With the proposal to make a Major League Soccer stadium at Flushing Meadows Corona Park comes the requirement by law to replace the 13 acres of parkland that the property would occupy, and the organization is scrambling to find it. DNAinfo reported. One of the sites the organization is considering is a toxic site on the Flushing River.
An MLS spokesperson told DNAinfo that they are “working with community leaders to identify parcels.”
The polluted plot is located in Willets Point and part of it is owned by the MTA. It measures 12 acres, and MTA’s Chairman Joe Lhota indicated that he would be willing to sell the land if the deal comes at a “fair market value.” The Flushing River, which is polluted, left the plot with “poor soil conditions: in need of remediation,” according to an MTA presentation.
But there are other sites being considered, such as a 16.6-acre lot in Rego Park near abandoned Long Island Rail Road tracks. The league has also offered to renovate the existing nine soccer fields that surround the proposed site.
The Flushing Meadows Corona Park site where the stadium is proposed could be at risk for flooding, as previously reported. [DNAinfo]