By: Gabriel Sandoval – www.thecity.nyc
The Yankees are playing hardball with a Bronx parking lot operator that’s failed to pay millions owed to taxpayers — charging the company is effectively obstructing big plans for a soccer stadium and affordable housing.
The Parks Department is threatening to terminate its lease with Bronx Parking Development Company LLC over the outfit’s defaults on $237 million in bonds issued in 2007 by the city Industrial Development Agency, documents show.
Meanwhile, Yankees officials contend the company is stalling a move that could help pull it out of the red: a deal that includes razing a four-level parking structure on 153rd Street to make way for a 25,000-seat soccer stadium for NYCFC. The plan also would provide for 2,000 units of affordable housing nearby, in the heart of the South Bronx.
Geoffrey Croft, president of NYC Park Advocates, said the current conflicts stem from overly generous deals surrounding the construction of the new Yankee Stadium, which opened in 2009.
“It’s a disgrace, and it’s only going to get worse, and it was known from Day One,” he said.
Since launching in early 2015, NYCFC has been playing its home games at Yankee Stadium. The possibility of a soccer stadium next door to the ballpark has been percolating since 2013, fueled by funds from the NYCFC’s Abu Dhabi royal family owner.
Ownership of parent company City Football Group later diversified to include minority stakes from a Chinese consortium and technology investment firm, according to the company.
But obstacles stand in the way.
Long Off Goals
One is the need to relocate an elevator parts factory, GAL Manufacturing, adjoining the parking lot where the stadium would sit, just south of Macombs Dam Park.
Another, the Yankees charged in a letter to the bank that serves as trustee for the IDA bondholders, is that the parking lot company won’t play ball.
In the July 20 letter to the president of US Bank, Yankees attorney Michael Mellis complained of dilapidated conditions and security lapses at the 11 sprawling lots and parking structures, which hold nearly 9,300 spaces.
The parking company “has materially failed on all counts” on its obligations to maintain its lots in a “safe, secure, clean and reputable manner,” Mellis wrote. Among the problems cited: poor lighting, out-of-order elevators, dirty surfaces and vermin running wild.
The Yankees lawyer wrote that the ballclub will not give its needed consent for the soccer stadium deal until the parking company cleans up its act. Bronx Parking Development Company “also has effectively brought the Project to a standstill,” Mellis charged, without providing specifics.
In February, Brad Sims, the president of NYCFC, announced to fans that the soccer club was partnering with the real estate developer MADDD Equities on the project that would bring 2,000 units of affordable housing to the South Bronx. In October, he told YES Network that the soccer club was optimistic about the team’s progress, noting the most important part would be working with local leaders and the community.
“We feel that not just the stadium, but the overall project that we’re going to be working on is something that’s going to be transformational for the South Bronx,” Sims said.
During a visit last week to the 153rd Street parking structure, THE CITY spotted rows of black for-hire vehicles parked near an overflowing trash bin. Concrete debris was scattered on a stairwell.
(TheCity.nyc)
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