NEW YORK BRIEFING April 2005

News this month

Touchdown

On April 12th, New York's economic-development agency unanimously approved a proposal to create a new 75,000-seat home for the New York Jets (one of the city's two American football teams), as well as a convention centre, new commercial office space, a new subway line and much more. This came a week after a similarly unanimous vote by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), which owns the proposed site in Manhattan's West Side. It marks a key victory for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as the $2.2 billion stadium complex is the centrepiece of his bid for New York to host the 2012 Olympic Games. Before any building can begin, the proposed stadium still needs the blessing of the Public Authorities Control Board, another state panel. Cablevision, a rejected bidder, which offered nearly twice as much upfront as the Jets, filed a lawsuit to block the development. It accuses the MTA of presiding over a “sham bidding process”, which was “designed to favour the Jets.” The suit also names the city. Meanwhile, Mr Bloomberg accuses Cablevision, owner of Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall, of trying to protect its monopoly of large indoor arenas.

The football stadium will probably be the world's most expensive. If all goes well, it will open in 2009. The National Football League has promised the 2010 Super Bowl to New York if the stadium is built. The Olympics, according to City Hall, would generate $11 billion and 120,000 jobs for the city, though its chances of hosting the Games trail Paris, the favourite. The International Olympic Committee will name the winner on July 6th 2005.

Prompt, but not thrifty

For the first time in 21 years, New York State lawmakers have met the April 1st deadline for passing a budget. This is especially remarkable when one remembers it took until August to pass the 2004-2005 budget. Lawmakers may have had a greater sense of urgency this year. Polls indicate that voters are not impressed with state spending habits. There is also a state law that calls for holding salaries in escrow from the time lawmakers miss the deadline until they finally pass the budget (though this hasn't been a sufficient deterrent in the past).

The legislature has agreed to a $106 billion spending plan. This not only raises spending at twice the rate of inflation, but also dramatically increases aid for public schools by more than $800m (including $325m for high-needs districts such as New York City), caps future Medicaid costs and raises taxes and fees by more than $1 billion. For the first time in decades, schools, cities and counties that base their budgets on state aid no longer need to estimate how much will be coming from Albany, the state capital. George Pataki, New York's governor, has the final say. Just before his April 12th veto deadline, he struck a deal with the legislature. The budget now allows for the largest reserve since 2001, and contains $1.1 billion in welfare spending and nearly $700m more in Medicaid spending than the governor wanted. There will be no tuition hikes at state or city universities.

Little room for Eloise

The news that the legendary Plaza Hotel is to be converted into condominiums and luxury rentals later this year has caused quite a fuss. Although the 98-year-old building was landmarked in 1969, only the façade is protected from structural changes. Among the many New Yorkers protesting against the renovation, the hotel's union representatives have put up the biggest fight, as some 900 hotel employees were set to lose their jobs. The union had staged a number of public protests, and lobbied the city's landmarks preservation office to limit the conversion. On April 14th, the owner of the Plaza Hotel, Elad Properties, reached a tentative deal with Local 6, the union. Mayor Bloomberg's office helped broker the agreement, which will preserve almost half of the hotel rooms and retain about 350 of the 900 threatened jobs. The hotel's renowned public spaces, such as the Palm Court, Oak Room, Oak Bar and Grand Ballroom will remain open. The Plaza is expected to close at the end of April for this $350m overhaul, and reopen at the end of 2006.

The hotel's owners also face a lawsuit from the jeweller who leases two stores in the Plaza's lobby. The jeweller is suing to keep the hotel open, claiming the proposed conversion violates the terms of his leases. The stores have been ordered to close by August.

Move to Texas?

New Yorkers had a hunch, but now it is official: the US Census Bureau has declared New York the nation's worst city for commuters. On average, local commuters have a 38.3-minute journey. Queens's residents must endure the nation's longest journeys to work, with an average time of 41.7 minutes, followed by Staten Island, the Bronx and then Brooklyn. Almost 6% of the city's commuters face schleps of 90 minutes or more on their commutes. Workers in Corpus Christi, Texas, have the shortest trips of just over 15 minutes. According to the bureau, commuters spend over 100 hours a year getting to work—the equivalent of about two weeks of holiday.

Terrorist indictments

A Manhattan federal courtroom unsealed an indictment for three British nationals on charges that they targeted financial institutions in New York, New Jersey and Washington, DC. The men, Dhiran Barot (who is allegedly a member of al-Qaeda), Nadeem Tarmohammed and Qaisar Shaffi were charged with conspiracy and providing support to terrorists. They are accused specifically of scouting the New York Stock Exchange and Citicorp building in New York, the Prudential building in Newark and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, DC between 2000 and April 2001. The Department of Homeland Security raised the terror-alert level last summer soon after the discovery. Extra security measures, such as concrete barriers placed around the financial institutions, have been put in place.

The men have been in British custody since August, when they were arrested with five other men for possession of reconnaissance plans and notebooks containing information on explosives and chemicals. They probably will not be extradited to America until after their British trial, scheduled to begin in January 2006.

Catch if you can

May 2005

“The Pillowman”

Open run

Martin McDonagh, a British playwright, has delivered a wonderfully gripping and grim new comedy to Broadway. “The Pillowman”, which won an Olivier Award in London for best new play last year, stars Billy Crudup as Katurian K. Katurian, a writer of grisly short stories, all of which seem to end with a child getting maimed or killed. He and his mentally slow brother Michal (an impressive Michael Stuhlbarg) are in prison for what police describe as a series of gruesome murders, all of which resemble Katurian's stories. Two detectives, played by an incredibly wry Jeff Goldblum and his associate, a trigger-happy Zeljko Ivanek, interrogate the flummoxed (and mostly unpublished) writer in a dank room in an unnamed country, described as a totalitarian state. Their exchanges mix the dark humour of “Catch 22” with Kafkaesque paranoia. The stakes are high: the police want to convict and execute Katurian and his brother.
For all of the play's focus on sadism and cruelty (Katurian's stories include a boy who is fed razors and a girl who is buried alive), the play is both touching and funny.

Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St (between Broadway & 8th Ave). Tel: +1 (212) 239-6200. For tickets, contact Telecharge's website. See the show's website.

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