Last June I wrote about a bizarre, unrated municipal bond deal that was issued to finance some new parking garages at Yankee Stadium. Because very few people were using the parking facilities, it looked like the $237 million of tax-exempt bonds would soon default. Now the law firm of the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, has been hired to strike a deal between Bronx Parking Development Co, the parking garages’ operating entity consisting of a husband-and-wife team based in upstate New York, and the bondholders. From the Daily News:
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s law firm has been hired by a group of private bondholders to restructure $237 million in tax-exempt financing for the nearly bankrupt owner of the Yankee Stadium parking system.
The surprise choice of Giuliani’s firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, is part of an agreement reached last week between Bronx Parking Development Co, owner of the 9,000-space garage and lot system, and its creditors.
Giuliani, after all, is widely known as one of the Bronx Bombers’ most loyal boosters, while one of his former deputy mayors, Randy Levine, is the team’s president.
It’s interesting to note that shortly before leaving office, Giuliani announced a deal in which the City of New York would contribute $800 million in public financing for the new Yankee Stadium and provide an additional $390 million in extra transportation funds. Additionally, Giuliani’s original plan would have allowed the Yankees to keep all parking revenues, which angered state officials, who viewed those revenues as the state’s compensation for building the new garages for the team.
