Breaking News: MTA, City come to terms on Yankee Stadium Metro-North hub

The Yankee Stadium Metro-North hub should alleviate some traffic concerns in the Bronx. (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Click the image for a bigger view.)

When last we visited with the Metro-North plans for the new Yankee Stadium, things were not going so well. In fact, the plans, a centerpiece to the new Stadium, were in jeopardy.

But not anymore. This afternoon, the MTA and the City of New York announced that a deal is in place to bring the Metro-North Hub to the new Yankee Stadium site after all. This agreement – complicated in that it details who will pay for the station’s construction, maintenance and operation – calls for the MTA to throw in $52 million and for the City to add $39 million to the project’s $91 million price tag.

According to the MTA, the Authority will pay for the station, ticketing facilities, customer information system and half of the mezzanine. The City will fund the overpass connecting passengers with the stadium concourse areas and the other half of the mezzanine. Metro-North will keep up station operations and maintenance.

Peter Cannito, the head of Metro-North, praised the project. “This new station will be a dream come true for Yankee fans throughout our territory in New York and Connecticut. Moreover, once this station is built, it will also make Metro-North service available to people who live and work in this area of the Bronx,” he said.

And Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, often the Bad Guy in the Bloomberg Administration’s dealings with the MTA, noted the impact the station will have on the area. “Making the new stadium, as well as the resurgent surrounding South Bronx, accessible to people from around the region via Metro North will be essential to reducing traffic and pollution in the area,” he said.

While operating schedules will be worked out prior to the station’s 2009 opening, the MTA has already developed extensive plans for the hub. The ADA-compliant station will feature two ten-car-length island platforms as well as four staircases and two elevators for the estimated 6000-10,000 fans who will pass through it on the way to Yankee games. From the mezzanine, an overpass will connect to the new stadium concourses and waterfront parks.

On game days, service from all three Metro-North lines – Hudson, Harlem, New Haven – will run through the hub. Otherwise, the Hudson Line will service the stop. Additionally, game day shuttles from Grand Central Terminal and 125th Street will run to the new Stadium stop.

So this news is great for Yankee fans coming out of the city and for residents of the Bronx who will enjoy a tangible benefit from a construction project that otherwise leaves the area in the dust. No longer will Westchester Yankee fans have to go into Manhattan and back up to the Bronx for access to the Stadium.

On the other hand, the $39 million thrown in by the city is just another example of money spent by the city for the new Yankee Stadium. As Neil de Mause has tirelessly documented, the city is actually kicking in a lot more money than was originally reported for the new stadium.

All in all, though, this deal is good news for commuters and great news for Yankee fans.

In these drawings, the platforms, bound to be crowded, appear a bit cramped. (Click to enlarge.)

The bird’s-eye view. (Click to enlarge.)