Jets Stadium On Hold?

The New York Jets’ proposed $2.2 billion stadium, which would double as an Olympic stadium, is one step away from getting approval, but the panel that needs to sign off on the deal is in no hurry to do so, which could compromise the project.

The city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has already approved the facility to be built on its railyards.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said many times the stadium is the lynchpin to getting the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, and Olympics officials have said NY needs to have it in place to get a shot.

But it sounds as if the Public Authorities Control Board, comprising Gov. George Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Sen. Joseph Bruno, is in no rush to give the thumbs up.

“I don’t see the necessity (for a vote),” Silver told NY1 News. “Senator Bruno has indicated he doesn’t see the necessity, and we may not have it before July.”

He cited court proceedings that are trying to stop the stadium.

The International Olympic Committee makes its choice July 6th, and Silver said it was “highly unlikely” the PACB would give approval before then.

“The option of waiting until after the Olympics is not a realistic option,” Bloomberg said. “I don’t know whether we drop out or just say to them, ‘Thank you very much for your consideration,’ but I don’t know why we’d want to embarrass the country and ourselves.”

Bloomberg’s office injected $600 million into the project, with the Olympics as a prize. It’s uncertain what the future holds for the stadium if the IOC chooses another city for the Games.