Audit Finds MTA Gave Apple Unfair Edge in Winning Grand Central Lease

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that the MTA gave Apple an unfair edge in obtaining a Grand Central Terminal lease, according to a scathing new report obtained by the New York Post.

"The competitive process followed by MTA... was at a minimum severely slanted toward Apple," said DiNapoli in the report which should be released today. Last May, the MTA let Apple set a daunting hurdle for its competitors by requiring bidders to put up $5 million in cash within a 30-day window.

DiNapoli says Apple had been in private talks with the MTA for more than two years before the bidding process.


MTA officials discredit the report, accusing DiNapoli's office of "overt bias against the MTA and Apple."

"This audit is not fact-based, and, accordingly, their opinion is worthless," said MTA Chairman and CEO Joseph Lhota. "The MTA's lease process with Apple was open, transparent and followed both the spirit and letter of the law."

Notably, Apple is paying $1.1 million in rent, four times what the previous tenant had been paying. Also, its hard to imagine which retailer would have been better for Grand Central Terminal. After all, Apple Stores outperform the average retailer by seventeen times.

Read More [via Aron]