The Jets yesterday gave their firmest indication yet that they would stay in New Jersey, requesting an extension of their lease at Giants Stadium through 2018 and agreeing to meet the terms for building a new stadium sought by state officials.
The team said it wanted to extend its lease by 10 years and sign off on plans for Xanadu, a $2 billion retail and entertainment complex that would share the Meadowlands site. In doing so, the Jets accelerated tensions with the Giants over the pending construction of a new $800 million stadium in the Meadowlands.
The Jets' proposal to extend its lease did include a loophole that could give the state pause and the Jets leverage to move to a site in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens: The team could still vacate the Meadowlands at the end of a season after paying a penalty that decreases over time.
The two teams have been pushing different visions for a new stadium, setting the stage for a showdown at tomorrow's board meeting of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
At the meeting, the authority will decide whether it will cancel a deal reached in April between the Giants and Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey. That agreement was contingent on the Giants' ability to reach deals with Xanadu's developer and the Jets about sharing the Meadowlands site.
The Giants have dominated the landscape of the Meadowlands since 1976, when the team moved into the stadium. The Jets, whose lease with the state had been inferior to the Giants' lease, had for many years felt like a stepchild, sharing the stadium for games but little of the marquee glory.
After the Jets' proposal to build a stadium in Manhattan fell apart, the team became prospective partners with the Giants in the construction of a new Meadowlands stadium that both teams would share. But the Giants have resisted both the Jets' involvement and coming to terms with Xanadu's developers. As a result, the Jets' profile in the negotiations with the state has improved, while the Giants' has slipped.
Carl J. Goldberg, the chairman of the authority, delicately described the state agency's attitude toward the Jets without trying to offend the Giants. "The authority feels very positive about its relationship with the Jets," Mr. Goldberg said, "but I don't want to characterize it in a way that exacerbates tensions."
George R. Zoffinger, the president of the authority, who was replaced by Mr. Goldberg in talks with the Giants, said, "The Giants are our best tenant." But, he added: "We think Xanadu complements football at the Meadowlands by making it more of an experience. It fills the place 360 days a year, not just for 10 games."
The Jets' decision yesterday to e-mail their request for a lease extension and their approval of Xanadu came despite the Giants' request that they hold off any action. The Giants first wanted to work out the parking, traffic and transportation issues that have been the sticking points in reaching a deal with the project's developers, the Mills Corporation and Mack-Cali Realty, according to three executives involved in the talks who asked not to be identified because they each said a public stance could influence the outcome of the talks, which they said were at a sensitive stage.
Mitchell E. Hersh, the chairman of Mack-Cali, said: "It's been a bit confusing to us as to why we haven't been able to reach an accord. It's not for lack of trying."
But, the executives said, the Jets were furious that the Giants tried this week to gain an edge in the stadium talks by offering to settle all differences with Xanadu. In exchange, the Giants requested the developers' support of their stadium plan over a more ambitious one submitted by the Jets.
"From the authority's perspective," Mr. Goldberg said, "we're very pleased to have the Jets offer a lease extension and Xanadu's approval, regardless of the motivation."
The Giants were prepared to finance the $800 million project on their own, then invited the Jets to join them after the West Side stadium project was canceled. But the experience in Manhattan provided the Jets with substantial knowledge about stadium planning, which prompted its submission last month of its own design for a 90,000-seat stadium in the Meadowlands that includes a broader plan to turn the area into a sports center. The proposal has been greeted favorably by the sports authority and Xanadu.
A few days after the Jets presented their plan, the Giants submitted a site plan for their proposed ground lease. But it was returned by Mr. Goldberg, who chided the Giants in an Aug. 23 letter, calling it "insufficient." He said that the team "will need to significantly augment the quality and comprehensiveness of future submissions."
John Mara, executive vice president of the Giants, said yesterday that the team would submit its complete site plan today, its due date. "I'm not sure where we stand at this point, and we'll have to see what happens," he said. "We could have done it earlier, but there's an awful lot of work that went into it. We were still putting the finishing touches on it today."
He said he hoped that submitting the plan would forestall any plans the authority had to end the team's agreement with Mr. Codey. "But I don't know if it will have any effect," he said.
Mr. Goldberg said if the site plan appeared to comply with his requests, "it would certainly have a bearing on what the authority's decision might be on Friday."
The cancellation of the agreement could lead the Giants to revive a lawsuit they filed against the state, to force it to renovate the existing stadium to "state of the art" standards. The price tag for such a renovation could be as much as $300 million.
The team has also gone to court to stop construction of Xanadu, saying its lease gives it the authority to sign off on new development and that it had not given its approval. Work began on a Xanadu parking garage last April, with a hotel and office buildings to rise in the next phrase.
If the authority board terminates the agreement, the stadium project could enter a period of limbo that would coincide with the end of Mr. Codey's term, in January. And that could change the dynamics greatly.
Two candidates for governor, United States Senator Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat, and Douglas R. Forrester, a Republican, have expressed reservations about the deal Mr. Codey has struck with the Giants.