Godzilla Attacks!
Monster Promises to Destroy Stadium

Cablevision, arguably the most hated corporation in America, today launched its puppet organization dedicated to destroying the West Side Stadium project. The organization, New York Association for Better Choices, (NYABC) states in the title of their rollout press release that they are "...Alarmed By Plan to Spend At Least $600 Million in Public
Funds on Stadium." This is more than a bit ironic, since Cablevision owns Madison Square Garden, yet does not pay a penny of Real Estate taxes to the city of New York.

You read that correctly. Madison Square Garden does not contribute one red cent of taxes to help pay salaries the teachers and cops, to help pave our roads, to help pay for the Mass Transit hub which they sit atop. Instead, they use that taxpayer money to fund an attack on the construction of a stadium that will be paying more than its fair share into the coffers
of the city of New York.

In another grim irony, Madison Square Garden stands on the ashes of the old Pennsylvania Station. That building, considered one of the most architecturally significant structures ever built in the United States, was ripped down 40 years
ago to construct the ugly pile of cinder block laughingly called "The Garden." Yet
they are opposed to the construction of a stadium built over the Pennsylvania train yards, the construction of which will not displace one single living unit or structure.

Madison Square Garden, along with its corporate welfare tax deal, was purchased by Charles Dolan's Cablevision in 1994. Included in the deal were two of professional sport's most loved franchises, the New York Knicks and the Rangers. Both teams have been so mismanaged that a season in which they actually win half their games is now a rarity.

The politicians are now stumbling over each other in the scramble to jump atop the monster's back. Also hopping on board is Thomas C. Short, International President, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), doing his membership a great disservice. The Jets, the prospective tennat of the stadium, currently play in another state, in a house that is partially non-union. The West Side Stadium would be a Union house in New York City. The Jets have committed to being a 100% Union shop. That means IA and brother Teamster jobs. Mr. Short's rationale for opposition is traffic patterns, but IA members might want to take another look at Mr. Short's relationship with the
Shubert organization, and ask themselves if this is the best they can do.