GaryMrMets
06-02-2006, 02:27 AM
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/story/422516p-356624c.html
Latest dirt on new Stadium
It'll be used to help build riverside park
BY MICHAEL SAUL and MELISSA GRACE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
A piece of the new Yankee Stadium is coming to Brooklyn.
Dirt from Macombs Dam Park - where the Bronx stadium will rise - will be used to fashion hills in the proposed Brooklyn Bridge Park, officials said yesterday.
The city hopes to start work on the Brooklyn park this summer, when tons of dirt excavated as part of the construction of the new Yankee Stadium will be deposited on the piers, Mayor Bloomberg said at a press conference.
The city will move 200,000 cubic yards of fill from the Bronx to build hills along the 1.3-mile riverside park.
Some Brooklyn baseball fans only begrudgingly accepted the Yankee dirt.
"This is the only reason I'll allow anything from the Yankees to come into Brooklyn," said Borough President Marty Markowitz. "We accept it. That's for sure."
The dirt may be coming this summer, but Empire State Development Corp. officials said it will likely to sit on the DUMBO piers for several months before it actually is used.
"We're looking for options for starting to place fill on our site as early as late 2006," said corporation spokeswoman Deborah Wetzel.
First, crews will knock down the enormous steel sheds along the waterfront, and lay water lines and utility lines, Wetzel said.
Lengthy construction plans for the park have come under heavy criticism from local advocates eager to give Brooklynites access to the 85-acre park area before it is complete in 2010.
"I'm not celebrating until actual Brooklynites can walk out on the piers and enjoy them," said City Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn Heights).
Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy was allocated $500,000 by the City Council last year to bring interim recreational uses to the piers - but the group's proposals for a sandy beach and soccer fields have been shot down.
"No one wants to slow the construction process," said conservancy chief Marianna Koval. "But we could use our imagination and find some [interim] place on this site."
Park officials said they explored several early use proposals, but determined they could interfere with construction of the park. Officials said they will offer walking tours at the site instead.
Originally published on June 1, 2006
Latest dirt on new Stadium
It'll be used to help build riverside park
BY MICHAEL SAUL and MELISSA GRACE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
A piece of the new Yankee Stadium is coming to Brooklyn.
Dirt from Macombs Dam Park - where the Bronx stadium will rise - will be used to fashion hills in the proposed Brooklyn Bridge Park, officials said yesterday.
The city hopes to start work on the Brooklyn park this summer, when tons of dirt excavated as part of the construction of the new Yankee Stadium will be deposited on the piers, Mayor Bloomberg said at a press conference.
The city will move 200,000 cubic yards of fill from the Bronx to build hills along the 1.3-mile riverside park.
Some Brooklyn baseball fans only begrudgingly accepted the Yankee dirt.
"This is the only reason I'll allow anything from the Yankees to come into Brooklyn," said Borough President Marty Markowitz. "We accept it. That's for sure."
The dirt may be coming this summer, but Empire State Development Corp. officials said it will likely to sit on the DUMBO piers for several months before it actually is used.
"We're looking for options for starting to place fill on our site as early as late 2006," said corporation spokeswoman Deborah Wetzel.
First, crews will knock down the enormous steel sheds along the waterfront, and lay water lines and utility lines, Wetzel said.
Lengthy construction plans for the park have come under heavy criticism from local advocates eager to give Brooklynites access to the 85-acre park area before it is complete in 2010.
"I'm not celebrating until actual Brooklynites can walk out on the piers and enjoy them," said City Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn Heights).
Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy was allocated $500,000 by the City Council last year to bring interim recreational uses to the piers - but the group's proposals for a sandy beach and soccer fields have been shot down.
"No one wants to slow the construction process," said conservancy chief Marianna Koval. "But we could use our imagination and find some [interim] place on this site."
Park officials said they explored several early use proposals, but determined they could interfere with construction of the park. Officials said they will offer walking tours at the site instead.
Originally published on June 1, 2006