New York Yankee Promises Broken Promises
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
In 2006, the Yankees announced plans to build a new $800 million dollar stadium. In order to do so, the administration of former billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg doled out public welfare to the privately owned lucrative sports franchise. The welfare included $444 million in rent and tax breaks, free land in the form of 28 acres of city-owned public parks, ball fields and tennis courts, state-subsidized parking garages, and the construction of new Metro-North commuter rail station in front of the new stadium something local residents have been requesting for years. In exchange for the public welfare, the Yankees signed a community benefits agreement in the form of promises. South Bronx activists and self-proclaimed Yankee fans mobilized in opposition to the original deal and Yankee’s broken promises thereafter. This a documentary of the 4SBX coalition; multiethnic organizations made up of residents of the housing spaces sandwiched up against the new Yankee Stadium and their supporters. Related book Frederick Douglass Opie, Upsetting the Apple Cart: Black-Latino Coalitions in New York City from Protest to Public Office
