In Victory for Bloomberg, Judge Dismisses Stadium Site Suit

Subject: NYTimes: In Victory for Bloomberg, Judge Dismisses Stadium Site Suit
Date: 6/2/2005 12:32:37 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: kitchen@hellskitchen.net
Sent from the Internet (Details)

June 2, 2005
New York Times
In Victory for Bloomberg, Judge Dismisses Stadium Site Suit

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- The contentious $2 billion stadium proposal, the key to New
York's Olympic hopes in 2012, scored a major victory Thursday when a
Manhattan judge ruled there were no irregularities in the bidding process
that awarded the West Side rail yards to the New York Jets.

The decision by state Supreme Court Justice Herman Cahn came at a key
juncture for New York's Olympic organizers, since members of the
International Olympic Committee will receive an evaluation of the city's
bid on Monday. Without the stadium, the city's chances of winning the bid
on July 6 would be slim.

"We are extremely pleased with today's court decision regarding the Olympic
Stadium," said Jay Kriegel, executive director of the NYC2012 organizing
group. "The court has ruled in favor of the stadium, and totally rejected
all of the bogus arguments intended to stop the project."

Madison Square Garden, owned by Cablevision Systems Corp., had charged the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority with conducting "a sham bidding
process" in making its decision. Cablevision had submitted a higher bid for
the property than the Jets. But a judge sided with the NFL team and the MTA.

"An analysis of the MSG arguments and the MTA powers leads to the
conclusion that the MTA did not act in an arbitrary and capricious manner,"
Cahn ruled. His decision also dismissed three other lawsuits brought
against the stadium plan by politicians and watchdog groups.

Cahn did order the MTA and the Jets to put off their closing on the deal
until Tuesday, allowing Cablevision and the others to appeal his decision.
Initially, the two sides could have signed off on the deal Thursday.

Jets President Jay Cross said he anticipated appeals of the ruling, adding
that the closing date on the property was likely some time off. But he
called the judge's ruling "a big, big positive step. It is absolutely great
news."

The judge also shot down the lawsuit claim that the MTA had not allowed
bidders enough time to prepare their proposals. Both sides were working
under the same 27-day time constraints, Cahn said.

Cablevision remains the most vocal opponent of the stadium, complaining
that it would siphon off business from the nearby Garden. There was no
immediate comment on the decision from the NYC2012 organizers, stadium
proponent Mayor Michael Bloomberg or Madison Square Garden.

The stadium faces another possible challenge on Friday, when the state
Public Authorities Control Board may vote on funding vital to the proposal.
State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, whose respresentative is one of
three voting members on the board, said Wednesday that he remained
pessimistic about approval at that session.

Board decisions must be unanimous for approval.

Bruno said he wanted more details about private investors assuming the
state's $300 million portion of the stadium costs. But he also sent a
letter to IOC Chairman Jacques Rogge on Thursday committing his support to
stadium construction if New York wins the bid.

Olympic organizers in New York were facing a shrinking window for stadium
approval.

In February, Bloomberg confidently told a visiting IOC evaluation
commission group that the stadium construction would go forward. But the
facility's future remains unsettled three months later. With barely one
month left until the final IOC vote in Singapore, the missing stadium gives
New York's competition an infrastructure advantage, bid supporters say.

The other finalists are Paris, London, Moscow and Madrid. The IOC doesn't
rank the cities, instead analyzing each plan and offering a risk assessment.

On Monday, the 114 IOC members charged with choosing the host city on July
6 will receive the 13-member delegation's evaluations of all five
finalists. Kriegel said it was "critical" that the stadium approval come
before the evaluations were disseminated.