The View from the Bleachers

It seems that quite a few of my more recent posts have been along the lines of “I’m a New York sports fan who has serious reservations about new New York sports stadia.”  Especially with two projects in particular: Atlantic Yards, and the new Yankee Stadium.

Now, in today’s New York Times, Tommy Craggs has weighed in with a criticism not only the cost of the new stadium in the Bronx, but whether it is necessary at all:

“Just a decade ago, New York Buildings Commissioner Gaston Silva noted that “from a structural perspective, there’s no reason why Yankee Stadium can’t be around for another 75 years if it’s maintained properly.” (He was reportedly silenced by City Hall soon thereafter.)”

The irritating irony of this, as with many other building schemes in New York, is that the Times only pays lip service to the opposing voices to these projects, usually when the deal is done and dusted and it’s too late to turn back.  After half a season of what Craggs refers to as “maudlin requiems” for the demise of Yankee and (to a lesser extent) Shea Stadiums, this is the first time I’ve come across a serious dissenting voice to the building of the new stadiums.  Still, we can but hope that the Times, and the rest of the New York press, asks a few more serious questions about the Atlantic Yards project before it’s too late.  Unfortunately, I’m a natural pessimist…