The New York Yankees baseball club and city officials are shortchanging residents on public parkland they promised to replace, and even expand, upon completing the new Yankee Stadium, charges a new report released last week by park advocates.

New York City Park Advocates released its report, “Broken Promises: The City’s Replacement Park Scheme for the New Yankee Stadium Project” last Thursday. It says that without a single public hearing, city and state officials alienated 25.3 acres of historic South Bronx parkland and then said it would be returned fully and then some. The report goes on to say that “a close examination reveals” that only 21.78 acres are being replaced.

The biggest discrepancy in the numbers, according to the report, comes down to the fact that a 2.89-acre asphalt baseball field in Macombs Dam Park (which is being replaced) was not considered in the city’s final analysis. City officials said they didn’t consider it a “recreational facility,” even though residents had used it for baseball, football, bike riding and other uses for decades, the report says.   

“The Bloomberg administration’s continued attempts to play a shell game with the replacement numbers is an affront, not only to this impoverished community, but to all who are interested in responsible government and accountability,” said Geoffrey Croft, head of NYC Park Advocates and a co-author of the report, along with Lukas Herbert of the American Institute of Certified American Planners.

The city attempted to further deceive the public by claiming that 12.5 acres of already mapped parkland, or, in one case, a schoolyard, was actually replacement parkland, the report says.

“It is shameful that the city refuses to take responsibility,” Croft said in a statement.

New York City and New York Yankee officials could not be reached for comment by press time.