Officials from Major League Soccer (MLS) met with Hudson River Park Trust this month to discuss building a soccer stadium on Pier 40 on the West Side of Manhattan. According to people who attended the meeting, which was closed to the press, the presentation was not highly detailed, but general, and community members extensively questioned the soccer group. Mark Abbot, MLS President, fielded questions from a group of about 30 politicians, park officials and other representatives about the full scope of the proposal, from the size of the stadium to programs, services and amenities. MLS has several designs for a new stadium, which would take up roughly 9 acres of space and seat 20-25,000 fans.
"As you may know, Major League Soccer is looking at a variety of sites across the five boroughs to build a stadium and youth soccer facility," wrote David Garber, the soccer league's commissioner, to Madelyn Wils, President and CEO of the Hudson River Park Trust. "We know how important soccer use is to the communities surrounding Pier 40 as well as the issue of immediate stabilization of the pier and long-term financial support for the park's operation. We'd like to explore with you whether M.L.S. could meet the needs of the pier through developing this facility and ask the task force for consideration as a potential use for the pier."
Wils delivered a response statement saying, "We haven't seen a specific proposal from M.L.S. and therefore cannot comment on it. Our job is to balance the community's clear-cut desire to maintain open space for neighborhood use with the Trust's need to fix the infrastructure and generate enough revenue from Pier 40 toward sustaining and enhancing all five miles of Hudson River Park. We are near completion of a study that will indicate what uses can achieve that delicate balance of keeping our open space while generating necessary revenues."
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