We applaud the plan to build of a 25,000-seat Major League Soccer stadium in Queens.
Queens is home to the most diverse community in the world, and that community loves soccer.
Visit Flushing Meadows on any weekend afternoon and you will see soccer games played. The games are played by people from around the world. The one thing that unites these groups is the love of “futbol.”
There is some debate whether Flushing Meadows is the best site or whether it should be moved to nearby Willets Point, which is facing a major redevelopment. Some community groups claim the soccer stadium will take away greenspace and create increased traffic in an area already congested. They are also concerned about the negative effects of the construction.
Flushing Meadows has served a purpose ever since it hosted World’s Fairs in 1939 and 1964. There are other nature preserves in Queens, including Alley Pond and Jamaica Bay.
State Sen. Jose Peralta argues the proposed soccer stadium enjoys widespread support in the community.
MLS has promised to replace any parkland lost by the building of stadium. The new stadium should include the creation of fields on which amateur soccer teams can play.
MLS is still working with the city to iron out a deal. We hope that happens.
Messy Is Good
In a recent article, we reported on Bronx sculptor John Ahearn, who visited St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Bayside, where he made sculpted hand portraits of the children.
He even made a plaster-cast portrait of the legs of a 5-year-old child as she sat in her wheelchair.
“I love it,” she said as the plaster hardened over her. “It’s messy. I like messy.”
A spokesman for the hospital said the art program takes “the kids from the everyday realities of sickness and helps them heal.”
Just one more reason to be proud that St. Mary’s calls Bayside home.
