My name is Lowell Kern. I have been a resident of Chelsea for 20 years and I am a member of WestSideStadium.org. I am also a second generation New York Jets season ticket holder.

Last spring, I received an email from the Jets inviting me to a meeting in this building to learn about the plans for a new stadium which would be the Jets first home of their own in the 44 year history of the franchise.

Following that meeting, I was contacted by NYC & Co. and asked to testify at hearings before the City Council on this issue. Throughout the summer and fall, urged on by NYC & Co., I testified and wrote letters on behalf of the entire West Side development project.

But then something happened. I dared to voice my own opinion, which was not 100% “on message.” At a meeting before the Manhattan Borough President, I said, quite honestly, that there were people who knew more than I did about what percentage of affordable housing was appropriate for this project. Shortly thereafter, I was contacted by someone from NYC & Co. who explained to me what was the right thing for me to say. As I reminded this person, to quote Han Solo from the first “Star Wars” film “I ain’t in this for your revolution, honey.”

I believe in affordable housing. I also believe that the #7 line should be extended to better serve the convention center and spur development of the far west side. I believe this building should be expanded so that New York can better compete with Chicago and Dallas and Las Vegas for convention business. I think that if people want to complain that developing this neighborhood will hinder growth downtown, they should persuade Goldman Sachs to build at Ground Zero or to commit to the Freedom Tower, not to build on a site north of Battery Park City. And I believe that Jim Dolan is a hypocrite.

But that’s not what I came to tell you about.

Twenty years ago, when I was a junior at NYU, the Jets moved to the swamps of Jersey, because, among other reasons, as you may recall, the bathrooms at Hess stations were cleaner than the bathrooms at Shea Stadium. A commission was established to explore building a domed stadium in Queens to lure the Jets back. There was talk of taking the auto yards in Corona under eminent domain to build a facility that would be an adjunct to Shea. A friend of mine was the son of the then Borough President of Queens, which gave me unique access to people to conduct interviews for the thesis I was writing on the subject. I concluded that it made no sense to spend tax dollars for a building that would be used for a limited number of dates each year. That proposal died pretty quickly because the politicians came to the same conclusion.

This project is different. The New York Sports and Convention Center is a multi-use facility. Used in conjunction with an expanded Javits Center, it will allow New York to compete for the largest conventions. It will lure additional events to New York that Madison Square Garden cannot host, either because it is not suited for that purpose (the Olympics, the Super Bowl) or because it is too small (the NCAA Final Four, major concert events). And it will give my football team a home of their own – and the team is willing to pay much of the cost for the privilege of playing in Manhattan.

Building this stadium anywhere else in the city just doesn’t make sense. It can’t work as a multi-use facility because it won’t attract other events. Face it, Willets Point just doesn’t have the same appeal as Manhattan. Willets Point will not attract the Olympics or the Super Bowl or the Final Four or conventions. And Willets Point won’t attract $800 million in private investment. It’s what I concluded 20 years ago and it’s the way I feel today. I don’t want my tax dollars spent on a stadium in Willets Point that will sit empty for 340 dates a year.

But, as a private citizen, not being told what to say by NYC & Co., the New York Jets or anyone else, but just speaking my mind and making friends every step of the way, I whole-heartedly support a stadium right here on the far west side of Manhattan.

Thank you.