This is corruption, pure and simple. Fifty years from now anyone ("Real New Yorker" or not) who looks back on it will see right away what a dumb idea it was.

Responding to Aaron's comment about what unites us and makes us proud of our city, I always think of the subway, the Brooklyn Bridge, Greenwich Village and Central Park. Then when I read about some politician who thinks they're too good for the subway, I wonder "Do we really live in the same city?"

In the same vein as Aaron's comment, see this New York Magazine article about the Dodgers (linked from this Atlantic Yards Report post).

Good thing we don't make MSG pay any property taxes, or they might leave too.

And good thing we're giving away the farm to lure Bruce Ratner's Nets to Brooklyn, 'cause they'd surely want to stay in New Jersey where they're losing $40 million a year if we didn't bend over to give them an arena where they'll turn a $60 million or $70 million a year profit – and kicking taxpaying property owners off their land to give it tax free to Ratner, too.

Bogota, they told us, was sort of the Cleveland of South America for a lot of years -- a kind of down and out city with not much going for it.

Then Enrique Penalosa came in as Mayor with a focus on the urban environment. He cranked up the Ciclovia event in which Bogotans open their streets every Sunday to cyclists, skaters, joggers, vendors and even dance classes. Ciclovia has emerged as a defining event for the city. This reclamation and celebration of public space, of the city itself, is Bogota to a lot of people. People really identify with it and revel in it.

Likewise, Bogotans convey a strong sense of pride for their Trans Milenio bus system and the network of bike lanes and parks that they've built throughout the city. These things define the vision that Bogota has for itself and in a more practical sense bring Bogota residents together across all kinds of class and race lines.

When I was trying to think of what we've got in NYC that defines us and brings us together in a similar celebratory way to Ciclovia, the first thing that came to mind was the Yankees.

Yet, personally, I find rooting for the Yankees about as appealing as cheering on Microsoft or Chase Manhattan. And handing over millions in subsidies to the Yankees Corporation as a reward to "hard-working tax payers" is nothing sort of insane. To my mind, Bogota has definitely got the right idea. In that much poorer city, they subsidize physical improvements that have direct and tangible benefits to every citizen every time he or she steps outside. Lots of businesses and private interests benefit from these subsidies too.