Proxmire's opinion is that New York City has received federal loans in attempts to help the city's dire financial situation but the Yankees (and the Mets) have not paid their fair share since they have "sweetheart" stadium leases. He went on to say that New York City should not continue to expect the taxpayers in Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky, and the rest of the country to bail out the city.
Proxmire then cut to the chase. "Maybe this country would stand for seeing the richest man in town rob an orphan's piggy bank and do it on network TV in prime time without outrage. But to be a party through New York City's dimwitted contract to make the Yankees richer still so the Yankees can pay huge salaries to take the best players away from the rest of us---that, no red-blooded baseball fan outside of New York itself will ever permit." Right, Senator.
COMMENTS: The Yankees lease Yankee Stadium from New York City. As the facility owner, the city is responsible for all capital repairs and upgrades to the stadium. The Yankees are responsible for maintaining the stadium but maintenance and upgrade expenses are offset against the rent, which lowers the city's revenues.
Senator Proximire was right. The Yankees (as well as New York's other baseball team) are not paying a fair rent, but that has little to do with the Yankees "overcoming" the American League. George Steinbrenner spends whatever he thinks is necessary to produce the best team he can buy. He makes mistakes and often spends money foolishly, but very little of the money comes from the Yankee Stadium lease with the city.
The American citizenry believes that it has input into major decisions, which is a joke. On June 15, 2005, New York State's Governor Pataki, New York City's Mayor Bloomberg, and the New York Yankees announced that "a new Yankee Stadium will be built just north of the existing facility in time for the opening of the 2009 baseball season." The fans were told what would happen, regardless of their position on the issue.
