Mets Stadium Financing Formula Found . . . Again Mayor Proposes Split Of Construction Bill

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has proposed a three-way split of Met stadium construction costs, with the Mets, New York City, and the State of New York each paying a third of the costs.
"The city has the money to do it," said Giuliani at a City Hall news conference. He also said that the Mets had been told of the proposed financial formula last year.
According to Council budget officials, $90 million has been set aside for sport stadiums in the current 2000/2001 budget, and another $483 million is waiting to be allocated by June 2003. The cost of the new ballpark has been estimated at one billion dollars.
Significantly, the Mets lease of Shea Stadium expires in 2004 just over 40 years after the Mets came to Queens.
In 1993, The Queens Courier learned from Parks Department sources that Shea Stadium fell into disrepair in the late 1970s when it was 15-years-old. To their credit, the new owners, Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, have made massive improvements in the ballpark, replacing the seats, lights, scoreboard and clubhouses.
Reports of a new Met stadium have been swirling about for at least a decade. Originally, a new stadium was proposed in the area occupied by the adjacent 11-block "Iron Triangle" area, just off 126 St. and Roosevelt Ave. Transportation to the new stadium would not only have been linked by the subway No. 7 line, but with a new train-to-the-plane monorail that was proposed by the Port Authority.
Since then, themes and variations have been proposed, all of which include a 50,000-seat, retractable-domed baseball stadium. Remembering the departure of the N.Y. Jets, the facility could also be enlarged to accommodate 75,000 football fans. Located just 1,700 feet from the National Tennis Center, the new playing field for both sports will feature natural grass.