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CNN Live Saturday

Giuliani Strikes Deal for Two New Stadiums

Aired December 29, 2001 - 18:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SAVIDGE: In New York, New York if outgoing Mayor Giuliani has his way, baseball fans will be seeing double. CNN's Brian Palmer has more on Rudy Giuliani's win-win situation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI, NEW YORK: This will take the place of my ...

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With the remainder of his term measured in hours, outgoing Mayor Rudy Giuliani struck a deal to build new stadiums for New York City's two professional baseball teams - well sort of. The agreement between the city and owners of the Yankees and the Mets valued at $1.6 billion, is non binding. That means incoming Mayor Mike Bloomberg doesn't have to go through with it.

MIKE BLOOMBERG, MAYOR-ELECT OF NEW YORK: I have said that I think we should have great cultural and athletic facilities and the issue is really can we afford them and I will have to take a look at that down the road ...

PALMER: Giuliani says it's a win-win deal for taxpayers and team owners. It calls for no new taxes, he says, and the teams would split the cost of construction with the city roughly 50-50.

GIULIANI: It would be the largest gross contribution any team in baseball certainly and probably in professional sports has ever made to the building of a stadium and that can not be any way underestimated.

PALMER: Mets' fans are generally more loyal to their team than to its stadium. Yankee fans are attached to their team and to their stadium for a good reason. The stadium has hosted more than 30 World Series, the Yankees winning 26 of them. Yankee Stadium was built 78 years ago, its last major renovation was more than 25 years ago.

Yankee Stadium has also hosted two Popes, Nelson Mandella (ph) and Ben Mavenue (ph) for historic prize fights and concerts. Baseball columnist Bill Madden went to his first Yankee game in 1953. He's like to see a new ballpark built. He has no time for stadium nostalgia.

BILL MADDEN, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: For all of those events, especially the ones pre 1974, there weren't a whole lot of real good seats because you had obstructive views and the stadium was just constructed in such a way - 50 years earlier, 1923, that it was built like a coliseum and everything was further away from the action.

PALMER: Attorney Carl Person has sued the city and the state to block the deal. He says the city needs better roads and schools not fancier ball parks.

CARL PERSON, ATTORNEY: We need to spend money to help the maximum number of people, not to spend $1.6 billion to help two private corporations.

PALMER: This is just one more battle Mayor Giuliani, a man who relishes a good fight, will have to leave to his successor. Brian Palmer, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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