Mayor Bloomberg’s obsession with developing a West Side football stadium will deprive the MTA of assets that could be used to underwrite the big capital improvement program that the downstate region’s transit system desperately needs.

The mayor wants the MTA to hand over the rights to develop above the West Side yards between 10th and 11th Avenues for a low price. Critics of the deal say the MTA could receive up to $2 billion if the development site is put on the market rather than subject to a government-to-government inside deal.

The Bloomberg administration says no one else has come forward to develop above the yards, but the city’s rezoning of the entire area and extending a subway line to serve it would likely change that in relatively short order.

"We believe the administration is putting the interests of the Jets ahead of the interests of the people," NYC Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum told Newsday.

Governor Pataki, who will have to grapple with the MTA’s massive deficits, could insist on a competitive bidding process, but supports the mayor’s stadium plan. No details of a rail yard deal between the city and MTA have been made public. Jets and MTA appraisers are reportedly studying the site.

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