Shea goodbye - the name game

While there may be few New Yorkers without an opinion on the renaming of Shea Stadium to Citi Field, how many have contemplated or calculated the cost of the inevitable renaming of the Shea Stadium/Willets Point No. 7 Line subway and LIRR stations?
Not only will the name of the two stations need to be changed, but also all subway maps, 6,500 subway cars and travelers maps alike. Expensive? You bet.
When asked about the costs of these unavoidable changes an MTA spokesperson, Mercedes Padilla, said, &#8220The MTA will have discussions with Citigroup, but that is all we can say.”
When asked if a meeting had been scheduled, Padilla repeated that, &#8220The MTA will have discussions with Citigroup,” but would not elaborate.
When asked if the MTA or Citigroup had any names in mind or under discussion Padilla gave the same answer.
City Councilmember John Liu, chair of the Council's transportation committee, expressed surprise that the MTA did not discuss the renaming of the subway stop at their November 27 committee meeting, but anticipates the subject will be discussed at the upcoming meeting.
Liu has been monitoring the MTA closely in expectation of this discussion. &#8220Because the MTA is a somewhat independent state organization, they sometimes do things their own way. But this is a matter that needs to be subject to public discussion,” he said.
Liu said that the city would solicit Citigroup regarding the name change, but was not aware of the cost of the change. He felt that because there was cost involved the matter should be discussed publicly.
A spokesperson for Citigroup said that they were not involved in the name change. Told that there had been media reports that Citi had first claim to the name change, Luis Rosero, a spokesperson for Citigroup said he would get back to The Queens Courier.
When he returned our call however, it was only to say that Citigroup had no comment on this matter. When asked about the cost involved with changing the name of the stop he said that would be up to the MTA.