New York City signs Queens Stadium deal with NYC FC MLS soccer franchise
New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday announced plans for a 25,000-seat stadium for Major League Soccer’s New York City Football Club on an underdeveloped lot next to the home of the New York Mets.
The $780 million stadium, slated to open in 2027 in the neighborhood known as Willets Point, will anchor a 23-acre redevelopment project that will also include 2,500 units of affordable housing, a new public school and a hotel, officials said.
“We have a unique opportunity to create a brand new neighborhood,” Adams said at a news conference with other elected officials, as well as representatives from MLS and the project’s developers.
The new stadium will be New York City’s premier professional soccer venue. NYCFC, which won the 2021 MLS championship, has played most of its home games at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx since joining the league in 2015.
It is privately funded by NYCFC’s owners, including United Arab Emirates’ Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who also owns Manchester City Football Club, and the Yankees.
“Today is one of the most significant days in the history of our big league,” said MLS commissioner Don Garber, who grew up near the proposed stadium site. Garber said he’s dreamed of having a “cathedral” for football in Queens for 12 years.
The plans, released on Wednesday, represent the latest effort to transform Willets Point – a cluster of body shops without proper sewers for decades.
“This was a run down, unused and ignored piece of land in our town,” Adams said. “It had little infrastructure and was prone to flooding.”
The city owns the property and will lease it to the Football Club and the housing development team, which includes Related Companies and Sterling Equities, which is partially controlled by the Wilpon family, former Mets owners.
The stadium will be adjacent to Citi Field, where the Mets play, and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where the US Open will be played.
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