The Yankees' words prove the lie

Do the Yankees really need Macomb's Dam and John Mullaly parks for a new or expanded Yankee Stadium? Is there really no other way? Well, they and their agents in the City government insist they do. Let's look at the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the new Yankee Stadium and see if it might help clear things up*:

"Reconstruction on the existing site was also considered, but was determined infeasible because of the physical limitations of the site and the consequent inability to provide a modern-day baseball facility."

Really? I wonder what those limitations might be...south of the present stadium is a street which is closed to traffic and a parking garage. Nothing which precludes an ability "to provide a modern-day baseball facility".

"By any measure of a modern ballpark other than seating capacity, the existing Yankee Stadium is too small and functionally inadequate. Although its seating capacity is sufficient, there is not enough space to support the fans and players or to offer appropriate food and other services."

Notice that in terms of seating capacity the stadium is fine--in fact it seats thousands more than the proposed stadium would. So how is it too small? Only in terms of being able to provide "appropriate food and other services." So it is small in the same way that Fenway Park is small. To overcome this, our peers in Boston are building a separate structure which will fulfill the requirements of a "modern-day baseball facility."

"The stadium sits on a site of just under 10 acres, compared to the more than 13.0 acres that a state-of-the-art facility requires."

But notice that the proposed stadium takes up 22 acres, not 13! And still they don't seem to have enough space, even with the TWENTY-TWO acres they are stealing from the community, to preserve our 80 year old oaks which line the perimeter of the proposed stadium site.

A "footprint for a modern stadium would have to be at least 12.5 acres. To expand the footprint to meet this standard on the existing site would mean encroaching on or closing one or more of the streets that surround the stadium."

And yet the plan proposed by the Yankees closes several streets and also encroaches on various sidewalks as well. Keep in mind that the street just to the south of the present stadium is already closed to traffic, and the street just to the west of the present stadium is little more than a driveway.

"As it stands now, Yankee Stadium cannot comfortably handle attendance greater than 35,000"

But it has somehow attracted record breaking, often sell-out crowds for many years running. Witness the full page ads in newspapers a few weeks ago congratulating the Yankees for record breaking attendance this year. The ones doing the congratulating? Major League Baseball.

This is a dishonest document.

*Yankee Stadium Project DEIS, S-4