DEIS: Business impacts; Conclusion

CONCLUSION

Draft EIS states:

The analysis concludes that the proposed project would not cause significant adverse impacts to the socioeconomic character of the project’s study area. would not directly displace any businesses or institutional uses. nor would it significantly alter existing economic patterns in the study area.

As a result of the proposed project, the New York Yankees, an important asset to the neighborhood and The Bronx, would remain in its historical Bronx location.

The analysis concludes that the proposed project would not cause significant adverse impacts to the socioeconomic character of the project’s study area... nor would it significantly alter existing economic patterns in the study area that would result in indirect displacement of businesses and institutions.

However, the proposed project would only locate the proposed stadium one block north of East 161st Street and, therefore, would not affect the customer base for the existing businesses along River Avenue.

Response:

It is true that if the Yankees ceased to exist in the neighborhood, that would be a huge blow to all of the existing stadium-oriented businesses. However, redesigning the stadium area as proposed will certainly serve to weaken these businesses over the existing conditions by diverting foot-traffic away from them. To ignore this fact is a flaw of the DEIS. “Only being a block away” is enough to make or break the viability of some of the businesses which rely on high visibility “impulse” sales. It is not good enough that the stadium has “only moved a block away.” This added distance and the change in foot-traffic patterns, coupled with new restaurants and stores within the stadium, could be the force that dooms several local businesses.