Leave it to the big-spenders to bring out the heavy-hitters. Mayor Michael Bloomberg may not be a die-hard soccer fan, but with the announcement that the Yankees and Manchester City had partnered to but MLS’ 20th club – New York City FC – he appeared at a press conference talking the beautiful game.
“It’s another great day for New York,’’ said Mayor Bloomberg, who went on to list all the new local developments, new stadiums for baseball and football, the Barclays Center, the MSG renovation, etc. “Just one thing after another in the last decade.
“It really has changed New York City, and it’s given us the venues for lots of different events. And hopefully we’ll get a soccer stadium. I’m sure we will, and that will give us another place to have great events.”
Mayor Bloomberg joined representatives from the Yankees and Manchester City – as well as New York City FC’s first hire, Claudio Reyna – at PS72 to tout the impact the new club and a proposed soccer stadium will have on the city.
“Teams always bring great economic benefits,’’ Mayor Bloomberg said. “Sports are a big thing in a lot of peoples’ lives and certainly soccer is one of the biggest things.” Compared soccer to cricket – how they both weren’t originally American but have caught on; you can watch cricket fields from airports, etc.’’
Below are excerpts of a Q & A with Mayor Bloomberg, highlighting the parts relevant to soccer and New York City FC, expected to start play in 2015.
Q: Older Americans are confused by soccer’s rules; should there be young people instructing them?
A: Bloomberg said his late father in law tried to explain rules of cricket and he tried to explain to him rules of baseball. “I’ve lost the thing I wrote out and he is no longer with us sadly, so I don’t know if I’m ever going to learn.”
“The kids know how to play soccer- they know the rules.”
Q: What’s exciting about soccer?
“It’s like hockey: It never stops.”
Q: What are some alternative sites to Flushing Meadows?
A: “You’ll have to ask. We’ll have to take a look and see but one of the things you’re going to see is next (week) the team playing in Yankee Stadium. It may not be designed for soccer but given the magnitude of the number of people that would like to go see games you could fill a stadium that size.”
Bloomberg joked that he doesn’t know the size of the Stadium, but “I can tell you where my seats are. That’s all I know.”
Q: Do you anticipate settling the question of where New York City FC will play before you leave office?
A: “Well, I hope so. I mean, I think the best place for it for everybody is in the eastern end of Flushing Meadow Park. It’s a part of the park that’s been neglected for a long time. The city doesn’t have enough money to renovate every park.” Bloomberg added this would bring a lot of money in to renovate the rest of the park.
“Some people want parks to play and lie in the grass and some people want (other) venues to sit in a seat and watch a team, and we have to accommodate both.”
“Incidentally, it would improve dramatically the rest of that park.”
“Nobody should think they’ve got a lock on this; there are lots of different places you could build a stadium of 25,000…I just want to make sure it’s in New York City and we get it going.”
Q: Bloomberg was asked about mall and stores around Flushing Meadows.
A: “The place that the expansion is for commercial is currently a bunch of chop shops…I’m very sympathetic to small businesses, and we’ve got to find other places for those people to move to; and we have programs to do that.”
But Bloomberg went on to say many people want facilities and shopping and entertainment, etc., and there was nothing wrong with the expansion.
“This is not going to take away anybody’s parkland, because you’re replacing the little that you use here with parkland in a slightly different location, and those people deserve parks as well.”
Q: There was an interesting lineup on stage; it makes you wonder why New York City hasn’t had a team.
A: “They’ve had one, but it just didn’t catch on. I’ve never quite understood that, since soccer is popular amongst kids.’’
Q: Do you need Mets to agree to anything?
A: “The Mets have the parking lots, which the city needs.”
Q: Do you anticipate opposition from people around the park?
A: “There are some people that don’t want it…You’ve got to explain to people why they would benefit from it.” Bloomberg said one need only look at the smoking ban, which people opposed and is now “very popular.” Or Yankee Stadium which a columnist “wrote bad things about” but now gave kids a playground and other good things for the area.
Additional reporting by Sally Goldenberg.