Posted May 31, 2013, 2:42 PM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,900
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...NewsCollection
Jets, Giants Sue Over Mall Near Stadium
May 30, 2013
By HEATHER HADDON
Quote:
The New York Jets and Giants sued Thursday to block the further development of a shopping and theme-park complex adjacent to MetLife Stadium, saying its owners hadn't negotiated in good faith on issues of traffic and whether the complex could operate on Sundays.
"We have bent over backwards to try to accommodate this project because the governor has stated how important it is to him and to the state," said John Mara, co-owner of the Giants, speaking alongside Jets owner Woody Johnson during a 30-minute interview Thursday.
The men were making their first joint comments on the American Dream complex, which would consist of a mall once known as Xanadu, as yet unfinished, and a newly proposed 639,000-square-foot indoor theme and water park.
The National Football League teams argue that the complex's vehicle traffic would cause unbearable congestion for their fans. The team owners also want the bulk of the complex to be shut down on the roughly 16 Sundays when they play at home a year, a limit on the cars visiting the complex on those football Sundays and a traffic-management plan.
The project's new developers—Triple Five of Edmonton, Canada—don't want to close on Sundays, arguing it would undercut their business. Bergen County's blue laws forbid shopping on Sunday, but the proposed theme park could operate on that day.
"We cannot interrupt service to our entertainment patrons at the time when they most want to visit," said Alan Marcus, a spokesman for Triple Five. Sundays are key days for tourists and families who will potentially visit the complex, he said.
The teams signed off on the original Xanadu complex in 2006 before building the MetLife Stadium. If they had known the mall would expand to include the entertainment wing, they would have had "second thoughts" about building the new stadium there, said Mr. Johnson.
"We probably wouldn't have built this stadium if we had known that they would build something across the street that would flood the roads with traffic and make it impossible for our fans to get to the game," he said.
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