No $$$$, no name on the subway stop, New York MTA tells Citi

[marmar]

from the NY Times:



Stadium Is Citi Field, but the Subway Stop Has Other Ideas
By WILLIAM NEUMAN

Published: March 11, 2009


Citigroup is teetering, with a stock price lower than Johan Santana’s earned run average and a brand synonymous with “bank bailout.” But its name will still grace the Mets’ new ballpark, Citi Field, when the season starts next month.

The same cannot be said of the subway station at the ballpark’s doorstep.

Officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had once hoped that a bit of Citigroup’s $400 million endorsement pact with the Mets might trickle down their way, through a naming rights deal of their own for the station.

But those hopes evaporated with the bank’s near-collapse and the Mets’ refusal to share the wealth.

So on Tuesday, transit officials informed the Mets that when the subway station (currently named after the team’s former home, the now-demolished Shea Stadium) was rechristened, it would not actually use the name of the new ballpark. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/nyregion/12shea.html

[LiberalFighter]

1. The feds should recoup the naming rights fees.