It's been a pretty sweet deal for Madison Square Garden: they haven't paid property taxes in the last 25 years. Now some City Council members want what adds up to more than $11 million a year back on the city's tax rolls. NY1’s Ty chandler filed the following story.
Madison Square Garden is arguably the most famous arena on the planet, but back in 1982 when the Knicks and Rangers threatened to ditch town, the city offered them a deal too good to pass up: no property taxes.
Twenty-five years later, that deal has saved the Garden more than $300 million.
Quinn wants the deal to be over and she's not alone.
“Your time has run out. You have been fairly compensated and we are grateful you stayed in the city,” said City Council President Christine Quinn.
Finance Committee Chair David Weprin held a hearing on Monday and topping the agenda was a resolution calling on state lawmakers to end MSG's tax breaks.
“I think certainly it’s the obligation of the legislature and current City Council to reevaluate that bad deal 25 years later,” said Weprin.
The Garden is owned by Cablevision, but none of the company's officers showed up for the hearing. Instead they sent a consultant to speak for them.
“I was disappointed, to be honest,” said Weprin. “I think they should have, rather than have a consultant, a hired gun so to speak, out of Chicago
It is the consensus of the committee that this deal wasn't smart financially for the city, but not everyone is convinced it's MSG they should be going after. Some say the city be looking for more ways to curb its habit of giving tax breaks.
“The reason why we don't have sufficient revenues to meet the needs of the City of New York is because we continue to give givebacks to major developers,” said City Councilmember Letitia James.
“We have to learn the lesson. We should never make a commitment to a specific property owner that goes on forever,” said City Councilmember David Yassky.
Former Mayor Ed Koch, who was in office when the deal was made said “my original intent was for the abatement to last ten years. It should have never stretched for an eternity.”
But MSG's consultant says what they get doesn't compare to the breaks the city recently gave to the Yankees, Mets and Nets.
“The value of Madison Square Garden's property tax is substantially less than the government support of the other three recent deals,” said MSG consultant Thomas Hazinski.
This resolution is expected to go to a vote next month.
In the meantime, Councilmembers Yassky and James say they will propose their own resolution that will go after all of the entities that have enjoyed tax breaks, they say, at the city's expense.
ö Ty Chandler
Madison Square Garden is arguably the most famous arena on the planet, but back in 1982 when the Knicks and Rangers threatened to ditch town, the city offered them a deal too good to pass up: no property taxes.
Twenty-five years later, that deal has saved the Garden more than $300 million.
Quinn wants the deal to be over and she's not alone.
“Your time has run out. You have been fairly compensated and we are grateful you stayed in the city,” said City Council President Christine Quinn.
Finance Committee Chair David Weprin held a hearing on Monday and topping the agenda was a resolution calling on state lawmakers to end MSG's tax breaks.
“I think certainly it’s the obligation of the legislature and current City Council to reevaluate that bad deal 25 years later,” said Weprin.
The Garden is owned by Cablevision, but none of the company's officers showed up for the hearing. Instead they sent a consultant to speak for them.
“I was disappointed, to be honest,” said Weprin. “I think they should have, rather than have a consultant, a hired gun so to speak, out of Chicago
It is the consensus of the committee that this deal wasn't smart financially for the city, but not everyone is convinced it's MSG they should be going after. Some say the city be looking for more ways to curb its habit of giving tax breaks.
“The reason why we don't have sufficient revenues to meet the needs of the City of New York is because we continue to give givebacks to major developers,” said City Councilmember Letitia James.
“We have to learn the lesson. We should never make a commitment to a specific property owner that goes on forever,” said City Councilmember David Yassky.
Former Mayor Ed Koch, who was in office when the deal was made said “my original intent was for the abatement to last ten years. It should have never stretched for an eternity.”
But MSG's consultant says what they get doesn't compare to the breaks the city recently gave to the Yankees, Mets and Nets.
“The value of Madison Square Garden's property tax is substantially less than the government support of the other three recent deals,” said MSG consultant Thomas Hazinski.
This resolution is expected to go to a vote next month.
In the meantime, Councilmembers Yassky and James say they will propose their own resolution that will go after all of the entities that have enjoyed tax breaks, they say, at the city's expense.
ö Ty Chandler