The owner of the financially troubled Yankee Stadium parking system plans to hike game-day rates by as much as 50% next year in a last-ditch effort to avert defaulting on millions in tax-exempt bonds, according to the New York Daily News.
Stadium self-parking prices will zoom from the current $23 to $35, while valet prices will go from $36 to $45. That's according to financial documents filed last month by garage owner Bronx Parking Development.
Even at those rates, the garages will still fall into a technical default unless two-thirds of bondholders agree to waive some requirements in the original construction bonds.
Bronx Parking barely managed to make a $6.8 million bond payment that was due Oct. 1 and will likely not have enough cash to make its next $6.8 million due in April. Without the waiver, the company warned, it will be forced to charge a minimum of $55 per car next year to avoid a default.
"The truth of the matter is, the whole thing's a mess," said one financial adviser to several bondholders. "If the city doesn't step in, there's no way Bronx Parking can pay back the money it took to build those garages."
For several weeks now, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has been urging City Hall to restructure the entire garage project and possibly arrange a sale of some of the sites for other development projects near Yankee Stadium.
Yankees fans shun the official stadium parking, opting for the Gateway Center Mall. (above) According to Bronx Parking Development more than 800 fans are heading on game days to the Gateway Shopping Mall five blocks from the stadium, where they pay only $10 to park instead of the stiff $23 self-parking fee ($35 for valet service) at the stadium garages. (photo: Chu for NY Daily News)
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they are gonna default, hopefully the city will not try to bail them out, with our money, yet again. tear it down and build a mix of low rise housing, commercial with open space, sooner rather than later. what a waste of resources, bloomberg is fiscally responsible? carrion and he were asleep, or drugged by doctoroff and levine and the steinbrenner gang. good riddance to him!
ReplyDeleteAnother case of chickens coming home to roost. The city had to know how lousy this deal was -- its failure was predicted in the press years ago, and Bloomberg still bent over backwards to give these garages to the Yankees.
ReplyDeleteWe do not need low rise housing or development on these sites—we need our parks back! Putting park facilities on top of parking garages in the asthma capital—what a ridiculous idea. And pathetic liars like EDC's Seth Pinsky and Park's Adrian Benepe keep saying with a straight face that the "community" is getting parkland than they took. Don't these people have ANY dignity? Sadly we live in a city with zero accountability and Bloomberg and his pals keep getting wealthier. The electeds should be ashamed of themselves. These people have zero credibility. THIS IS WHY PEOPLE DON'T VOTE!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the sentiments expressed above, particularly the reason why citizens no longer vote. The hypocracy of the Bloomberg administration is legion, led by the parks department. This is hardly the park-friendly mayor his PR flaks would like us to believe! I hope you all will vote no on Question #2 on the ballot - another sneaky ploy to grab more power for the Mayor. And despite the way Question #1 is framed, we need to go back to term limits, so Yes on that score as a rebuttal, yet again, of this mayor and his oligarchy.
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