Residents Say Go (Away), Mets!

"What dont we want?"
"A stadium"!
When dont we want it?"
"NOW!"
The proponents of "people power" paraded down Union Turnpike from the Hillcrest Jewish Center to the Utopia Parkway campus of St. Johns University. Under the tolerant but focused eye of local police, the placard-bearing residents of the communities of Fresh Meadows, Flushing Heights, Hillcrest and Jamaica Estates that surround the private college, took their protest against the plan to build an on-campus 3,500-spectator stadium for the Mets minor league team, to the streets, literally.
The 100 peaceful but vocal marchers intentionally spilled onto both the east and westbound lanes of Union Turnpike causing traffic to slow to a crawl. Several bemused motorists, after rolling down their windows to hear what the commotion was about, joined in chanting "No Sta-di-um, no sta-di-um"! Thursdays protest followed an emergency night meeting called on short notice which nonetheless drew a standing room only crowd of several hundred local residents who pledged by written petition to oppose the deal between New York Citys Economic Development Council, the New York Mets and St. Johns.
State Senator Frank Padavan announced that, all other remedies having failed, a lawsuit was being filed to stop construction of the stadium which, after serving as the temporary home for the Mets minor league team while a permanent facility is built in Coney Island, is to be given to St. Johns for their own use. The residents fear that the 38 games that would be scheduled during a 10-week season would burden the neighborhood with quality-of-life problems: traffic would congest streets and exacerbate parking problems, and the lights and sound system would detract from the suburban nature of the neighborhood of single family homes. "We feel that this is an ill-conceived proposal to place a commercial ballfield, which is what it is, with stands that go 30 feet in the air with lights and loudspeakers mounted thereupon, in the middle of a residential community," said Padavan. He stressed that St. Johns has been constructing dormitories for 4,800 students as part of a $300 million master plan. Students have reportedly been taking shortcuts through homeowners yards, even scaling fences, to go to their new dorms.
St. Johns had asked for and received help in finding a location for a new athletic field. It was to be on a 10-acre site at Creedmoor, some 2 miles away from the campus. "But now this Mets offer has come along and St. Johns decided that this was a better deal," Padavan said. "So Assemblyman Mark Weprin and myself will be starting an Article 78 proceeding against the Economic Development Corporation and the Mets, citing a variety of reasons why this proposal is inappropriate and possibly illegal because the campus is zoned R-4 and youre not allowed to put a commercial establishment in an area that is zoned for a school".
Jody Fisher, a spokesman for St. Johns, said that the school has taken the residents worries into account. "Therell be plenty of parking," during the baseball season, Fisher said, since only a minimal number of students take classes during the summer.
He added that the Mets are taking meaures to keep noise levels at a minimum, and that the lights will be turned off soon after night games are concluded. Also, no beer will be sold at the games, Fisher added.
The renovated field will be "a positive" for the community, Fisher said, since community groups will be able to use the field when the farm team is on the road or otherwise not playing there. And, the Mets will be there for only a year, at the most two, while theyre waiting for the permanent farm-team field to be built in Coney Island in Brooklyn.Assemblyman Weprin told the assembly why he was angry that St. Johns, was not using the Creedmore site in the farm team. "I had to ask for a lot of favors. I had to say Look, we need this site for St. Johns, its a good site for their baseball stadium, its a natural fit. And now they have deserted us, which really adds to my gall." After Weprin spoke, meeting organizer and Jamaica Estates Association President Evan Goren urged everyone to attend Mayor Giulianis Feb. 23 Town Hall Meeting at the Susan B. Anthony School on Hillside Ave. at 182 Street in order to continue the fight. When the floor was opened up for questions, a woman asked why Borough President Claire Shulman was not present. "She happens to be in Utah. But even if she were here, shes a long way from this community, thats the problem," was the answer given by Jamaica Estates Association Board Chairman Barry Weinberg.
Another resident, who lives less than a block away from St. Johns, Herb Haberstumpf, of 75-31 Utopia Pky, said, "I remember in 1953, we had the Hillcrest Golf Course. In 1954, St. Johns started building. I seem to recall that they were limited to 13 to 17 buildings. Isnt there something in the law that can be used to stop the stadium based on the agreements made then?"
Padavan answered by saying that as long as construction was done lawfully, consistent with zoning requirements, there was nothing that would prevent additional building. But he felt that a stadium would require a rezoning to C-8 for a commercial enterprise and so was legally challengeable.
Answering another question about whether construction might begin before the case was decided, Padavan answered, to huge applause, "Whether they start or not is irrelevant. If we win, theyve wasted their time, energy and money."
Privately, Padavan admitted that he is far from confident of the outcome of the legal action. "That is a question that we cannot answer. That will depend on a variety of things: how the court views our case and the ramifications that it will represent," offered Padavan. "Its something I do most reluctantly. You know, the last thing I want to do is sue the city. Ive been a supporter of Mayor Giuliani. I think hes doing a good job, but in this case I think theyre making a mistake."