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Brodsky to IDA: delay vote on tax-exempt bonds for Yankees, Mets

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky has asked the members of the New York City Industrial Development Authority--the bonding arm of the New York City Economic Development Corporation--to delay a January 16 vote on an additional $454 million in tax-exempt bonds the new Yankees and Mets stadiums.

Brodsky, who chairs the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, gave the board members documents he uncovered regarding "legal failures of the initial funding for Yankee Stadium" and said he's still waiting for "documents that clarify and explain the request for additional funding, the role of the IDA, and the role of other parties."

A public hearing on the funding request is scheduled for January 15, with a vote scheduled for 9 a.m. the next day, the switch enacted after complaints that it had been scheduled for Inauguration Day, January 20.

"The spate of taxpayer bailouts of large corporations was at least justified by the threat that they would otherwise go out of business," Brodsky said. "There is no reason to provide public assistance to these hugely successful businesses at a time when taxes are rising, services are being cut, and jobs are being lost."

"We are particularly interested in the justification for the new funding, inasmuch as the initial funding was justified on a supposed Yankee threat to leave the City," he added. An IDA spokeswoman told the AP that the agency would vote as scheduled.

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