NEW YORK, NY June 04, 2005 —The final approval vote on the west side stadium has once again been postponed, this time until Monday. The delay came after a night and morning of intense and sometimes dramatic maneuvering between Mayor Bloomberg and two of the men on whom the vote rests: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

REPORTER: Given the number of times the vote on the West Side stadium has been delayed, everyone half expected it to be put off again on Friday. At 7:41 am, Silver issued an advisory saying he’d hold a press conference early afternoon quote “across from Century 21 Department store, Church Street between Dey and Cortlandt.” Most people call that Ground Zero.

Around the state, stadium supporters stomachs were tightening. To them the message was clear: Silver was preparing to say he was voting no, and he was going to use the World Trade Center site as a dramatic backdrop to explain his vote. The Mayor and his aides furiously tried to avert that outcome. At ten, Mayor Bloomberg was supposed to start his weekly radio show with John Gambling of WABC. By 10:18, Gambling was still broadcasting solo.

GAMBLING: he hasn’t joined us Jill tells me he’s in a meeting right now, which is very unusual, not that the meeting is unusual but during the program, so it must be pretty important. .

REPORTER: So Gambling began to take calls on the West Side stadium. Finally, at 10:21, “Mike from Manhattan was on the line.”

GAMBLING: Mayor: Good morning, sir Sorry to be late, but I’ve been giving a commencement speech at Queensborough Community College, where 1400 young people....

REPORTER: For ten minutes, Gambling and the Mayor chatted about school test scores. While the two were talking about fourth graders, State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno issued a media advisory of his own. He would be holding his own news conference, at 1:15, at the State Capitol. Stadium watchers say that, too, could have bad news for the stadium. The Mayor and Gambling took a break. When they returned, with the clock ticking toward the end of the hour, the Mayor had this announcement.

BLOOMBERG: I’m giving you an exclusive, right here. GAMBLING: Yessir BLOOMBERG: We are going to postpone that vote until Monday and work through the weekend to see if we can satisfy all the parties, each of whom have legitimate concerns.

REPORTER: Five minutes later, Bruno cancelled his news conference and shortly after, Silver canceled his. The Mayor, several sources said, asked for and got more time from Silver and Bruno. Silver was still in New York City, beyond the end of the number 7 subway line in Queens. He and Governor Pataki were about to appear at an event that had nothing to do with the stadium.

P.S. 165 PRINCIPAL: Good Morning on behalf of our entire school community I want to extend a warm welcome to Governor George Pataki, Speaker, Speaker Sheldon Silver....

REPORTER: The two were at P.S. 165 to sign two bills that would stiffen penalties for dangerous drivers. After an emotional hour-long program, the Governor faced the press:

PATAKI: Any questions on Vesean’s law or the anti hit and run? No? Any questions for the Speaker?

REPORTER: For months now, Silver has been complaining that West Side development will hurt Lower Manhattan rebuilding. Finally, Silver maintained, his concerns were being addressed.

SILVER: We are talking about downtown. We are talking about the West Side we are talking about the impact of the proposal to build 24 million square feet of office space in midtown at a time we are all committed to rebuilding downtown.

REPORTER: And the press conference at Ground Zero?

SILVER:....Well that’s in my district and it’s right near my district office and I figured so many of you are interested you even came to queens to ask these questions and I don’t have that large a space in my office

REPORTER: Cramped space or no, Silver will be working over the weekend, trying to secure an incentive package to make it more attractive for businesses to move downtown.

REPORTER: Were you prepared to say you were going to vote no today? SILVER: I was prepared to do whatever was necessary to accomplish what I had to accomplish. REPORTER: What is that?

On Monday, maybe we’ll find out.