Comments on: First season a success for Yankee Stadium Metro-North stop

By: Jim R

Jim R — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:19:31 +0000

This might be necroposting but, the article states that non-game day ridership is about 100 per day, which is to be expected. The nearest stop, Melrose, on the Harlem line gets about 75 per day (which is up from <25 seven years ago). The stop is somewhat isolated, but once the parks open and construction is complete, it will be readily more accessible. They also need to allow for more access to the new mall at the Bronx Terminal Market. I believe the original estimates for non-game day were 1,000, which is ridiculous. 250-300 per day would have been a better estimate.

By: JebO

JebO — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:06:21 +0000

More access from more modes is always a good thing to attract people to an event or venue. Some people will prefer the train which will make attending a Yankee game a more attractive option for more people, allowing the Yankees to command a higher price for ticket sales. The people who prefer to drive can keep driving, but now they’ll have less traffic to fight and an easier trip.

The official Yankees garages will always be filled to capacity. The garages that will lose business will be the ones that are a greater distance from the stadium, like the Concourse Plaza Shopping Center on 161st Street between Sheridan and Morris, for example.

By: JebO

JebO — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:02:11 +0000

One light rail line vs. three heavy rail subway lines.
Two commuter rail lines with special trains just for the games vs. three commuter rail lines with special trains just for the games.
No ferries vs. two ferries.

We’re talking transit here, and I think the answer is clear. However, walkability is another story. The Mariners play in a pedestrian-friendly location right downtown. That is to be highly commended, and is far better than most baseball stadia.

By: John

John — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:59:23 +0000

Why would the Yankees want to contribute? Honestly, they’d probably rather have everyone drive to the game, so they can get $10 per car for parking. Look at the Dodgers – theirs has to be the LEAST transit-accessible stadium in the country. But it appears that they want it that way, as they have parking lots stretching to the horizon.

For the second half of the 2008 season, the Metro set up a shuttle from Union Station to Dodger Stadium. As you may have heard, there are some budget issues in California, so the shuttle was scrapped for 2009 (even though I believe it was fairly popular), as they couldn’t get the Dodgers to subsidize it at all.

By: AK

AK — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:53:59 +0000

Pac Bell (AT&T Park) in San Francisco had similar effect on the community, though the voters of SF weren’t nearly stupid enough to endorse public funding or financing of any kind. Neither were Bostonians, and hence, the Patriots never got their pristine new stadium in Boston (after all, its tough to ask NFL owners (all of whom are billionaires) to construct their own factories…

By: Scott E

Scott E — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:53:12 +0000

I’d say they can sell more (non-alcoholic) concessions in the 8th and 9th innings, since fans won’t be leaving early to beat the traffic. Come to think of it, they can buy more beer too, now that they don’t have to drive home!

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:15:24 +0000

How are the yankees benefitting from the new stadium? Wouldn’t all the people taking the train have to get to the stadium anyway? It’s not like they get any of the advertising or vending machine money, and I’m sure they don’t get any of the money from the train tickets sales. Maybe there’s something I haven’t thought of.

By: Walter Sobchak

Walter Sobchak — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:17:33 +0000

This station could have been built 20 years ago, and be more convenient (it’s right next to the old Yankee Stadium), but then again the city had no reason to give something to the South Bronx. Only taking away parkland from the poorest neighborhood in the country and giving it to a multi-billion dollar corporation was enough to get this station built, as a so-called service to the community.

The station is used by the community on off days, but it is too hard to reach. Plus, the stadium(s) is a dead zone on off days, except for the restaurants inside the stadium that have eaten into the patronage of local businesses. And don’t expect ridership to rise much more than what it is now; the people who can afford $1,500 seats are not the type to take the train, but will instead park inside one of the new garages the city was forced to build for the Yankees. Also, the smaller capacity of the new stadium removed 7,000 potential transit customers in the first place.

The new station does manage to be nicer and seemingly better built than the new stadium, amazingly enough.

By: Adam G

Adam G — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:18:22 +0000

$0 contribution from the Yankees, a decidedly profitable enterprise, in a project that received untold amounts of public money?! Shameful.

By: AlexB

AlexB — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:59:31 +0000

Is the station open during non-game days? If so, did anyone ride it then?

If you add up subway ridership and metro north ridership, what’s the percentage of people arriving at the stadium not by train?