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The West Side Stadium
[prev] Tue, 17 May 2005 00:36:32 -0400 [next] [politics] - [comment]

So there's a lot of commercials on television lately regarding the planned West Side Stadium in Manhattan. I saw a commercial expounding on how upstate New York is so screwed financially, and "OMG CANNOT AFFORD STADIUM!11!". They also claim that no one upstate will ever use this facility, EVER. I submit that most people in Harlem will never visit the raceway at Saratoga, see a performance at The Egg, or watch a Binghamton Mets game, but hey.

Here's the deal. According to the very same commercial, the stadium will cost $300,000,000 taxpayer dollars to fund. By itself, I guess that might seem like a pretty big number. However, let's do a little math:

300000000 / 19190115
= 15.63304857735

With 19,190,115 (roughly) people in New York State, this brand new facility will cost you as much as a reasonably priced CD. PLUS, you get to screw over Cablevision/MSG (this might be an opportune time to mention that they sponsored the commercial).

What's not to like?

by: jesse
on: Tue, 17 May 2005 09:47:10 -0400
at: 198.45.18.*
re: No subject

As a NYC resident, what is not to like about a West Side stadium is that building a giant stadium two blocks from a giant arena is stupid, and a mighty expensive traffic jam in the waiting. I can imagine anyone who lives in remotely in that area (I don't, I just work near there) would quite reasonably find the idea 100 times stupider. That's a lot of space to waste, too, just so we can, uh, have the Jets play in Manhattan? Put in a hasty and probably ill-conceived Olympic bid?

by: Mike
on: Tue, 17 May 2005 10:11:58 -0400
at: *.ubr0.alb1.inoc.net
re: Okay..

Traffic problems in Manhattan?! Unheard of! If you're driving a car in Manhattan, you've already lost the battle. I have a pretty good feeling the Olympics aren't coming to New York any time soon; (West Side Stadium or not) we're too high profile a target.

by: jesse
on: Tue, 17 May 2005 11:16:04 -0400
at: 198.45.18.*
re: No subject

Heh. But do you think just because traffic sucks in Manhattan now, that it's impossible for it to get worse?? It's always possible for it to get worse, yo. There's so much other stuff you could do with that area besides shoehorn in a stadium. (Not to mention that there are already two NYC stadiums, even if they're not in Manhattan. Hmm, I wonder why that is..)

by: Scudder
on: Wed, 18 May 2005 02:48:00 -0400
at: *.stny.res.rr.com
re: No Subject

There's such a thing as a reasonably-priced CD? Where?

by: Rectigulus
on: Wed, 18 May 2005 19:48:16 -0400
at: *.dyn.optonline.net
re: No Bargain

Big Mike! Considering the jihad that's being waged by the music industry against the file sharers, it's clear that there are plenty of people for whom even the cost of a reasonably priced CD is too much to pay ... for a reasonably priced CD.

by: Mike
on: Thu, 19 May 2005 01:20:11 -0400
at: *.nycap.res.rr.com
re: Alternative

I guess "the price of two movie tickets" would be a similarly bad comparison.