This is a little embarrassing: the New York Yankees and the New York Mets have not received final certificates of occupancy for their new ballparks — both of which opened in 2009 — because of unleased space and unaddressed code violations.
The new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field have been operating under a series of temporary certificates of occupancy, meaning they’re safe to inhabit, of course. But the fact that neither team has qualified for a permanent certificate has caused some consternation for city officials, which has asked the teams to address the issues.
For the Yankees, there are some code violations that must be addressed, as well as final approval for the ballpark signage from the city’s Public Design Commission. The Yankees originally presented the ballpark design to the Public Design Commission and received preliminary approval, but have not sought final approval.
For the Mets, unleased space at the ballpark is preventing the issuance of a final certificate of occupancy. Simply put, the city doesn’t issue certificates of occupancy for unused space, and the Mets say the orientation of the space — looking out toward the lovely junkyards of Willets Point.
Why this matters: most businesses would not get away with years of operating for years with temporary certificates of occupancy.
—
Share your news with the baseball community. Send it to us at editors@augustpublications.com.
Subscribers to the weekly Ballpark Digest newsletter see features before they’re posted to the site. You can sign up for a free subscription at the Newsletter Signup Page.
Join Ballpark Digest on Facebook and on Twitter!