Another body blow for Bloomberg

Cablevision’s Jim Dolan may not know how to turn the Knicks or Rangers into winners, but he is certainly giving Mike Bloomberg a good fight over New York’s West Side stadium plan. True, Cablevision, the owner of Madison Square Garden, has a vested interest in the outcome, since the stadium may siphon business from the Garden. But at least the Garden is open year-round and offers more than sports, including rock concerts and the circus. And yes, Bloomberg and his Olympics-on-the-brain deputy mayor, Dan Doctoroff, are an easy target, given their “If you’ll build it ...” mentality in their unrelenting quest to bring the 2012 Summer Games here. (Remember Bloomberg, early in his term, telling the Yankees and Mets that the city had no money for new ballparks?)

Still, several rounds into Dolan’s “no West Side stadium” ad campaign, you can’t help but feel that Bloomie has been battered and bruised. And with The New York Times reporting today that Paris appears the most equipped, facility-wise, of the 2012 finalist cities, with an Olympic-size stadium already standing, AdFreak feels hopeful that common sense will prevail and New York will lose out, particularly with the memory of Athens building frantically until the last minute still fresh in the collective mind of the International Olympic Committee. Now if the Knicks could shed a few more of those Charles Smith-like contracts ...

—Posted by Andrew McMains

Image: New York Sports and Convention Center

March 9, 2005 | Permalink