Mayor Bloomberg would surely dispute the notion that the city he runs is a banana republic. But what else should it be called, given that a panel he controls is today expected to OK a plan to single out a private company, Madison Square Garden, and hold it for ransom?
The plan would deny the Garden the right to remain in its current location as long as it wants. Even though it owns the property rights at its site above Penn Station. Even though it just poured a cool $1 billion into renovating the place.
And even though the Garden is a legendary New York sports and entertainment venue that employs thousands of workers, pays millions in taxes and generates a small fortune in economic activity for the city.
Nevertheless, the City Planning Commission is expected to back the idea of limiting the Garden’s permit for only 15 years, and then revisiting the issue. Officials say technical zoning rules, which require large arenas to have “special permits,” give them the right to impose such limits.
Legally, they may or may not be right. But it completely undercuts the need for businesses to know the investments they make are safe from arbitrary government diktats. And it doesn’t help when the mayor so casually invokes eminent domain and other powers to override private ownership.
In MSG’s case, all it really wants is the certainty that the city isn’t simply gearing up to force it off its own land in a few years.
And, by the way, the Bloomberg plan couldn’t be more arbitrary: The city claims it’s denying the Garden a permanent permit because it wants to make sure the company will allow improvements to Penn Station that involve its property.
Trouble is, the key parties — Amtrak, NJ Transit, the Long Island Rail Road and even the city itself — don’t agree on what those improvements should be.
Sadly, it’s no coincidence that all these are public entities. Or that the city is targeting the sole private (and successful) player here. What a terrible message for a city that needs enterprise to send.