New Jersey governor Chris Christie has stoked the eternal tri-state debate: Are the Giants property of New York or New Jersey?
Christie said Wednesday that if the Giants win it all this season, they should hold their ticker-tape parade in the state they inhabit.
“They play in New Jersey,” Christie said on the “Today” show (via the New York Daily News). “They train in New Jersey.”
Reminded by Matt Lauer that the Giants have a "NY" logo on their helmet, Christie replied, "That’s about it."
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg -- a civic leader apparently guided by black magic -- steered clear of the debate.
“I want to be careful here,” Bloomberg said. “I don’t want somebody to say we jinxed it, so I’m not going to talk about it.”
This has been a touchy issue in the region for some time. Big Blue hopped the border when Giants Stadium opened in 1976. After the franchise won its first Super Bowl in January 1987, then New York City mayor Ed Koch -- still smarting from the address change -- banned the Giants from the Canyon of Heroes. When the Giants won the Super Bowl in February 2008, their parade route began in Manhattan and ended at the Meadowlands parking lot.
That seems like a fair compromise, but perhaps this is best left to a coin flip. Heads, parade goes down the Canyon of Heroes in New York. Tails, it shoots down the Garden State Parkway to the Paramus Park Mall. Free Auntie Anne's pretzels for all!