MSG Should Pay Its Fair Share Of Taxes: Quinn, Weprin

For more than 10 years, Madison Square

Garden has enjoyed a tax subsidy from New York

City that has saved that profitable enterprise more than $100 million.

Now City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilmember David Weprin, council Finance Committee chairman, think it's time to consider that maybe this is no longer necessary and Cablevision, the giant cable company which owns the famous sports palace, can give up this $11 million annual benefit and start paying its share of taxes.

Quinn and Weprin have scheduled a public hearing December 3 at City Hall on a resolution calling on the state legislature and Governor Eliot Spitzer to repeal the exemption.

The question was first raised by Councilmember Helen Sears (D- Jackson Heights) several years ago, but it got nowhere.

Weprin recalled that the matter came up at the time that Mayor Michael Bloomberg was pushing hard on building a new football stadium for the New York Jets on Manhattan's West Side and Board Chairman of Cablevision, MSG's owner, James Dolan was leading the opposition to the mayor's plan. The proposal was defeated when Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver voted against it.

Quinn and Weprin have scheduled a public hearing December 3 at City Hall on a resolution calling on the state legislature and Governor Eliot Spitzer to repeal the exemption.

The question of whether the subsidy should be continued for the Garden is pertinent now also because Cablevision is pursuing plans to build a new sports center not far from the present one as part of the major redevelopment of Penn Station and the surrounding area.

The present MSG site has been rezoned to permit construction of high rise towers on the site by Cablevision, raising the question of whether those structures will continue to get the same tax subsidy there.

In an interview on Monday, Weprin said, "It's hard to justify any continuing subsidy for Cablevision and Madison Square Garden because many other companies think they're entitled to it and the city can't afford to be losing taxes like this. We should also keep in mind that the original reason the Garden got the subsidy was to keep the Knicks and Rangers from moving somewhere else, and there's no longer any threat of that. We want to air out the whole question at the public hearing and get the public's input on the question."

One supporter of ending the subsidy is Mayor Bloomberg, so it's likely the Quinn/Weprin resolution will pass. Getting Silver, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Spitzer to agree on it may be more difficult.

END OF SPITZER'S LICENSING PLAN: Republicans in Albany hammered Spitzer and his plan to give drivers' licenses to undocumented immigrants for two months. When he abandoned the plan last week in Washington he was surrounded by Democrats who were glad to see it go, too. The controversy also turned out to be an embarrassment to Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton and sent Spitzer's popularity plummeting.

The list of Democrats expressing regrets over the failed program included New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Congressmembers Joseph Crowley and Nydia Velazquez.

On the Republican side, Mayor Bloomberg and state Senator Frank Padavan also weighed in against the plan. The mayor said he was "glad to have a governor who is trying bold solutions to big problems", and like Spitzer, faulted Washington for not finding a solution to the immigration problem.

Padavan (R- C Bellerose) said the intense public outcry had finally convinced the governor to withdraw his ill-advised plan. The Northeast Queens lawmaker said he will continue the fight to win approval of his proposal requiring proof of citizenship and legal status to secure a license.

Cuomo said Spitzer did the right thing by listening to the public's concerns. Crowley said the lack of an immigration policy still must be dealt with and he pledged to work for comprehensive immigration reform, while Velazquez praised Spitzer for attempting to deal with a serious problem. Vallone applauded the governor for withdrawing his plan, which Vallone had opposed.

MALONEY HAILS NEW CREDIT CARD PRICING: Wall Street giant JP Morgan Chase announced plans to adopt new, clearer credit card pricing practices. The news was welcomed by Congressmember Carolyn Maloney (D- Queens/Manhattan). Under the changes, Chase will no longer increase interest rates for individual cardholders when their credit bureau scores decline.

Maloney, chair of the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, said the changes are in line with credit card practices that she recently released. She added: "These principles recognize that the modern risk-based credit card system requires shared responsibility between credit card issuers and their customers."

ACKERMAN BLASTS BUSH: Congressmember Gary Ackerman (D- Bayside), a longtime critic of Pakistan President and General Pervez Musharraf, last week condemned the imposition of martial law in that country and called on President George W. Bush to suspend military aid to Pakistan.

Ackerman, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, blasted Bush for the current unrest in Pakistan during a hearing before his committee at which Bush's special envoy to Pakistan, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, testified.

Ackerman called for Musharraf to schedule parliamentary elections for January and step down as Army chief of staff. His resolution also called for restoration of civilian rule and the release of those arrested during the recent crackdown on opposition politicians, lawyers and human rights activists.

LIU BLASTS KLEIN: Citing "lackluster performance" by New York City students on national tests, Councilmember John Liu (D- Flushing) said the poor results seriously impugn the credibility of Schools Chancellor Klein.

Liu stated: "I've listened carefully to Joel Klein's public speeches and testimony before the City Council over the years. What started out sounding like leadership and vision is increasingly being realized as rhetoric and spin."

CROWLEY LUNCHEON HONORS PELOSI: Congressmember Joseph Crowley is hosting a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on December 4 at Dazies Restaurant in Sunnyside to honor House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.