Fans of The New York Yankees are routinely mythologized as the most hated fans in baseball, but give credit where credit is due: They know that mass transit is the smartest way to get around. But as Transportation Nation and WNYC report, Yankee fans’ eco-savvy is costing the city millions.”

When The Yankees were negotiating the deal for their new stadium back in 2006, one of their demands was that the city had to provide 9,000 parking spots. That’s 2,000 more than the old stadium, despite the fact that the new stadium seats around 6,500 less. The City Council overwhelmingly approved the stadium deal, and the New York City Industrial Development Agency issued $237 million in tax-exempt bonds to raise money for the new garages before paving over 40 acres of public park land to build them. City Council speaker Christine Quinn defended the move at the time, saying “I think it would be great if people could go to sporting events exclusively on mass transit but that’s not going to happen. So one has to, when they’re developing projects like this, have a reality sense of what the needs are as it relates to parking.”

Five years later, the reality has set in. The destroyed park land has still not been replaced. The All Hallows High School varsity baseball team hasn’t played a home game in years, because their field was paved over to build parking garages that sit two-thirds empty on game day. And the company that manages the garages, the Bronx Parking Development Company, owes the city $17 million in back rent and is about to default on those $237 million worth of bonds. Why? Because over half of a typical sell-out crowd arrives by subway, train, bus or ferry instead of paying $35 to park in the stadium’s official garages (by contrast, the Mets charge $16 less to park at Citi Field). Fans have figured out that paying for gas and tolls, trying to find a place to go to the bathroom on the BQE, and negotiating South Bronx traffic is enough of a hassle without a $35 parking fee on top of it.

Those who do drive to the game circle the neighborhood for hours in hopes of finding one of the area’s 3,200 curbside spaces (something Yankees president Randy Levine specifically said wouldn’t happen if the additional garages were built) or find a parking spot at a cheaper lot not affiliated with The Yankees. Fans can park at the nearby Gateway Mall Shopping Center for $23, and some lots are even offering multi-game deals that average as little as $15 a game.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is advocating tearing down one of the garages and building a hotel in its place. Let’s hope they don’t build any parking lots for the hotel. Thanks to the low opinion of mass transit held by The Yankees and the City Council, the South Bronx has got enough of those.

Via Transportation Nation/WNYC