“We commissioned a professional model maker. We commissioned renderers for 3-D perspective views,” Krieger says. “It was a elaborate and exhausting process. It certainly required more time than we had.”

Lynn says that the lawsuit would also address the fact that the rules for the bidding process were wrought with inconsistencies.

“They set a bunch of ground rules at the beginning and changed the rules to give the Jets an advantage,” Lynn says. “There are certain requirements that public agencies and authorities must follow. It has to be a fair process.”

Even prior to the MTA’s request for proposals, Cablevision suspected foul play, according to Lynn. The MTA officials were negotiating exclusively with the Jets, without holding an open bidding process, Krieger says.

At that time, the Jets had only offered the city $150 million for the space. To make itself a contender and force a bidding process, Cablevision offered the MTA $650 million for the contract.

Cablevision’s bid forced the MTA to open the bidding process, Krieger said.

“It couldn’t simply ignore the fact that there was another bid which offered much more money,” he says.

Eventually, the Jets responded with a $720 million bid for the space, which was still $40 million shy of Cablevision’s final offer.

The City’s acceptance of a lower bid is also motivating the lawsuit.

“We think the members of the board at the MTA have a fiduciary obligation to get the highest value for the MTA and all of the people who use the transit system,” Lynn says. “That part is true especially because they have a massive budget crunch.”

SPORTS ECONOMICS

And one expert, Allen Sanderson—an economist at the University of Chicago who has studied the economics of sports—says that a football stadium is a bad investment for the citizens of New York.

“There are two things you don’t want to put on that property,” Sanderson said in an interview. “One is a cemetery and the other is a stadium.”

Even if the Olympics comes to New York, Sanderson says the event will not provide any net economic benefit to the city.

“It plays on people’s emotions and psyche when in fact it’s kind of a pain,” Sanderson says.

Krieger emphasizes the fact that the space on the West Side is one of the only remaining undeveloped lots in New York.

“It just seems like the wrong site—it’s not that football stadiums are bad,” Krieger says. “Housing, open space, retail services, cultural facilities­—these are the things that the west end of Midtown could benefit from, opposed to a big blank box that is used occasionally.”

—Staff writer Sarah E.F. Milov can be reached at milov@fas.harvard.edu.