THE STAKES:

What else are taxpayers on the hook for?

Just imagine. There would be Michael Bloomberg, deep in the bleachers at the new Yankee Stadium. He would be just far enough removed from the field that he'd have his headphones on, listening to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on the radio.

Or this. The billionaire mayor of New York City, out on the streets of the Bronx, trying to strike a deal with the scalpers.

Whimsy, no doubt. Something tells us Mr. Bloomberg will have some choice seats at the new ballpark. He'll be able to make his case among the swells for that third term he wants.

What he won't have, though, is that luxury box he had been demanding as part of the deal that has the Yankees seeking more of your money to build their $1.3 billion stadium. If you're keeping score, the Yankees have received $940 million in tax-free bonds and $25 million in taxable bonds from the city and state. Now they want another $259 million in tax-free bonds and $111 million in taxable bonds, including almost $95 million for giant video screens and upgrades to, yes, those luxury suites.

Over in Queens, meanwhile, the Mets already have gotten $615 million in tax-free bonds already approved for their $800 million stadium. Yet they still want $83 million more in tax-free bonds.

Three years ago, remember, the Yankees and the Mets received a combined $1.5 billion public subsidy. Yet they very well may get another handout. But the Mets, just like the Yankees, won't have to provide a luxury box for the city.

Things have changed for the better in what remains a very one-sided game of public subsidies for corporations like the Yankees and the Mets that hardly need them. E-mails from barely two years ago revealed luxury boxes at both new stadiums to be a "big issue to the mayor." Now he seems wary of the public relations hit he'd surely have taken by continuing to haggle over such perks in such a dismal economic climate.

It's nice to see Mr. Bloomberg brushed back a bit, frankly.

Here he is, talking about the city's enormous budget deficit and warning the various city agencies how they'll have to learn to do more with less. Why shouldn't such sacrifice apply to the mayor and his ballpark buddies?

This small victory for the modern day version of the knothole gang -- that is, people who pay their taxes, buy their own Baseball tickets and think better of looking for handouts -- is well worth observing. As it happens, there's a public hearing scheduled in New York City on Wednesday to discuss the matter of more money for these stadium projects.

What state Assemblyman Richard Brodsky rightly calls an embarrassment, particularly negotiations he says were conducted in secret, could be in for more scrutiny.

We'd gladly buy a ticket or two -- with our own funds, of course.

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