Under the agreement, the city will give up some $2.5 million in taxes, with an estimated $5 million forfeited by the state. And the asthma-plagued South Bronx will get almost 4,000 new parking spaces, in garages the city aims to draw traffic to year-round.

Today's approval of the Yanks' parking subsidy by the board of the NYC Industrial Development Agency can only be described as a fait accompli. Despite last month's surprising postponement, caused in part by the IDA's failure to provide requested information to Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion (himself a parking subsidy supporter) -- not to mention the revelation of one sad, shocking detail after another in the local media -- the unanimous vote came with relatively little discussion, one item on an agenda of about a dozen. The entire meeting took less than an hour.

Still, there were a few noteworthy aspects surrounding the decision:

• it was announced that an economic feasibility study is now underway (as opposed to, well, conducting same before the package was approved);
• the IDA signed off on the project though a finalized ground lease apparently does not yet exist;
• the deal includes possibly as many as 600 free parking spaces for the Yankees (Streetsblog has a call in to the IDA to confirm the number);
  
• Carrion's representative on the IDA board, Rafael Salaberrios, was not present for the vote, but walked in shortly after it occurred.

Bettina Damiani, Project Director of Good Jobs New York, an NGO that has tracked the stadium project closely, says the IDA's promise of 12 full-time and 70 part-time parking garage jobs, with an average wage of $11 an hour, hardly justifies the impact on surrounding South Bronx neighborhoods.

"There would be a stronger economic benefit if they threw cash off the elevated subway," Damiani says.

Fittingly, Damiani is headed to Washington, DC, tomorrow to testify at a Congressional hearing on how professional sports stadiums shift funds away from public infrastructure.

At a sparsely attended public hearing in Lower Manhattan, Margaret Collins of Save Our Parks told the New York City Industrial Development Agency (IDA) that a "barely contained rage" is simmering over the traffic the new stadium is expected to bring to the area. Surveys show that lack of recreational space and pollution are the top concerns in South Bronx neighborhoods, Collins said -- problems that were exacerbated when the Yankees seized public park land for its stadium complex, and which could yet worsen once its proposed 9,000 parking spaces are put to use.

Though the new facility will have 5,000 fewer seats, and will be served by a new Metro-North station, current plans call for it to have 2,500 more parking spots than the existing stadium. Three new parking garages (of four originally planned) will be financed through $225 million in triple tax exempt bonds, if the IDA approves such action, at a public cost of some $8,000 per space. A vote could come as early as next Tuesday, September 11. The IDA board votes in closed session.

Noting the low turnout for the hearing, Collins -- herself testifying with sleeping infant in tow -- pointed out that most affected residents can not make it downtown for a meeting in the middle of a workday. She warned that lack of public attendance should not be confused with lack of public engagement. 

"The community is not sleeping on this question," Collins said.

Speaking after an unusual plea for access was presented to the IDA on behalf of Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr., Collins bristled that politicians had signed on to the stadium project without knowing what they were agreeing to. Carrion, a vocal stadium proponent, has been denied what his office termed "vital information" regarding its financing, even though he, like all borough presidents, has an appointee who serves on the IDA board.

The IDA is the financing arm of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The IDA board is made up of 15 members and alternates, including City Planning Director Amanda Burden and Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff.

While she was outnumbered by IDA board members and staff, Collins was not alone in testifying against the project. Joyce Hogi, who has lived in the vicinity of Yankee Stadium for 30 years, objected to the "snarling traffic" that "consumes" the area, and said the new garages would amount to "induced demand" for otherwise unneeded parking, "providing an incentive to drive into an already overburdened neighborhood." Of the new Metro-North station, Hogi asked, "We spend millions on public transportation and now we plan to spend millions to encourage them not to take it?"

Hogi suggested public moneys would be better spent on upgrades to the Melrose Metro-North and 161st Street subway stations, which would benefit surrounding neighborhoods year-round.

Bettina Damiani, director of Good Jobs New York, said that the parking subsidy, if approved, would bring the public commitment to the new stadium to a total of approximately $795 million.

Photo: Michael Dietsch/Flickr

Testifying before the NYC Industrial Development Agency (IDA), which is poised to issue over $200 million in triple tax exempt bonds to the "Bronx Parking Development Company" for parking deck construction, Deputy Director for Planning & Development Paula Luria Caplan said Carrion has not received "vital information" regarding project financing.

Here is the testimony submitted by Caplan on behalf of Carrion, in its entirety:

The new Yankee Stadium project represents a remarkable achievement for the Borough of the Bronx and the City of New York. As this board is aware, the Borough President has been involved in this redevelopment project from its inception and has always insisted that both the community and its representatives are thoroughly engaged in this process.

The Borough President is deeply concerned that after repeated requests we still have not received vital information regarding the details of the Bronx Parking Development Company financing. Specifically, the Borough President's office has requested the following:

A copy of the draft lease agreement;
A copy of the feasibility study;
An explanation of the increase in the deal size from $190 million to $218 million;
and details regarding the elimination of Lot D from the parking facility after 2010.

Finally, the Borough President is concerned as to whether this project can move forward on September 11th without the statutorily required approval of the Bronx Borough Board. In order to make an informed decision at the September 11th IDA Meeting, the Borough President must receive this information immediately.

Bettina Damiani of Good Jobs New York, who also offered testimony, said that it is unheard of for a borough president to resort to making such a statement at an IDA hearing, considering that each borough president has an appointee on the IDA board.

Complete coverage still to come.

What could be worse than replacing neighborhood parks with private parking decks, built with the specific intent of increasing car trips by the tens of thousands through a community already suffering from so much disease-causing pollution that its nickname is "Asthma Alley"?

How about forcing afflicted residents to help foot the bill?

That's what could happen in the South Bronx, courtesy of the New York City Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the New York Yankees.

Though the sweetheart deal orchestrated to fund a new stadium for the richest team in baseball went off with barely a hitch -- including the seizure of public park land, accomplished in just eight days -- construction of the planned parking decks for the new facility has been another matter.

Apparently recognizing the decks as a losing proposition, no private developer wants to build them. So to get things rolling, the IDA -- the financing arm of the NYC Economic Development Corporation -- is now set to award some $186 million in triple tax-exempt bonds for deck construction to a group called the Community Initiatives Development Corporation (CIDC), a non-profit that sets up tax-free loan packages.

In testimony from last week regarding the deck plan, Bettina Damiani of Good Jobs New York (GJNY) offered an analysis of how the project made its way to the CIDC, which has set up a 'local' Bronx division (BCIDC) for the stadium deal:

Despite the fact that these garages went through an official Request For Proposal the financing structure and selection process has the appearance of yet another backroom subsidy deal. BCIDC president William Loewenstein is a strategic partner of lobbying powerhouse Stadtmauer Bailkin, LLP, which specializes in securing public subsidies for its clients. The firm's promotional materials identified him as such until last fall. Stadtmauer Bailkin is listed on the IDA's core application as the attorney of CIDC.

This is a very tidy loop. Stadtmauer lobbies City Hall on behalf of Central Parking Systems, the business claiming it will operate the parking lots. Stadtmauer needs no introduction here. One of its managing directors has promoted herself as having written incentive guidelines as an employee of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. And the firm's incentive procurement practice was recently renamed Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co. Jay Biggins is a former executive director of NYCEDC. CIDC's senior vice president Joseph Seymour is the former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The proposed deck plan would push total subsidies for the new Yankee Stadium to somewhere north of $400 million, according to GJNY. It would also increase the current parking stock by 55 percent, even as plans for a new Metro-North station to serve the park languish for lack of funding.

All of which smacks of hypocrisy to Kate Slevin, associate director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, who also submitted testimony to the IDA:

In January, Mayor Bloomberg announced his PlanYC initiative, which envisions a city in 2030 with faster travel times, more green space, and with the cleanest air of any big city in the USA. Providing more public subsidies for parking garages -- especially when funds for a transit station are precarious at best -- flies in the face of these goals. It's hard to take an initiative like PlanYC seriously when the city is throwing money at parking for a transit-oriented site like Yankee Stadium. 

In the interest of equal time, the Mets are encouraging fans to use transit for today's home opener -- at least while construction of their new stadium continues to take away parking. To avoid the 'shortage' during last year's playoffs, nearly half of Mets fans attended the games without their cars -- proving that even if you don't build it, they will come.

Note: Prior to publication, Streetsblog contacted Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff's office for comment on this story. Mr. Doctoroff could not immediately be reached.

 Image: duluoz cats via Flickr