Sports

New York City FC still has nowhere to practice

New York City FC isn’t just looking for a permanent home. Now the MLS expansion team is back to square one in searching for a place to practice after announcing with Manhattanville College on Friday that plans to build a training facility on the campus had fallen through.

NYCFC — which is co-owned by the Yankees and Manchester City, and will begin play in MLS next season — was going to partner with Manhattanville College to build a training facility. But the team told the school they can’t wait for a resolution to the lawsuit seeking to block the new construction.

NYCFC had proposed building a new practice field and renovating existing facilities at the school in Purchase. The plan had been approved by the local planning board at its April 22 meeting, but the Purchase Environmental Protective Association filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court on Wednesday to block the action.

“It is unfortunate that a small group of very well resourced citizens chose to pursue this action against the College,” Manhattanville College President Jon C. Strauss said in a statement Friday. “Had this partnership come to fruition, it would have provided $10 million in much needed capital improvements, important academic and internship opportunities, and invaluable publicity to the College.”

The plan called for New York City FC to give the training facilities to the school after the five-year lease expired. But the environmental group sued over traffic concerns and concerns that the team would continue to practice at Manhattanville beyond the end of the lease.

PEPA and three local residents sought a temporary restraining order to keep construction from starting. On May 7, a judge refused to grant the restraining order and made a schedule for the submission of legal briefs, with a ruling scheduled on or after June 25.

With NYCFC needing to start practicing over the winter, they “concluded reluctantly that they could not await the outcome of the litigation, and therefore were terminating their business relationship with the college,” according to the release.

New York City FC had no comment. It’s unknown where the team will look next.

“In these trying times of increasing competition for a declining pool of potential students, the planned facility improvements, the temporary presence of a first quality professional soccer team on campus, the attendant publicity, and increased academic and internship opportunities for students would have been a great boon to the College, its students, and the community,’’ the school’s release read.

Community opposition also scrapped the Rangers’ attempt to build a practice facility there before they eventually ended up with the Knicks in Greenburgh.