In Brooklyn, Plan for Minor League Baseball on Coney Island Assailed

NEW YORK —  When a wrecker’s ball ripped into Ebbets Field 40 years ago, Brooklyn was in a state of shock: The fabled ballpark that housed its beloved Dodgers was gone, along with the team, and fans said their community had been violated.

Now, with the construction of a new park on the Coney Island boardwalk, baseball is finally returning. And, once again, angry voices say Brooklyn’s community has been violated.

Go figure. Next week’s groundbreaking ceremonies for a 6,500-seat stadium at Steeplechase Park--new home for a single-A minor league team owned by the New York Mets--is hailed by some as a major boost for the amusement strip that has become a shabby ghost of itself. Yet backers ran into a buzz saw of opposition from locals who said Brooklyn needed youth athletic facilities on the abandoned site more than a stadium.

“You had a lot of bruised feelings on all sides of this issue, and it’s really not surprising if you understand Brooklyn,” said Kenneth Adams, who heads the Chamber of Commerce and helped broker a compromise to the thorny debate. “When it comes to baseball, Coney Island and wounded pride, things get very emotional around here.”

The Coney Island controversy says much about the changing face of Brooklyn, which is experiencing economic rebirth--as well as a resurgence of grass-roots power--after years of decline. While people miss professional baseball, their priorities have changed in the years since the Dodgers left town--and many refused to buy the idea that the stadium debate was only about restoring local tradition.

“I think everybody wants to bring Coney Island back to what it was, but not everybody thinks a baseball stadium is the answer,” said Maria Torres, strolling down the boardwalk. “What about the low income people who live here? What about the kids who need more basketball courts? Maybe we should take care of them.”

Just ask Richard LeBlanc and Peter Zayas, two teens wolfing down hot dogs at Nathan’s Famous, across the street from where the stadium will rise. They don’t object to the ballpark, but it doesn’t excite them, either. “Baseball’s cool,” said LeBlanc. “But I’d like to see soccer fields here, you know, stuff for kids.” Zayas nodded and said: “Don’t we have a lot of stadiums here already?”

Mayor Got Millions for Similar Projects

To win approval for the stadium and a similar Yankees project in Staten Island, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani pledged $170 million to build fields and upgrade surrounding areas in both communities. The Yankees project sailed through Staten Island, and Giuliani banked on the same response in Brooklyn. Who wouldn’t cheer baseball’s return to a borough still mourning the loss of Dem Bums? How could anyone oppose the first big investment on the boardwalk in years?

“They didn’t know Brooklyn,” said borough President Howard Golden, who fiercely opposed the project and lost a City Council vote to build Sportsplex--an indoor amateur sports facility--on the site. He said Brooklyn had a history of baseball excellence and deserved more than a single-A team, charging that the mayor “betrayed us.”

On a breezy summer afternoon this week, bulldozers were sculpting the foundations of a ballpark that will be visually distinctive: Fans looking beyond left field will see the Thunderbolt, a huge 1926 roller coaster long since closed and overrun by weeds. Towering over right is the Parachute Jump, a rusting relic from the 1939 World’s Fair. Rising beyond the center field fence is the historic boardwalk and, beyond that, the Atlantic Ocean.

Steeplechase is within walking distance of the Cyclone roller coaster and Wonder Wheel Ferris ride, two Coney Island landmarks still operating. Yet little else remains of the strip that once drew millions. The seaside mecca began deteriorating in the ‘60s when gangs overran the area and real estate plummeted. New Yorkers fled to more hospitable resorts, like Jones Beach and the Hamptons.

“Anything they do to restore Coney Island would be a big help,” said John Sing, a Brooklynite who went to Lafayette High with a first baseman named Sandy Koufax. Standing by a chain link fence, he watched the grandstand take shape and nodded approvingly. “We do need some action here.”

But this is New York, and before there could be action, there was conflict. The battle of Steeplechase Park triggered three lawsuits and years of political recriminations. It ignited arguments over everything from parking congestion and littering to the fate of tennis courts and Little League diamonds. Before it was over, soccer moms were marching over the Brooklyn Bridge to protest Giuliani’s plans for a temporary Mets park in nearby Prospect Park, and residents in a Queens neighborhood filed additional lawsuits seeking to block the fledgling team from playing in their community.

Economic Rebound Occurring in Borough

It was quite a change from the dark days of 1957, when fans wept over the Dodgers’ departure. Today, Brooklyn--a borough of 2.3 million people--is recovering from years of economic deterioration. Once-moribund neighborhoods like Williamsburg and DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) are hotbeds of real estate speculation. In the Dodgers’ absence, Brooklyn has put more emphasis on local sports. And that--rather than a need to bring back baseball at any cost--became the rallying cry for many in the fight over Steeplechase.

Once a world-famous park best known for the ride that simulated a horse race, the property was closed in 1964 and later sold to the city for $4 million. In the mid-’80s, activists hit on the idea of building the Sportsplex, a 16,000-seat indoor arena that would also provide one of New York’s largest venues for track and field competition.

“There are about 600,000 school-age children in Brooklyn, and only 54 gyms,” said Adams, who helped spearhead the project.

Backers rounded up $67 million in state and local pledges, and drafted plans. But everything changed when Giuliani began his campaign in 1997 to bring minor league ball to New York. The mayor “firmly believes” such facilities can spur economic development, said Michael Carey, president of the city’s Economic Development Corp. “And this was a major need in Coney Island.”

The minor league stadiums also are a key step in the Mets’ and Yankees’ push for new or refurbished big league ballparks. Now that both teams have waived a rule allowing them to veto any rival team locating within 75 miles of their existing stadium, Golden charges the stage is set for team officials to leverage funds for their larger projects. Both teams will only say that their good-faith negotiations continue with City Hall.

$30 Million Earmarked for Local Athletics

But in Coney Island, some say local needs have taken a back seat to baseball. Under the Steeplechase deal, $30 million will be set aside for local athletic programs--a move that could revive Sportsplex. Yet there are no guarantees beyond the fact that baseball will come to Coney Island next June.

“Let them build it,” sighed Paul Geagoulakas, who has been selling knishes, pizza, fried shrimp and cotton candy on the boardwalk for more than 50 years. “Maybe more people will come to Coney Island. But I’ve seen this place change, and I don’t think it will ever be what it once was.”