Politics & Government

Soccer Stadium Petitions Hit Bloomberg's Desk

Group fighting against MLS stadium in Queens drops signatures at City Hall.

A group of Queens residents who spent part of last weekend marching to prevent the building of a soccer stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park delivered thousands of signatures to Mayor Michael Bloomberg this week, urging him to include the community in any plan to redesign the greenspace.

"We need to be extremely careful about any changes to any park, but especially to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, which is our largest park and serves as the ‘lungs’ of Queens,” said Luz Marina Bustos of Queens Community House in Forest Hills. “We, the local community, deserve a role in shaping what is done in our community and especially in our park.”

The group objects to the recently-released proposals that could result in the loss of acres of parkland in central Queens to facilitate a new soccer stadium, a mall and a new tennis facility.

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They are urging the mayor to allow community input on the plan.

The petition text read as follows:

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Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

Please protect parkland at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park!

Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is threatened by corporate interests who want this valuable public asset for their own private gain at the expense of the largely working class, immigrant population of Queens.

We ask that all new uses or proposed redesigns in the area of Flushing Meadows Corona Park are undertaken in a fair and responsible manner to include a process for local resident and community stake holder input.

Sincerely,

New York City resident


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