Thursday, April 14, 2005
Bill & Hillary's Fink Rats
In my paper's -- ahem -- competitor, Lloyd Grove puts the Clinton-Finkelstein flap in a brand new light:
Hillary loyalists from the Glover Park Group Democratic consulting firm were embarrassed by Bill Clinton's remarks, because they're working closely with Finkelstein - and they're all getting paid handsomely by Cablevision - to thwart plans for a taxpayer-funded stadium on the West Side.
For those not completely versed in New York politics, the most controversial issue in the city right now is whether the NFL’s New York Jets should be able to build a new stadium on the otherwise fallow grounds of Manhattan’s far West Side. This has been Michael Bloomberg’s biggest cause of his first term (along with bringing the Olympics to the city — for which the stadium’s existence would help New York’s bid). While the team is doing the actual building of the stadium, various infrastructure improvements, including extending a subway line will cost the city and state upwards of $600 million. All the declared Democratic mayoral candidates are against the project.
The biggest anti-stadium lobbyist is former Sen. Alphonse D’Amato who -- along with ex-Sen. Jesse Helms -- is probably Arthur Finkelstein’s most famous client. So, that explains how the man who turned “liberal” into a dirty word could end up doing work with the Clinton-administration-in-exile Glover Park Group.
While one can see how Bill’s comments might be embarrassing to his former aides working with Finkelstein, exactly how do they square having a professional relationship -- and, according to Grove, becoming “fast friends” -- with the guy creating the anti-Hillary “Stop Her Now” PAC?
What Cablevision -- which owns Madison Square Garden, the Knicks and Rangers and lead the stadium opposition -- hath brought together, let no man (or woman) put asunder...
