Nearly two years before the first traffic jam to the new Yankee Stadium is expected in April 2009, a haze of uncertainty is already lingering in the South Bronx air.

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr. issued a sharply worded statement through a staff member on September 6, protesting the Industrial Development Agency’s (IDA) plans to finance the construction of three parking garages around the new stadium because the city hadn’t yet provided his office with key information.

“The Borough President is deeply concerned that after repeated requests we still have not received vital information regarding the details of the Bronx Parking Development Company financing,” Carrión’s message states.

Paula Luria Caplan, Bronx Deputy Director for Planning And Development, delivered the statement on Carrion's behalf to the IDA's 15-member board that includes Dan L. Doctoroff, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development.

Carrión said the city hasn't delivered the draft lease agreement, a copy of the feasibility study, and an explanation for the IDA's proposed increase in tax-free bonds to subsidize construction of the parking lots- from the original amount of $190 million to a revised amount of $225 million.

“The Borough President is concerned as to whether this project can move forward without the statutorily required approval of the Bronx Borough Board,” the statement goes on to say.

IDA spokesperson Yonit Golub said the reason Carrión hadn’t yet received the information he requested is because it isn’t available. “NYCIDA staff is working with his office to supply him, and the other Board members, with sufficient information to make a reasoned decision including financial information, project costs and benefits and the results of staff’s due diligence,” Golub said by email.

She went on to say that the date of the board vote on the parking garage subsidies will be set so as to allow Carrión ample time to review the materials. “Once the vote is scheduled,” Golub added, “its time and date will be publicized.”

The IDA, which serves as the financing arm of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, is proposing to offer prospective developers of the garage facilities $225 million in triple tax-exempt bonds to finance the construction. On September 11, however, the IDA postponed a scheduled vote on the bonds, saying more time was needed to consider concerns and questions.
If and when the proposed facilities are eventually opened, the current $14 cost for a parking spot is expected to rise to $25, to help cover costs for the 9000-plus new spaces.
Bettina Damiani of the watchdog group Goodjobs New York— which opposes the new stadium and the parking garages— says it is not standard practice for the IDA to provide information about its intentions before this type of hearing.“I’ve never seen this before,” Damiani said of the Borough President’s terse protest.

In addition Damiani says that Carrión, like all Borough Presidents, has an appointee sitting on the IDA board, which raises further uncertainty about the source of the friction between Carrión and the city agency. Carrión has been a key supporter of the stadium project since its inception, claiming it will inject needed jobs into the Bronx.

“It serves him {Carrión} right that he’s having problems,” said Lukas Herbert, a former Community Board 4 member. “This is the deal that he brokered. It’s karma biting him in the a**.”

Herbert contends that the financial figures that have been released don’t add up, and that the city will have to find creative ways to pay for the new parking spaces beyond game day parking for 81 games. “The community said, if you’re going to put in all these spaces, open them to the public,” he said. “Now with the financials out, they have to open them to the public.”

According to a September 14 article by Matthew Schuerman in the New York Observer, the financial picture for the parking facilities is murky, at best, and it is not at all clear that the garages will be profitable. However, Golub offered a far rosier outlook.

“We expect there to be strong demand for parking on non-gamedays which helps the financial viability of the project,” Golub said. “The bonds being issued in connection with the Yankees parking garages have been underwritten, conservatively, by sophisticated bond investors, looking at anticipated game-day and non-game day revenues.” 

At a recent hearing, South Bronx residents and advocates argued that construction of the garages would draw more cars on game days, discouraging use of public transit. In addition, some are outraged that taxpayer dollars will be used to subsidize the new parking spaces at an estimated $8000 per parking spot.

Joyce Hogi, long time local resident and vocal opponent of the new stadium, sees Carrión’s message as a sign he may be taking local concerns into account more than was previously the case. “The Bronx Borough representative was outraged that they didn’t have enough information,” Hogi said. “They [local politicians] themselves have been overlooked, the way we were overlooked.”