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City Council Votes in Favor of Ending MSG Tax Break
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 31, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 31, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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The City Council voted 40-3 to end the tax breaks Madison Square Garden has enjoyed since 1982. It's estimated that the city has lost almost $300 million in potential revenue in subsidies to the "World's Most Famous Arena."
Although the City Council wants the tax breaks to end (our favorite quote is from Councilman Lew Fidler: "I have spent my entire life as as Knicks fan, and I doubt if there's anyone who loves the Rangers as much as I do, but there's still the matter of right and wrong") and would most likely have the support of Mayor Bloomberg, there's another hurdle to denying the tax breaks: The State Legislature. Friend of Dolan family Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver seems unlikely to support the measure, especially since he'd take the advice of the Assembly member in that district. Assemblyman Richard Gottfried said other sports teams have tax breaks, "It's wrong to pick and choose one company or another."
On the other hand, former mayor Ed Koch said he thought the subsidy would end after 10 years, but, per the Times, "the Legislature kept the breaks in place for as long as the Knicks and the Rangers continued to play their home games at the Garden" - it's an open-ended tax break!
Is it so wrong for Mayor Bloomberg, still hurting over the Dolans quashing his West Side Stadium dreams, to want to get back at them? He has said that if MSG moves west, to the redeveloped Moynihan station, the tax break should definitely go.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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