NYC 2012 released the design for the Olympics Stadium in Queens yesterday. It's at the point where New Yorkers will soon need a crib sheet of all the stadium plans being proposed: Brooklyn Nets Arena, new Yankee Stadium, even the old West Side Stadium. The proposed Olympics Stadium would be the new Shea Stadium, but expandable to fit 80,000 visitors. The NY Times makes the point that it's not "high-tech" looking like the West Side Stadium, and Gothamist has to say, thank God (we really hated the West Side Stadium design), since something super high-tech would probably look slightly incongruous in Queens - though the World's Fair monuments are holding up well.
Our favorite stadium-related quote from this weekend comes from a NY Times Magazine interview with developer and NJ (soon-to-be Brooklyn) Nets owner Bruce Ratner. After Ratner explained that a new, expensive Brooklyn stadium was needed to generate more revenue for the franchise, this exchange occured:
NY Times: Since you're the principal owner of the Nets and paying Vince Carter $15 million a year, why not just slash players' salaries, lower ticket costs and preserve the old, historic stadiums?
Ratner: Is that a joke? We have to be competitive.
The Continental Airlines Arena is not historic. And Vince Carter is cool!
