Major League Soccer (MLS) is lobbying to build a 35, 000 seat professional soccer stadium and concert venue on between 10 -13 acres of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The plan calls for filling in the former Pool of Industry from the 1964 Worlds Fair (above) to build a stadium. MLS had also been pushing to build a stadium on another swath of parkland in Hudson River Park in Manhattan. (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge.
Queens resident Jorge Badilla, 30, shoots some hoops with the Pool of Industry in the background. The entire area would be developted under a plan to build a professional soccer stadium and concert venue.
"It's a shame what they are trying to do," said the waiter originally from Honduras. "We need our park space."
Queens
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is under siege.
The Bloomberg administration is attempting to push through three major projects that would permanently seize nearly 75 acres of public parkland for commercial projects that will also have enormous additional impacts on the surrounding communities, according to a guest editorial in the New York Daily News.
We now live in era where not only are our public parklands readily available for commercial development but it is activity being encouraged under this administration.
Parks by law are supposed to be protected from non-park purposes — laws our elected officials have taken an oath to uphold.
Some elected officials seem to be confused about where exactly these projects are located. They have repeatedly touted the supposed great “economic benefits” to the area.
However, the “area” they keep referring to is a 1,255-acre, heavily used public park, and not a street or a commercial area.
A number of high-profile companies are vying for the land grab.
Bloomberg-preferred developer the Related Companies in partnership with Sterling Equities, the real estate firm controlled by the owner of the Mets, have plans to build a 1.4 million-square-foot mall and parking garage. The majority of the land for the $3 billion Willets Point project would be taken from parkland adjacent to Citi Field currently used for parking. The administration is attempting to get away with not alienating the land as is required under state law in order to use parkland for non-park purposes.
The city is desperately trying to rely on a 1961 bill that never replaced parkland used for Shea Stadium.
If the 40-plus acres being proposed for mall use are no longer needed for parking then it should revert back to its original recreational use. Our elected officials should be pushing for that instead of giving away our public spaces to the highest bidder.
Major League Soccer is pushing to build a 35,000-seat professional soccer stadium on up to 13 acres. The $300 million plan calls for filling in the former Pool of Industry from the 1964 World’s Fair.
Proponents of the project have sought to characterize the site as decrepit and “under-utilized.” One of the more absurd MLS claims is that it’s a water body and that only 1 acre of grass would be used.
According to that philosophy, our water features, which make up fully one-third of all city parkland, are okay to develop. Besides providing pleasant views, the fountain area is used for jogging, as well as for wildlife.
Unlike the Willets Point deal the city is requiring MLS to replace park land. But these replacement park facilities would not provide the same usefulness, location or value.
As part of a $500 million expansion, the U.S. Tennis Association plans to build a 15,000-seat stadium and an 8,000-seat stadium, as well as two parking garages adding 500 spaces.
The city Economic Development Corp. is also irresponsibly attempting to push this massive project through without conducting a full environmental review of all three projects, needed to assess the cumulative impact.
If our officials were truly interested in creating jobs, start by taking care of the park. For decades people have fought for the city to care for this vital resource.
Elected officials should be supporting the hiring of desperately needed permanent workers to maintain, program and secure the park. They have continuously allocated a fraction of the park funds needed and instead have been increasing making deals that commercially exploit them.
The majority of the land for the proposed $3 billion 1.4 million-square-foot Willets Point mall project would be taken from parkland adjacent to Citi Field currently used for stadium parking. The administration is attempting to get away with not alienating the land as is required under state law in order to use parkland for non-park purposes. The city is desperately trying to rely on a 1961 bill that never replaced parkland taken for Shea Stadium.
If the 40-plus acres being proposed for mall use are no longer needed for parking then it should revert back to its original recreational use. Our elected officials should be pushing for that instead of giving away our public spaces to the highest bidder.
The park’s deplorable condition speaks volumes about the city’s commitment to those who use it — mostly immigrants and people of color. The proposed projects have drawn fervent opposition from residents, hundreds of whom have come out to various public meetings.
The public must have a say in important land-use issues. It is well known this administration routinely ignores community-based planning and consultation.
Adrain's Folly. Artificial turf fields are among the numerous maintenance issues in the heavily used park. They began falling apart within a few years and were installed under the recently fired former parks commissioner Adrain Benepe. Major League Soccer is now attempting to position itself as a savor of the park in agreeing to set aside maintenance funds under the ridiculous 'developing parkland to save it' philosophy.
Not surprisingly, none of these projects are being proposed in Central Park. The mayor lives across from it, as does Related Companies founder Steven Ross and his heir-apparent, Queens native Jeff Blau.
Central Park is protected.
The mall that does exist in Central Park is a grand promenade flanked with American elms and designed by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, and not thankfully by Bloomberg and his development partners.
Parkland belongs to the people. Unfortunately, it’s the people who have to live with the actions of our elected officials long after they are gone.
Geoffrey Croft is the founder of NYC Park Advocates, a nonprofit watchdog group dedicated to improving public parks.
Deja Vu. August 2005. Step Right Up For The Big Park Givaway. Queens BP Helen Marshall, State Sen. Malcolm Smith (c.) and NY Jets President Jay Cross at Borough Hall in support of a plan to seize 15 acres of public parkland in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to build a new 80,000-seat stadium on the site of the Fountain of the Planets. Congressmember Gregory Meeks, state Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, and Assemblymembers Michael Gianaris and Jose Peralta were also supporters of the park seizure for the private business. (Photo by Andrew Moesel/Queens Tribune)
Read More:
New York Daily News - October 22, 2012
A Walk In The Park - October 10, 2012
A Walk In The Park - October 9, 2012
A Walk In The Park - October 9, 2012
A Walk In The Park - October 6, 2012
A Walk In The Park - October 5, 2012
A Walk In The Park - October 5, 2012
A Walk In The Park - October 4, 2012
A Walk In The Park - October 2, 2012
A Walk In The Park - September 20, 2012
A Walk In The Park - September 15, 2012 - By Geoffrey Croft
A Walk In The Park - July 31, 2012
A Walk In The Park - June 23, 2012
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