{"id":5448,"date":"2013-02-12T08:57:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-12T13:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/?p=5448"},"modified":"2013-02-12T08:57:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-12T13:57:00","slug":"999-00","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/?p=5448","title":{"rendered":"$999.00"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"content-header\">\n<h1>For $999, you can watch sailing, on public land<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"node-27198\">\n<div>\n<div>02.11.13 &#8211; 3:12 pm\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfbg.com\/category\/author\/tim-redmond\">Tim Redmond<\/a>\u00a0|<\/p>\n<div>(5)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"Display a printer-friendly version of this page.\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sfbg.com\/print\/politics\/2013\/02\/11\/999-you-can-watch-sailing-public-land\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Print\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sfbg.com\/modules\/acquia\/print\/icons\/print_icon.gif\" alt=\"Print\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" \/>Print<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.addthis.com\/bookmark.php\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/s9.addthis.com\/button1-share.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"125\" height=\"16\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div data-type=\"button_count\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" name=\"f3b7f1848\" src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/share_button.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfbg.com%2Fpolitics%2F2013%2F02%2F11%2F999-you-can-watch-sailing-public-land&amp;type=button_count&amp;app_id=&amp;locale=en_US&amp;sdk=joey&amp;channel=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter.php%3Fversion%3D18%23cb%3Df35354c13c%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sfbg.com%252Ff3e878de8%26domain%3Dwww.sfbg.com%26relation%3Dparent.parent\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"1000px\" height=\"1000px\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sfbg.com\/sites\/default\/files\/imagecache\/Full_325_wide\/2112013cup.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"325\" height=\"275\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>Did SF get kicked in the balls, or what?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the deal of a lifetime: For $999, you can get a ticket to watch the America&#8217;s Cup races. From beachers built on public land. Where the non-wealthy public won&#8217;t be allowed.<\/p>\n<p>The America&#8217;s Cup Event Authority, run by Larry Ellison, who is the third-richest person in the world, has sent out an email soliciting buyers for this special early deal: Buy now, and you will be guaranteed a &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.americascup.com\/experience\/spectator-tickets\" target=\"_blank\">reserved section in a preferred area of the bleachers<\/a>,&#8221; as well as exclusive access to parties and events, and a chance to get your picture taken with the Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Which, by the way, is having trouble raising money &#8212; and could leave the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/bayarea\/matier-ross\/article\/America-s-Cup-could-cost-S-F-millions-4265828.php\" target=\"_blank\">city on the hook for as much as $20 million<\/a>. Which loudmouth critics like Aaron Peskin and Chris Daly warned about from the start. So we&#8217;ve gone from the races being a huge economic boon, worth billions to the city, to poor Mark Buell, who has to ask people to give money to underwrite Larry Ellison&#8217;s yacht party, saying that even if the city loses money, it will still all be worth it.<\/p>\n<p>Those poor San Francisco plebians who don&#8217;t have $1,000 will be able to see the races, but Ellison&#8217;s team recommends spending the cash, now: &#8220;There will be a section of free-view bleachers,&#8221; the Event Authority&#8217;s Ryan Carroll told me. &#8220;But those seats will be limited, and we expect them to fill up quickly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And there may still be some cheaper seats coming; tickets for individual races will go on sale later, and seats at the prelims in June might not cost as much, Carroll said.<\/p>\n<p>Other areas for public waterfront viewing &#8220;will be congested,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Jane Sullivan, marketing director for the America&#8217;s Cup Organizing Committee (which is the city&#8217;s operation, separate and distinct from Ellison&#8217;s), said it&#8217;s not neccessary to give Ellison a thousand bucks to see the sailboats whip by at 50 miles an hour: &#8220;The entire waterfront will not be filled up and congested,&#8221; she said. &#8220;There will be ample and lovely free viewing of all the races.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So let me sum this up: The taxpayers spend $20 million underwriting Ellison&#8217;s race. Then Ellison&#8217;s team wants us to pay him $999 for the right to sit on a bench on public land and watch. Who does this gentleman think he is? (Oh right: He&#8217;s Larry Fucking Ellison.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For $999, you can watch sailing, on public land 02.11.13 &#8211; 3:12 pm\u00a0|\u00a0Tim Redmond\u00a0| (5) Print Did SF get kicked in the balls, or what? &nbsp; Here&#8217;s the deal of a lifetime: For $999, you can get a ticket to watch the America&#8217;s Cup races. From beachers built on public land. Where the non-wealthy public &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/?p=5448\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">$999.00<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[632],"tags":[525,2391],"class_list":["post-5448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-americas-cup-34-2","tag-americas-cup-34","tag-san-francisco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5449,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5448\/revisions\/5449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}