"Is Yankees’ park replacement plan a fair swap? Part II" MetroNY 03/21/06

This former ball field, with its old backstop, is mapped parkland that’s now being used as a staging area for construction of a water main as part of the stadium project. (Photo: Bill Lyons/Metro)



Is Yankees’ park replacement plan a fair swap?
Officials say latest scheme benefits community, but some residents are skeptical

by patrick arden / metro new york

MAR 21, 2006

...continued from Part I:

“The whole thing is very deceptive, and the city is very much aware of it,” said Geneva Causey, who’s lived for 39 years on Jerome Avenue across the street from Macombs Dam Park, where the new stadium will be built. “They’re scrambling to try to make it right, but because the community was designed around the park they’ll never be able to give us an equal amount of usable space.

“They never talk about the close proximity of the new stadium to the residential area,” she complained. “Nowhere else in the state of New York will you find a stadium that’s right on top of the people. When they show their plans, it’s almost as if we don’t exist.”

“At the beginning I was not for taking the land from the park,” Arroyo said. “But when I learned about what is going on I said, I am not an engineer, but I represent the community. The problem is the borough president took his position. Look at the plan now in negotiations, including the Metro-North station; a good job is coming to the table.”

Money for Macombs

• $5.4 million had been allotted for improvements to Macombs Dam, as part of a settlement reached when a water filtration plant was put into Van Cortlandt Park. That money will now go to an unspecified project, said Parks Dept. spokesman Ashe Reardon.