Queensboro FC announces stadium to be built with mystery money on too-small public college land, this is fine

When last we checked in on USL expansion team Queensboro F.C.‘s plans to build a 7,500-seat stadium on the campus of York College about a year and a half ago, that was pretty much all there was for details: Nothing about how much it would cost, who would pay for it (other than the local city councilmember’s claim that it would be “100 percent privately funded” by the club, which as we’ve previously seen in New York can mean lots of things), or how it would fit on a City University of New York campus that is wedged into populous Jamaica, Queens.

Yesterday, Queensboro F.C. and York College announced that construction on the stadium will begin this summer, after CUNY approved the team’s contract. The project will reportedly be a “partnership” between the club and the college, and will cost … no, nothing about that, but the contract will involve … nope, no details there either, though we do learn that York students will get to hear from the soccer team’s staff and players as guest speakers. Maybe this WABC-TV video that for some reason appears on Yahoo! News will provide more details? Why did I even type that sentence?

What we do learn is a location for the proposed stadium — “near the corner of 160th Street and Tuskegee Airmen Way” — and a rendering, which is sadly lacking in gratuitous fireworks but does enable us to figure out exactly which plot of land the team plans to use:

That round building in the background is clearly the school’s gym, currently in use as a vaccination site. This means that the stadium will be built on the currently vacant land to the south (and also that in the image above, the sun is setting in the north, because that’s just how vaportecture rolls):

How well will a 7,500-seat stadium fit into that space? Let’s take 8,000-seat Toyota Field, home of San Antonio F.C. of the USL, size it to the same scale in Google Maps, and plop it down on that plot of land:

Eek. That’s … not so good? Maybe even more not so good than when David Beckham’s Inter Miami released renderings of a stadium that would be built on top of parked cars and then backed away from it because the site shockingly turned out to be too small.

There are a few ways Queensboro can try to squeeze a stadium into that space: They can reduce the size of the sideline seating and put more seats into the ends, which the rendering actually appears to have done, though this makes for less desirable fan views. And soccer pitches can actually vary in width: San Antonio’s is 70 yards wide, and the minimum according to FIFA rules is … okay, 70 yards, so that’s not going to help much.

At best, then, it’s going to be a tight squeeze; at worst, you might see the stadium need to encroach a bit onto Tuskegee Airmen Way, which has buildings right across the street and so can’t easily be moved. Though it’s worth noting that the last time I said a New York sports venue was impossible because existing buildings were in the way, the team involved solved the problem by just knocking down the buildings.

And we haven’t even gotten to the cost or how it will be paid, or whether Queensboro F.C. will pay New York City (which owns the campus) for the land. The Queens Eagle reports that “York College will allow QBFC to use its land for the stadium and the club will bankroll construction and operation, a CUNY spokesperson said,” but that’s not really the level of detail we need to determine the level of subsidies for this project. (Will the stadium be exempt from property taxes by virtue of sitting on public land? Will it require additional public approvals? And so on.)

I’m going to close with the same thing I wrote the first time this project was proposed: “Friends don’t let friends reprint sports team owner press releases without at least trying to check their facts, okay?” Like, really. Did you journalists out there think I was joking? Did you take me seriously, but are trapped in a hellish existence where you’re forced to churn out rehashed press releases all day long, without time to think or breathe or go to the bathroom? Blink twice if you need me to call the labor department.

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14 comments on “Queensboro FC announces stadium to be built with mystery money on too-small public college land, this is fine

  1. Maybe move the whole thing up, closer to the round building, and only have seating on three sides. That’s good enough for USL.

    1. That’s actually not at all a bad idea. Though then you either have the gym as the TV backdrop, or have to figure out how to place a camera well on the side of the gym.

  2. UPDATE: I asked York College for more details of the lease, and was told I would need to file a Freedom of Information Law request. So, this could be a while.

    1. I mean, I would never trust preliminary renderings from one of these announcements. They are usually more art projects to generate buzz than actual plans. But, that doesn’t mean this is not going to happen in some form. There is also a lot to the northeast that is just a parking lot and a stand of trees. Could maybe go there instead (though I rather like keeping trees). Or as the above poster said, could be 3 sided.

      1. The other lot has more room, but both the rendering and the team’s statement make clear that they intend to use the site next to the gym.

        Not saying it’s not going to happen, just noting that it has some major geometry issues that need to be resolved.

  3. Neil, good reporting, as always. You didn’t mention exactly how far this new stadium will be from the nearest subway stop. How many blocks away is the nearest stop?

  4. I strongly doubt that any buildings will be knocked down. However, I will guess that the stadium will lap over beyond the college’s current footprint, into the street. In that case, the one-block stretch of Tuskegee Airmen Way (or, as we old-timers know it, South Road) between 160th Street and Guy R. Brewer Boulevard (or, as we old-timers know it, New York Boulevard) would likely be pedestrianised — which would be a good thing.

    It would be nice if the club is really going to pay for the construction in its entirety. But without a competently written newspaper article that does more than reprint a press release, we have no way of knowing the details. And the college’s response to your request does nothing to build confidence.

    But let’s say, in a fit of wild hopefulness, that the full cost will indeed be borne by the club. In that case, the college will presumably be getting a field that it can use for its athletic teams. And one can imagine that the stadium would host many of the area’s high schools’ football games, which would take place during the USL’s off-season.

    Are you actually going to file a FOIL request?

    1. I most certainly am. But it can take between several weeks and forever for them to be processed, so we’ll see what it actually turns up and when.

    2. If the school gets a field to use and the City can use the field for football games – then the team should not have to pay for the whole project.

      Of course the team will say a fair split is they can contribute the naming rights I lieu of rent and construction payments.

      Sadly, the school will go along with a plan like this and can’t even say look fireworks to distract.

  5. CUNY should be looking at projects that promote educational needs. The only educational component I see is a business school one on how to get your government to pay for your project and reap almost none of the benefits.
    During a pandemic CUNY is looking at this, seriously?

  6. They’ll shrink it to 5k seating to solve the problem, and keep David Villa out of sight for as long as they think reporters remember he’s a creepy sexual harasser.

  7. Any word on if men’s and women’s soccer team will be able to use the field? No mention of them on any release. Being that it will be privately funded they could potentially say college teams can’t use.

    1. FOIL for the operating agreement is due back a week from tomorrow, we’ll see if that sheds any light!

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