Just being neighborly.

Promises: they’re easy to make, but hard to keep. Just ask the residents and landowners of West Harlem.

For the last five years, a number of developments have been proposed along 125^th Street, but most have fallen through. Take, for instance, Vornado Realty Trust’s ambitious plans for a 600,000-square-foot office building on the corner of Park Avenue that would have housed Major League Baseball's new television network. That building never materialized, nor did a later development, planned on the same site, for a high-rise that included a Marriott hotel.

So what’s the beef? Why are so many projects along 125^th Street (as well as nearby Lexington and Morningside avenues) habitually planned and then abandoned?

The answer, according to Community Board 10's Paimaan Lodhi told Crain’s New York Business, is that developers are turned off by the empty stretches of land. “The 125th Street corridor can’t see its full potential if the majority of the lots are still vacant,” he said.

And yet, despite this series of false starts, the city is at it again, this time with the hopes of finding a developer interested in converting a 450-car parking garage near the Apollo Theater on West 125^th Street into a 42,000-square-foot retail, office, and cultural complex.

Here’s hoping they’ll follow through this time.

jschiewe@observer.com

(1) Fox-5....MLB All-Star Game....1,228,000

(2) Fox-5....MLB All-Star Pre-Game....1,044,000

(3) ESPN....Home Run Derby....640,000

(4) Disney....Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana....569,000

(5) ESPN....Home Run Derby....541,000

(6) WXTV-41....Manana Es Para Siempre....530,000

(7) WCBS-2....CSI: Miami....526,000

(8) WABC-7....Primetime: Family Secrets....524,000

(9) WCBS-2....The Mentalist....520,000

(10) Fox-5....So You Think You Can Dance (Wed)....513,000

Top 10 shows in New York, June 13 to July 19, according to Nielsen Data (total viewers, time shifting/DVR not included).

According to Mr. Ronen, the MLB.tv deal is a "holy grail" of sports content—with thousands of ball games, available  live and on-demand. MLB.tv's premium package also offers DVR-like features so users can pause and rewind a live game. Users will dole out a $89.95 yearly fee so they can watch MLB games streaming on their PCs. (Peanuts compared to box seats!)

The Boxee team worked directly with the company to create the MLB.tv application. Mr. Ronen declined to give further details on the deal (like whether Boxee will itself generate revenue from the subscription service). But he emphasized Boxee's big step in working so closely with a content provider and said that he hopes other media companies will team up with him to create customized services for the software.

"It proves that Boxee is friendly to content providers," Mr. Ronen said. 

Mr. Ronen called in to The Observer yesterday hours before he stood before more than 900 Boxee fans at a San Francisco club and announced several new updates to the platform with a flashy party.

On his blog, Fred Wilson, who is a Boxee investor as managing partner of Union Square Ventures, wrote about the new developments. "This is just the beginning for Boxee, and bringing video on the Web to your living room television. I'll use a baseball analogy in honor of MLB's partnership with Boxee. I feel like this 'Web video to the living room' is a nine-inning game and we are in the first or second inning right now. It's going to be exciting to watch and participate in."

So far, Boxee has been sequestered to a slightly underground, early-adopter crowd, despite all the media buzz about their content battles with with Hulu.

But Mr. Ronen announced another update that will bring Boxee out of its britches—an early-stage release of a Microsoft Windows application.

Previously, Boxee was only available to the Apple and Linux faithful and, so far, Boxee is only halfway to their one-million-user goal. But opening up the platform to PC users will push them into the mainstream—which is where Mr. Ronen wants to be to stay ahead of his competition and get on a more TV-friendly, TiVo-like device by 2010.

Along with rumors that Steve Jobs might have his eye on a more Web-to-TV-friendly device than the Apple TV, other TV companies are integrating Internet capabilities with their new screens. Vizio, for example, is releasing a Twitter-, Flickr-, Netflix-enabled TV.

So Boxee has a long way to go, yet—but is certainly still in the race.

Being a developer-friendly platform has been helpful for Boxee. They love the platform and want to work for it—for free. Last night, Mr. Ronen and his team announced winners of their Developer Challenge, in which about 40 developers rushed to create applications and integrate new content into the system. The platform now offers about 120 applications, including ones for Drop.io, AnyClip, BBC Live, and We Are Hunted, a music site that tracks the bands generating the most discussion on social networks.

Boxee will also be adding more social features. They are integrating Current.tv content and a "Digg for TV" application, in which users can browse the most popular videos their computer (or TV) screen.

Digg "has been instrumental in discovery on the Web and discovery about what is going on with TV is what is missing in the Internet age—it's missing the discovery tools," Mr. Ronen said. Boxee plans on allowing users to "Digg" stuff on their TV screen in a future release.

Finally, David Karp's Tumblr team also worked with the Boxee team to allow users to stream music and click through photo slideshows from their followers. We're sure they'll "like" that.

Yes, the Mets have Johan Santana, the best pitcher in baseball, anchoring their staff. But behind the two-time Cy Young winner, the Mets’ rotation is shaky. Backing up Santana and Pelfrey are three gifted-but-unreliable pitchers: Oliver Perez, who looked like a particularly errant batting-practice pitcher in his last preseason start, against the Red Sox; John Maine, who is coming off an injury-shortened 2008 season; and Livan Hernandez, 34 years old and one year removed from a season in which he had a 6.05 earned run average. After Mets general manager Omar Minaya devoted most of the off-season to restructuring the Mets dismal bullpen, the rotation could end up being the thing that lets the Mets down.

In other words, if the Mets want to make the playoffs, Mike Pelfrey has to pitch like Jerry Koosman, who complimented staff ace Tom Seaver in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the nine seasons between 1968 and 1976, Jerry Koosman was one of the best pitchers in baseball, averaging slightly over 14 wins per season and helping the Mets reach the playoffs twice.  Koosman won two games in the 1969 World Series, pitching 8 and 2/3 innings of one-run baseball in Game 2 and closing out the series in Game 5 with a five-hit, three-run complete game. He wasn’t Tom Seaver, but the Amazin’ Mets wouldn’t have been so amazing without the workmanlike pitching from Koosman.

Mike Pelfrey stands 6 feet 7 inches tall and has one of the best sinking fastballs in the majors. Mixing in a decent changeup and an average curveball, Pelfrey doesn’t dominate games, but he is efficient when he is pitching well, forces a lot of groundball outs with his sinker and can pitch late into games. Unlike the other pitchers in the rotation, Pelfrey is an original Met, having been drafted in the first round by the Mets in the 2005 draft. Formerly a top prospect, he seemed to put it all together last year after struggling in limited major league appearances in 2006 and 2007.

In 2008, Pelfrey’s first full season in the majors, he went 13-11 with a 3.72 ERA in 200.2 innings. Those are fine numbers for a young pitcher, but he effectively pitched two different seasons last year.

From Opening Day to June 16th, Pelfrey started 13 games and had 3 wins, 6 losses and an era of 4.62. On Monday, June 16th, Pelfrey pitched poorly in the series opener against the Anaheim Angels, giving up six earned runs in six innings. He still managed to pick up the win, although he did not deserve it, and the Mets improved to 34-35 on the season. It was Willie Randolph’s last game as the Mets’ manager. Later that night, Randolph and pitching coach Rick Peterson were fired and replaced by Jerry Manuel and Dan Warthen, respectively.

Coincidence or not, both the Mets and Pelfrey thrived under the new leadership.

From June 16th on, the Mets went 55-38, although the season ended with Mets missing the playoffs on the last day of the season for the second year in a row. In that span Pelfrey pitched like a true number-two starter and did all he could to get the Mets into the postseason. In 19 starts after the Anaheim game, Pelfrey went 11-5 with a 3.35 earned run average, and pitched into the seventh inning in 12 of his starts. Immediately following the coup, Pelfrey pitched seven games without a loss and later, in August, pitched back-to-back complete games.

Whether it was getting rid of his mouthguard, or ditching his slider in favor of his curveball, or just a chemistry issue, Pelfrey pitched much, much better with Warthen as his pitching coach.

Now, the Mets are hoping he can reproduce his second-half form over the course of a full season, even though his workload jumped 48 innings from 2007 to 2008. Pelfrey had mixed results in spring training. In his final preseason tune up, he got shelled, giving up six runs in just 4 and 2/3 innings.

If the Mets are to make the playoffs for the first time since 2006, Pelfrey has to deliver. Around 200 innings, with an ERA around 3.50 and 14 wins should do it. He needs to be a great number-two starter. He needs to pitch a lot better than he pitched on Wednesday night.

Baseball is, in many ways, a preindustrial 19th-century sport. Its pace is slow, leaving lots of time for beer and relaxed conversation between pitches and between innings. This week baseball came full circle. Billy Crystal may have stuck out, but he was a Yankee for a day. And this week both the Mets and Major league baseball went green.

The Met’s new stadium, Citi Field, will be built using recycled steel, water efficient plumbing and other green principles.

“The Mets understand that their responsibility to New Yorkers doesn't end with the third out in the bottom of the ninth," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "They've taken the initiative to be bold, innovative and environmentally responsible."

In another green baseball initiative, Major League Baseball and the Natural Resources Defense Council recently announced their Team Greening Program.

“Baseball is a social institution with social responsibilities and caring for the environment is inextricably linked to all aspects of our game,” said Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. "Sound environmental practices make sense in every way and protect our natural resources for future generations of baseball fans.”

The Team Greening Program is a web-based software tool featuring advice and resources for every aspect of a Club’s operations.

“The commitment by our national pastime to enhance its ecological profile in a meaningful and public way marks a watershed in the history of baseball and the environmental movement,” said Allen Hershkowitz, Senior Scientist, NRDC. “No other sporting institution has influenced American culture as much as baseball and the League is once again putting that influence to very good use.”

What does all this mean? In some ways, it’s hard to evaluate. Is this the counter-spin to the steroid scandal? Is this any more than a bit of green-washed public relations?

A really green baseball might add a few more day games to the mix and try to play without needing those energy draining sun-like lights that illuminate the ball field each night.

Maybe some discounted tickets could be sold to customers who take the subway to the game.

Still, even little steps are meaningful when you think about how important baseball is to our history and national self image… So let’s give the Mets and the majors credit for paying attention.

So, now: how about the Mets' wealthy neighbors up in the Bronx? Hey, Steinbrenners: When are we going to see some green pinstripes?

This content was provided for use by The New York Observer, specifically on Observer.com by the scientists and researchers at Columbia University. Any other use of this content without prior authorization from Columbia University and The New York Observer is strictly prohibited.

Vornado is contending that it needs $7.8 million or so in tax breaks in order to complete the office and retail project, saying in its application to the IDA that the project will benefit the city. MLB wants $2.23 million in breaks to take 132,000 square feet and be an anchor tenant in Vornado’s tower, saying the development will add scores of jobs.

The planned 21-story Swanke Hayden Connell-designed building of approximately 600,000 square feet would rise just west of the Metro North station on 125^th Street. But, in its IDA application, Vornado says it would have to switch to building a development that would hold a large department store and 331 condos in order to make ends meet if it doesn't get the subsidies to build the office and retail tower.

The watchdog Good Jobs New York was on hand to offer criticism of the use of the subsides.

“It’s not fair to assume the city needs to use tax breaks to lure MLB Enterprises considering the site has access to transportation facilities such as the subway and Metro North and easy access to other business and residential locations and Yankee Stadium and Citi Field,” Good Jobs executive director Bettina Damiani said in prepared testimony.

Did Manny Alexander, who had been groomed to succeed Cal Ripken Jr. at shortstop for the Orioles, really think steroids would make him more likely to play in thousands of consecutive games?

Didn’t Gary Bennett realize that buying HGH while playing in Coors Field is redundant?

Does Barry Bonds feel a little less lonely now?

When Kevin Brown punched a wall, knocking him out of action for a month of the 2004 season… was that ‘roid rage?

Was Jose Canseco using steroids when he saved that lady’s player piano in the Simpsons’ episode “Homer at the Bat”?

Do steroids make a pitcher throw shards of bat at Mike Piazza? If so, given the pervasive nature of steroid use in baseball, is Piazza in constant danger?

Lenny Dykstra was famous for leaving tobacco stains all over the center field wall at Veterans’ Stadium. Given the evidence of his steroid use, does this still count as disgusting?

Will records like Matt Franco’s most pinch-hit walks in a season still have resonance to future generations of baseball fans?

Just how high would Eric Gagne’s ERA have been with the Red Sox if he’d played clean?

Does drug use explain David Justice’s harsh treatment of Halle Berry?

Considering that Paul Lo Duca hit just 14 home runs in nearly 1,000 at bats for the Mets, don’t fans have a right to demand a note of apology on the same Dodger Stadium stationary Lo Duca reportedly used to thank his dealer?

Did Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman think it was strange that after finalizing Andy Pettitte’s one-year, $16 million deal just a day before the release of the Mitchell Report, his agent yelled out, “No take-backs!”

Didn’t Gary Sheffield think $50,000 was too much to pay for, as he reportedly said in the Mitchell Report, “vitamins?”

Were the boos directed at Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis artificially amplified by HGH?

Did HGH give Mo Vaughn the munchies?

Was Toronto Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun’s criticism of the Mitchell Report related to the copy of Zaun’s check for purchase of steroids found in the Mitchell Report?

And a bonus: On the night of August 7, 1989, Mets left fielder Mark Carreon misplayed a deep fly ball by Philadelphia’s Charlie Hayes, costing the Mets the game. In light of Carreon’s alleged steroid use, do my tears still count?

The 77 names ran the gamut, as Mitchell wrote in his report, “from players whose major league careers were brief to potential members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. They include both pitchers and position players, and their backgrounds are as diverse as those of all major league players.”

Some of the most prominent players named include Clemens, Giambi and Pettitte, Miguel Tejada, Lenny Dykstra, Juan Gonzalez, and of course, Barry Bonds.

The evidence against players varies widely, from a hearsay case against current Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, to the evidence against former Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca, whose canceled checks and a thank-you note on Dodger Stadium stationary was provided to Mitchell by former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski.

The case against Roger Clemens rests in large part from a written agreement between the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Northern California and Roger Clemens’ longtime trainer, Brian McNamee. He was interviewed three times by Mitchell, and advised that his statements were covered by the agreement.

According to the report, Clemens approached McNamee in June of 1998 about steroids, and began taking them, with McNamee injecting Clemens at his home. Clemens pitched to a 3.55 ERA in the first half of 1998 and a 1.71 ERA during the second half of the season. He struck out 120 batters in 119 innings during the first half; 151 in 115 2/3 in the second half.

After coming to the Yankees, McNamee was then hired by New York at Clemens’ recommendation, according to the report, and was paid both by the team and Clemens himself. Clemens took both steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) on many occasions, according to McNamee.

As for Andy Pettitte, he reportedly approached McNamee about human growth hormone while recovering from elbow tendonitis during the 2002 season. McNamee said he traveled to Tampa, where Pettitte was rehabilitating, and injected him with HGH. Pettitte’s ERA in the first half of 2002 was 4.74—in the second half, 2.70.

The most prominent recent Mets named in the report were Todd Hundley and Lo Duca. Hundley had been a defense-first catcher with the Mets, whose career-high in home runs was 16. After taking steroids that Radmonski promised would allow Hundley to hit 40 home runs, he set the single-season record for home runs by a Met with 41. According to the report, after the season, “Hundley took [Radmonski] out to dinner.”

According to former Hundley teammate Chris Donnels, the two discussed performance-enhancing drugs many times while teammates; Hundley was found in Radmonski’s address book as well when it was seized by Federal agents.

Hundley went on to introduce Radmonski to Lo Duca when Lo Duca played for the Los Angeles Dodgers. According to the report, Radmonski supplied Lo Duca with human growth hormone six or more times. Radmonski supplied Mitchell with checks from Lo Duca, along with the handwritten note of thanks.

The Lo Duca case also provides insight into the level of knowledge front offices had concerning steroid use.

According to handwritten notes from the Los Angeles Dodgers discussing Lo Duca, “Steroids aren’t being used anymore on him. Big part of this. Might have some value to trade . . . Florida might have interest.. . . Got off the steroids . . . Took away a lot of hard line drives.. Can get comparable value back would consider trading. . . . If you do trade him, will get back on the stuff and try to show you he can have a good year. That’s his makeup. Comes to play. Last year of contract, playing for 05.”

According to Mitchell, Clemens, Pettitte, Hundley and Lo Duca all declined to speak with him.

Talking to the press shortly after the report was released, baseball commissioner Bud Selig said he would review each case to determine what punishment would be appropriate; Senator Mitchell’s recommendation was that baseball move on, forsaking penalty in favor of a comprehensive testing plan to prevent future violations. He also said he hadn’t read the report, providing a convenient dodge for questions he preferred not to answer.

Responding to a question about his feelings on the report as a fan of the game, Selig said, "In all candor, let me say that I haven't read it, I haven't had a chance to study it fully." But he added, "Senator Mitchell acknowledges in his report that the ultimate decisions on discipline rest with the Commissioner and he is correct. Discipline of players and others identified in the report will be determined on a case-by-case basis. If warranted, those decisions will be made swiftly and I, of course, will give thorough consideration to Senator Mitchell's views on the subject."

Below is the complete list of players implicated in the report. Depth of evidence varies, of course: Brian Roberts was named by a teammate through hearsay, while the report contains cancelled checks from Paul Lo Duca along with a handwritten thank-you note on Dodger Stadium stationary.

Chad Allen
Manny Alexander
Rick Ankiel
Mike Bell
David Bell
Gary Bennett Jr.
Marvin Bernard
Larry Bigbie
Barry Bonds
Kevin Brown
Paul Byrd
Ken Caminiti
Jose Canseco
Mark Carreon
Jason Christiansen
Howie Clark
Roger Clemens
Jack Cust
Brendan Donnelly
Lenny Dykstra
Bobby Estalella
Matt Franco
Ryan Franklin
Eric Gagne
Jason Giambi
Jeremi Giambi
Jay Gibbons
Troy Glaus
Jason Grimsley
Jose Guillen
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Matt Herges
Phil Hiatt
Glenallen Hill
Darren Holmes
Todd Hundley
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Tim Laker
Mike Lansing
Paul Lo Duca
Nook Logan
Josias Manzanillo
Gary Matthews Jr.
Cody McKay
Kent Mercker
Bart Miadich
Hal Morris
David Naulty
Denny Neagle
Jim Parque
Andy Pettitte
Adam Piatt
Todd Pratt
Stephen Randolph
Adam Riggs
Brian Roberts
John Rocker
F.P. Santangelo
Benito Santiago
Gary Sheffield
Scott Schoeneweis
David Segui
Mike Stanton
Miguel Tejada
Ismael Valdez
Mo Vaughn
Randy Velarde
Ron Villone
Fernando Vina
Rondell White
Todd Williams
Jeff Williams
Matt Williams
Steve Woodard
Kevin Young
Gregg Zaun

UPDATE: Just to provide an idea of the breadth of all this, here are two all-star teams comprised entirely of players implicated in the report:

C Todd Hundley
1B Rafael Palmeiro
2B Chuck Knoblauch
3B Matt Williams
SS Miguel Tejada
LF Barry Bonds
CF Lenny Dykstra
RF Juan Gonzalez
DH Jason Giambi
SP Roger Clemens
SP Andy Pettitte
RP Eric Gagne
RP Mike Stanton

C Paul Lo Duca
1B Mo Vaughn
2B Brian Roberts
3B Troy Glaus
SS Randy Velarde
LF David Justice
CF Rondell White
RF Jose Guillen
DH Jose Canseco
SP Kevin Brown
SP Denny Neagle
RP Brendan Donnelly
RP John Rocker

Honorable Mention: Benito Santiago, Hal Morris, Fernando Vina, Ron Villone, Gregg Zaun, Kent Mercker, Jack Cust, Glenallen Hill

About an hour after the news was announced yesterday, Greg Anderson, a longtime trainer of Bonds who was in jail for refusing to answer questions about the longtime Giants star, was released. Of the statements indicated in the indictment to be perjury, the vast majority of them involve Bonds’s interactions with Anderson directly—characterizations Anderson would be in a position to refute.

While the indictment presents an array of unhappy alternatives for Bonds, it’s a potential disaster for the league.

Calls from the fans and media to censure Bonds and eradicate his records from baseball’s official books will only intensify. But with Bonds merely indicted, but not convicted, Major League Baseball is going to find it difficult to act decisively enough to satisfy the public.

There is little-to-no precedent for baseball’s response to the Bonds indictment.

The National Football League suspended Michael Vick for a year for his role in facilitating dog fights, but did so after Vick had already copped to the charges. And baseball’s all-time hits leader Pete Rose agreed to a lifetime ban by baseball long before admitting to betting on baseball games, and less than a year later, the Baseball Hall of Fame made any player banned by baseball ineligible for the Hall of Fame.

But these acts did not directly contribute to the player’s success on the field. While the indictment doesn’t do so either—no one is claiming that Bonds hit more home runs because he obstructed justice—what he lied about, according to the indictment, is taking steroids and human growth hormone.

The closest thing baseball has seen since the investigation into Rose’s betting is the current inquiry by former Senator George Mitchell into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. Mitchell has promised to release his findings prior to the end of the season, and the combination of his information and the indictment would surely be too much for Commissioner Bud Selig to ignore.

But if the charges don’t stick, and Selig uses them as part of his cause in banning Bonds from the game, MLB will face a monumental lawsuit.

The easiest part of this for baseball may be whether Bonds plays in 2008. His contract with the Giants ended following the 2007 season, and the team announced late in the campaign that they would not be bringing Bonds back. It is hard to imagine any major league team taking on the public relations nightmare, not to mention the risk of an indicted left fielder or designated hitter, even though Bonds posted an on base-plus-slugging percentage higher than anyone in baseball besides Alex Rodriguez.

The harder question will be whether Bonds can be banned symbolically from the game. He’d be kept out of the Hall of Fame. But what of his home run record?

Even if baseball mandated that Bonds’s records carry an asterisk or be erased entirely, how could it be enforced? Would the fact that he hit all those home runs be any more ignorable if he’s convicted than if he isn’t?

There are no good scenarios here for baseball. The league’s executives will just have to hope now that Alex Rodriguez stays healthy long enough to see to it that Bonds’ reign as Home Run King is a short one.