NYC Football Club eyes site near Aqueduct Racetrack for arena

Deal to locate the team near Yankee stadium fell apart last month

From left: NYC Football Club owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan and the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens
From left: NYC Football Club owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan and the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens

New York City’s first Major League Soccer team could be coming to Queens after all.

The joint venture behind the New York City Football Club is considering building its stadium at a site adjacent to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, sources told Capital New York. The team, set to debut in Major League Soccer’s 2015 season, is owned by Manchester City F.C. owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan and the New York Yankees.

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Last month, Capital New York reported that the owners had ended talks with GAL Manufacturing Corp., an elevator parts business that occupies the land in the Bronx near Yankee Stadium where the soccer club considered building an arena. The Bloomberg administration had originally proposed locating a soccer stadium in Queens’ Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

“NYCFC is looking at sites all over New York City,” Risa Heller, a spokesperson for the football club, told the news site. “We are working with the de Blasio Administration to find a world-class site for a soccer-specific stadium.” [Capital NY]Tom DiChristopher