Sounds Like A Deal!

The City Council overwhelmingly approved a new Yankees Stadium yesterday:

The new stadium for the Yankees would represent the culmination of a long quest by the team, which had pushed for a new home in Manhattan but ultimately decided to remain in the Bronx as the borough’s fortunes improved.

Under the financing plan for the stadium, the Yankees will pay for the construction through $930 million in bonds issued by the city, of which $860 million will be tax-exempt. Taxpayers will also bear some of the costs because the team will pay back the bonds through payments in lieu of taxes to the city.

In their current home, the Yankees pay rent to the city but only after deducting the cost of maintenance. The team pays no capital expenses. While the Yankees will not pay rent for the new stadium, the team will be responsible for the maintenance and operation costs and any capital improvements. The state’s share would be $70 million of the $320 million cost of building four parking garages that could be used by local residents throughout the year; the remainder would come from private developers.

Under the deal, the city would spend at least $138 million to demolish the old stadium, create new parkland to replace the 22 acres being used for the stadium in Macomb’s Dam and Mullaly Parks, and to make improvements to other nearby parks.

. . .

[Yankees president Randy] Levine said construction on the new Yankee stadium could begin as soon as this spring. When completed it will seat slightly fewer people than the current one, but will offer 42 more luxury sky boxes, which are lucrative for teams, and 3,000 more parking spaces. In another change, the new stadium will have standing room for another 1,000 people.