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UPDATE: Assembly Committee Cancels Arena Vote

TRENTON-The panel's refusal to act puts the matter off at least until after the November election and casts long-term doubt on it ever happening.

By Eric Peterson | Updated on September 06, 2001

TRENTON-When it came time yesterday afternoon for the Assembly appropriations committee to vote on whether to release enabling legislation aimed at financing a $355 million arena in Newark, the panel balked (see earlier stories). A “yes” vote would have moved the bill, A3785, to the Assembly floor in a couple of weeks. A “no” would have killed it entirely. The refusal to vote at all puts a question mark over the matter.

At the very least, nothing will happen until after the gubernatorial election in November pitting Democrat Jim McGreevey, mayor of Woodbridge, against Republican Bret Schundler, former mayor of Jersey City. It’s considered unlikely that the bill and its Senate counterpart, S1272, will be revived during the final months of the term of acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco, which would put the whole thing in the lap of the new governor. McGreevey has been supportive, while Schundler has repeatedly called for a public referendum.

The legislation started out as a means of financing the new arena to house the NBA Nets and NHL Devils. YankeeNets, which owns the two franchises, would foot part of the bill, while the balance would be paid for from taxes collected within a special sports/entertainment district in Newark.

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