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Key Assembly leader spurns Newark arena
Originally appeared in the Star Ledger on 09/05/01
The plan to build a professional sports arena in Newark suffered a setback yesterday when Assembly Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano announced he would not vote for the proposal.
The decision by DiGaetano (R- Passaic), whose district includes the Meadowlands Sports Complex, weakens support for the planned $355 million Newark arena as the Assembly Appropriations Committee prepares to consider legislation tomorrow that would move the state's top indoor sports venue from the Meadowlands to Newark.
"If this bill passes the Assembly, it's going to be without the vote of Paul DiGaetano," said Kevin Collins, a longtime aide to DiGaetano who is managing his re-election campaign. "The bill asks Paul to sign away one of the major assets of the local economy and he will not do that."
DiGaetano previously had said he would follow the Republican leadership in supporting the plan.
YankeeNets, the sports conglomerate that owns the Nets and the Devils, wants to move the teams from the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford to a downtown Newark venue for the 2004 season.
In June, the state Senate approved acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco's financing plan for the arena, which requires YankeeNets to contribute $115 million to the project. The plan also calls for an unspecified state agency to issue $190 million in bonds. Taxes collected at the arena and in the sports and entertainment district in the surrounding neighborhood would be used to pay off the bonds. In addition, Newark and Essex County would provide $50 million in grants and loans.
The legislation also would create a sports and entertainment district at the Meadowlands to finance redevelopment of the Continental Arena site, and would provide $300 million for a rail link to that site. DiFrancesco has proposed building a family sports, entertainment and retail center there.
Assembly Speaker Jack Collins (R-Salem) threw his support behind the legislation last month after DiFrancesco agreed to add more than $50 million in projects for South Jersey.
A draft of the legislation spells out those projects, including a $20 million civic center in Pennsauken and a $30 million athletic complex at Rowan University in Glassboro. The current bill also includes $10 million for a minor league baseball stadium in Bergen County and $1 million for a rowing center in Camden County.
If approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee tomorrow, the bill would head for a vote in the full Assembly Sept. 17. But the growing opposition has raised speculation over whether there are sufficient votes in the Assembly.
Aides to DiFrancesco and Collins spent yesterday afternoon trying to squelch a rumor that the committee hearing would be canceled at the request of Bret Schundler, the GOP gubernatorial candidate.
Schundler yesterday asked Assemblyman Richard Bagger (R- Union), who chairs the Appropriations Committee, to cancel the hearing, but Collins made sure it remained on the schedule.
"Last time I checked, this office was still in charge and as far as we're concerned, there is going to be a meeting on Thursday," said Sylvie Mulvaney, a spokeswoman for Collins.
Schundler opposes the plan because it calls for a public agency to borrow money without approval by voters in a referendum. His opponent in the race for governor, Democrat Jim McGreevey, supports the plan.
Tom Wilson, DiFrancesco's top spokesman, said Schundler's attempt to squash the Newark arena made little political sense.
"I'm not sure how canceling a hearing helps him make up a 19-point deficit with nine weeks to go before the election," Wilson said, referring to recent polls showing Schundler trailing McGreevey. "We'll have a hearing on Thursday to take another small step toward eliminating $160 million in debt and $20 million in annual subsidies for the Continental Airlines Arena."
Schundler's campaign manager, Bill Pascoe, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Despite support from Trenton's top lawmakers, the Newark project faces mounting obstacles.
Bergen County Democratic Assembly members Loretta Weinberg and Charles "Ken" Zisa also oppose the legislation, putting them at odds with McGreevey, who is a major arena booster. Weinberg said she would not support the Newark project because losing the Continental Arena would irreparably harm Bergen County.
Supporters of the planned Newark arena had been counting on all 35 Democrats in the Assembly to vote in favor of the arena when the issue comes to the floor later this month. A bill needs 41 votes to pass the Assembly.
But Weinberg made it clear yesterday that the Bergen County delegation would not support the project.
"There are regional interests and we will be able to represent those interests," Weinberg said.
Yesterday, DiGaetano's aide said he had not given up trying to keep the Continental Airlines Arena open in exchange for approving the Newark project.
Also yesterday, one of the state's largest developers, Hartz Mountain Industries, launched a major advertising campaign against the Newark project and the planned redevelopment of the Meadowlands.
Emanuel Stern, Hartz Mountain's president, said he feared the state's plan for the Meadowlands would allow a rival developer to build a major shopping mall there without requesting proposals from other developers. A Meadowlands mall would compete directly with Hartz Mountain's retail facilities in Secaucus.
Supporters of the Newark project said they remained hopeful that the arena deal would ultimately be approved. Senate Minority Leader Richard Codey (D-Essex) said he hoped legislators would "put politics aside and do the right thing."
"You have to look at the larger picture," added Jim McQueeney, a spokesman for Newark Sports and Entertainment, the development arm of YankeeNets, "I think there's enough critical mass of votes that ultimately this will pass."
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