Not A Good News Day For Randy Levine

Via the National Post -

New York Yankees president Randy Levine has been subpoenaed by a state assembly committee investigating the public funding used to build the team’s new stadium.

Levine has been scheduled to appear at a hearing Wednesday, according to assemblyman Richard Brodsky.

Both Levine and Brodsky confirmed the subpoena and consequent hearing Tuesday during interviews with New York radio station WFAN.

The issue in contention is the Yankees’ spending of millions of dollars in public bonds to finance their extravagant new stadium, which will open this upcoming season.

The Yankees recently requested for another $260 million in tax-free bonds and $110 million in taxable bonds. The team already has received nearly $940 million in tax-exempt bonds for the ballpark.

Brodsky and the committee have accused Levine and the Yankees of illicit negotiations with New York City that have significantly altered the the value of the property. Brodsky also has claimed that the stadium will not create enough new jobs to warrant the public funding.

And, via Richard Sandomir –

The Yankees have hired a division of a prominent Manhattan residential real estate brokerage, Prudential Douglas Elliman, to help sell some of their prime real estate: unsold premium seats and luxury boxes at the new Yankee Stadium.

“They have some customers we may not be able to reach, and they can, so we entered into a nonexclusive agreement with them,” Randy Levine, the Yankees’ president, said Tuesday. “They have customers they have sold real estate to, or will in the future, and they can sell our seats in an innovative way.”

Levine said that hiring Prudential Douglas Elliman was not an indication of a slow sales pace on high-end seats at the $1.3 billion stadium. Seven luxury suites remained to be sold, out of 59, and about 1,000 of 4,000 premium seats were available.

Did you know that “Randy Levine” is an anagram for “Any Evil Nerd”?
I’m just sayin’…

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