New York City Football Club, an expansion team set to join Major League Soccer next season, has backed out of an agreement to practice at Manhattanville College due to a lawsuit from a local civic group.
The Purchase Environmental Protective Association filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court against the team, the college and Harrison”™s Planning Board, which approved a plan for NYCFC to renovate Manhattanville”™s gym and rebuild its soccer field. The college said the club decided to look elsewhere because it needed a field in place by early 2015 and the litigation could have meant the Manhattanville field wouldn”™t be ready in time.
Manhattanville College President Jon C. Strauss said the end of the partnership means the loss of $10 million in capital improvements to the campus. It also meant the loss of planned academy teams and summer soccer camps.
“It”™s unfortunate that a small group of very well-resourced citizens chose to pursue this action against the college,” he said. “Our student body and local youth have lost a tremendous opportunity here.”
