KeySpan Park

Infobox_Baseball_Stadium |

stadium_name = KeySpan Park
nickname =
location = 1904 Surf Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11224
coordinates = coord|40|34|28.37|N|73|59|3.67|W
broke_ground =
opened = June 25, 2001
closed =
demolished =
owner =
operator =
surface = Grass
construction_cost =
architect = Jack L. Gordon Architects PC, AIA
former_names =
tenants = Brooklyn Cyclones (2001)-
seating_capacity = 7,500 (2001)
dimensions =

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.

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. KeySpan 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. KeySpan Park prohibits fans from bringing outside food into the stadium, a policy in every minor league stadium, but not in effect at Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium.

KeySpan 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 KeySpan 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. Keyspan, in turn, was acquired by United Kingdom-based National Grid plc; whether or not the new park will be called "National Grid Park" in the 2008 season is unknown at this time.

KeySpan Park is accessible through the New York City Subway at the Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station, using either one of the D, F, N, or Q lines.

Concerts

In the ballpark's short history, a number of concerts have taken place. Concerts at KeySpan 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 KeySpan park. [http://www.bjork.com/facts/gigography/sub.php?date=2003-08-22] [http://www.bjork.com/facts/gigography/sub.php?date=2003-08-23] Portions of these concerts appear in the Icelandic music documentary "Screaming Masterpiece".

In the summer of 2004, the jam band Phish began its last tour with a two-night stand at KeySpan 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 . 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 Keyspan Park on July 9th 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 KeySpan on August 9 2007.

311 and Snoop Dogg played a show together on July 16, 2008.

External links

* [http://www.brooklyncyclones.com/keyspan/photos/ KeySpan Park on Brooklyn Cyclones Web site]
* [http://www.littleballparks.com/Stadium/2001/Brooklyn/Brooklyn.htm KeySpan Park Views - "Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues"]