Carrion wants private developer to build Yankees Stadium station.

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. said that he would like to see a private developer pay for construction of a new Metro-North station at Yankee Stadium in exchange for the rights to build an extensive mixed-use development that connects to the stop.

"We could have a type of structure that could be built above it," Carrion told REW at last week's ground-breaking for Fordham Place, one of the first new office buildings to be constructed in the Bronx in decades. "There could be a luxury hotel where visiting teams and fans could stay."

Carrion also indicated that the station's price tag, originally estimated by the MTA at $45 million, has grown to nearly $60 million. Carrion's chief of staff, Karen McGuinness, said that the cost of the station may have even swelled beyond that, to as much as $75 to $80 million.

Carrion's staff confirmed that the borough president had met with the MTA late last week to discuss his plan. The MTA--which has stated in the past that it is aiming to begin construction of the station this spring--wouldn't comment on whether it would consider Carrion's plan.

$45 million is currently available for the station, money that had originally been set aside by the MTA to help pay for a rail link to LaGuardia Airport, which was abandoned due to community opposition. But now that the station's cost is likely well beyond original estimates and far greater than the amount of money that had been set aside for its construction, it isn't clear when the station's construction will begin or where the extra money will come from.

The shortfall will likely highlight an already contentious issue in the station's financing: how much money the Yankees should contribute. Carrion's staff wouldn't answer questions regarding the borough president's stance on this issue, but his station plan seems to abdicate the Yankees of any financial responsibility for the project--perhaps in response to the package of community benefits that the Yankees dolled out to garner support from Bronx political and community leaders when it was seeking approval for its new stadium plan. The station would provide another line of public transportation to Yankees Stadium, but would also serve Manhattan commuters in the South Bronx.

"During the transit strike, they built a temporary wood station where a permanent Metro-North Yankees Stadium station would be," said MTA spokesman Dan Brucker.

"Overnight, about 3000 commuters a day began using the line. I think it's a great example of how, if you build that station, the commuters will come."