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Cablevision West Side Proposal


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Ok guys/gals,here it is. There are also pics.

http://www.newsday.com/business/nyc-stad0322,0,4027274.story?coll=ny-top-span-headlines

http://www.newsday.com/business/nyc-cable-pix,0,4961083.photo?coll=ny-top-span-headlines

Cablevision unveils its West Side plan

BY VERA HALLER

NYNewsday.com

March 21, 2005, 4:06 PM EST

Cablevision's Madison Square Garden today unveiled its proposal for the MTA's West Side rail yard, pitting its vision of a residential and commercial "Battery Park North" against the Jets' city-backed plan to build a new stadium.

Called "Hudson Gardens," Cablevision's plan calls for the construction of 5,800 residential units (800 of them deemed "affordable"), office buildings, a five-acre riverfront park, a new elementary school and library, a retail strip along 11th Avenue and a moderately-priced hotel, officials said.

Cablevision executives who spoke at a carefully-managed news conference at Radio City Music Hall provided few concrete details about their proposal, responding to reporters' questions by saying more information would be available after their bid was officially filed with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority later today.

Andrew Lynn, vice president for development at Madison Square Garden, characterized the Cablevision proposal as community-friendly. He said it would open up the neighborhood to the Hudson River waterfront and "energize the area."

Alex Krieger, the architect of Cablevision's proposal, criticized the Jets' plan, saying a stadium would "overwhelm" the neighborhood on the days there were games while leaving it empty on those days there were no events.

The MTA has set a 5 p.m. deadline today for bids for the 13-acre site. The Jets have offered $100 million for a football stadium there that would double as an Olympics venue if the city wins the 2012 Games.

Cablevision has offered $600 million to block the stadium by building offices and homes. And TransGas, an energy firm, has offered $700 million in return for the MTA's support of its plans to build a power plant in Williamsburg. It also wants the agency to buy its power for 20 years.

Both Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki support the Jets' bid, as does former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who is now appearing in a commercial extolling the project.

Several community leaders who bitterly oppose the Jets stadium were invited by Cablevision to speak at the Radio City Music Hall news conference. All of them endorsed the Cablevision plan.

Joe Restuccia, of the Hell's Kitchen/Hudson Yards Alliance, said he envisioned that the Cablevision plan would create a "Battery Park North," referring to the successful development of landfill at the southern tip of Manhattan.

Sunday, Bloomberg said he would treat the highest bidder fairly, even if it is not the Jets. Speaking to reporters at a St. Patrick's Day parade in Bay Ridge, he also dismissed a published report claiming that he had threatened James Dolan, the Cablevision boss who is seeking to derail the stadium.

"Of course I never would threaten anybody. That's ridiculous," he said.

MTA chairman Peter Kalikow also for months seemed to support the planned stadium.

But he opened a competitive bidding process last month only after Cablevision submitted its development plans and offered a higher price than the Jets.

Critics have slammed the bidding process as unfair because it forced developers to assume zoning changes. The Jets are further along than other expected bidders in the lengthy process.

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