A sad day for energy companies and minor league ball clubs alike: the Brooklyn Cyclones ballpark lost its name today. The Cyclones and National Grid, the company who has sponsored the fledgling ballpark for the past decade, ended their naming-rights agreement. The 7,500-seat Coney Island home of the Mets minor league affiliate will go without a name for the time being, until a new partner can be found. As the national economy has tanked, so too has the stadium-naming economy. According to Robert Boland, an NYU sports professor, part of the problem now is that the naming rights are worth around $100,000, and the Cyclones are "probably selling it for $750,000.” Hopefully the Cyclones will be able to find some silver lining out of this. more ›

The city has selected a new amusement park company to operate rides in Coney Island. Following its purchase of a large chunk of Coney Island land, the city has tapped Zamperla USA to kick off its controversial plan to revitalize the neighborhood by bringing new amusements to the area between KeySpan Park and the former Astroland amusement park. more ›

Tonight begins a new era for the Mets with the christening of Citi Field at 7:10 and there's even a winning record on the line! The Amazins', who are 3-3 so far, open up their new ballpark tonight with the ceremonial first pitch thrown by Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza. The scheduling gods were kind enough to see to it that the Mets' first home series of the year comes against San Diego, ranked last of all thirty MLB teams in ESPN's preseason Power Rankings; they weren't gracious enough however to have the starting rotation slot land on ace Johan Santana. Instead Mike Pelfrey will take the mound. more ›

Where, like last year, we recap the biggest stories from the New York music scene of the year. more ›

Another over-the-top Coney Island development proposal is in the works. Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a plan today to build the nation's biggest urban amusement park there, including 4,500 residential units (20 percent are set-asides for low- and middle-income housing) and some retail establishments. The proposal basically spells doom for Thor Equities' $1.5 million Vegas-style entertainment complex that can only get built if the city provides zoning for it. Don't worry, the Cyclone isn't going anywhere.... more ›

According to Carousel News, "The New York City Economic Development Corporation (“NYCEDC”) is seeking a consultant or consultant team for restoration and reconstruction of the historic B&B Carousell." more ›

THEATER: With his zany imagination and distinctive bass-baritone voice, Joseph Keckler (myspace) has been generating buzz throughout the gooey honeycomb of the downtown performance art cabaret scene. Tonight he sprinkles his particular blend of whimsical catnip at Dixon Place with Cat Lady, in which a man re-enacts an ordinary day with his mother, who runs a community theater with cat actors out of her home. “Past lives are recalled, songs are sung, and finally a trip to the vet's is made in this comedic and dark exploration of the relationship between art and trauma.” Part of the HOT! Festival. – John Del Signore more ›

Did you excel at yo-yo and rock, scissor, paper as a kid? Well, this past weekend was the 1st ever New York State Yo-Yo Contest at the South Street Seaport. From what we hear, excelling in yo-yo is the way to get all the ladies (they dig the finger dexterity and creativity with the yo-yo). It's not just the kids that are throwing the yo-yo around either. Downtown Express tells us that Riad Nasr, the executive chef at Balthazar is also a yo-yo fanatic. "I have a yo-yo in my pocket on the line. In between pick-ups, I’ll throw a trick or two." Watch out for that DOH inspection, Riad. more ›

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READING: Check out today's interviewee, Peter Yarrow, tonight at Barnes and Noble where he'll be performing and signing the recently published Puff, the Magic Dragon book. C'mon, you know you've always wanted to hear that song live! more ›

After the Daily News broke news that the city was unhappy with developer Thor Equities' $1.5 billion plan to revitalize Coney Island (an anonymous city official calling the plan "dead in the water"), the Post gets its own tidbit. Apparently Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff is offering to swap some land with Thor to keep Thor in the general Coney Island mix, but not right on Stillwell Avenue.

Under Doctoroff's compromise, Sitt would give the city the 10 acres of boardwalk land he owns along both sides of Stillwell Avenue so that the city could sell or lease it to amusement operators. more ›

The 9th inning started with Ramon Castro legging out a lead off double, something that wouldn't have happened without the ejection of staring catcher Paul Lo Duca in the 6th inning. Lo Duca argued a 0-1 strike that he thought was inside and was quickly ejected. Despite the ejection, Lo Duca remained on the field, arguing with home plate umpire Marvin Hudson while Willie Randolph attempted to shield Hudson from the fuming Lo Duca. On his way off the field, Lo Duca threw his helmet, bat, and batting gloves onto the field. Once off the field, he threw his catcher's gear onto the field as well. more ›

It seems that every time The White Stripes fade away for a year or two, people seem to forget exactly how amazing they can be live. Perhaps it takes a show like the one at Irving Plaza last Tuesday...filled with hardcore, line-waiting fans and eager and excited members of the media to really drive home just how good a show Jack White puts on, and exactly how impressive Meg is to keep up with him (though not everyone agrees). Those in attendance were in for a treat, as any time an arena band brings it down for a club show, it's always a spectacle. We were floored at Keyspan Park two years ago, and are excited to see them bring it to another level at the Garden next month. Read the reviews at Productshop, The Modern Age, and Stereogum, to (name a few in attendance.) (Pic Via DanFun) more ›

Hold on, hold on. After yesterday's reports that City Councilman Domenic Recchia was working on a deal to keep Coney Island's Astroland amusement park in place for the 2008 season, it turns out that the negotiations may have hit a snag. AM New York reports that Astroland has not received a lease extension. Owner Carol Albert said, "Of course, if Thor Equities wishes to provide a lease, under reasonable terms, Astroland would be very interested in negotiating an agreement." more ›

If you like your Astroland, there's some good news. The Post is reporting that the Coney Island amusement park will be open for another summer. Apparently, Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr. is brokering a deal to keep the park open through the 2008 season. Astroland's operators are working out details of the deal, including compensation, with Thor Equities more ›

The two teams open with a home-at home-at home series (Brooklyn, Staten Island, Brooklyn) before getting the rest of their season started. Standing room tickets for tonight's game at Keyspan are still available. A cursory check for tickets at tomorrow's game at Richmond County Bank Ballpark showed that they were sold out. more ›

One of the nice things about being a music fan in New York City is that you rarely have to wait very long to see a band you're recently missed. The Black Lips famously played about 6,000 shows at SXSW this year, yet despite our interest in checking them out, we managed to catch them exactly zero times (with our final chance being cut short by that whole collapsing balcony thing.) So we were stoked to discover they were going to play last Monday back home at Bowery Ballroom. The show lived up to our ever inflated expectations and managed to bring the house down with their drunken-fried punk. While their "wild boyz" antics may seem a bit forced at this stage in their careers, the music more than holds up on its own. It's not easy to play such sloppy rock and roll so precisely. (Pic via Sandwich!) more ›

Conor and friends will be back at Town Hall for a 7 night run at the end of May. Tickets are not on sale yet. Check some more opinions of the shows here and here. (Pic above via tammylo's flickr) more ›

If you were a 17-year old looking to meet Mike Piazza, your childhood idol and favorite baseball player, what would you do? If you're Ryan Leli, you make some fake press credentials, sneak into Shea Stadium, participate in some Q&A with Piazza, and then pose for pictures. That's what Leli, from Head of the Harbor, did last August when Piazza was visiting with the San Diego Padres. Padres officials became suspicious of Leli when he asked Piazza to pose for a photo with him. The would-be reporter was only arrested when he attempted to gain press access to Shea a second time (!). more ›

The New York-Penn League season may be over, but there was a great baseball story in Coney Island on Sunday at Keyspan Park. Army major, and Bensonhurst native, Doug LeVien Jr. organized a baseball game between Xavier High School alumni against current players from Xavier's baseball team. The reason for the game? A celebration of LeVien's safe return from Iraq. LeVien retuned home from Iraq on September 11th and earned a Bronze Star for his work in Iraq as an Army logistics officer where he helped plan air drops of supplies as an alternative to the dangerous roads in the region. more ›

If Phish were to come back they'd probably pair up with Gnarls Barkley and play "Crazy". more ›

- Sunday at Keyspan Park, baseball loving ladies can participate in the Ladies Clinic the Cyclones are holding from 9 a.m. - noon. The players themselves will be conducting personal and group instruction on baseball fundamentals like hitting, pitching, and fielding. For $35, participants will get a t-shirt, lunch, and two tickets to the game later that evening. While registration ended on 7/31, there are still spaces available. more ›

- Yankees 5, Cyclones 2: The Staten Island Yankees beat the Cyclones for the 3rd game in a row to open the season. The game, played at Keyspan Park, was much closer than Tuesday's 18-0 shutout by the Yankees. On the plus side, the Cyclones did score their first runs at home all season. more ›

Holy home run. Or is that holy Star Jones-style chutzpah? A couple has managed to land about $80,000 worth of sponsorships for their wedding at a Brooklyn Cyclones home game. Flowers are covered by 1800Flowers, cake by Grandma's Secrets in Harlem, Diageo will create a special wedding drink, and more. Caroline Fisher, a radio station sales manager marrying marketing consultant Dave Kerpen, told Ad Age, "It was an idea that both met our needs romantically in terms of getting married on the field and at a baseball stadium, which we love, and simultaneously doing what we love, which is putting together promotions and selling them." Well, we can only guess that the sponsors will call them repeatedly over their honeymoon to ask them about make-goods. The Fisher-Kerpen nuptials will be on July 8, at home plate when the game ends - and Tien Mao is probably available for a wedding cake eating contest. more ›

Gothamist returned to Coney Island on Saturday for the second time in two weekends to take in a show at Keyspan Park. While both had stellar bands playing, the mood this week was far different from the energetic evening the White Stripes gave us . Seven acts were set to take the stage between 1:30 and 10:00 this weekend: Nine Black Alps, Mando Diao, Death From Above 1979, Rilo Kiley, Built to Spill, Gang of Four and The Pixies. Out of all four of the Across the Narrows concerts this weekend, this seemed to be, all around, the strongest lineup. Despite this, the turnout on a beautiful fall day was miniscule. Maybe it was due to the fact that the bigger bands have all played New York rather frequently over the past year, but the park was notably empty up until the Pixies came on, and even then, the 8,500 seats remained almost completely empty and there was still plenty of space on the field. Very strange for the caliber of talent on the bill. It gave the whole festival a very amateurish feel. more ›

- The development of affordable housing on City-owned property in the residential area.So there will be a lot of rezoning, but the city seems, so far, to be committed to making sure there are affordable options for residents as well as creating jobs. more ›

A baseball All-Star game was played in Brooklyn Tuesday night for the first time since 1949 and while it wasn’t major leaguers playing; the Class A players of the Mets and Yankees did quite well on their own. Over 9,000 fans, the second most ever to attend a game at Keyspan Park, saw the National Legue defeat the American League 5-4. more ›

Growing up in New York, Gothamist was limited to only two baseball options, the Yankees and the Mets, but in recent years, baseball has bloomed in the big city. Two more options are available for baseball fans in the single A affiliates of the Yankees and the Mets - the Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones. more ›

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