Make Them Shell Out Big Money On Lobbyists, Then Sue

Because the federal government contributed funds in the 1970s to rebuild Mullaly and Macombs Dam Parks, the Yankees are forced to hire two big-time Washington lobbyists to cut through D.C. red tape:

The Yankees have two new heavy hitters — a pair of Washington lobbyists drafted to help steamroll bureaucratic obstacles to the team’s plan to build the latest incarnation of Yankee Stadium on city parkland that only the feds can unlock.

The big-bucks lobbyists will try to get fast federal approval for the project, even as community foes prepare to sue to block construction of the $800 million, 53,000-seat ballpark.

But a tangle of federal agencies could snarl the Yankees’ plans. The National Park Service, which has refurbished city parks with taxpayer dollars, the Army Corps of Engineers, the IRS and landmark preservationists must agree to go along before the new House that Ruth Built can go up.

According to disclosure reports, the Yanks have hired former Rep. Bill Paxon (R-N.Y.), husband of former Rep. Susan Molinari (R-S.I.) and son-in-law of former Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari. Paxon commands top dollar and represents a wealth of big corporate clients.

They’ve also signed Michael Rosetti, a Buffalo native who handled bitter land disputes as a lawyer for the federal Department of the Interior.

. . .

While the law allows the Yanks to replace them with new parks, the replacements must sit nearby and must be worth at least as much as the old ones. The team’s current replacement offer has activists fuming.

“This isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and the Yankees are fully aware of that,” said Geoffrey Croft of New York City Park Advocates. “The land itself is not a good swap, because some [fields] are on top of parking garages. [And] five of the acres are a mile away from their existing place.”

If the feds accept the swap, his group will sue, Croft vowed.

Meanwhile, Bronx Borough President is using his only available statutory power (lame!) to punish community board members who didn’t back the project:

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión is playing hardball with the community board that tried to block his pitch for a new Yankee Stadium.

Four of the nine members of Community Board 4, including its chair, are up for reappointment, a spokeswoman for Carrión noted.

And while Carrión isn’t revealing his lineup shuffle, this may well be payback time for the board’s November 2005 vote against plans to bulldoze two popular public parks in favor of the new stadium.

The only stadium supporter not reappointed is Chairman Ade Rasul, and that, board sources say, may be because he failed to persuade his colleagues to back the controversial project. Rasul did not return a call seeking comment.

Board sources say others denied reappointment include longtime members Gertrude Lane, Marie Stroud and Louise Williams, none of whom could be reached for comment.