There’s More to This De Blasio Nonsense

What’s going on here? I am referring again to a Dick Young question, The late New York sports columnist of years ago led with that question The question here and from Mets fans regards New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his attempts to block the Mets sale to Steve Cohen.

So here we are. Steve Cohen is on the verge of purchasing the Mets. We know the chronology that hopefully will culminate Friday with 23 Major League Baseball owners voting yes and making the sale official.

But in steps Bill de Blasio. The Associated Press and numerous others have reported that de Blasio is continuing his attempts to block the sale. The contention, New York City law has an obligation to review the sale of the Mets to Cohen. And of all things Citi Field is the issue. 

The obstacle, according to de Blasio, Citi Field is property of New York because it is situated on city land and comes under that jurisdiction. 

Okay, correct me here. Yes, but was it not New York City taxpayer money, a combination of the Wilpons money, and others that provided the Mets with a new ballpark on the precious land in Corona/Flushing? Or was this all a political game the last 11-years when the Mets moved into their new digs?

Regardless, there is more to this than meets the eye. Either de Blasio has a short retention span, or believes Steve Cohen is a more and important issue than battling the significant issues that confront his city.

And take the latter, because Steve Cohen is the more important issue to a Mayor who lacks in popularity among his constituents. Besides the fact, Steve Cohen should not be the issue. MLB does not think so, and a majority of  MLB owners don’t believe the hedge fund billionaire is an issue. 

And if a consensus of MLB owners don’t believe this is an issue, well Mayor Bill de Blasio should back off. Don’t want to become the political analyst here and offer judgment, but this is a Mayor who has failed. Does not matter if a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Liberal, Progressive. What matters here, de Blasio is attempting to prevent something that goes beyond his jurisdiction.

Seems, and prior to the de Blasio administration, everything was okay with Citi Field. Everything was okay with Citi Field as a part of that precious city land. 

But de Blasio, when asked Thursday, said “It’s our land.” There is a legal requirement that if there’s an ownership change it has to be evaluated. Our Law department is doing that evaluation based on the law.”

Okay, when the City of New York handed over Citi Field to the Mets in 2009, there was never a requirement of that evaluation and process of an ownership change. But this is Steve Cohen and apparently his past has come back to haunt him.

Apparently there is a stipulation in the NYC lease agreement that reads any new owner of the team cannot be someone who has been convicted of a felony or is an organized crime figure. SAC Capital Partners, Cohen’s former company, pleaded guilty to an inside trading case in 2014 and paid $1.8 billion in fines,

Yet, Cohen was not charged. For sure, The Wilpons and Saul Katz, have been in the dark. But that does not matter because the Wilpons have incurred financial losses instead of a gain the past few years and have been looking to sell.

Again, what matters here is that Mets fans are not headed for another disappointment. And de Blasio, at an all-time low among popularity with New Yorkers, is not looking for votes as he enters the final year of his eight-year term.

Though, I do find this comment Thursday, from de Blasio, as typical to what has been heard during his tenure:

“When we’re in the middle of a legal review, which again is our judiciary responsibility as a city to do this, it’s not appropriate to be commenting on the people involved.”

Not the people involved. I will get to that in a moment. 

In the meantime, as a community activist with knowledge of NYC bylaws, I reached out to a prominent NYC Councilman. He is a known Democrat and not a baseball fan. He is not a fan of the Mayor.

However, he is familiar with the laws having sit on the New York City Council Land Use Committee that has jurisdiction over New York City’s land use and landmark review process. According to the Councilman, de Blasio is playing politics. 

“To my recollection, I thought this was a cooperative and combined effort to build Citi Field on that property,” he said. “There was never to my recollection a concern or issue that Citi Field was as de Balsio said on their land.”

He added, all of the land is a part of New York City and the people. And the Councilman said, he would look further into the matter and see if there were any loopholes that may have been inserted in the claim that Citi Field is on “City land.”

So what about the people involved? This Mayor said he has been in contact with MLB Commissioner Rob  Manfred to discuss the matter. Again, you would think de Blasio, with more pressing issues to confront, has something better to do than bother the commissioner of baseball who also has more than one issue at hand. 

So what about the people? Sources tell me, de Balsio who claims to have no partiality with allegiance to the Yankees or Mets, has always been a fan of Alex Rodriguez and is devoted to the loyalty of Jennifer Lopez and her love for New York City.

Of course, the A-Rod and Lopez group were outbid and lost out to Steve Cohen. Get the picture? One source with insiders in the de Blasio administration, said the Mayor and Lopez are no strangers to talking about bringing different initiatives to New York City.

One owner, Jerry Reinsdorf of the White Sox, and a close friend of A-Rod, was petitioning to have his friend and Lopez take control of the Mets with a group of other investors. It’s no secret that Reinsdorf is no fan of Steve Cohen and will be one of the nays with this sale.

And another source, with knowledge of the White Sox and their owner  claims, Jerry Reinsdorf and Bill de Blasio are no strangers to each other. They have at one time or another met on numerous occasions. Though, that  source said he had no knowledge if any discussions pertained to Steve Cohen.

But as they say, politics leads to strange and unusual circumstances. So make what you want out of this.

I do smell something is wrong here. And to know the inner workings of Alex Rodriguez, beyond labeled as the biggest cheater in baseball history, Steve Cohen has nothing to hide.

So this could be a minor glitch. Or if Bill de Blasio is looking to hold up this sale and get A-Rod and Jennifer back in the hunt, that’s dirty politics. I would make nothing big out of this.

Regardless, it stinks and has all the makings of a backdoor curve. Do expect Steve Cohen to get the necessary votes and approval. And expect the Steve Cohen era to begin soon for the Mets at Citi Field,

Remember, this is the land of people who reside and pay taxes in New York City and not what Mayor Bill deBlasio said “their land.”