MCU Park

MCU Park
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MCU Park in 2012; the statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese is at the right
Former names KeySpan Park (2001–2009)
Location 1904 Surf Avenue
Brooklyn, NYC, New York 11224
Coordinates 40°34′28.37″N 73°59′3.67″W / 40.5745472°N 73.9843528°W / 40.5745472; -73.9843528Coordinates: 40°34′28.37″N 73°59′3.67″W / 40.5745472°N 73.9843528°W / 40.5745472; -73.9843528
Owner City of New York[1]
Operator New York Mets
Capacity 7,000
Field size Left Field – 315 feet (96 m)
Center Field – 412 feet (126 m)
Right Field – 325 feet (99 m)
Surface Artificial Turf (2013–present)
Grass (2001–2012)
Construction
Broke ground August 22, 2000[2]
Opened June 25, 2001[3]
Construction cost $55 million
($73.2 million in 2017 dollars[4])
Architect Jack L. Gordon Architects PC, AIA
Structural engineer Ysrael A. Seinuk, P.C.[5]
Services engineer Keyspan Energy Management[5]
General contractor Turner Construction[1]
Tenants
Brooklyn Cyclones (NYPL) (2001–present)
Brooklyn Bolts (FXFL) (2014–2015)
NYU Violets (NCAA) (2015–present)
New York Cosmos (NASL) (2017)

MCU Park (formerly KeySpan Park) is a minor league baseball stadium in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York City, USA. The home team is the New York Mets-affiliated Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York–Penn League. The NYU Violets Baseball team began playing at MCU Park in 2015, and the New York Cosmos Soccer Club of the NASL moved in for the 2017 NASL season. Official seating capacity is 7,000, though the Cyclones will sell up to 2,500 more standing room tickets. Prior to 2016, the capacity was 7,500 plus 2,500 standing room.

Features include a concourse with free-standing concession buildings and overhanging fluorescent lamps in different colors, evoking an amusement park atmosphere. In addition, the park overlooks the Atlantic Ocean as well as the famous Parachute Jump in right field, and the landmarks Wonder Wheel and Coney Island Cyclone in left field.

MCU Park is accessible via New York City Subway at the Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue subway station, served by the D​, F​, N​, and Q trains.

History

The stadium as KeySpan Park in 2001

MCU Park stands on the old site of Steeplechase Park, an old-time Coney Island amusement park that closed in 1964 amid crime and general deterioration of Coney Island and of the subway routes that run to the area. Part of a general reinvestment in the Coney Island neighborhood, the park opened in 2001 with a capacity of 6,500. The opening of the park, and the Cyclones' permanent move there from their prior temporary home in Queens, marked the return of professional baseball to Brooklyn -- albeit on a minor-league level -- for the first time since MLB's Brooklyn Dodgers had played their last game at Ebbets Field in 1957 before moving to California the following season. Demand for Cyclones tickets was so great that the team added 1,000 seats in a right-field bleacher pavilion within three weeks after the park opened. MCU Park prohibits fans from bringing outside food into the stadium, a policy in every minor league stadium, but not in effect at Citi Field and Yankee Stadium.

MCU Park and the Staten Island Yankees' Richmond County Bank Ballpark were paid for with public money, part of a deal that involved both the Mets and Yankees. The Yankees had to approve the arrival of the Cyclones, and the Mets had to approve a Yankee farm team in Staten Island. The two teams share MLB territorial rights to the New York City market, and have veto power over each other (and any other MLB organization).

The park originally opened as KeySpan Park under a naming rights deal with KeySpan Energy, a utility company whose primary holding is the former Brooklyn Union Gas, until 2020. However, in 2007, KeySpan was acquired by United Kingdom-based National Grid plc, who retired the KeySpan name. On January 29, 2010, the Cyclones announced that they had ended the deal with National Grid, because the KeySpan name no longer existed. On February 4, 2010, it was announced that the Municipal Credit Union, the city's largest credit union, signed an agreement for the ballpark to be called MCU Park in an eleven-year naming rights deal.[6][7]

In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit Brooklyn and caused extensive damage to the ballpark, including the front office, clubhouses & team store. The entire playing surface, previously a natural grass field, had to be replaced with synthetic FieldTurf before the 2013 season.

The 2014 season saw MCU Park host the New York - Penn League All Star Game.

MCU Park has also hosted other sporting events in recent years.

The park hosting the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in 2016, after it was resurfaced with artificial turf

The Brooklyn Bolts played their home games at MCU Park during the 2014 and 2015 Fall Experimental Football League seasons before folding. The football field was positioned in the outfield.

In early 2015, the New York University Violets moved in and made MCU Park their home stadium. In the process, they forced the St. Joseph's College Bears to move out. Baruch College plays a few games at MCU Park, as do many high school teams.

Following the 2015 season, a set of bleachers were removed, removing 500 seats from the ballpark. The area which housed the bleachers was turned into a picnic area.

MCU Park hosted a qualifying round for the 2017 World Baseball Classic in September 2016.[8] Israel won the Qualifier over Great Britain, Brazil & Pakistan.

In February 2017, the New York Cosmos officially announced they would host their home games at MCU Park for the 2017 NASL season.[9] The New York Cosmos have previously used MCU Park as a home field: once for a regular season match against the Ottawa Fury[10] and once for a post season match against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers,[11] both in 2015. After the NASL cancelled the 2018 season, the future of the Cosmos playing at MCU Park is up in the air.

Concerts

  • In 2003, Björk performed two shows at MCU park: August 22, 2003 and August 23, 2003. Portions of these concerts appear in the Icelandic music documentary Screaming Masterpiece.
  • In the summer of 2004, the jam band Phish began what was billed as its last tour with a two-night stand at MCU Park, with a guest appearance by rapper Jay-Z, a native of Brooklyn, on the second evening. The first concert was simulcast in movie theaters and in 2006, released (along with selected songs from the second night) as a concert album and DVD under the name Phish: Live in Brooklyn. In 2005, the stadium hosted the Across the Narrows Festival along with Richmond County Bank Ballpark. In the same year, The White Stripes performed one of their recent tours following the release of their album, Get Behind Me Satan.
  • In the summer of 2005, Def Leppard and Bryan Adams performed at MCU Park on July 9 as a part of their efforts to bring major league Rock `N Roll to America's Minor League Baseball Parks during their 2005 Cross-Country "Rock 'N Roll Double-Header" Tour.
  • On August 9, 2007, the French electronic music duo Daft Punk performed in MCU Park during their Alive 2007 Tour.
  • On July 16, 2008, 311 and Snoop Dogg played a show together.
  • On July 13, 2009, Wilco performed with "very special guests" Yo La Tengo.
  • On June 26 and 27, 2010, Furthur, featuring Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, performed at the park; they returned to perform again on July 13 and 14, 2012.

Wrestling

On July 2, 2010, MCU Park hosted a live Total Nonstop Action Wrestling house show which also broke the TNA attendance record and became the most attended live TNA house show in the United States to date with a crowd of just under 5,550 fans.

On August 15, 2014, Ring of Honor Wrestling debuted at MCU Park with Field of Honor.

On August 22, 2015, Ring of Honor Wrestling returned to MCU Park for the second time with the second edition of Field of Honor.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Rope, John (April 9, 2001). "Lexington, Others Continue Building Boom for Minors". SportsBusiness Daily. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  2. ↑ Lueck, Thomas J. (August 23, 2000). "Opposition Precedes Arrival of Teams at New Coney Island Stadium". The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
  3. ↑ Vecsey, George (June 26, 2001). "Summer Rite Returns To Borough of Churches". The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
  4. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  5. 1 2 "KeySpan Park". Architectural Record. 2002. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  6. ↑ Brown, Stephen (January 29, 2010). "Lights Out at Keyspan Park as Naming Rights Deal Ends". The Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  7. ↑ Epstein, Victor; Yaniv, Oren (February 4, 2010). "Brooklyn Cyclones' KeySpan Park Renamed MCU Park". Daily News. New York. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  8. ↑ "2017 World Baseball Classic qualifiers are set". Major League Baseball. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  9. ↑ "New York Cosmos Moving to MCU Park in Brooklyn". New York Cosmos. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  10. ↑ "Match Center - NASL". www.nasl.com. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Cosmos to host NASL playoff match at MCU Park". Empire of Soccer. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
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