Bergen Cliff Hawks
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| Bergen Cliff Hawks Founded in Bergen County, New Jersey |
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| Owner(s)/Operated By: Steve Kalafer | |||
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The Bergen Cliff Hawks are a proposed minor league baseball team to be based in Bergen County, New Jersey. The team plans to play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball.
The team hoped to play at the Bergen Ballpark at the Meadowlands, located on the site of the Meadowlands Xanadu project. There is no timeline in place as the Bergen Cliff Hawks continue seemingly hopeless negotiations with the Mills Corporation over architectural planning and a lease for the ballpark. If talks do fail, the Cliff Hawks will search another site in the northern New Jersey area and another minor league baseball team will occupy the Bergen Ballpark at the Meadowlands.
The name "Cliff Hawks" refers to the hawks that inhabit the cliffs of the New Jersey Palisades which stretch through Bergen County. The colors are burgundy, black, and beige.
[edit] History
East Rutherford, as all of Bergen County, is located adjacent to New York City. Bergen County does not have any professional baseball history of its own. Much of the fanbase for the New York Yankees and the New York Mets comes from the northern New Jersey area, and the city of Newark also has commanded attention for the older and newer inceptions of the Bears.
Since 2000[1] Steve Kalafer, a current investor of the Atlantic League, owner of the Newark Bears, and part-owner of the Camden Riversharks, has tried to bring a professional baseball team to northern New Jersey. Initially the plan was for a new stadium to be built at one of two sites in Overpeck County Park. Opposition in Leonia, Ridgefield Park, and Fort Lee halted the plan within a few months. Kalafer then turned his attention to a different Ridgefield Park site just east of the New Jersey Turnpike. That proposal stalled as the Bergen freeholders opposed the issuance of $20 million in bonds for the ballpark. Kalafer then worked with the Mills Corporation to build a ballpark in conjunction with its Meadowlands Xanadu project. Over a period of five years, talks have deteriorated between Kalafer and the Mills Corp. The company has reneged on its promise to build a ballpark and the Cliff Hawks are homeless. Even though the Mills Corp. is now actively looking to find another tenant for its ballpark, that plan is strongly opposed by New Jersey politicians. In the political spectrum, many representatives do not want yet another shopping mall. They are still trying to hold the Mills Corp. on its original promise of providing an entertainment venue, including the baseball stadium. With pressure mounting against the Mills Corporation, an announcement is expected in the near future. So the Bergen Cliff Hawks may play at the Bergen Ballpark at the Meadowlands or find another site to build a different stadium.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Cliff Hawks trouble begins. Bergen.com. Retrieved on July 25, 2006.
- ^ Cliff Hawks stadium woes. NorthJersey.com. Retrieved on July 25, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
- Atlantic League blog
- Atlantic League Independent
- East Rutherford, New Jersey
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