Yankee $tadium: The New Park and Ride

In today's Crain's Insider Anne Michaud reports that there is growing community opposition to the Yankee Stadium redevelopment plan. The folks at Save Our Parks have collected over 4,000 signatures from neighborhood people who are upset with the proposed elimination of 22 acres of parkland and their replacement with greenspace over garages.

Helen Diane Foster, one of the local councilmembers who has been the most forthright opposing not only the uninviting land-swap but also the disenfranchisement of the local community by the Yankees. Though some criticize the Atlantic Yards CBA for not involving enough of the impacted area and for "buying" the support of certain groups those in the Southwest Bronx would welcome such attention from the Yankees.

Top be fair, however, it was the Save Our Parks group that explicitly ridiculed any CBA for the Yankees project, saying that you can't have a community benefits agreement if a development has no community benefit. It remains to be seen whether the parkland issue can be fairly resolved without legal challenge.

What is clear is that the Yankee Stadium deal and the BTM development will, in combination, have a far-reaching impact on the local communities but the level of oversight has been, charitably, less than adequate.