Prior to New York City FC being admitted into the league, Major League Soccer itself considered building a stadium in several locations around the city. These efforts continued until after the expansion, at which point NYCFC assumed responsibility for the stadium project. One location, publicly considered by MLS in 2011, was the 14.5 acre
Pier 40 at the west end of
Houston Street adjacent to
Hudson River Park in the borough of
Manhattan. The plan was scrapped due to local opposition. In 2012, MLS presented initial plans to build a soccer stadium in
Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the borough of
Queens for a future team. The stadium was to be located on the site of the Pool of Industry/Fountain of the Planets from the
1964 New York World's Fair. The plan received opposition from community advocacy groups, for converting public park space for a private enterprise, and leasing of public land for $1 a year for 35 years. City regulations require that any development that uses New York City public park land requires a land swap and the creation of replacement equivalent public park space. Mayor
Michael Bloomberg, who expressed support for the Flushing Meadows site, proposed converting the nearby site of the decommissioned
Flushing Airport, but that plan too encountered criticism, as it would not have required the club to purchase any land, and would have replaced a park in a low-income neighborhood with one in a more affluent neighborhood and not accessible by public transit. In face of that opposition, the league announced that the club would take over the search for a stadium location, "(continuing) to review other potential sites." Before bowing out of the process, MLS had considered a total of 24 sites around New York City. Plans for a Queens location were abandoned, and replaced with a proposal to build the stadium in the borough of
the Bronx adjacent to
Yankee Stadium. On August 29, 2013, plans for a proposed nine-acre complex near Yankee Stadium, between the
Major Deegan Expressway and East 153rd Street, were leaked. Randy Levine, the president of the Yankees, confirmed these reports, but stated that any plans were far from final. In December 2013, the team and Mayor Bloomberg's administration were close to an agreement over a $350 million stadium near Yankee Stadium. Mayor-elect
Bill de Blasio, who replaced Bloomberg in January 2014, expressed opposition to the deal, as it involved tax breaks, public financing and a sale or lease of public land, potentially leaving the city responsible for its $240 million debt. In March 2015, New York property lawyer Martin Edelman, a member of
Manchester City's board of directors, said that NYCFC had abandoned the Bronx plan and were looking at locations in Queens and
Brooklyn to build a new stadium. In April 2015, NYCFC was reported to be interested in building a new stadium in
Columbia University's Baker Athletics Complex in the
Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan. The 17,000 seat
Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium would be demolished and replaced with a $400 million 25,000-seat stadium to be used by NYCFC and the
Columbia Lions. In February 2017, it was reported that New York City FC had expressed interest in having its own soccer-specific stadium at a site within
Belmont Park in
Elmont, New York just outside the city limits in
Nassau County. The club participated in site development talks in January 2017, though they did not enter active negotiations. On December 19, 2017, the site was selected as the new home for the
New York Islanders' 18,000-seat
arena, effectively ending the plans to build the stadium. In April 2018, new plans for the
Harlem River Yards development in the
South Bronx were revealed, for the land north of the
Willis Avenue Bridge; the area would be anchored by the new 26,000-seat stadium, which would be designed by
Rafael Viñoly. On April 25, 2018, club president Jon Patricof said that the club was focusing on other sites more seriously than Harlem Yards. In July 2018, New York City FC was once again linked to a development project that would put a stadium in the South Bronx at East 153 Street between Yankee Stadium and the
Bronx Terminal Market. The proposal also included a "park, hotel and conference center, affordable apartment units, office space, a school, and retail." On October 24, 2021,
The City reported that stadium negotiations between the Yankees and the New York City Economic Development Corporation collapsed due to a dispute over 5,000 parking spaces in a city-owned garage, with community support waning as well. In November, club CEO Brad Sims stated the project had not progressed throughout the summer and the club was not actively pursuing the site; with all its focus now being shifted to a new possible location in Queens. == History ==