Photo: NY Times
Update: Wednesday, October 21st, 4:30 p.m.
Deesha Thosar of the the New York Daily News reported that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is not expected to interfere with the purchase of the Mets. Instead this story by USA Today may have been inaccurately reported.
Read Thosar’s story here to see her thorough reporting on the matter.
Original Post
As reported by USA Today, there’s a possibility that Steve Cohen could not be approved as the new owner of the Mets franchise. USA today reports that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio could potentially throw an axe into the hearts of Mets fans.
According to the 2006 Stadium Lease Agreement – which is between the New York City Industrial Development Agency and Queens Ballpark Company – the city has the right to deny the Mets be transferred to a person who has committed a felony.
Despite Cohen never being charged with a crime himself, his former hedge-fund company, S.A.C. Capital Investors plead guilty to securities fraud and wire fraud in 2013.
To avoid a personal conviction Cohen, agreed to pay 1.8 billion dollars to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a civil suit. Within the agreement, he was also prohibited from managing outside money for two years.
Cohen is technically considered a “prohibited person” within the stadium lease where the agreement defines a prohibited person as “any person that has been convicted in a criminal proceeding for a felony or any crime involving moral turpitude” according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Due to this agreement, Nightengale is reporting that Mayor de Blasio legally has the right to approve or deny Cohen due to his previous decisions, and has 30 days to conduct his vetting process as of last week.
Cohen was approved earlier this week by MLB’s eight-person ownership committee in a 7-1 vote – White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is reportedly the only nay. The next step is MLB’s owners eight-person committee then all of the owners voting. The owners annual meeting is scheduled for Nov. 17, though it’s been reported that they could vote on Cohen’s bid before then.
