New York Newsday April 6, 2005 Cablevision Tuesday filed suit against the MTA, claiming that the bidding process for the authority's rail yards that it lost last week was "rigged" and guaranteed that the Jets would win...

Cablevision files suit against MTA

By Joshua Robin
STAFF WRITER

April 5, 2005

Cablevision Tuesday filed suit against the MTA, claiming that the bidding process for the authority's rail yards that it lost last week was "rigged" and guaranteed that the Jets would win.

Joining the suit with an affidavit is Richard Ravitch, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from 1979 to 1984. Ravitch, who is credited for steering the transit system out of near collapse two decades ago, has for months criticized how his former agency handled the sale.

"This process did not produce the highest price obtainable for the Authority," Ravitch's affidavit stated.

Aside from the MTA, named as defendants in the suit filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, are the Jets, which offered the authority about $250 million to build the stadium, and the Bloomberg administration, which the suit claimed long colluded with the MTA to ensure the stadium would be built at the 13-acre site.

The suit seeks to have a judge invalidate the MTA's March 31 vote and instead award a contract to Cablevision, which owns Madison Square Garden and offered $400 million to build a largely residential development as a way to avoid competition for its own arena.

As an alternative, the suit asks that the MTA redo the bidding in "a fair and proper" way, taking into account the authority's financial responsibility.

"It is undisputed that MSG was the highest qualified bidder," the suit states. "The MTA board was therefore legally obligated to award this property, if at all, to MSG, which offered the most dollars for transportation purposes."

The suit also criticizes the short window when bids were accepted, the MTA's willingness to accept a contingent bid when officials previously said they would not, and the authority's reliance in the bidding process on a real estate company with links to a pro-stadium group. The bulk of the Jets offer was a development adjacent to the stadium that required zoning changes.

An MTA spokeswoman said the agency had not yet seen the suit and had no comment. In voting for the Jets, at least one board member acknowledged that Cablevision offered more money up front, but said the Jets offer could boost future MTA revenue.

Asked about the suit at a Brooklyn news conference, Mayor Michael Bloomberg replied: "Well, if you can't beat 'em, sue 'em I guess is unfortunately the way some people go about it."

The Jets called the lawsuit "frivolous," and echoed Bloomberg in saying that the stadium plan would create jobs.

Staff writer Bryan Virasami contributed to this story.