George Steinbrenner

Our community and the city should know that:

* George Steinbrenner intends to take our public parks for a private venture. By law, the parks must be replaced with other parks. Yet the proposed replacement parks are not equitable: mostly they will either be built on top of various parking garages or across the Major Deegan Expressway.

* Guess who will pay for these parks? The New York City taxpayer! The so called "replacement parks" are to be built by the city (who has claimed that they don't have money to maintain our present parks).

* During the last renovation of the stadium in the 1970s, Mr. Steinbrenner promised to renovate Macombs Dam & Mullaly Parks and make them the 'jewel of the parks' (paraphrasing here) in exchange for the city giving him the lots for parking and the garage that we are not allowed to use. This promise was never fulfilled.

* Under the new stadium plan nothing has been given to this community to compensate for giving up an area of open space larger than Ground Zero except for 4.6 acres of additional "parks", yet the city sees fit to "cow-tow" to all of Steinbrenner's demands.

* He makes his money here in the South Bronx, but gives next to nothing back. He is the worst neighbor you could fear to have. With all the money he makes here he provides nothing visible to the community or our children.

* Yet, he can give a school in Tampa $250,000.00 (see press release below)! This in spite of the fact that he has consistently refused to work with our local schools.

* Steinbrenner's own words: “The Steinbrenner family has always supported school athletic programs in the Tampa Bay area, which is where our youth learn to meet the types of challenges they’ll later face in life.” Steinbrenner said. “It’s important that Tampa Catholic’s sports teams have a place to call home.”

Well, what about OUR youth here in the BRONX?

PRESS RELEASE:

Contact: Tampa Catholic High School
Susan Sullivan, Director of Development
(813) 870-0860 ext. #230
cell (813) 382-6372

FOR IMMEDATE RELEASE:

STEINBRENNER FAMILY SUPPORTS TAMPA CATHOLIC STADIUM EFFORTS

Former Big 10 football assistant coach, New York Yankees owner and Tampa resident George M. Steinbrenner and family have pledged $250,000 towards Tampa Catholic High School’s Come Home to Rome athletic campaign, which includes building a long-awaited sports stadium, Principal Patricia Landry announced today.

After more than 40 years of playing football at various stadiums around the Bay area, the TC Crusaders, under returning head coach Bob Henriquez, expect to play their first real homecoming game at the Rome Avenue campus this football season.

The George Steinbrenner family pledge is the single largest private gift Tampa Catholic has ever received. “This gift will allow us to order bleachers and lighting for our stadium complex,” Landry said. “The manufacturer feels confident that, barring natural disasters, the stadium portion of the athletic complex can be completed by our October 21 homecoming date.”

“The Steinbrenner family has always supported school athletic programs in the Tampa Bay area, which is where our youth learn to meet the types of challenges they’ll later face in life.” Steinbrenner said. “It’s important that Tampa Catholic’s sports teams have a place to call home.”

The sports stadium is the first part of a proposed $3.4 million expansion and renovation of the school’s athletic campus master plan. The comprehensive plan includes a new surface for track and field, outdoor multipurpose courts including tennis, a soccer and lacrosse practice field, expansion of the existing gymnasium with practice areas for basketball, volleyball and wrestling, and a boathouse along the Hillsborough River for the crew team.

TC students, alumni and friends have raised $733,000 in gifts and pledges so far, including the Steinbrenner family pledge. “It gives us hope that by their example, others will follow. Our plan includes a complete athletic campus makeover, ‘from Rome to the River,’ when it is all finished,” Landry concluded.

George Steinbrenner, who turned 75 on July 4, is well-known in the community for his philanthropic acts on behalf of area charities. Lesser-known about the long-time Yankees owner is his own athletic prowess in football, basketball and track , and as a college football assistant coach at Northwestern and Purdue in the Big 10.