Sure George Steel only headed up the Dallas Opera for a few weeks before jetting back to New York to take over the struggling New York City Opera. Since that public spurn, some followers of the Dallas Opera have indulged in not a small amount of Schadenfreude, watching the fire-to-frying pan jumping Steel navigate the troubled waters of the once-fabled, now nearly bankrupt New York City Opera.

The latest news: Steel is leading the opera company out of Lincoln Center, where it has lived since 1966. The move is controversial, in part because in 2006 Steel’s predecessor, the Belgian Gerard Mortier, sunk millions into renovating the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center, where the opera performs. Nonetheless, says Steel, “Not everyone is built to be at Lincoln Center.”

The New York City Opera is currently built for a nomadic existence, it would seem. Though they do not have repertoire, dates, or venues set for their next season (troublesome considering opera singers are often booked three to five years in advance of performances), Steel is emphatic that there will be a next season for the New York City Opera, which was at one point in doubt.

The situation has also inflamed Alan Gordon, the head of the American Guild of Musical Artists, who said Steel’s desire to hire musicians from performance to performance is like, “an old-fashioned shape-up on the waterfront.”

Gordon continued:

“Steel’s approach is out-and-out stupid and it’s designed to assure that City Opera goes out of business.”

So, how’s that New York weather treating you, George?