About 2.5K baseball and softball families on Staten Island could lose access to several fields as a long and strange legal battle nears a resolution.
The Staten Island United Federation Baseball League says the property — which houses four fields — was given to a predecessor organization in 1976
The property was formerly the site of a controversial state school for children with intellectual disabilities
The league says its has maintained the facility without any state assistance for 50 years
The State of New York abruptly changed the facility’s locks in 2022 and then sent a cease-and-desist prohibiting youth sports at the site; a judge issued an still-in-effect injunction allowing the organization to continue using the complex
The state reportedly has no plans for the site, but insists it must take control
The matter is currently in mediation and a decision is expected soon.
The local org said it has offered to negotiate a 25-year lease and/or operate programming for people with disabilities, but the state has not budged.
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