally stated that construction costs in Willets Pt. would be substantially less than on the West Side. If the stadium in Queens could be built for $1 billion or less maybe it could be an entirely privately funded deal. Mayor Bloomberg, when he wisked the IOC thru Queens, pitched our vast subway and rail system connecting midtown Manhattan to the proposed Olympic venues to be held in Flushing Meadow Park in 15-20 minutes (look in up in the timetables, he's right!). And you can drive and park (and tailgate) there, too. I remember in '64-65 about 50 million people journeyed all the way to Queens for the a World's Fair that was barely promoted since it was unsanctioned and widely boycotted. Sure, my family remembers, we have lived in Brooklyn and Queens for close to 100 years. Sadly, we remember when Mr.O'Malley could not reach an agreement with then New York czar Robert Moses on building a new Ebbets Field and moved our Bums to L.A. I don't want to draw parallels here since real estate is also booming in Southern California and L.A. is still looking for an NFL franchise because the NY Jets desire is to return the team back to their fans in New York. Mr.Johnson wants our team to prosper in the greatest city in the world. Finally, I read about the backlash Mr.Bruno and Mr.Silver should expect from our minority leaders and our unions because of the loss of jobs and revenue to the city (and state) if the stadium is not built. The expansion of the Javits Center will occur, the Westside will get developed and if the stadium is built in Queens, hey, its not going to build itself. The waterfront around a new complex in Queens will need developing, sure sounds like a lot of jobs and revenue will be created. There's got to be a better reason for the Jets (and many fans) to label Queens "not a viable option" other than "we're not interested". Let's regroup and push Mr.Johnson and the Jets to reconsider Queens as our home, plan it out carefully so everyone benefits and get it done this time with everyone onboard. I hope that this gets posted no matter how unpopular it may be. I am a true Jet fan and now this is how I feel. Mike Kiriakou

jake · 2005-06-07
bring the Jets home

Hi Mike, Queens is an option, just not as good an option as the West Side. Queens allows for no Super Bowl, no conventions, no other sports (indoor) and does not have any of the selling ability (tickets, luxury boxes) and advertising money that the West Side does. While I live in Queens and it would be easier for me, it would not be the best option. That being said, if the West Side falls through the cracks, bring on Queens. :) Jake

jake · 2005-06-08
bring the Jets home

hi jake, thanks for yr reply. no one said that a stadium in Queens can't be built to order with a retractable dome and luxury boxes. the area around the stadium could be enhanced by adding hotels, restaurants, etc but so far we haven't seen anyone put 'pencil to paper'. I spoke with Councilman Hiram Monserrate (21st dist/Corona-Flushing Meadows-East Elmhurst) who supported the Westside project. He told me that the Mayor would be supportive in offering help developing the area around the Park and if the Hudson Yards project fell through would pursue a stadium in Queens with all the trimmings. With the right backing, a lucrative project in Queens could take shape quickly along the Flushing Bay waterfront. Now all we have to do is convince the Jets that Queens is a vibrant part of New York City (sometimes Mr.Jay Cross refers to Queens as if it was in another country) and that if we can get creative here, our Jets could finally have their own home. MK

jake · 2005-06-08
bring the Jets home

Okay, let's get a couple of facts straight. 1. A Queens stadium could cost just as much to build as a Manhattan stadium because the Queens stadium would be built on wetlands (aka, swampland). The cost of driving sufficient piling to support the stadium in Queens would cost just as much as the platform over the railyards in Manhattan. 2. A Queens stadium could actually cost more than a Manhattan stadium because there are businesses and other properties that must be taken and cleared to make way for the Queens stadium. 3. Unless difficult inter-transit-agency agreements are made, it will be more difficult for most Jets fans to get to a Queens Stadium. New Jersey fans will have to connect from NJ Transit to the LIRR at Penn Station. This could lead to significant congestion at Penn Station. PATH riders would have to walk to Penn Station for the LIRR or take two subway trains to get to Queens. Since it is currently impossible for LIRR to run direct trains to Flushing, LI fans would have to change at Woodside. 4. The Jets already have a stadium in a swamp, at the Meadowlands -- they have no interest in building a new, very expensive stadium in another remote swamp in Queens. 5. Read my lips -- there is no way to develop a convention corridor in Queens. Look how difficult it was to get the Javits expanded. There is no amount of imaginable private or public investment that could create a district that would support a 37,000 seat plenary hall and 100,000 square feet exhibition hall (which is what the NYSCC is when it is not a stadium). Most large conventions using the Javits shun MSG simply because it is two blocks away. I have been talking with the Jets and we seem to agree that there is not reason, yet, to not press ahead with the NYSCC on the Westside of Manhattan. Remember, the NYS funding that was denied was for a retractable roof, air conditioning and some exhibition components. There is no reason that the Jets could not break ground on a building of the current NYSCC design, while leaving the exhibition components out until they are funded some other way. J E T S Jets JOBS Jets -- and I thank the Jets for their continued interest in making a private, $800 million investment in our town.

jake · 2005-06-13

(I started writting this up late last week before the Mayor's press conference and finished it tonight - sorry if it's a bit disjointed but a lot happens in a few days) ++ OK pal let's look at the facts and reality: Mayor Bloomberg placed sports stadiums agreed to in principle with former Mayor Giuliani, 'on the back burner' immediately after taking office. He claimed there were many other pressing needs for the limited amount of money the city could play with. The public gets an earful about how our cops & firemen are working without a contract and can't expect a raise because the money's not in the till. "We'd love to fix the subways and make your commute a bit less stressful for the rate hikes that you've been hit with but we can't right now." Affordable housing?? "We're getting back to you". Even though NY spends more on education on a per child basis than any other city in the country, the system still has a long way to go. The average working family in this city has to work harder now to keep their heads above the water while it seems the rich get richer. The politicians tell us everything is great. OK crime's down. You may not be able to afford to live here soon (or afford to go to a Jet game) but, hey, some special accomodations have to be made for a priviliged few. The cost of everything here goes up and services go down and then we're reminded about the city's financial crisis. The families who lost loved ones downtown 4 years ago and the people and businesses that are still there trying to recover are being told that their time will come later. The development of the Westside is a more lucrative proposition now. The Mayor and Mr. Doctoroff play hocus pocus with available money and its source from day-to-day depending on what project your following in the media. The money is here one day and then its not the next. The feeling is that we're getting played. So those of us well informed urbanists (and loyal Jet fans that want their team back in NY) are left in amazement. We can't understand it. We go stomping and finger pointing about why the public and certain politicians can't be fully behind the Westside project. How could it be?? What other agenda could any of these millions of people have that should stand in our way of building this stadium ?? Don't just look to blame an individual now that this project seems unlikely. Look at the way it was presented to the public. "This is what we're doing, there are no other alternatives. Its for your own (the city's) good and 'NO' we don't want your input and more significantly, we won't be needing it - but thanks, anyway". Figure New Yorkers just love getting their medicine shoved down their throats - figure on a fight. Two abstaining votes later and with an IOC deadline to meet the Mayor comes up with Plan B (which could have been Plan A). The announcement that a new stadium in Willets Pt. will be fitted to serve as the Olympic Stadium is not a surprise and it may not get us the Games in 2012 but it does serve as a nice backdrop to my reply. 1) Guess that Mets new stadium to be built in the adjacent parking lot will sink into the swamp. I'm sure if it doesn't it will mean that the Mets, who are financing the construction of the stadium entirely on their own, will be paying at least a couple of billion dollars. It would have been nice to have the Jets commission another company besides Tishman, who were obviously banking on the construction going down in Manhattan, for a second opinion on what the real costs to build a stadium would have been. 2) There are similiar types of business on lots in both locations that would have to bought out for a complete transformation of either area. The assessments on land lots in Manhattan are higher than in Queens. The land where the new stadium will sit will be on land owned by NY Parks&Rec. Check your facts. Only the land on the opposite side (east) of Willets Pt.Blvd is privately owned. 3) Jerseyites by the droves somehow battle this very same route everyday to get to work. They figure its worth it or they wouldn't do it. Once they leave Penn Station most take 2 trains to get to work. They would just stay on the #7 train express to Willets Pt another 15 minutes. I can't sympathize with the plight of the Jets inconveniencing their loyal Jersey contingent of fans (they refer to them almost as if they were a majority) when the Jets were quick to move to Jersey in the first place 'inconveniencing' their real base of fans in Queens and Long Island. I attend every game and no one is going to stroke me with "Gee, it sure must be tough sitting in traffic on a Sunday evening on I-95, the GWB or the Cross-Bronx. Wish there was something we could do to eliminate all the hours of stress that go with travelling from a Jet game for all you fans coming from the city." I do it because I am a fan. I don't like it but I live with it. I'm still waiting for them to make good on their promise to return to where they belong. 4) The Jets played for some 3 decades in that remote swamp to the best fans in football. We fielded our only Super Bowl championship team there. Guess you have no recollection of the Jets playing there. Do you even live in Queens ?? Queens is very much a part of New York City and the neighborhoods that surround Shea offer so much more than East Rutherford NJ that I'm almost embarrassed you even tried to make a point of it. Shea is located near the true geographical center of New York City. Pretty remote. 5) "Read my lips" - The last time somebody used that quote they were lying through their teeth. Does anyone right now have a final plan of the Javits expansion and what it will offer. Do you ?? I have no idea on exactly how much space an expansion would add to the present Convention Center. Regarding your 2nd point here; When the smoke clears, you can bet the city will announce plans for a shuttle to operate between the new Javits Center and Penn Station (and MSG) on the existing LIRR tracks and possibly a light rail system (a new state-of-the-art trolley) that would operate above ground river-to-river and hopefully eliminate vehicular traffic on 34th & 42nd streets, which will make transitting between the two venues a matter of a couple of minutes. This should take care of the reluctant unwilling to journey those "2 blocks". This could all be in place before the #7 train extension is completed. It is my understanding that the #7 line would serve commutes to the Westside from outside the immediate vicinity. ++ The Mayor has asked the Jets several times this week to reconsider Queens, each time a negative response. Partnering with the Mets on one stadium for football and baseball may not be ideal although it could greatly reduce costs to both if a plan could satisfy both. Several cities, though, have built side-by-side stadiums that happily co-exist. Hey "KingofQueens" stand up for your borough and convince me that you want the Jets back 'home'. It's time for our Jets to become a little more flexible and figure a way to bring the Jets back across the river in a deal that makes sense (and cents) to all. You want those jobs in New York, then build it in New York. It can be done !! Mike K.