By JIM POWERS
SO YOU’VE decided to move to New York, have you? Why not, it’s one of the capitals of the world. You’ve seen it in a million movies, TV shows, you can likely name 10 songs about the place off the top of your head. Thousands of people move here every day.
Now you have to find somewhere to live. This, I can tell you from experience, is the hard part of the project. Space is limited, prices are high, and the odds of finding exactly what you’re looking for are pretty slim. You’ve got to be willing to compromise to find something that works and hope for better in the future. That’s basically what rugby league is going to have to do in New York.
New York City is unlike London or Sydney in that large outdoor stadiums inside the city are limited to precisely two: Yankee Stadium (home of, you guessed it, the New York Yankees) and Citi Field (home of the New York Mets). Neither is feasible for rugby league. The city’s college football teams ceased to be big time programs in the early part of the last century and as such do not play in large venues. Furthermore, the few large outdoor stadiums that once did exist have been largely torn down.
Ebbets Field in Brooklyn was demolished in 1960 after the Brooklyn Dodgers decamped to LA in 1957. The Polo Grounds in Manhattan met the wrecking ball in 1964 when the New York Mets moved to Queens (into Shea Stadium, also now gone). The New York Jets (then in the old American Football League) moved with them. The stadium, built in 1890, also hosted Gaelic football games and soccer.
The biggest loss in terms of usefulness to this proposed New York rugby league team was Downing Stadium – torn down in 2002. Located on Randall’s Island in the East River with a capacity of 22,000 it played host to soccer, football, and in October of 1972 was the venue for a game featuring a New York select rugby union team against the All Blacks (New Zealand won, 41-9).
What’s available? Let’s take a look.
ICAHN STADIUM- Manhattan
Built on the same site as the aforementioned Downing Stadium in 2005, Icahn has a capacity of 5,000. New Yorkers go to Randalls Island for festivals like the Governor’s Ball and Electric Zoo, so it’s not an unknown corner of the city. Randalls Island Park has dozens upon dozens of sports fields, so it’s a place they associate with sports. The major drawback of Icahn is the athletics track around the field. Its also, like just about every location on this list, a FieldTurf surface. The stadium is operated by the Randall’s Island Park Alliance, a non-profit.
COFFEY FIELD- The Bronx
The home of Fordham University’s football and soccer teams, Coffey Field is a 7,000 seater with a modern DakTronics video scoreboard and has hosted professional sports before (a 2016 game between NYCFC and the New York Cosmos). The Fordham Rams football team only sells beer at one home game a year, so sales of adult beverages might be an issue. Again, the surface is FieldTurf. Going to the Bronx isn’t as ideal as being located in Manhattan, travel wise, but you can get here on the subway. Big plus.
ROCCO B. COMMISSO SOCCER STADIUM- Manhattan
Formerly just the Columbia Soccer Stadium, this 3,500 capacity venue is the home of Columbia University’s soccer programs as well as rugby union’s Old Blue RFC. This might have the newest surface of anything on this list, with FieldTurf being laid down in 2016. Columbia’s football stadium, Wien Stadium, is too tight dimension-wise for soccer so rugby league is likely also out. At 17,000 seats Wien is also too big for NYCRL at this point in my opinion. This is right at the very northern tip of the island of Manhattan but the nearest subway station is less than 10 minute walk.
BELSON STADIUM- Queens
St. John’s University’s stadium is the smallest on the list at a capacity of under 3,000 (it clocks in at 2,168). It has hosted multiple games in US Soccer’s Open Cup (the American equivalent of the FA Cup) in recent years, and is built above a parking garage. It’s a bit of a hike out to Jamaica, Queens but you can get there via public transportation. The surface is, you guessed it, FieldTurf. I wouldn’t go with Belson as a primary venue but as a backup in case of schedule conflicts it’s not a bad option.
WAGNER COLLEGE STADIUM- Staten Island
Staten Island is the farthest-flung borough and to most New Yorkers it might as well be Mongolia- consequently I wouldn’t make this 3,300 seat stadium a main home. In a tight spot it could be made to work. It’s on the northern end of the island, and has bus links to the main ferry terminal at St. George. No prizes for guessing the surface.
MCU PARK- Brooklyn
Finally we end with my #1 suggestion, Coney Island’s baseball stadium. 7,000 seats, a subway station a short walk away, and right over the wall you can see the rides at Luna Park- a summer destination for thousands upon thousands of New Yorkers. You couldn’t get much more “New York” for a setting. The drawback here would be that of scheduling between the other tenants, the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team and the New York Cosmos of soccer. Both play in the summer, which means NYCRL would not likely get terrific dates. That said the capacity is good and the location (especially proximity to the subway) is great. Coney Island is a New York icon. If scheduling issues could be resolved to some semblance of acceptability this could be where rugby league makes its name in the Big Apple.
