No, that did not come from Garber, it came from an "MLS source", and I'm pretty sure it's Lewis who got it wrong. It wasn't a quote.
Would pier 40 be an option? or what about the vacant lot on the east side of manhattan at the end of 40th st?
It appears that the site on the east side of 40th st has already been scheduled for redevelopment. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/env_review/first_ave/first_avenue_properties_seis_final_scope.pdf Not sure how its all panned out though. Anyone know?
The problems with pier 40 are 1) the pier itself is already in a state of dangerous disrepair and fortifying it sufficiently will cost hundreds of millions. 2) The neighborhood will go completely bonkers over a plan like that. There was a greater chance that that preacher was right about the end of the world last year than getting a stadium on the border of Soho and the West Village. The east side I beleive was all wrapped up with luxury residences.
Possibly but building the platform over the railyards would cost a fortune. OH fack yea lol As metrogo stated - the community would fight it hard. Yep- and that was what - 6 months after that Wilpon mention in 2007 - then we sat down with the Borough Office in Brooklyn as well. If Garber is still at this point, then in all honesty - a group of soccer geeks from the internet have done more for building a stadium than he has. However, i think they are farther along and are smoke screening the real areas they are looking at. I could be very very wrong but just a hunch. However, this is still a ways off it seems. I agree with both your tourist point and the Queens point - it still is the ideal location and the one with the most land to develop.
lol - at the All Star Gala at Gracie Mansion - he got pretty pissed at me for telling him to get NYC done lol - not sure he wants me to kiss his ass either.
The second is absolutely ridiculous. Not only soccer fans tourists go to soccer games pretty much everywhere, but basketball and baseball are played almost everywhere too. However, count on tourists to fulfill stadia is dumb on any account. Obviously, they should all be welcome, but they should fight for a ticket as hard as I did when I visted London (I went to The Valley to see Charlton-Arsenal).
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...y-willets-point-foreclosure-article-1.1039143 what implications does this have? is this good or bad for stadium building.
3.6 Acres is very very small and off the top of my head not sure there is any open parcels next to it The parking lot of Citi Field is a nice size for a stadium and i think thats like 10 acres
The location is pretty good unfortunately it's a little on the small side. They would need the location right next door and the parking lot next to the Uhaul rental center.
One thing to note: Though building a soccer stadium in NYC is guaranteed to take a long time, Houston's projected building time is (was) 15 months. They broke ground in Feb of 2011 and they appear to be on track for their opener in May. Quite amazing for a 22K-30K stadium.
I'm not sure that it *is* guaranteed to take a long time. Depending on the site, once they've actually selected a place (which can be the most lengthy period, but which has already been going on) construction in this town can really move. Look at the new Trade Center. Took forever to get started but once they did that thing is reaching higher every day.
The Barclay center is going up at light speed. When PC said "building" I don't think he meant literally speed of construction, but all the other hoops you have to jump through.
As Metrogo said - its not the actual building process we are worried about. There is land in NYC to build stadiums, and some of that land is by public transportation. Its just the communities.
A couple of Mets-related questions: *Does the recent Madoff settlement make the Wilpons more in need of cash or is this seen as not hurting them in the pocket? *Do the Wilpons control the land (parking lots) around Citi Field, meaning if a stadium was built there they'd get a share of the revenue? *If they don't, who has control of the parking lots? Thanks in advance.
Yeah my point was just that the actual construction/building of the stadium can go up in a little over a year (which is great). Community relations, environmental studies, funding, real estate purchases, (more things I don't know about) will probably takes 2-4 years. Hopefully the MLS group can get things rolling in 12 months.
They are still not in the best financial shape but the settlement gives them a LOT more freedom Million Dollar question - i think after the deal with Citi Field - its city owned land but wilpon has some kind of right to it - i could be wrong.
The land that Citifield sits on and the surrounding parking lots is City owned land, that they have a long term lease on. I don't know how the deal is structured precisely, whether they essentially just pay rent to the City, or if the City gets a percentage of revenue. Probably the former. Presumably, if some other entity wanted to build a stadium on the parking lots, a deal would be worked out between the wilpons and the entity whereby the Wilpons would get a share of revenue or sublease payments. However, I don't know whether the agreement between the Mets and the city allow this. I would guess not, which means that the City would have to be involved on the financial side of the transaction, which as a NYC taxpayer I would be happy about. Finally, "control" is a relative word in this town. If you live in a historic district, and own your $3 million brownstone outright, you still can't screw a thermometer on the front of your building without getting clearance from the Landmarks preservation committee. So even though the Wilpons "control" the land through a long term lease, it is 1) still owned by the City and 2) regardless, you can't just build what you want, even if it is your own property. The People's Republic of New York City. I love it!
Right - like when the city fixes a sidewalk and sends you a 4 K invoice lol Sounds like what you are saying that if they did come to an agreement for that parking lot its a win win situation because the possibilities for the Wilpons and the City to make money on it exists. No? Not to mention - if they were going to make Sela fix up a pier - they could def get them to pay an extra whatever for a parking structure. Probably 10 million or so.
