Kicking It Soviet-Style: Day Two of the Yanks-Mets Stadium Hearings (Village Voice news blog)

Today it’s the city Industrial Development Agency’s turn to hold hearings on New York’s baseball stadium projects, and the shoes are on the other feet:

Politicians being members of the public, too, and city development chief Seth Pinsky, co-star of yesterday’s hearing, having announced at the outset that the IDA would give “priority to elected officials” in speaking, first on the stand was none other than Assemblymember Richard Brodsky, yesterday’s inquisitor. (Pinsky, introducing him, quipped: “Do I need to call my bodyguards?”) “This whole process has been replete with undue and illegal secrecy,” declared the chair of the assembly’s committee overseeing state authorities, including the IDA. “This event and this vote and this hurried process is only greater evidence of the complete breakdown of the issuance of public debt in New York State.”… [read more]