It's now official- Christine Quinn and Jimmy Dolan have won their sordid victory. They do make a lovely couple. It will be interesting to see what happens to the rail yards now- rfemember how Quinn and Company promised us Shangri La on the West Side if only we didn't build the stadium? Let's see what happens- and let's keep score.

Jets declare game over
on West Side stadium

BY MICHAEL SAUL
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU

The West Side Stadium is officially dead.

The Jets will pull the plug today on their proposal to build a $1.9 billion stadium on Manhattan's far West Side, ending a five-year, $50 million-plus odyssey for the controversial site.

The team is expected today to notify the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that it will not go forward with the purchase of the agency's railyards just south of the Javits Center, sources familiar with the team's decision said yesterday.

The Jets are now exploring the possibility of partnering with the Giants to build a new stadium in the Meadowlands. They also are considering a potential site in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens.

Team owner Woody Johnson spent several hours at the Queens site last week, sources told the Daily News.

The team's withdrawal from the West Side marks a victory for Cablevision, which spent more than a year waging an aggressive multimillion-dollar campaign to scuttle the project because company executives considered the stadium a threat to its premier Manhattan venue, Madison Square Garden.

MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow has said the agency planned to reopen the property for competitive bidding. MTA officials also said they may invest $350 million of its $833 million surplus to build a deck above the yards - making it more attractive for developers.

The MTA has yet to make a decision on that proposal.

In March, the MTA unanimously voted to award the property to the Jets. Two months later, an obscure state panel rejected the project.

A Jets spokesman declined to comment, saying the team would convey its decision to the MTA today and release a public statement.