STATEN ISLAND — The minor league team had everything you could want for a successful operation: a brand new stadium, a gorgeous view of the rest of New York City and the Yankees name, along with those famous pinstripes.
But the Staten Island Yankees, as a phenomenon, never really took off.
So the end of the Yankees affiliation, initially announced by the team a few months ago, was made official Friday as Major League Baseball removed the Staten Island Single-A club from its list of minor league teams.
Avni Klobo of nearby A & S pizza, a staple in this North Shore neighborhood, says recently Staten Island Yankees games helped fuel its business but only in spurts.
“I mean, we did good for a couple of months, sometime. For a few months, that’s it,” he said.
Outgoing Staten Island Borough President Jimmy Oddo is disappointed, but he understands the decision.
“They made their decision, it wasn’t based in sentimentality, it was based in arithmetic. I get it.”
Oddo is hoping that there’ll be an announcement soon of an independent league franchise coming to the stadium.
“My hope is that in the next four to eight weeks, we will have an announcement about baseball continuing at the stadium. That will be an Atlantic League franchise.”
He hopes that’s merely the beginning, as there are hopes to bring sports as diverse as soccer and rugby, as well as concerts and comedy shows to the ballpark.
