Corner of North Broadway & Odell Avenue
above: North Broadway location of new soccer field, photo by Maurice Mercado. Below, rendering of the new soccer-lacrosse field
On May 8, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano joined representatives from the Yonkers Department of Parks, Recreation & Conservation, City Engineering, Yonkers Board of Education and students from William Boyce Thompson School to break ground on the City’s new soccer and lacrosse field at North Broadway and Odell Avenue.
The new field is the first of its kind in northwest Yonkers and the third regulation-sized soccer field in Yonkers. The 70,000 sq. ft. multi-use artificial turf field will feature lighting, parking, bleachers and overlook the Hudson River with picturesque views of the Palisades. The Yonkers Parks department will permit the field’s use to Yonkers Public Schools and local boys and girls clubs.
“The City is taking a parcel that’s laid dormant for decades, reimaging and repurposing it for more open, green space for our community to enjoy,” said Mayor Spano. “This ideal location will be accessible for northwest Yonkers and provide for the growing demand for more soccer and recreational fields.”
In addition to the nearly two dozen parks renovated in the last decade, the new field will join the City of Yonkers’ 80+ neighborhood parks system. Construction is expected to be complete in spring 2024.
The 3.4 acre lot is located at 1061 North Broadway, formerly part of Iona College’s Elizabeth Seton Campus. The site was part of the Elizabeth Seton Campus parking lot expansion project in 1990. Fill material, consisting of construction and demolition debris, asphalt, concrete, ash were brought to the site to construct the parking lot but the project eventually halted. In 2017, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) determined the cleanup requirements needed to address any potential contamination related to the lot had been met. The site is now owned by the City of Yonkers.
