More Details on Baseball Stadiums Released

Plans for a new stadium for New York's two local baseball teams was approved by the Empire State Development Corporation's board yesterday. The two stadiums, with a combined stadium only cost of over $1.2 billion. Along with the preliminary approval, the board released some additional details on the two stadiums.

The new stadium for the Mets, which will cost $444.4 million (that's a lot of fours for being so close to Chinatown) for the stadium alone and will total about $600 million. The stadium will bring the fans closer to the field than they currently are at Shea, have seven levels with 42,500 seats (Shea has 55,601) and 50-60 luxury boxes. The new Yankee Stadium will cost $1.2 billion total with the stadium running about $800 million. Monument Park will be moved and recreated in the 53,000 seat stadium (57,545 in The House That Ruth Built). The new stadium will have 60 luxury boxes.

Next for the two proposed stadiums is a period of public comment and final approval by the committee and then the Public Authorities Control Board.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By tien mao on January 19, 2006 1:07 PM

Comments [rss]

DAVID

THE YANKEES DEFINITLY DO NOT NEED MORE PARKING THAN THEY HAVE NOW. THE TRAFFIC AROUND THE STADIUM IS CRAZY DURING GAME DAYS AND REMEMBER THIS IS NOT FOOTBALL WHERE THERE ARE ONLY EIGHT HOME GAMES. fOR 81 DAYS A YEAR THE TRAFFIC IS UNBEARABLE AND I THINK THERE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH PARKING FOR PEOPLE WHO ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT TAKE THE SUBWAY.

Gwen

I know why they need a new stadium - because it costs 1.2 billion $. Someone will dip in the gravy.

Peter

I think some better parking would be good for fans coming from NJ, LI and upstate. That main garage is great to get into and two hours to get out of. The subway will always be the best for people who live in NYC.

The one good thing about the new stadium is that 2/3's of the seats will now be in the lower deck versus 1/3 right now.

Tim N.

Anon: While you make some points, I don't think Ryan is all that idiotic. Is the new Metro-North stop in the plans? If not, why not? That would help some of the commuters. How about increasing ferry service? There are some answers out there.

Listen, I've driven to the stadium and taken the train to the stadium. I'm home in my house watching Len Berman (okay, maybe Letterman) (okay, maybe Conan if the game goes late) in the time it takes me to negotiate the garage and get to the Deegan after a game. Will adding more parking help this out? Probably not, as it mean more cars feeing into the streets and highways. They could come up with a better plan.

PS: And the "scary" neighborhood was Steinbrenner hype. Most of the crimes committed around the Stadium in the 70s and 80s were game-related. What was truly scary was the team on the field (from Horace Clarke to Mel Hall, with a break for the Reggie/Thrum/Nettles/Guidry years).

Anonymous

Ryan: Did you ever consider how many subway lines go from Connecticut or New Jersey to Yankee Stadium?? 0. About half of the entire state of CT are Yankee fans. Should they take the subway also? What are they going to do, leave their cars by Van Cortlandt park and get on the subway? What an idiotic comment. If you had actually taken more than a second to think about this post, we would have all been spared your jaded, everyone use the subway rant. Parking is easily the stadiums biggest problem and needs to be solved. I think people have forgetten that in the 70's and 80's, the stadium area was downright scary. The teams were bad and it was not a popular place to go and you know, without investment in an area, there no saying it wont happen again, especially in a non-gentrified area in the South Bronx. Everything is cyclical. So the Yankees are trying to make the stadium experience more fan friendly. How can you blame them?

Ace

I agree there is nothing wrong with Yankee stadium. I love sitting in the front of the upper deck right behind the plate. I hope they "rake" the upper deck at the new stadium as much as the current one.

eefers

I'm saying they assume that's how many people will take the trains because THEY'RE ADDING 75% MORE PARKING.

Benjamin

Having seen the subway after Yankee games, I find it hard to believe that only about 2850 people are on those trains. And that's just for sold-out games. I'm skeptical of the 5 percent number.

Toby

Here is what should be done:

Tear down the current Yankee Stadium, leaving the field intact. Build a new Yankee Stadium around the field. While it is being built, the Yankees can play at Shea and/or the new Mets stadium. During the 1970s refurbishment of Yankee Stadium the Yankees played at Shea for a year or two, which lead to some odd looking baseball cards of Yankees in home pinstripes at Shea.

The above plan would keep the historic Yankee Stadium field and result in zero loss of Bronx park land.

eefers

Only 30% of people who attend events at Madison Square Garden take public transportation. And it practically sits ON TOP OF Penn Station.

The Yankees' folks assume that only 5% of attendees will take the subway to the new stadium. Can you believe that?

And this part of the Bronx has one of the highest asthma rates of any neighborhood in the city!

Benjamin

Ryan: No one should park at all at Yankee Stadium. There's are THREE subways that go to the Stadium. Just use it. I could really give two sh*ts about parking at Yankee Stadium. I go to 20+ games a year. I've been doing it for as long as I can remember, and I've taken the subway every time. It's a hell of a lot cheaper and faster than taking the subway.

Ryan

I don't understand why in the world they would tear down yankee stadium to build a smaller stadium, i'm all for them doing it to build a mega stadium that would hopefully lower ticket prices so more people could go, but a smaller stadium doesn't make sense. Especially when they have to kill a park to do it. And screw parking, the lot should be smaller it is now, make people take public transportion, there is no need for people to be driving their gas chugging cars to yankee stadium, there is already too much traffic already.

yank fan

tear down shea but destroying yankee stadium sucks

eefers

While the issue of parkland being taken for the stadium is being covered in the news, the real consequences of the action are not. For instance:

***In less than 3 weeks, 22 acres of Bronx parkland were alienated with almost no public hearings and little to no input from the community.

***When the 22 acres of contiguous parkland go, so will 400 mature trees.

***While the plan calls for fewer seats than the current Yankees' stadium, it allows for 75% more parking. With the startling asthma, diabetes and obesity rates we know to be true in this neighborhood, prioritizing parking over parks and offering little incentive to use public transportation is unconscionable.

***While the Yankees will "replace" the alienated parkland, a significant portion of it will be located on a waterfront site earlier deemed "inaccessible" by the team for a possible new stadium site.

Benjamin

I don't understand why the Yanks need a new stadium. While Neil deMause still finds fault with this plan, it's a lot better than the bum deal DC is getting. However, from a facility point of view, what's wrong with Yankee Stadium? Sure, it's not the most modern of ballparks, but it's Yankee Stadium. It has history and legend. It's hallowed grounds.

I'm all for building a retro-Ebbets Field and replacing Shea, but not Yankee Stadium.