Giants, Jets to build new stadium
BY STEVE ZIPAY
STAFF WRITER
September 29, 2005
In a deal that formally ends the Jets' plans to return to their New York roots, the team yesterday agreed with the Giants to jointly finance and build a $800-million, 80,000-plus-seat football stadium in the Meadowlands that is expected to open in 2009 or 2010. It will be the first NFL stadium to be shared by two franchises from the outset.
Naming rights will be sold to the highest bidder.
The Jets, who moved from Shea Stadium to Giants Stadium in 1984, had focused on developing a $2-billion stadium on Manhattan's West Side for five years, but the project was scuttled in June by community opposition and a denial of state funding.
While the team was negotiating with New Jersey acting Gov. Richard Codey, it flirted with a plan to build a stadium on the World's Fair site in Flushing. That idea is dead, as well.
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall courted the Jets after a proposal pushed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to build a $2.2-billion West Side stadium as part of the 2012 Olympics effort failed.
"Obviously, we are disappointed, and maybe we should ask them to change their name," Marshall said.
The Bloomberg administration declined to comment.
"Our intention is to be partners in this building. ... We're going to be here for a very long time," said Jets owner Woody Johnson III, who purchased the team for $620 million. The agreement also signals the eventual end of the Jets' tenure at Hofstra University; New Jersey has promised to build the team a state-of-the-art practice facility within 20 miles of the Meadowlands. The Giants will practice in a new facility near the racetrack.
In May, the Giants had agreed to finance their own stadium, and they asked the Jets to remain tenants beyond their lease, which expires in 2008. Once the West Side deal fell through, the Jets proposed a 90,000-seat New Jersey stadium, with a nearby hotel and retail complex, a vision endorsed by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which operates the Meadowlands. The authority then negotiated with the teams and had set a deadline of 5 p.m. yesterday. The Jets dropped the hotel and retail plans.
Johnson said the teams will also seek $300 million in low-cost loans from the NFL.
The costs could climb because the design does not include a retractable roof, which many NFL insiders consider essential for the league to schedule a Super Bowl and other events.
"The current design is roof-ready, but the state will not pay one penny for it," Codey said yesterday.
