Before I get into explaining the new Yankee Stadium map, take note that there is a critical city council sub-committee vote coming up on Tuesday, March 28. City Councilors need to hear from you before then. I strongly urge you to find that three minutes to look up their number here and give them a quick call about this project. Also, the community resistance group, Save Our Parks is hosting a fundraiser dance party tonight in the Bronx. Tickets are $20. The money will go to pay for legal aid. More details are here. If you are looking for general background on the Yankee proposal you can find more information, including a summarized timeline of events, here. Now, on with the map....

This map looks at the details and potential impact of the proposed Yankee Stadium Plan.



The Yankee proposal is a complex plan, with a lot of details. Details which the NYC media and city council thus far have given the Yankees a free pass on (for the most part - no, I know not you Gotham Gazette). Accordingly this google map is quite complex, and so I ask your patience to learn how the map works so that you can understand the Yankee proposal and its potential implications.

I explain the major parts that you can look for as you browse the map in the READ MORE of this post. Click through to get some tips before hitting the map.

The Yankee Stadium Map Explained

The map is really five maps in one. Each map shows different information. Each can be accessed by clicking their respective buttons in the upper right corner of the map. The five maps are:

BEFORE
AFTER
PLAN VIEW
PARKING
ROUTES

BEFORE:
The Before map shows the current configuration of park land and Yankee stadium operations, i.e. the stadium and parking. Not all park land and not all parking lots are shown, just the significant ones in play in this deal. Park land is represented in Green and Yankee operations are represented in red.

The main thing the Before map shows is that there is an enormous and contiguous park in the West Bronx. It is north of the Stadium. The Yankee stadium and parking lots for the most part are below the park, clustered in an industrial and highway area.

AFTER:
The After map shows the swap of property the Yankees are proposing. A large red area takes over the southern end of the large park for the stadium, and Green patches pop up else where. What is most significant about these details is that you will note that the replacement parks have been moved next to highway interchanges, next to and on top of parking garages (remember, represented by red areas), and into industrial areas. The West Bronx suffers some of the highest asthma rates in the country. The significance of moving park lands nearer to auto exhaust can not be taken lightly.

There is also another interesting detail on the After map. You will note a new area type, striped lines of red and green. These are parks on top of parking garages. They would be made of astroturf, and worse would be closed 81+ days a year, all in the summer, when the Yankees are playing. The parks would be closed for security reasons.

PLAN VIEW:
This is a rendering from the Yankees. There are already some changes in the works, like the waterfront area is slated to have tennis courts instead of ball fields, and there are to be more ball fields in the area of the current Yankee stadium. The current state of deal terms is closer to an alternate plan which really just has minor differences. I decide to use the original plan for the map as it better reflects the total park area the Yankees and city are putting forward.

PARKING:
This highlights both the park topped parking garages as well as another new garage that would go in the middle of the large park. This parking lot is four stories in height and I have heard it would also receive concession deliveries, but that is unconfirmed. What is not in doubt is that moving the stadium and another parking garage right into the middle of the park will have a dramatic effect on street traffic and noise across the area.

ROUTES:
Part of the proposal places new parks on the waterfront. The Routes map in association with a number of small red markers show the possible ways to reach this area. Reaching this area is extremely difficult, and it is a very long distance from the residential community. I walked three different routes to the site and took several photos along the way. You can see them by clicking the little red markers. It takes at least 30 minutes to reach the area. The Yankees have proposed moving the tennis courts that are in the middle of the current park (and just steps from surrounding apartment blocks), to this remote location. Even with renovations, unless the city were to come up with some miracle to route over or under the highway system, the paths to the waterfront area will remain ones which require great caution. It is hard to believe anyone would have suggested that this is a place for little league or youth tennis. But they did.

Some final feature notes. Like the Atlantic Yards Map, this map also has an illustration showing the future impact of moving the stadium. But there is only one. I found that what was more important about this proposal is understanding where all the parts are in relation to one another. Illustrations of a possible future were all pretty much going to be the same, containing exceptional crowds, noise, garbage, broken glass, traffic jams, etc, that go with sporting events.

Like the Atlantic Yards map there are also a number of other images. There are many little white dots; those are photos of the surrounding neighborhood. But I have also made a special point of showing the locations of schools and community centers. The Yankees want to build while they play and that means closing half the park space for five years. Plus there will be all the construction debris in the air in the middle of this community. Children and the elderly would be those most impacted by the construction and closing of parks, so their proximity is highlighted.

Enjoy.