RANGEL WRINKLE: NOW HE DOESN'T BACK STADIUM
By TOM TOPOUSIS

May 4, 2005 -- Rep. Charles Rangel — the most prominent black elected official to come out in support of the West Side stadium — has flip-flopped and is now saying he's against the $1.9 billion project, The Post has learned.

Rangel recently sent letters to Harlem constituents saying he does not back the plan, making no reference to his public endorsement of the proposed Jets stadium on March 7.

In a letter to a constituent on Friday and obtained by The Post, Rangel wrote, "I want you to know that I have never specifically publicly endorsed the stadium idea."

"I understand that there are real financial, transportation and environmental concerns that go with building a new stadium," Rangel's letter went on to say.

Rangel's letter was addressed to John Raskin, the spokesman for a stadium opposition group, the Hells Kitchen/Hudson Yards Alliance.

But in March, Rangel, an ardent supporter of the city's bid to host the Olympics, said his support for the stadium was based on the need to help land the 2012 Games and the promise by the Jets to hire minorities to build and work at the stadium:

"If the international community says they need the stadium, then certainly I am for the stadium."

George Dalley, a spokesman for Rangel, confirmed that letters were sent out with the congressman's approval. But Dalley insisted that Rangel supports "a stadium" that could host the Olympics and would like to see several alternative proposals.

"He may not have understood when people talked about the stadium that they were talking about the West Side stadium," said Dalley.