In the May 29 – June 11 issue, your article, “Report Says City and Yankees Deceptively Stole Parkland”), focuses on the New York Park Advocates’ report on replacement parks for the new Yankee Stadium. In it, the authors contend that the city did not fully replace the 25 acres of parkland taken for the stadium. If these numbers hold up under scrutiny, compensating the missing acreage is required by law. There are two ways this can be done:

First, not building proposed Parking Garage B would not only return some of the parkland but also would remove the worst of the new garages. Because of its location, Parking Garage B would lure traffic and pollution right into the middle of a community already beset by asthma and other health problems.

A second and more realistic possibility is tearing down the municipal parking garage and building a park in its place. After the other garages are constructed, the municipal garage will be superfluous. It is located in a perfect area for a park: just across the street from John Mullaly Park and right in the middle of the community. Some of the promised facilities such as tennis courts could easily be built there. There is no other more logical and practical alternative.

In addition to restoring the missing acreage, it’s necessary to place a tough new alienation law on the books. What happened with the new Yankee Stadium must never happen again and only legislation can guarantee this. As I wrote in the Norwood News a few months ago, Manhattan Community Board 6 has already proposed alienation legislation with a number of community boards in Queens and Manhattan following suit. It is mind-boggling that after the Bronx lost a sizeable part of Van Cortlandt Park and an entire park with Macomb’s Dam, that Bronx community boards have expressed little, if any, interest. And where are the Bronx park organizations who should be at the forefront of this legislative drive?

Finally, it’s necessary to set the record straight. In your article, Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates is quoted as blaming the Bloomberg administration for the Yankee Stadium project. While the mayor certainly deserves a good part of the blame, the Yankee Stadium project would never have seen the light of day without the full support of Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion and the Bronx Democratic machine. Mr. Carrion even punished those who opposed the project: He brazenly ousted Bronx Community Board 4 members — including Lukas Herbert, the co-author of the report — for voting their conscience and prevented community residents from testifying at the “abbreviated” public hearing of December 12, 2005. Bronx residents must never forget!

John Rozankowski

Bedford Park