Xanadu pt 42: Misinformation Superhighway

One of the ways in which the media can mislead the public is to give the illusion of presenting something substantial while not actually doing so. This may be by intentional or not, but when your news story has the headline, "Triple Five executives discuss project, answer questions" and you only publish a few meatballs from the public, it leaves one to wonder how involved the public is allowed to be in a particular issue of importance.

Generally, when people skim through news articles they read the headline and the first paragraph or two. Anyone who read the entire article should notice that it includes a grand total of two softball questions from residents, preceded by talking points from T5 suits, proceeded by comments from local public officials (who's job it is to sell it to their constituents whatever the cost), and boiler plate about the Meadowlands Commission's transportation plans. It all leaves me to wonder what public input from the meeting wasn't published. Did they really only have time to ask questions of two people, or were they making sure that no one beyond the walls of the room where the meeting was held gets the impression that people are tired of having their world turned upside down by greedy developers.

The purpose of this event, it would seem, was to give the impression that they were inviting input from the public, but what the public thinks really doesn't matter. The purpose of this article seems to have been nothing more than an handy bit of PR for a developer who intend to press on with a project that's tanking in opinion polls, and they'll carry on regardless of what impact it may have on the local and state residents whose lives will be affected whether they like it or not.

I also love how they breached the issue of charging for parking. They wanted to assure the public that it will be "no more than $5." I guess that settles it. No followup necessary, even though it hints at one of two things: that they're trying to squeeze every last dime from people who simply want to go to a mall, or that they're anticipating cash flow problems when it comes to repaying the taxpayers who are going into debt on their behalf.

This project is underway, and will continue until it opens its doors or until, god willing, T5 goes broke. The only thing I can do about it is complain. And make a painting.

Part 42 (its almost done):

Xanadu pt 39: Wham, Bam, Muni Scam

Why didn't I see this before?

After begging the state of New Jersey for tax exemptions, which really mean corporate handouts, Triple Five, the new owners of the shit sandwich formerly known as Xanadu are reportedly seeking up to $1bn in public money to complete the infamous unfinished megamall project. This has quietly crept into the news after the fanfare surrounding their supposed rescue of the project like white knights saving the damsel in distress. It appears that they really don't have enough cash to finish the job. They really just want to scam taxpayers into handing over parts of their personal income, promising jobs, in order to give Kubla Christie a big wet blow job.

A recent story by Michael Gartland of The Record discusses how they're now asking Bergen County to sell municipal bonds in order to raise $400m. Why? Can't they find private investors themselves? One might argue that T5 hopes munis would be more attractive to investors because of their tax-exempt status. The deal that's on the table right now between them and the county is that taxpayers would not be liable for any debt. If that's the case, why offer public debt in the first place?

I highly doubt that the deal is gonna fly if T5 has to be liable for the debt. Anyone who thinks that they're that altruistic is a fucking fool. They obviously don't have the cash they need, so how could they possibly guarantee the debt themselves? That's why you ask for munis in the first place: they're government guaranteed by tax revenue. They can't get investors on their own to raise the $1bn because no one in their right mind wants to have anything to do with the Xanadu shitpile. The taxpayers are going to be in hock for this thing. Getting tax breaks from the state was just a foot in the door.

Triple Five never had any intentions of committing their own funds for this nightmare. They're nothing but a company of hucksters and thieves surviving on empty promises and other people's money. This project stinks, and its now going to be a huge liability to taxpayers while the developers profit, have orgies, take expensive vacations and buy yachts and fancy cars. Enjoy your indoor fucking skiing, New Jersey. You're paying for it, whether you ever go there or not.

Here's fucking part 39:

Only Kubla Christie's poll numbers are sinking faster

Every time I feel like I'm going off in a direction guided more by artistic wish-thinking than empirical evidence, I see an article like this…

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/07/xanadu_the_viet.php

It's like they were writing to me. I've been waiting to see some kind of folly where the swamp was just too much for some kind of pipe dream and swallowed it up. Triple Five has been downplaying the problem of Xanadu sinking, but I think we'll see more about that as time goes by. They can't just ignore it and make believe it isn't happening.

I particularly enjoyed the video from 2009. It all seemed so optimistic. It adds another layer to the Xanadu controversy, and that is the energy usage and carbon footprint issues. Never mind the increased automobile traffic and emissions, just think about how much energy you'll need to keep an indoor facility of that size at 20-28 degrees in mid-summer. This past friday in East Rutherford the high temp was 108. Climate change gets you coming and going.

The image at the bottom is a political cartoon from the Vietnam War era and I remember seeing it in one of my high school history textbooks. Since the article I mentioned above used the Vietnam reference I thought I would share it. Unrelated thought, I wonder how well that would go over in a history textbook today.

As Christie's political career continues its embarrassing tails spin, perhaps he'll look back with chagrin at not choosing to dismantle this nightmare and turn it into a taxpayer's problem. Apparently tearing it down would cost $100 million. That's small change compared the the billions it will take to complete the project. Its also less than the corporate welfare handouts ($350 million) that Triple Five is getting.

Chagrin indeed.

Trust Me There's Progress Here (Xanadu [formerly known as The American Dream] pt 17)

What can you expect, I only get time to work at like 10:00 at night. I only have an hour or so before my knees finally give out and I fall asleep standing up. Tonight I started at 10:45 and finished up around 12:15. I'm spent. I'm falling asleep typing this.



I think the title of this is going to change back to "Xanadu." It's just better and more poetic. Besides, people in the press still refer to the infamous magnanimous-mega-mall-to-be as Xanadu. American Dream just doesn't seem to fit. It doesn't stick in one's memory.

I've been thinking about Derrick Jensen's 2006 book Endgame and his 20 Premises and I realized that the Xanadu affair is a perfect example of #20:

Within this culture, economics—not community well-being, not morals, not ethics, not justice, not life itself—drives social decisions.

It was a foregone conclusion that Kubla Christie was going to get the NJ Legislature to rubber stamp his exemption for tax breaks for Triple Five. No one doubted that. Most of the Legislature is far too gutless to even suggest that they let the project die, even though it's an environmental catastrophe on a long list of environmental catastrophes in the Meadowlands.

It's hard enough keeping my house comfortable in 90-degree heat. I can't imagine the amount of energy that's needed to keep a ski slope frozen in those conditions. The whole thing is just one big energy black hole, plus a massive generator of solid waste, nonpoint source pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

One might say that the area is already so bad that adding this thing really won't make a difference. Again, I refer you to the 20 Premises.

It has to stop somewhere.

Kubla Christie Gets His Glass Slippers

I've been struggling with the urge to blog again about Xanadu, my favorite hot topic. I'm finding it harder to start any post about this subject because it requires such a long explanation for anyone not familiar with it. If you need some background to get caught up to speed start here and here.

I've been struggling with the urge to write something but once again I've found myself without any meaningful content to share because I haven't done any work on my new painting since last week. I've been following the Xanadu story in the news, but lately there's not been anything worth sharing. Last night I realized that there's a deeper meaning in this quagmire.

I'm going to do something terribly irresponsible here. I'm going to offer some wild speculation about Xanadu and New Jersey Governor Chris "Kubla" Christie, but since I'm not a real journalist, I can get away with such foolishness. Actually, since I'm an artist I can just claim to be using artistic license and say pretty much whatever I like.

Here it is: Chris Christie is going to run for president in 2012, and he added Triple Five to the list of New Jersey's corporate welfare recipients because they're going to give him a hefty sum of cash to help him achieve that goal. Triple Five, in case you don't know, is the owner of such shoppatainment orgy-plexes as the Mall of America. They now own the mess once known as Xanadu in the New Jersey Meadowlands, which they have re-named American Dream. Didn't they get the memo that the Meadowlands are where dreams go to die? Just ask Matt Dodge.

It never occurred to me before because until I read this article by Leslie Savon from The Nation I didn't know the Republicans were even remotely interested in Christie running in 2012. And now I get it. There's not a whole lot for Red State Republican voters to dislike about Christie. His recent missteps and slipping job approval are not widely known outside of New Jersey and the surrounding region. In fact, he's relatively unknown across the country aside from some anecdotes about what a great reformer he is. It has the makings of a good Cindarella story.

But locals know better. Here's an example of love for Kubla Christie, from a happy New Jerseyan who commented on a recent article on NorthJersey.com:

Sunday May 15, 2011, 6:05 AM - Resident8 says:
Is there any grants from the government that can help Christie make the blasted pension payments? Oh I forgot, public workers are middle class and that's not in Christie's best interest. Fat pile of garbage, I hope he chokes to death on his triple chin...

I think Resident8 cuts right to the heart of the matter and articulates his point rather eloquently. I know I've been unfair to Christie about this whole Xanadu thing. The state got into this mess under Jim McGreevey. But his decision to give handouts to Triple Five fits in nicely with his overall agenda of slashing and burning public education (he's a school voucher advocate) and jobs and services that are desperately needed while greasing the palms of millionaires to help facilitate his political ambitions.

Christie's blunders and transgressions won't be heard of beyond the Mid-Atlantic states for several years. It doesn't matter that he's not well-like here because he won't win New Jersey or any nearby state, so who cares what he does at home. Plus he's betting the house on Xanadu. If it succeeds, he wins. If it doesn't, the people that hate him the most will vote for a Democrat, which they would have anyway.

The rumors surrounding the maligned exterior of the complex seem to be pointing to the idea of improving the look by changing the multicolored metal skin with glass. They should keep some glass aside so Christie can make himself a pair of shoes to wear to the Ball.

Can World's Largest Garbage Dump Attract 55 Million People Every Year?

The ante has been upped. Triple Five has now outdone themselves. Well, not yet, but they seem to think they will. A mere five miles from the commercial and entertainment capital of the world there will be a new beacon on the hill of material excess: American Dream.

Do you want to be indoors while pretending you're not? Go there. But not for another 3 years. That's when American Dream in the New Jersey swamp and infamous former dumping grounds known as The Meadowlands is slated to become reality.

You would have to be indoors to enjoy all of this because if you weren't, you would notice a rather odd potpourri of odors and you'd be getting eaten alive by gnats and mosquitos. Just take heart knowing that you were in The LARGEST RETAIL AND ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX IN THE WORLD.

This thing just keeps getting bigger. T5 is really rolling the dice now. They now have New Jersey Taxpayers' money but if it fails, it won't matter because most of the public is asleep at the wheel. Never mind that a state that is deeply in debt has forsaken teachers and cops in favor of indoor skiing and skydiving.

This entertainment-super-orgy-plex formerly known as Xanadu has been making regular appearances in the news for about the last 6 weeks. Each time it seems that the project and T5's ambitions seem to be growing beyond expectation. We expect to see this kind of thing in Dubai, not New Jersey where malls are everywhere, and the forms of entertainment offered at American Dreams are within easy striking distance (its not the middle of the desert, or the American midwest, where locals are starved for extravagance). They factor tourism into their figures, but no one besides T5 expects tourists to visit the region just for this place. It doesn't add up.

Swinging For The Fences

As long as Xanadu keeps popping up in the news I'm gonna milk it. Its what I call a grab iron issue. Grab irons are the metal bars on trains that workers and hobos use to climb on board. Like a hobo grabbing the iron to hop a passing train, I am using the Xanadu issue to hop that train and use it to propel my Five Miles From Times Square project forward. I'm also not going to stop using the name Xanadu, and I'm discovering that neither is anyone in the press refraining from using it instead of the sparkling new name, American Dream. Xanadu is becoming part of the New Jersey culture and part of the Meadowlands folklore.

Each day lately there is a new story in the news with new commentary and details, like this one from today in RetailTrafficMag.com. It's becoming clear that Triple Five is going for broke with their American Dream. In the face of insurmountable odds, they're pulling out all of the stops and hoping that an over-the-top entertainment complex is going to be a huge success. It has to be, because anything less than perfection would be a catastrophe and would be a huge kick in the nuts of every resident of New Jersey who are going to be responsible for $400 million in state funds.

Practically everyone who knows about this is predicting that it will be an abject failure. Everyone, that is, except Triple Five and the Chris Christie administration. Many are hoping that it will at least succeed enough so that it won't close and leave New Jersey a legacy of corporate failure.

But mostly, the thing is so reviled that in spite of the damage already done to the environment, the state economy and the state's reputation, people want to see the huge fat cats involved fall on their faces because of what Xanadu represents: corporate greed, political short-sightedness and utter disregard for the real well-being of the public. We want to wag our fingers in the faces of those who thought a mega-mall-greed-plex was a good idea for a state overrun with such excesses. We want to say "we told you so."

Unfortunately for Triple Five, this is an all-or-nothing situation. There will be no middle ground.

All We Have To Do Is Dream

"I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I'm dreamin' my life away"

I've been waiting for news on this and there's finally something, but its still not the "Big Announcement" that I keep hearing about.

Have you ever wondered why we have the phrase "American Dream?" Mainly because its anything but reality for most people. It's about as vapid and far-fetched and artificial an experience as a gigantic mega orgy-plex in the swamps of New Jersey.

THEY will call it American Dream | Meadowlands, but residents of the Garden State will forever know it as Xanadu. But Americans dream big, and corporations dream even bigger, especially those who get whatever they want. And now instead of being a cash cow, the stately displeasure dome is going to be a nice big fat piece of corporate welfare.

THEY are Triple Five, and they're the owners of the Mall of America. THEY have gotten a big fat wet kiss from Kubla Christie who will now inherit the legend and legacy of Xanadu.

And its also getting bigger. It's growing out of control. Its all part of an illuminati plot to turn New Jersey into a state of mall-cities.