So let me get this right, Mario Lemieux: You tied the future of the Penguins to a casino operation, Isle of Capri. You sought to build a Hill District/Downtown casino that would have constructed a new hockey arena but would also cause great negative social effects for those who live, work and play nearby. Now that your plan has failed, you want government officials to give you just about everything you wanted anyway, except the casino?
In an effort to appease you and the fans, elected officials started offering concessions. But then you whined about wanting development rights to a larger area — an area you previously tried to zone out for Isle of Capri and the new arena?
The Penguins have (literally) played in the Hill District for over 40 years, without offering anything substantial to the community. But the moment you see a lucrative deal that allows you to “stick it” to all of The Men you feel have disregarded you, you seek to literally and figuratively siphon off the Hill once more. In the whole discussion, I never heard or read you utter one word of empathy or understanding about neighborhood concerns.
Don Barden, who won the slots license, has offered to redevelop the Lower Hill. But now you’re demanding development rights, and balking at the very idea of sharing control. How can you justify assigning development rights to the Penguins, a team that has demonstrated no sincere regard for its neighbors?
It’s amazing you feel so entitled.
What’s even more amazing is that you reportedly agreed to pay Isle of Capri $10 million if they did not win Pittsburgh’s slots license. And now, officials say, you think the rest of us should pay for your comedy of errors.
You’re not the only one who didn’t get anything directly out of slots parlors. Gambling revenue is supposed to bring property-tax reductions, but the 72 percent of Hill District residents who don’t own property will get no relief.
Had you consulted with Hill residents, we could have told you that putting a casino in the front yard of a primarily African-American working-class community was a bad idea. We have enough problems to deal with. Indeed, we could have told you a casino would be perceived as extraordinarily opportunistic and callous. “Next time,” as my favorite caveman character states in the GEICO TV ads, “do a little research.”
Then again, maybe you did. Since gambling money will apparently be used to build a new arena, and since African Americans are four times as likely to become problem gamblers, we will actually be paying off an even larger portion of your bill.
What will be the benefit for us — those who stayed in Pittsburgh, when the rest of the folks were fleeing to suburbia? Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and County Executive Dan Onorato are bargaining away development rights, but where are the meetings with the Hill residents next door? We should have significant input as to who gets the rights to our neighborhood and its borders. This is public land and, in case our elected representatives have forgotten, we are the public. No taxation without representation!
Mario, you purchased the Penguins seven years ago, saving them from bankruptcy. Arguably, you should have been given a new arena back then. But your “bad fortune” still finds you in the pile of millionaires. Meanwhile, people much less fortunate also have needs that must be reconciled with Pittsburgh’s sordid history — a history that dates back 50 years or more. A history that includes razing much of the Hill to build the arena in the first place, and then building nothing above Crawford Street.
You can’t be held accountable for all the mistakes of the past, but that’s the thing about history: You inherit the sins of your fathers because you also inherit their bounty. For decades the Penguins lived off the fruit of someone else’s pain, someone else’s displacement.
If you don’t want to share development rights, you’re seeking to block Barden from doing what your franchise failed to do for 40 years. The residents themselves have no equity in the development. So what does the Hill get now? There must be a reckoning!
Dr. Goddess says: “Thou shalt want for thy neighbor what thou wantest for thyself.”
Dr. Goddess is the alter-ego and onstage persona of Kimberly Ellis, a community activist, performance artist and academic.
This article appears in Feb 22-28, 2007.
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Well stated.
Mario should build a new arena with his money and the value that can come from a suite of land-development dealings — out by the airport.
Once the Pens and NHL leave the lower hill, then that area will thrive.
In reference to this remarkk: “This is public land and, in case our elected representatives have forgotten, we are the public. No taxation without representation!”
You seem to forget or blatantly ignore the fact that everytime someone in your neighborhood gets shot, everytime someone overdoses, everytime someone gives birth, everytime you go shopping with that access card, and soo soo many more… you fail to acknowledge the fact that your representation is there. The goods and services you receive for FREE are atrocious. You’re an artist because you have no real knowledge or brain and you must “paint your own picture” because you neglect the facts. I anticipate the day a crew of wreckers and bulldozers ride over the hill district and rid it of all thats bad because everyone and anyone OUTSIDE of the hill district knows that there is NO GOOD in the hill district.
Yeah I guess crack dealers would want their precious Hill protected.
Earth to the alleged Dr.: The Hill ain’t exactly a vacation spot Toots!
This is my WOW article of the year. I agree the city should not have to suck up the $10mil owed to IOC BUT BUT BUT:
You are completely insane and out of your mind if you think an arena does ANYTHING but promote hope and promise to your fleabag area. Let me also state that Sidney Crosby is the next best thing besides Chuck Norris and Chuck Norris is greater than all. Hopefully Chuck Norris will Chuck Norris roundhouse-kick the hill to rubble.
I would not praise the state’s decision to not approve the Isle of Capri plan.
At the very least, the Isle of Capri provided a plan to revive a section of the Hill that had been scarred with a mixed use development *AND* provide an arena without cost to the taxpayers of the city, county and state.
It is naïve to think that because the casino is on the Northside that the Hill is safe from any “negative social effects” of having a slots casino in the city limits.
And, by the way, if you want to make a credible argument don’t refer to yourself “Dr. Goddess”.
Kirshpgh, et. al,
First, I’ll call myself what I want. It’s called “self-determination” (right, Kirshpgh?).
Second, you might also try simply reading my article instead of making up ideas and statements I’ve not offered within it.
Third, dude up there in the comments section, I’m not your “toots”. I’m Dr. Goddess.
Fourth, all of you can think and feel what you want about the Hill. It’s a wonderful community of folks and I love it. By the way, if any group (Pens, Barden, etc.) are set on being GOOD corporate neighbors and citizens to the Hill, then we can work something out. No more exploitation, though. And it is naive of you to think that this deal or any deal that swaps public land for private interests has nothing to do with taxpayers’ money. Sheesh.
Go Pens.
The H-I-double-L, baby.
dr. goddess is a socialist. That said, socialist are not capable of understanding that in a capitalist society, nobody owes you anything. That means dont expect anything other than what you can do for yerself. the premise that you start from is one of “gimmie”. So..circle circle circle. personally, i think you just got a beef with whitey and it comes out stashed inside politics. You should just be totally up front about it. Its the city paper, they’ll probably make you editor if you keep it up long enough.
Dr. Goddess,
You state: “And it is naive of you to think that this deal or any deal that swaps public land for private interests has nothing to do with taxpayers’ money. Sheesh.”
I would be very interested to hear the history of how this property is being privatized. That would be an interesting article. Personally, I’m opposed, in general, to privatizing public property. Privatization, as a concept, has the stench of theft. I immediately think of Charles the 1st and the privatization of the English common lands. On the other hand, a lot of public development in this country has been financed by selling public lands. That is, public lands have been sold to pay for public projects. This seems to me an ok use of privatization. I would like to know the history in the case of the Mellon Arena property before I make a decision about the propriety of the city’s actions here.
At this time, all I really know about the privatization of the arena is that the Penguins wanted the development rights as part of their compensation for staying in Pittsburgh. If that is part of the price the city had to pay, then maybe it was worth it. I don’t know enough about how much tax revenue would have been lost had the Penguins left Pittsburgh. An analysis of these financial decisions would also make an interesting article.
The only other information I have about the Penguins deal is that the Penguins are required to develope 2 acres of the 28 acres per year or lose their development rights. That should go a long way to giving the hill some of the investment you say the absence of which angers you.
You also state: “The Penguins have (literally) played in the Hill District for over 40 years, without offering anything substantial to the community.”
Now I know that there have been some benefites to the community from the Penguins. I don’t, however know the full extent of them. For example, I know that I have seen and heard about charitable gifts to hospitals. Also, are there any jobs in the arena held by folks from the Hill? If there were none, that would be a telling statistic, but you don’t provide any statistical data. So the reader is left to wonder how bad of a neighbor has the penguins organization been. Full disclosure of the benefits that have been provided by the Penguins would greatly strengthen your article.
Because I live by the arena, I see a lot of men buying and selling tickets on the street corners. There seems to be something of a cottage industry going on there. Admittedly, scalping is illegal, but there would be no income from scalping if the Penguins left Pittsburgh.
You state: “Don Barden, who won the slots license, has offered to redevelop the Lower Hill. But now you’re demanding development rights, and balking at the very idea of sharing control. How can you justify assigning development rights to the Penguins, a team that has demonstrated no sincere regard for its neighbors?”
Here you don’t seem to object to privatizing the arena land, so long as Don Barden gets the development rights. Why is that? Why would it be ok for Mr. Barden to develop there? Has he made promises to the folk in the Hill that you have not listed in your article?
I am bewildered by your motives. You state: “What will be the benefit for us — those who stayed in Pittsburgh, when the rest of the folks were fleeing to suburbia?”
Won’t the people of the whole city benefit from the tax revenue generated by developing this area? What specifically do you want? Do you think that something in particular is owed to the Hill? If so, by whom?
Do you know any figures to support your argument. Has the Hill been getting fewer per capita dollars from the tax base? What percentage of property, city, and state tax dollars collected from the Hill district are spent in the Hill?
Answers to any of these questions would strengthen your article.
Finally, you state in your responce: “First, I’ll call myself what I want. It’s called “self-determination” (right, Kirshpgh?).
I absolutely agree with you. Call yourself whatever makes you happy, but you have got to be prepared for the jokes that that your name might prevoke. I mean, you aren’t really a goddess are you? I mean, calling yourself a goddess was meant to be a joke? Right? Are you a doctor, or is that a joke too? So don’t be too upset if you get called on it. New rules: Please ease up a little:-)
M