Key Bruno aide backs Jets site

By MICHAEL SAUL
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU

While Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno continues to withhold support for the proposed West Side stadium, his representative on the state board that will determine the project's fate is a staunch backer.

"This [stadium] is New York's next big great idea that has the power to solidify our place as the dominant force in the entertainment and tourism industries, while helping us reap huge economic benefits for generations to come," said state Sen. Owen Johnson, Bruno's appointee to the Public Authorities Control Board, in a little-noticed February statement.

"This project makes absolute economic sense as it will create jobs and generate revenue," said Johnson, a Republican from Babylon, L.I.

Since Johnson endorsed the stadium in a February press release, he has refused repeated requests for an interview. How Johnson will vote remains unclear, given that he's a representative of Bruno (R-Rensselaer), who has yet to take a position.

Johnson, though, is working behind the scenes to build support for the stadium. According to a source, two weeks ago Johnson met with Jets owner Woody Johnson, no relation, to discuss how to shore up support for the stadium.

The Public Authorities Control Board - a panel controlled by Bruno, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Gov. Pataki - is scheduled to vote on the stadium next week. The panel's three voting members must be unanimous for the project to win approval.

Pataki's representative, John Cape, the state budget director, will vote for the stadium. The votes controlled by Bruno and Silver are up in the air.

The stadium - the planned new home of the Jets and part of the expanded Javits Convention Center - also is the centerpiece of the city's bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, Cablevision, the stadium's chief opponent, is planning to launch new TV ads opposing the project. And the Jets have finalized a memorandum of understanding with Javits governing event scheduling.