By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — New York’s current and former mayors may have remembered Yankees owner George Steinbrenner warmly following his death on Tuesday, but the man who was known for his shrewd business tactics had the same contentious relationship with the Big Apple that he did with most of his employees.
The first contentious episode former Mayor Ed Koch remembered with Steinbrenner was in 1987 when "The Boss" threatened to take the Yankees out of New York unless the city built him a commuter train stop. The city thought it had compromised by agreeing to improve parking and roads surrounding the stadium.
But when Koch thought the deal was done, Steinbrenner said he needed two weeks to go over some minor details.
“We had shaken hands,” Koch told the New York Times.
One of the minor details was that the city would get 10 percent of the Yankees cable television revenue, similar to the terms of the old lease.
However, Steinbrenner had secretly renegotiated the Yankees TV deal and the team was getting $500 million for their broadcast rights rather than the previous contract of $50 million, the Times reported. Steinbrenner did not like the idea of forking over $50 million of his cable jackpot to the city.
“He was a very good businessman,” Koch told the Times. “There was also a ruthless quality and that was a demonstration of it.”
Former mayor Rudy Giuliani — a huge Yankees fan — also lauded Steinbrenner following the news of his death Tuesday.
“George was a friend of mine for over 30 years,” he said in a statement. “He transformed baseball and sports broadcasting with the Yes Network and brought New York seven World Series. Beyond that, he made the Yankees a source of great pride in being a New Yorker.”
But 30 years of friendship didn’t make their relationship any easier when Giuliani was in charge of the Big Apple.
Following the 9/11 attacks, Steinbrenner refused to allow the city to hold a memorial at Yankee Stadium, the Times said, worried that the musicians would damage the field.
Giuliani suddenly put his pinstripe fandom aside.
“Rudy said, ‘It’s our stadium; send 20 cops up there, get the keys and figure out how the lights work,’” a top Giuliani aide told the Times.
In the end, Steinbrenner backed off his stance and Giuliani continued to be a huge presence at the stadium.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg also remembered the Boss fondly Tuesday, saying he would order flags lowered at City Hall in honor of the Yankees owner.
“This is a sad day not only for Yankee fans, but for our entire City, as few people have had a bigger impact on New York over the past four decades than George Steinbrenner,” he said in a statement. “George had a deep love for New York, and his steely determination to succeed — combined with his deep respect and appreciation for talent and hard work— made him a quintessential New Yorker.”
For Bloomberg, the so-called "sweetheart deal" the city gave the Yankees for the new stadium left him under fire from New Yorkers and local politicians. Under the deal, the Yankees received more than $1.3 billion in tax-free bonds from the city, while Bloomberg was faced with accusations of financial mismanagement — during an election year.
“While our financial review cannot determine intent,” Bill Thompson, the city comptroller at the time, told the Times, “this incredible mismanagement begs the question: Was this plain old incompetence or a blatant attempt to mislead the public?”
While it may not have been the best deal for the city, it was a shrewd business move by Steinbrenner and the Yankees. Something a billionaire like Bloomberg must have appreciated on some level.
