When will the bubble burst?


The Yankees’ economics are far different from those of every other major league team. Their box seats near the infield will go for $90 a game next year.

Of course, that’s peanuts and Cracker Jacks for the city’s well-heeled baseball fans. For many New Yorkers, money really is no obstacle.

For example, this week at Zabar’s, a famous West Side food emporium, there was an express line just for caviar. At Citarella, another mecca for gourmands, white truffles were going for $199 an ounce.

Fans of cabaret singer Bobby Short pay a $95 cover charge before he ever tickles the ivories or a single drink is poured at Cafe Carlyle.

Those numbers are infinitesimal when compared to Manhattan’s booming real-estate prices. According to Halstead’s third-quarter survey, the average sale price of a small two-bedroom apartment was $963,127 in the third quarter. The average for a large two-bedroom was $1,277,401.

Perhaps the most incredible example of all: News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch is in the process of buying a three-floor Fifth Avenue apartment from the late Laurance S. Rockefeller’s estate and will pay $44 million in cash — no mortgages allowed. That tops the record $42.25 million businessman David Martinez paid when he bought two condominium units to combine them into one at the Time Warner Center.

The Yankees had revenues of roughly $315 million in 2004, taking in about $130 million from ticket sales alone. Boston, which had the No. 2 payroll at $130 million, estimated its revenue at $220 million.

Yankees manager Joe Torre, as well as Yankees fans, know that after he plucks these stars from other teams, Steinbrenner readies himself for the new season by thinking about 162 wins, 0 losses, and postseason sweeps all the way through the World Series.

Anything less is a failure.

Yeah, especially if the Red Sox bypass them again to win another ALCS in 2005.



“When you work for George Steinbrenner,” Torre said, “whether you’re the favorite or you’re not the favorite, you’re expected to win.”

No matter the price.