Richmond County Bank Ballpark
- Address
- 75 Richmond Terrace
- Staten Island, NY 10301
- Phone
- 718.720.9265
- Area
- Neighborhood
- Staten Island
Type of Makom
- Event makom Type
- Stadium
Semi-useful stuff
Mikomos rating
Description
The Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George (RCB Ballpark) is a baseball stadium located on the north-eastern tip of Staten Island. The ballpark is the home of the Staten Island Yankees, the NY-Penn League affiliate of the New York Yankees, and of Wagner College Seahawks Baseball. The ballpark was also home of the city’s Pro Cricket team the New York Storm.
RCB Ballpark opened in 2001 and was designed by HOK Sport Venue Event. The design of the ballpark features sails at the entrances due to its location next to the world-famous Staten Island Ferry. All major local buses and the Staten Island Railway end at the St. George Ferry Terminal, which is less then a five-minute walk from the ballpark. The Ballpark at St. George is more commonly referred to as Staten Island Yankees Stadium instead of its much longer name.
The site on which the ballpark was built was once the site of the B&O Railroad rail yards for the City of New York, and the current stadium parking lot was the site of Major League Baseball in the 1880s.[citation needed]
Richmond County Bank Ballpark was part of a deal with both the Yankees and New York Mets, brokered by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Due to Major League Baseball territory rules, the Yankees and Mets have veto power over each other (and any other Major League Baseball franchise), if they want to bring an affiliated minor-league team in to the New York City metropolitan area. The Yankees and Mets had attempted to move minor-league teams to the area in the past, only to be turned down with their rival. With help (and public money) from the mayor, both teams agreed to allow each other to have a minor-league team in the city in return for new stadiums. The Mets moved a franchise to a new stadium, called KeySpan Park, in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. [1]
