"Yankees Sweeten Stadium Proposal" on NY1, 3/22/6

Yankees Sweeten Stadium Proposal

March 22, 2006

With a City Council vote on the proposed new Yankee Stadium just weeks away, some Bronx residents aren't warming up to the team's attempts to gain community support.

The team is reportedly offering up millions of dollars in free tickets, park maintenance and equipment for schools and youth groups in an effort to get Bronx residents to back the deal.

Published reports say the team is now offering to contribute $28 million to a trust fund and to distribute 15,000 free tickets each season to Bronx youth groups and senior citizens.

The team would also pay $100,000 a year to maintain parks around the stadium and add another $100,000 in equipment and promotional merchandise to schools and youth groups in the city.

The Yankees are also proposing that stadium construction work and other team business be given to Bronx residents and Bronx-based companies with minority or female owners.

The team is reportedly offering up millions of dollars in free tickets, park maintenance and equipment for schools and youth groups in an effort to get Bronx residents to back the deal.

Some Bronx residents say they don't like the deal sweeteners, since the plan would take away 22 acres of city-owned park space. They're calling the offer a payoff through a slush fund.

“Give us back our parks. We don't want 400 trees cut down, we don't want more parking in the asthma capital of the country, we don't want a 14-story building built in the middle of a residential community,” said Geneva Causey of the group Save Our Parks. “Our elected officials are not representing the needs of our community. They are a disgrace."

In a statement, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion calls the benefits agreement "generous." And as for his relationship with the community during the next couple of weeks, he says that, “Together we will continue to insist that the community that houses the stadium has an equal participatory role in the economic development of this area."

A City Council hearing on the stadium plan is slated for next Tuesday. The council will then have until April 5th to vote on the project.

If it's green-lighted, the Yankees are hoping to have the new stadium ready for the 2009 season.