by Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
The U.S. Open is about to get a new sports team neighbor and, in the process, get more pleasant…at least from the outside.
The New York City Council approved a plan Thursday for a new 25,000-seat soccer stadium for the New York City Football Club and a redevelopment of the Willets Point area of Queens, just outside the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center footprint.
Most U.S. Open fans travel to the tournament on the No. 7 subway line (as you can see and experience here: https://youtu.be/Uw19s7CqSJU?si=MySxT3R0e2cY1un2) or via the Long Island Railroad. The subway stop is the Mets Willets Point stop where fans walk across the famous board walk (which also needs some attention and upgrade as seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3dFi4WMwT8&t=51s) to the U.S. Open entrance. The Long Island Rail Road entrance is also on the famed boardwalk.
Rather than having glimpses of junkyards, warehouses and trash-filled vacant areas, U.S. Open fans will be able to gaze upon a new soccer stadium, new condos and apartments, a hotel and more, as you can read about here in Gothamist.com https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-council-approves-willets-point-plan-for-soccer-stadium-affordable-housing?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=nypr-email&utm_campaign=Newsletter+-+Early+Addition+-+20240412&utm_term=first+image&utm_id=323232&sfmc_id=54304542&utm_content=2024412&nypr_member=Unknown
One of the rubs with the economic impact of the U.S. Open (which exceeds $750 million and is more than the New York Yankees and New York Mets, despite only being held for two weeks), is that most of this economic activity happens in Manhattan and some in Brooklyn and not in Queens, as David Walstein reported in the New York Times last August here https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/26/sports/tennis/us-open-queens-new-york.html However with the a refurbishment of the Willets Point area just northeast of Citi Field and more of an entertainment district being created, it gives U.S. Open fans a new and safe place to unwind after watching the tennis, rather than rushing back to Manhattan to eat and drink. To boot, a 250-room hotel will be part of the new plans for Willets Point, providing a close hotel option that makes staying late for those 1 am ending night matches more palpable. A view of this subway stop and the boardwalk can also be seen in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ibROtFMRz4
However, one issue that could result from the new soccer stadium’s construction is excess fan traffic in the area during the tournament. If you have more than 40,000 tennis fans combining with 40,000 Mets fans and then 25,000 soccer fans all at the same time? Not all tennis fans take public transport and many also drive and parking is a problem when the Mets have home games during the U.S. Open. Certainly some scheduling consulting has to be made between the three entities going forward.
The New York City Football Club plans to start play at the Willets Point stadium by 2027.
