NYCFC won’t practice at Manhattanville College

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.”