A soccer stadium grows in Flushing, Queens... or does it?

Image source: Warrenfish on Wikimedia Commons (cc)

We decided to check in on the status of the potential Major League Soccer stadium coming to Flushing Meadows Park, only to witness the news of it bouncing around the news outlets at a furious pace in the past few days. At first the news was “oh yes, it’s coming!” and now we’re hearing bits and pieces of “don’t be too sure about that.” Bloomberg is a big fan of the stadium as is Gov. Cuomo, but some Queens officials are more wary – say hello to Councilmember Julissa Ferreras (Queens District 21), who is a stickler for “doing things right” while being in favor of MLS coming to Queens. Her approval is necessary in order to move on to the next steps in this project, so she’s a significant and important part of the process.

Having Major League Soccer here in Queens would certainly be a boost in many ways (think about all the people streaming in to pay admission to games, to start), and add just one more major sports venue to an area with two major spots venues already – CitField for the Mets, and the US Tennis Center for the annual US Open, both of which draw people from all over the NY Metro area; they’ll probably need parking, too. The outer boroughs seem to be the place for sports teams to set up shop these days (see also: Brooklyn Nets, formerly of New Jersey).