Yankee Stadium parking garage operator owes city $8.7M in back rent

The developer chosen to run the $340 million Yankee Stadium parking system is two years behind on city rent and has yet to pay any property taxes on a 9,000-space garage, the Daily News reported. The new garages, which were expanded with the help of a $70 million cash injection from the state and tax-exempt financing from the city when the new stadium was built, are supposed to generate $3 million in rent revenues annual for the city. But a loophole through which the developer can defer payments in years with insufficient cash flow has allowed Bronx Parking Development LLC to ratchet up around $8.7 million in back rent and interest. That sum is about to grow to $10 million, because city officials have said the firm can defer this year’s rent, too. Although the garages are producing even more revenue than initially projected, operating costs are more than twice what was originally expected. [NYDN]