A New York State Senator wants the football team back in Queens.
Did you hear the one about a New York State Senator who wants the National Football League’s New York Jets franchise to return to Flushing Meadows in Queens? Senator Joe Addabbo, the chair of the New York Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, probably knows that Jets owner Woody Johnson invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the building of the New Jersey Meadowlands stadium that he shares with the New York Giants ownership. But there is an escape clause that would allow Johnson or the Giants ownership to exit the Meadowlands facility in 2025 and that is where Addabbo thinks there is an opening.
“Personally, it pains me to see the Giants and Jets called the ‘New York Jets’ and ‘New York Giants,’ even with the Giants having ‘NY’ on their helmets playing in Jersey,” said Addabbo. “It pains me.” Addabbo was a member of New York City’s city council in 2004 and 2005 when the city was trying to lure Johnson into leaving the Meadowlands when Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city elected officials were attempting to build a Manhattan west side stadium for the 2012 Summer Olympics which subsequently could be used by Johnson’s Jets or possibly Giants ownership. New York State Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver eventually killed the stadium plan. There was also a push to get Johnson interested in moving to Queens in 2005. In the end Johnson and Giants ownership signed a deal in 2005 to build a new stadium at the Meadowlands. The Willets Point-Flushing Meadows area is getting a stadium as Major League Soccer’s NYCFC reached a deal with New York City officials to build a 25,000-seat stadium across from Major League Baseball’s New York Mets’ home field. The area, which is served by a subway and is surrounded by parkways, also houses the National Tennis Center and the US Open.
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