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Mayor takes shots in stadium smackdown

BY GLENN THRUSH AND HARRY BERKOWITZ
STAFF WRITERS

February 16, 2005, 11:21 PM EST

The West Side stadium fight is fast becoming a no-holds-barred, billionaire-on-billionaire smackdown.

Wednesday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg took his biggest shot to date at Cablevision owners Charles and James Dolan, accusing the stadium foes of fouling up nearly every business they've run, including Madison Square Garden, their sports teams -- even defunct electronics retailer The Wiz.

The Dolans "don't exactly know how to run that team [the Rangers], they don't know how to run Madison Square Garden, they don't know how to run the Knicks," he said at a Washington Heights senior center where he was making an announcement about housing.

Ridiculing Cablevision's proposal to build a residential/retail complex in place of the Jets/Olympics stadium, the mayor quipped, "Do you really want the guy that ran The Wiz to run a bunch of housing on the West Side?"

Bloomberg, whose net worth is estimated at $5 billion, said Cablevision's "stockholders should certainly be questioning what on earth is going on."

The mayor's comments came on a day when the Jets aired a round of anti-Cablevision ads -- and a day after Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman Peter Kalikow announced his agency would consider all bids on the site until March 21.

So far, the Dolans, who are estimated to be worth at least $1 billion, are the only group apart from the Jets to make a pitch. Bloomberg claims their proposal, which would use $600 million in private funding, was hatched merely to derail the stadium deal. The Jets deal will cost taxpayers $600 million.

Cablevision, which has bankrolled its own string of TV ads ridiculing the Jets plan and accusing Bloomberg of fudging key details, referred comment yesterday to a company-funded neighborhood group.

"The overwhelming majority of New Yorkers are clearly opposed to spending $600 million in public funds for a football stadium," said Anna Levin of the New York Association for Better Choices. "Attacking Cablevision has not changed anyone's mind."

Yesterday, the mayor endorsed the MTA's bid process, saying he was confident the Jets plan would defeat all comers.

"Anybody that wants to bid on the air rights over the Hudson Yards should call the MTA right now and send them a letter with the details and how they're going to pay for it," he said. "If you've got a better plan, fine."

Later, the mayor called on the MTA to reject any plan that would take longer to build than the Jets' proposal, saying Cablevision's bid might take three extra years to clear environmental hurdles.

"The mayor's concerns will obviously be brought to the board's attention," MTA spokesman Tom Kelly said.

The Jets commercials, which have begun airing on local channels, cite the level of salary and bonuses Cablevision granted chief executive James Dolan and the "money pit" represented by its failed Voom nationwide satellite TV venture.

The commercial directs viewers to a Web site called stopcablevision.com, which is run by the year-old group westsidestadium.org and its organizer Tom McMorrow Jr., a Chelsea resident who backs the Jets plan. McMorrow said the Jets have contributed nearly $30,000 to the group, whose Web site asks people to e-mail complaints to the Cablevision board of directors.

McMorrow said the Jets have tried to be careful not to appear too linked to his group so as not to appear too similar to Cablevision in its tactics. Cablevision has funneled much of its campaign against the stadium through New York Association for Better Choices.

Staff writer Joshua Robin contributed to this story.

Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc.