these past months there have been some pretty strong signals that NYCFC’s home will indeed be the South Bronx.
The development team behind the stadium proposal — which includes Jorge Madruga’s Maddd Equities and Eli Weiss’ Joy Construction — plans to close on six parcels in the Highbridge section of the Bronx for $54 million, the New York Times reported earlier this month. The various properties along River Avenue and the Harlem River waterfront will be redeveloped into a 25,000-seat soccer stadium, a hotel and mixed-use residential buildings. The sites include six under-utilized parking lots and garages that the city set aside as parking for the new Yankee Stadium in 2009, as well as the GAL Manufacturing elevator parts factory on East 153rd Street.
Although the development team and the city have kept the details of the project under wraps, the city has admitted that the undertaking will require a large-scale rezoning of the area. The rezoning opens up the opportunity for the neighborhood to look at potential community benefits, including new public space, a better experience for pedestrians, more street-level retail, and infrastructure upgrades.
Taxpayers didn’t pay a penny for Citifield (or for the new Yankee Stadium, for that matter). They did pay for infrastructure improvements around both facilities, however, but those improvements (rail stations, roadways, etc.) aren’t exclusively used by the sports teams, obviously.
Ew, they’re holding this up because they want more surface parking spots? Have we learned nothing from LA!? Why not use the money to improve the local subway station or create more dedicated bus lanes?
Okay now these NIMBY’s are seriously making me mad. Like really mad. I can’t with these people. What is there, that’s substantial, at Willets Point?! It’s like a desert mixed with auto repair shops and a dead body found in a car last month. Like they need to cut their crap out! Lol
There’s nothing of value in Willets Point. It’s a dumpy place with auto shops, empty lots, and a major interstate interchange that could use redevelopment.
Building stuff there is a great idea. These NIMBY’s need to get a life and keep their NIMBYism to their own neighborhoods and stop complaining about neighborhoods that are not theirs just because they don’t like the proposed projects.
I also doubt any of those people even live there which makes their complaints even more ridiculous.
Oh, wait, they actually don’t live there.
A group of activists and Corona residents gathered along the outer wall of the Willets Point construction site, where Phase 1 of the city’s development project is underway
I didn’t realize how close this is to Citi field. Hopefully they can get PT figured out, or at least share that huge parking lot. We definitely don’t want another one of those.
NYC doesn’t have nearly enough sports stadiums compared to other global cities. Would love to see this get built. Willets point is an ideal location, as mentioned above there’s really nothing in that area right now.
