By DAN KARELL
At least one group isn’t in favor of Major League Soccer’s proposal to build a soccer stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
NY4P (New Yorkers for Parks), a public advocacy group based out of New York City, released a statement opposing the construction of a stadium on the park grounds in Queens, New York. MLS is keen to add a New York City franchise and is reportedly close to a deal with both a potential owner for a 20th franchise and the City’s backing for a new stadium on 13 acres of land in Flushing Meadows.
Executive Director Holly Leicht wrote in the statement, which ran as an op-ed in the New York Daily News on Monday, that a stadium built on the park grounds would “alter not just the site itself, but the nature of the park altogether.”
In response, MLS released a statement saying in part “…had New Yorkers for Parks been willing to learn the facts about our proposal, and had they consulted more widely with community leaders and park goers themselves, they might have understood that this substantial investment in the Park is a genuine win for the community.”
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