For the second time in a week, Gov. George E. Pataki yesterday agreed to delay a critical vote on a proposed $2.2 billion stadium in Manhattan that is the centerpiece of the city's bid for the 2012 Olympics.
The Pataki administration said late last evening that the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, had asked the governor to postpone the vote, scheduled for tomorrow, by the Public Authorities Control Board, a state agency that can block the state's $300 million contribution to the stadium project. Michael Marr, a spokesman for the administration, said he was unable to say exactly when the vote would be held.
The wrangling over the vote by the little-known control board, the project's last political hurdle, is only the latest skirmish in a yearlong battle that has sparked fervent opposition and support. The governor, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and United States Olympic Committee officials say that the stadium must be approved if the city is to have a chance of winning its bid for the Games.
But both Joseph L. Bruno, the State Senate majority leader, and Mr. Silver, who control two of the three seats on the board, say there is no reason to vote before the International Olympic Committee meets July 6 to select a host for the Games. Both men have pledged to provide the necessary resources for a stadium, somewhere in New York City, if the city is chosen over the other contenders: Paris, London, Madrid and Moscow.
The board could approve the project, clearing the way for the $300 million state subsidy, which would match a commitment from the Bloomberg administration. Or it could kill the project.
Before the board's meeting last week, Mr. Bruno asked for a customary 30-day delay on the vote because of what he said were many unanswered questions about the stadium's financing and public subsidies. Instead, the Pataki administration called a special meeting of the board for tomorrow. State and city officials acknowledged at the time that they wanted to force Mr. Silver into using his postponement option, fully expecting him to ask for a second delay. That would set the stage for a showdown at the next meeting, where Mr. Silver and Mr. Bruno could be painted as potential villains for jeopardizing the city's Olympic bid.
Yesterday, Mr. Silver asked for the stadium vote to be postponed until after June 2, when a state judge is expected to rule on legal challenges to the stadium deal.