Still No Permanent Home For Yankee's New York City Football Club

The proposed field configuration for NYC Foottball Club which is 25% owned by the NY Yankees. The team has their sites on a nearby parking garage operated by the Parks Department to build the  $ 350 million stadium. 

No conversations yet however regarding replacing the public parkland permmanently lost to build Yankee Stadium.

Bronx

By Geoffrey Croft

Are negotiations to acquire the Parks Department-run parking lot near Yankee Stadium to build the
$ 350 million,  25,000 -30,000 seat soccer stadium going well?

From the looks of the faces of team officials earlier today maybe not well enough.  

In a somber press conference this morning the Yankees and New York City Football Club announced that Yankee Stadium will be the team's home for the foreseeable future. 

Last week the NY Times reported that the first three seasons of the fledgling new soccer club will be played at Yankee stadium.

Officials refused to confirm or commit to a timeline.

With no permanent home in site officials were peppered with questions about securing a permanent new home.

"This is the one thing missing from all these announcements is how long do you think this particular arrangement is going to last at Yankee Stadium. At Least three years,"  asked a reporter addressing the elephant in the room.

"It's gonna last for as long as it doesn't last," said Yankee President Randy Levine speaking as if he was at a funeral. 

"We're not going to put any timetables on it. This is the home of the New York City football club and if there's a change we'll let you know."

New York City FC Chief Business Officer Tim Pernetti also addressed the issue several times.

"We're not going to put a time line on it, said Mr. Pernetti.  "I think  that our goal will be to find the right relationship, the right community to build a soccer specific stadium and to be in that stadium as soon as possible."

He said they are still pursuing a goal that would build a soccer specific stadium in the five boroughs but they will not create an artificial deadline.

Officials also asked if they were "absolutely committed" to the notion of finding a stadium within the five boroughs and if finding one in Westchester or Long Island would be "a deal breaker."

"We are going to build a soccer specific stadium in New York City," Mr. Pernetti said later.  

"We are going to take what ever time is necessary to get it right."  he said.


The Parks Department run garage on E. 153rd Street & River Avenue, the proposed site of a $ 350 million, 28,000 seat soccer stadium is located 80 feet away from residents.   (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge. 

Scheduling Conflicts?

With the MLS schedule running through October and the playoffs in November, the overlap with the Yankees post season play is high.

A reporter sensibly asked the Yankees if it was safe to assume that October would be off-limits for soccer dates in order to accommodate the Yankees. 

"I think its pretty clear we are not going to do anything that affects the Yankee schedule,"   said Randy Levine, who was barely audible during the press conference. 

Levine said they didn't expect any scheduling conflicts.

"If there is, there are other venues in the city," he said.  

Read More:

A soccer stadium, sort of  

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Gothamist - April 21, 2014 - Dan Dickinson

NYC Soccer Team To Play At Yankee Stadium For First Three Years
A Walk In The Park - April 15,  2014

NY Yankees Looking to Seize More Bronx Parkland To Build Major League Soccer Stadium
A Walk In The Park -  December 11, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft

NYC Soccer Team To Play At Yankee Stadium For First Three Years

The Yankees are attempting to seize  a nine-acre parcel between the Major Deegan Expressway and East 153rd Street that could accommodate a 25,000-to-30,000-seat stadium with connections to subways and rail lines. 

Bronx

New York City F.C., a team that will enter Major League Soccer next year, will play its first three seasons at Yankee Stadium, according to two people familiar with the team’s plans,

The New York Times reported.

The team, which is jointly owned by the Yankees and Manchester City of the Premier League, is expected to make the announcement next week.  

The question of where the team would play its home games has hovered since it was announced last May that the club would join the league, delaying plans for everything from marketing and advertising to season ticket sales. The team has frequently promised a decision — it told the league in January that it would have a plan in 30 days — but has consistently missed even those self-imposed deadlines, to the frustration of M.L.S. officials and prospective fans.  

The Yankee Stadium solution is a temporary reprieve; the team must find a site for a permanent home and construct it, and the three-year commitment at Yankee Stadium could be a hint at how difficult that might be. 

After community opposition derailed plans for a stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park last year, the Yankees turned their attention to a site near Yankee Stadium. In August, the Yankees’ president, Randy Levine, said the team was in negotiations for a nine-acre parcel between the Major Deegan Expressway and East 153rd Street that could accommodate a 25,000-to-30,000-seat stadium with connections to subways and rail lines. 

But the team has announced no progress since then, and with the 2015 season less a year away, the announcement of a temporary home will buy the club some time. 

The practical considerations of the Yankees and New York City F.C. sharing the same stadium are unclear; M.L.S. and Major League Baseball play March-to-October schedules. When Manchester City and Chelsea played an exhibition at the Stadium in 2013, temporary grass was installed over the infield dirt for the soccer game. 

But that game was a single match played during an eight-game Yankees trip, not a full schedule — currently 34 games for M.L.S. teams — that would require repeated installation and removal of the grass, and result in far more wear and tear on the rest of the playing surface.  

A Yankees executive emphasized to reporters earlier this year that a potential shared space was not a concern, saying the Yankees “realized what we were getting into” when they went into their M.L.S. partnership with Manchester City. 

At an event in February to announce a summer exhibition game between Manchester City and Liverpool, Mark Holtzman, the Yankees’ executive director of nonbaseball events, said the team generally required several days to prepare for events and then several more to repair the playing surface for baseball. But he also noted that since its opening in 2009, the stadium has hosted soccer games as well as a schedule of summer concerts. 

“Technology has gotten to the point where I think we can turn it around pretty quickly,” Holtzman said. 

“Baseball is clearly the No. 1 priority,” he added. “We wouldn’t do anything to put anyone at any risk; there’s a major investment here in the players. At the end of the day, we look at these opportunities very carefully, and we wouldn’t get into these opportunities unless we were confident in the end result.”  

Ken Belson contributed reporting.

Read More:

New York City F.C. to Play at Yankee Stadium for Three Years

New York Times - April 14, 2014 - By Andrew Das and David Waldstein 

NY Yankees Looking to Seize More Bronx Parkland To Build Major League Soccer Stadium
A Walk In The Park -  December 11, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft

NY Yankees Looking to Seize More Bronx Parkland To Build Major League Soccer Stadium

The proposed soccer stadium would be directly across the street from residential buildings in the top center portion of this overhead view of Yankee Stadium. (Photo: Kevin P. Coughlin /New York Daily News)

The proposed public park land deal - just south of Heritage Field, the site of the old Yankee Stadium - would also require City, State and Federal appovel including requiring State alienation approval in order to use the land for the non-park purposes.


The Parks Department owned garage on E. 153rd Street & River Avenue, the proposed site of a $ 350 million, 28,000 seat soccer stadium is located 80 feet away from residents.   (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge. 

Bronx

By Geoffrey Croft

Step right up for the next Yankee Bloomberg public parkland giveaway.

The New York Yankees are hoping to squeeze one last gift out of the Bloomberg gravy train in the final days of the administration.

The deal would also test park policy from incoming Mayor Bill de Blasio almost immediately after taking office under the proposed new deal.

The team is currently negotiating a behind closed door deal that would secure the rights to build on a parking garage on 153rd Street and River Avenue owned by the Parks Department in order to build a new 28,000 seat Major League Soccer stadium.

The proposed site is directly across the street from residential buildings. 

The lucrative gift involves using $300 million in tax-free bonds that would allow the Yankees and a royal from the United Arab Emirates to tear down one of the bankrupt Yankee Stadium garages and build the soccer stadium according to the New York Daily News.  

The team would pay virtually no rent for 38 years as part of a 99 year lease.


The proposed soccer stadium site is located 80 feet away from residents.

The soccer team is eighty percent owned by billionaire Sheik Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and twenty percent owned by the Yankees. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio would then have within 30 days of his inauguration to decide whether to approve the deal for the new soccer franchise, the New York City Football Club.

On Wednesday Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's camp said they had some concerns.

The Times reports that Bill de Blasio was not briefed on the deal until Wednesday and did not immediately embrace the proposal, in part, because the Bloomberg plan entails tax breaks, the sale or lease of public land and public financing.

“We have real concerns about investing scarce public resources and forgoing revenue to support the creation of an arena for a team co-owned by one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, and will review any plan with that in mind, ”   said Lis Smith, a de Blasio spokeswoman.

Approvals

The proposed land deal would also require City, State and Federal approval. 

The public park land would require State alienation approval in order to use the land for the non-park purposes.  

The Federal government would also have to sign off  because an exit ramp from the Maj. Deegan would be impacted.    

The previous disastrous land deal allowed the Yankees to seize 25.3 acres of  historic parkland in Macombs Dam Park and Mullaly Park to build a new Yankee Stadium. The community lost several acres of parkland in the controversial deal. 

The Bloomberg and City Council debacle also forced the tax-payers to shell out more than two hundred the sixty-five million dollars in associated costs to replace the park land alone.

The Yankees also received hundreds of millions of dollars in tax-free bonds and forced the building of new parking garages which are now going bankrupt.

The New York Yankees and Manchester City have a deal to tear down a bankrupt parking garage on E. 153rd St. to build a soccer stadium on the site. GAL Manufacturing, a producer of elevator equipment that employs more than 350 workers, would also need to be relocated for the deal to go through.  (Photo: James Keivom/New York Daily News) 

The 86-year-old GAL Manufacturing Corp.,  an elevator equipment company, is located directly across the street from the garage on 153rd street  The City would de-map 153rd Street and close off the Maj. Deegan exit ramp.  (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge. 


More land Needed For Soccer Stadium 

The Yankees are negotiating a deal to buy out a nearby elevator equipment company, GAL Manufacturing Corp.  which operates a 100,000 Square foot manufacturing facility  at 50 East 153rd Street,   located across the street from the garage.

In order to qualify for the tax exempt bonds the Yankees would then give the land to the city.

One of the sticking points is the company is requiring they be relocated near by.  The tax payers could be further be on the hook if the city is needed to help acquire land. 

Earlier this year Major League Soccer had launched an aggressive campaign to try and build the stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park but strong community opposition  in Queens killed that proposal.


Under the new proposal  Heritage Field would be sandwiched between two professional sports stadiums.  The City would de-map 153rd Sreet (above) and close off the Maj. Deegan exit ramp. 

Read More:

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Yankees To Run Tavern On The Green? - Trump Says "Nobody Is Going To Go There"

“It is just too small a deal now, and nobody is going to go there.” - Donald Trump

Tavern on the Green Walk Through in February - Legends Hospitality Management LLC, the concessions and sports-marketing joint venture of the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are reportedly one of at least two companies submitting bids to run the scaled down eatery. The deadline is Friday. (Photo: Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times)

In 2010, Mayor Bloomberg rejected a $ 86 million dollar proposal by former Tavern owner Jennifer LeRoy - whose family had operated the iconic eatery since 1974 - that promised $30 million more than Dean Poll. Mr. Poll was awarded the new concession despite past financial improprieties with another Central Park concession.

That deal soon fell apart.

Manhattan

Are the New York Yankees going to operate Tavern on the Green for the next twenty years? The Yankees owned Legends Hospitality Management group are reportedly one of at least two companies submitting bids to the city to operate a dramatically reduced Tavern on the Green restaurant.

Randy Levine, who orchestrated the seizing of more than 25 acres of public parkland in the South Bronx, could run one of the country's most famous concessions in a park - Central Park.

The Yankees and Cowboys each own 34%, of Legends Hospitality the rest is owned by Goldman Sachs and CIC Partners LP. Goldman Sachs and CIC provided financing for the Newark, NJ, based company. The company handles concessions and premium hospitality at Yankee Stadium, Cowboys Stadium and a handful of minor-league venues.

"We're open to different types of opportunities," said Yankees President Randy Levine, who oversees the baseball team's Legends investment.

"The whole idea is to be expansive and not have any barriers," he said.

Legends, which has annual revenue "above $200 million," according to Mr. Dave Checketts, has successfully filled most of the suites and club seats in its parent teams' stadiums and fed millions of fans who have attended games there, but its concessions business has yet to penetrate other major venues.

Legends is currently advising the Rose Bowl, the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Red Bulls on season-ticket and premium-seating sales.

Dave Checketts is Legends new Chair & CEO, he also owns of the NHL's St. Louis Blues. Mr. Checketts said he raised $50 million from private investors during the past year and is paying an undisclosed amount for a minority stake in Legends. He bought the equity in Legends that had been owned by CIC Partners - about a 16 percent stake in the company, according to Bloomberg News (12/13). Checketts replaced former Pizza Hut President and managing partner at CIC Mike Rawlings as CEO.

Checketts envisions building Legends into an international sports-marketing and entertainment business that advises franchises on media strategy, financing and building stadiums, then helps sell tickets and suites and handles concessions.

The three-year-old company started as a food and retail provider but added premium-seat sales and consulting services, ticket sales training and other services. It recently acquired CSL International and CSL Marketing Group, which does sports research and venue marketing, according to Sports Business Journal Daily.

Officers of Legends Hospitality, LLC are Zieg Steinbrenner, (George's wife) Randy Lewis Levine, Gerald Joseph Cardinale (Managing Director of the Principal Investment Area of Goldman, Sachs & Co., and serves board of directors of the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network, LLC.) David Wayne Checketts.

The Yankees, Dallas Cowboys and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced the formation of Legends in October 2008.

Donald Trump - who had his own proposal - weighed in.

“It is just too small a deal now, and nobody is going to go there,” said Mr. Trump explaining why he declined to bid for the space that once held one of the highest-grossing independently owned restaurants in the United States.

He said the footprint “has very few seats and doesn’t work. Nobody is going to feel safe at night going in the dark to a small restaurant.”

- Geoffrey Croft

Manhattan

After kicking the tires of Tavern on the Green, the site of the former glamorous landmark in Central Park, at least two restaurateurs say they will put in a bid on Friday with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation for a 20-year license to establish a restaurant and bar there, according to the New York Times.

The two are Legends Hospitality Management, which runs the Legends Club and suite-and-seat catering at Yankee Stadium; and Beau Monde, a bustling French-accented bistro in Philadelphia that specializes in savory and sweet crepes.

But even though dozens of restaurateurs attended a February walk-through of the space (above), which is now called the Central Park Visitors Center at Tavern on the Green, many high-profile operators have decided against putting in a bid. They include Drew Nieporent of Corton and Nobu; the Orient-Express Hotels, owner of the “21” Club; Penny Glazier of the Glazier Group, which owns Bridgewaters at the South Street Seaport; the chef Bill Telepan of Telepan; and Donald J. Trump, who was so interested in taking over the tavern that he came to an agreement, in advance, with the powerful Hotel and Motel Trades Council, the union that represented 400 workers there.

“It is just too small a deal now, and nobody is going to go there,” said Mr. Trump, explaining why he declined to bid for the space that once held one of the highest-grossing independently owned restaurants in the United States.

Friday is the deadline for proposals to establish a casual restaurant and bar in the tavern space, just west of the Sheep Meadow, near 67th Street and Central Park West. Tara Kiernan, a spokeswoman for the city parks department, which is overseeing the process, said that even after the deadline, the agency’s concession procedures would “prevent us from saying who applied or how many proposals were submitted.”

The new, stripped-down version of Tavern is undergoing a $10 million renovation that will return the structure to a condition closer to its origins as a sheepfold, absent the former swagger of the Tavern run by the late restaurateur Warner LeRoy. The legendary but boxy Crystal Room, which Mr. LeRoy built in 1976, was torn down by the city in 2010. The city has downsized the former Tavern footprint — 25,000 square feet dedicated to banquets and celebrations — to a 10,320-square-foot indoor space for dining, and a seasonal outdoor terrace that incorporates nearly 12,000 square feet.

In declining to bid, Penny Glazier, a partner of the Glazier Group, which runs Bridgewaters and Twenty Four Fifth, spoke for other restaurateurs when she said that “we were originally excited by the idea, and love the space, but now, from our point of view, it just doesn’t seem to be profitable.” She added, “You can’t do special events and weddings.”

The city has said that the winning bidder would not be permitted to erect an events tent in the terrace, or restore the classic tree lighting. And as a concession to neighbors, the new Tavern can operate only when Central Park is open: from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily. Amplified music “must end by no later than 10 p.m.,” according to the parks department specifications.

Also bowing out of the bidding was Mr. Nieporent, who was the restaurant director at Tavern from 1978 to 1982, and had “many fond memories there,” he said. “But the city seemed to have an intention to strip away whatever Tavern on the Green once represented, so we decided not to do it.”

Bryan M. McGuire, general manager of the “21” Club, said Orient-Express had declined to bid because “the Crystal Room was taken down, and it was no longer a catering facility,” adding, “we had no interest for our part, after that.”

And Mr. Telepan said simply that “we have decided not to bid.” Also declining to bid was the Lawry’s chain of steak-and-prime-rib restaurants based in Los Angeles, and Michael O’Neal, former owner of O’Neals Restaurant on West 64th Street, which closed nearly two years ago.

Other operators whose representatives had attended the Tavern walk-through, did not return calls, including the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group, and Mario Carbone and Jeff Zalaznick, partners in Torrisi Italian Specialties. The planned Museum of Food and Drink had hoped to make Tavern its headquarters, but its principals declined comment.

But those who say they are going to bid expressed optimism. “We have terrifically relevant experience in running two huge tourist destinations in Yankee Stadium and Cowboy Stadium,” said Eric Gelfand, a spokesman for Legends Hospitality Management. “It’s an iconic first-class venue, and we are very excited to participate.”

Jim Caiola, co-owner of Beau Monde, confirmed that his company would bid for Tavern. but declined to say how much the bid was worth, or supply renderings or other details.

But Mr. Trump said the current Tavern footprint “has very few seats and doesn’t work. Nobody is going to feel safe at night going in the dark to a small restaurant.”

Mr. Trump said he would have spent $30 million on Tavern to rebuild the Crystal Room “and make it great, make it a Tavern in a more beautiful form,” he said. “I would have employed between 500 and 700 people, but now you’re talking about 30 or 40 employees,” he said of the smaller configuration. “And it would have made a lot more money for the city.”

Read More:

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Mobile Food Trucks Now Occupy Former Tavern On the Green Site

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