Thursday, April 20, 2006

Mets Stadium Muddle

AM Metro reported yesterday that the Queens council delegation may hold up the crucial vote on the financing for the new Mets stadium. As usual, Councilman Monseratte led the charge saying that until some key issues are addressed, "...it would be imprudent to move on this vote..."

The vote is scheduled for next Wednesday and, as Ben Smith told us yesterday ("Not Convinced in Queens"), only Weprin and Vallone are solidly behind the stadium plan. Smith speculates that the Mets might not have hired as well as the Yankees and without the proper lobbying support they got caught unprepared for the mounting opposition.

The Speaker's Office has gotten in the middle and her spokeswoman told AM that, "We still anticipate moving forward with the vote on the 26th as scheduled but we are going to continue to work to ensure that community issues are addressed." All of this comes on the heels of a march that Monseratte led on Shea the other day that drew over 200 little leaguers and residents.