| MCU Park | |
|---|---|
| Former names | KeySpan Park (2001–2009) |
| Location | 1904 Surf Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11224 |
| Broke ground | August 22, 2000[1] |
| Opened | June 25, 2001[2] |
| Owner | City of New York[3] |
| Operator | New York Mets |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | $55 million ($123 million in 2012 dollars[4]) |
| Architect | Jack L. Gordon Architects PC, AIA |
| General Contractor | Turner Construction[3] |
| Capacity | 7,501 |
| Field dimensions | Left Field – 315 feet (96 m) Center Field – 412 feet (126 m) Right Field – 325 feet (99 m) |
| Tenants | |
| Brooklyn Cyclones (2001–) | |
MCU Park (formerly KeySpan Park) is a minor league baseball stadium in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York City, USA. The home team is the New York Mets-affiliated Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York - Penn League. Official seating capacity is 7,500, though the Cyclones will sell up to 2,500 more standing room tickets.
Features include a concourse with free-standing concession buildings and overhanging fluorescent lamps in different colors, evoking an amusement park atmosphere. In addition, the park overlooks the Atlantic Ocean as well as the famous Parachute Jump in right field, and the landmarks Wonder Wheel and Coney Island Cyclone in left field. MCU Park was built on the old site of Steeplechase Park, an old-time Coney Island amusement park that closed in 1964 amid crime and general deterioration of Coney Island and the subways that run to the area.
Part of a general reinvestment in the Coney Island neighborhood, the park opened in 2001 with a capacity of 6,500. Demand for Cyclones tickets was so great that the team added 1,000 seats in a right-field bleacher pavilion within three weeks after the park opened. MCU Park prohibits fans from bringing outside food into the stadium, a policy in every minor league stadium, but not in effect at Citi Field and Yankee Stadium.
MCU Park and the Staten Island Yankees' Richmond County Bank Ballpark were paid for with public money, part of a deal that involved both the Mets and Yankees. The Yankees had to approve the construction of MCU Park, and the Mets had to approve the Yankees' minor league park, since the Major League Baseball organizations share territorial rights to the New York City market, and have veto power over each other (and any other MLB organization). If the combined minor league stadium project did not involve the approval of both the Mets and Yankees, it is likely that it would not have happened.
The park's naming rights were sold to KeySpan Energy, a utility company whose primary holding is the former Brooklyn Union Gas, until 2020. However, in 2007, KeySpan was acquired by United Kingdom-based National Grid plc. On January 29, 2010, the Cyclones announced that they had ended the deal with National Grid, because the KeySpan name no longer is in existence. On February 4, 2010, it was announced that the Municipal Credit Union signed an agreement for the ballpark to be called MCU Park in an eleven year naming rights deal.[5][6]
MCU Park is accessible via the New York City Subway at the Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue station, by the D F N Q trains.
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In the ballpark's short history, a number of concerts have taken place. Concerts at MCU Park have been general admission, with ticketholders only allowed on the field or in the stadium, without the ability to switch sections. Fans who have tried to pass security and move between the field and stadium have been removed from the concert.
In 2003, Björk performed two shows at MCU park.[1] [2] Portions of these concerts appear in the Icelandic music documentary Screaming Masterpiece.
In the summer of 2004, the jam band Phish began what was billed as its last tour with a two-night stand at MCU Park, with a guest appearance by rapper Jay-Z, a native of Brooklyn, on the second evening. The first concert was simulcast in movie theaters and in 2006, released (along with selected songs from the second night) as a concert album and DVD under the name Phish: Live in Brooklyn. In 2005, the stadium hosted the Across the Narrows Festival along with Richmond County Bank Ballpark. In the same year, The White Stripes performed one of their recent tours following the release of their album, Get Behind Me Satan.
In the summer of 2005, Def Leppard and Bryan Adams performed at MCU Park on July 9 as a part of their efforts to bring major league Rock `N Roll to America's Minor League Baseball Parks during their 2005 Cross-Country ``Rock `N Roll Double-Header Tour.
The French electronic music duo Daft Punk performed their robotic costumes in MCU Park on August 9, 2007.
311 and Snoop Dogg played a show together on July 16, 2008.
On July 13, 2009, Wilco performed with "very special guests" Yo La Tengo.
Furthur, featuring Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, performed at the park on June 26 and 27, 2010.
On July 2, 2010, MCU Park hosted a live Total Nonstop Action Wrestling house show which also has broke TNA attendance record and is currently the most attended live TNA house show with a crowd just under 5,550 TNA fans.
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