And while such lots are often considered a positive thing – the lots at Shea Stadium are popular with drivers who'd rather ride the 7 train than sit in crosstown traffic – local residents are worried about the potential for worse pollution and asthma problems in the surrounding South Bronx neighborhood.
Proposed by Bloomberg in April as a method of reducing traffic, congestion pricing would charge drivers for entering the busiest streets at the busiest times: $8 per auto headed into lower Manhattan between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m on weekdays. Alternative congestion mitigation plans currently being discussed include a $4 toll on all bridges going into Manhattan. Parking facilities for the new Yankee Stadium, which is being built adjacent to the existing stadium, thus look like a potential transit hub, as they lie close to the Major Deegan Highway, Macombs Dam Bridge, the 4 and D subway station at 161st Street, and the Metro-North rail station under construction. Some community activists and elected officials fear the expanded stadium parking will encourage drivers coming from points north and the Bronx itself to park at the stadium and then hop on to public transportation to avoid incurring Manhattan's congestion pricing fees or paying a bridge toll.
Although a range of possible rates are cited, it's likely that monthly parking at the new stadium, plus a month-long subway TransitChek, would cost less than congestion fees and gas. Based on the usage of Shea stadium lots, though, some observers say park-and-rides are as much about ease of travel as saving money.
The 40 percent parking expansion underway – from 6,548 spaces in 11 lots and two garages to 9,127 spaces in six lots and five garages – carries a host of complications with it, as many things relating to the stadium project do. While a park-and-ride could bring new auto traffic and pollution to the area, it also could relieve a parking shortage in the nearby "Capitol District." And although no one wants to exacerbate the Bronx's asthma rates – the highest in the city – many do want to encourage mass transit.
(For a detailed map of the parking garages and lots, click here.)
Those issues are further tangled by controversy over the city's initial and current intentions about who gets to use the parking when. Existing Yankee Stadium garages are open only to game traffic on game days. But whether the new garages were originally intended to be open to the public on non-game days is a contested question. While Janel Patterson, spokeswoman for the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC), said that the parking facilities “were always envisioned to be open on non-game days in deference to the community,” some neighborhood sources say otherwise, and documents such as the June 2005 Request for Proposal, the Community Benefits Agreement and the Environmental Impact Statement point both ways.
The stadium deal has been under fire since construction plans were announced in 2005 to take away parkland to build thousands of new parking spaces in three new garages, even though the new stadium will have approximately 5,000 fewer seats and the new Metro-North station is expected to bring 10,000 fans to games. (Patterson declined to explain the rationale for this formulation.)
