Bronx residents voiced concerns about the transportation impacts of the NY Yankees’ proposed new stadium at public meetings last week.

Representatives for Borough President Adolfo Carrión and Assemblyman Michael Benjamin read statements expressing cautious optimism about the project, but raised traffic and transit issues.

A community board spokesperson said that there were already terrible traffic congestion problems during and after ball games. Others were critical of the additional parking garages.

The Tri-State Campaign questioned the dramatic increase in parking, and called for a greater investment in mass transit.

Although the new stadium has fewer seats, the new Yankee Stadium plan would add a lot of parking – from 7,079 spaces today to 11,044 within a ½ mile radius of the stadium. In NYC’s parking-constrained environment, these spaces will be used.  It seems beyond dispute that the new stadium as planned will generate more car trips than the old. 

But according to the draft scoping document, because the project will reduce seating capacity slightly, the official prediction is that it will “not generate additional peak hour vehicle trips than those already coming to the area for the existing stadium.” The number of seats is irrelevant, whereas parking capacity is a key determinant of decisions to drive in a city with ample mass transit options. 

Failing to account for induced traffic caused by the construction of four new parking garages on already congested roadways would be a serious flaw in the EIS. Assumptions about traffic influence findings on congestion, air quality, and noise.  Any mitigation measures based on faulty traffic, air quality, and noise impacts will not be sufficient.  The city owes it to the surrounding community that will be exposed to these impacts to do a legitimate, CEQR-compliant study of these impacts.

Rather than creating a more car-dependent facility, why not invest in mass transit?  Interestingly, NY State DOT’s Bronx Arterial Needs study found that many people who usually commute via Metro-North drive to Yankees games so they don’t have to return to Grand Central or 125^th Street to catch a train.  Unfortunately, proposals to build a Metro-North station at Yankee stadium have languished for years.  Instead of displacing parkland for parking, why can’t the Yankees bring the Metro-North project to fruition?

Written comments may be submitted through August 17, 2005 to Joshua Laird, Chief of Planning, NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation, The Arsenal, Central Park, NYC 10021.

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