Baseball, we don't want ya

[legalmoose]

The latest saga in the Expo's move from Montreal to DC:

Council Chairwoman Removes Mayor's Plan from the Council Agenda.

Actually, she postponed the vote for two weeks; after not getting enough votes to table it outright, she simply exercised her powers as chair to set the agenda and yanked it off the agenda. Go Linda!

The baseball deal is controversial for two big reasons (for me). 1. It's a $530 million (at least!) giveaway to Major League Baseball. They want the DC taxpayers to plop down public funds to build them a new stadium. Like we couldn't use $530 million to do a lot of other things in this town that'd help the residents a lot more. I object to giving public money to a group of people who certainly have no need for additional subsidies from my lowly pocket. 2. The mayor's current proposed site displaces the entire gay "adult entertainment" district and provides no alternate location for these businesses. We were shoved down into this warehouse district in the early 70s by the then police chief, who told the businesses if they'd relocate down there the police would leave them/us alone. The plan shoves them all out en masse, and I can assure you that no neighborhood in this city will allow them to come in singly, much less as a group. Long story short, if baseball comes in, no more gay strip bars in DC. Which is not the easiest argument to make to the council, lemme tell you.

[Edit]

Well, now it appears that while the Chairwoman's original counterproposal to the Mayor's plan, which put the stadium down near RFK Memorial Stadium (where we own most of the land to be used already), is now moot. Her new alternative once again puts the damned thing right back on top of the entertainment district. Grrr! Any of you in DC, please contact your councilmembers, as well as the at-large members and Chairwoman Cropp, and let them know what you think of the various plans.

Comments

[legalmoose]

Outing to Secrets/Ziegfields? ;-)

[dipdewdog.livejournal.com]

balls and pantyhose...mmm

[ironmanjt.livejournal.com]

Stop, I'm getting wet!

Re: I LOVE HER!

[legalmoose]

Eh, see the edit I made to the post. Grrr. :-(

Re: I LOVE HER!

[legalmoose]

Edited in - her new plan dumps the stadium back on top of the clubs. :-/

[apeliotes.livejournal.com]

While I really couldn't give a damn about the fate of nudie joints, I think this city with all the problems and deficiencies that I have seen in the public schools ought to re-examine her priorities and think more about the generation of citizens who will inherit this mess of a municipality. What wise mother would say to her children, "Rather than expend my penury on your welfare and education, I will buy you a huge stadium where you can receive two hours of entertainment from time to time (provided you like organized sports or can take the time off from your minimum wage job of cleaning the toilets in this stadium) and which you will have to pay enormous sums to maintain. ENJOY!"

[deejayqueue.livejournal.com]

Well from one who lives in a city who just got through building a huge new stadium and is in the process of building another next door, in a place where there were already 3 huge stadiums right next to each other, all i can say is this:

I don't like that my tax money went to build a giant venue that was custom-built for a form of entertainment that i have no desire to partake in, and now have been priced out of. (the average ticket for these new venues is like $45 and can be as expensive as $300/seat).

[avironneur.livejournal.com]

The use of public money to fund what essentially is a private enterprise in my humble opinion is as we say here in French "du bullshit" -- DC certainly has many many far more pressing issues (*cough* shitty schools *cough* shitty streets *cough* ailing, no make that failing mental health system etc etc ) and as far as depriving DC of the "entertainment district" let's just say I was already heartbroken enough when my former teenage haunt, Tracks, become part of DC history.....now this? I personally don't see many or for that matter any of the bar and club owners electing to move their businesses elsewhere given the cost of land and renovation....and how many of you are interested in hiking to NE or the New York Ave. corridor to go out anyway as that is more likely than not where these businesses would be forced to relocate given what I recall about DC zoning laws and real estate prices.

The city may gain a baseball team (which is more of interest to the NOVA suburban crew than the city's residents as far as I am concerned) but how much would it be losing, from a monentary and cultural standpoint, in doing so?

Food for though.