New York City officials approved a plan Thursday to build a 25,000-seat stadium for Major League Soccer’s New York City FC next to the New York Mets‘ stadium, Citi Field.
The $780 million soccer stadium, expected to open in 2027, will anchor a 23-acre (9-hectare) redevelopment project in the Willets Point neighborhood that will also include housing, a new public school, retail stores and a hotel.
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The new stadium will be New York City’s first venue dedicated to professional soccer. NYCFC, which won the MLS championship in 2021, has primarily played its home games at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx since entering the league in 2015.
Due to scheduling conflicts with the New York Yankees, however, NYCFC has regularly been forced to play at Citi Field and even on occasion at the home of its MLS rivals, the New York Red Bulls.
In addition to Citi Field, the new soccer venue’s neighbors will include the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where the US Open is played.
The City Council approved the new stadium after decades of failed efforts to transform Willets Point, long a gritty cluster of auto body…
