Should Citibank Pay $400 Million To Name A Stadium While Taking Taxpayer Money?

The New York Mets are getting a new stadium. It’ll be called Citi Field and that honor cost Citibank (and by extension, one could argue, taxpayers) $400 million.

Citigroup said in a statement yesterday that no bailout funds were being used to name the stadium, but that it hasn’t made a final decision about whether or not to go through with the deal.

A week ago, two congressmen, Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio) and Ted Poe (R., Texas) wrote to new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, asking him to “push Citigroup to dissolve the Mets deal.”

“Citigroup is now dependent on the support of the federal government for its survival as an institution,” the letter said. “As such, we do not believe Citigroup ought to spend $400 million to name a stadium at the same time that they accept over $350 billion in taxpayer support and guarantees.”

So, what should we do?

Citi Explores Breaking Mets Deal [WSJ via Gothamist]
(Photo:wallyg)

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