A report by The City says….

The baseball titan spent nearly $100,000 on lobbyists in the first two months of the year — the most recent data available — aiming to get more than a dozen Council members on his team as he appeals to Albany lawmakers to permit development on what is officially parkland controlled by the state.

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State Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry (D-Queens) introduced a park alienation bill in March, the first step to authorize any development on the 50 acres surrounding the city-owned ballpark.

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Hollis Public Affairs, Lemma Strategies, MirRam Group LLC and Moonshot Strategies were each paid $91,500 over the first two months of the year for their outreach, mostly to Council members, records show. (via The City)

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At the visioning sessions, most participants listed “gaming,” which includes a casino, near the bottom of both what they’d like to see year-round at the area, and what would improve a day at the stadium.

Most said they’d like to see more public green space, restaurants and bars, and a food hall with local vendors, as well as live entertainment.

The group also did canvassing in and around the neighborhoods surrounding the ballpark, speaking English, Spanish, Korean and Chinese, according to a report set to be released Tuesday. 

Of the 10,000 residents they say they spoke with, the most popular wish was “green space.” via The City

 

So there ya have it Steve.  I believe your general vibe was that asphalt wasn’t a great use of parkland, so why not be a Community Leader and donate some finds to get the local people the green space they want.

It’s a very good read in via The City I recommend you check out.  You can learn which politicians want to give parkland to billionaires, and which politicians want to protect the land for the people.

I fully encourage anyone wanting to build in the Citi Field area to check out the prospect of buying some land on the east side of 126th Street.  Maybe a casino would like nice over there since it’s not a park.