Page 22 - 2021 Queens Economic Development Guide

Sports & Leisure
Playing To Win
Sports fans – and a storied baseball franchise – enjoy home field advantage in Queens.
Above: Completed in 2009, Citi Field replaced Shea Stadium as the home of the New York Mets. With a capacity of 41,922, the park features a facade reminiscent of Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field. Opposite Page: The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Queens residents can not only celebrate the world’s most diverse place by enjoying a wide variety of food and cultural options...but a plethora of sports and leisure venues as well.
Over 10 percent of the borough
is designated parkland – with more than 190 baseball fields, nine soccer fields and 16 different cricket leagues. The Boardwalk at Rockaway Beach attracts more than 2.3 million visitors every year, making it one of New York City’s most popular parks.
And professional, world-class sports events are everywhere to be found in the borough – from Ozone Park’s Aqueduct Racetrack, which has
thrilled horse racing fans since 1894, to professional baseball, soccer and tennis venues. Here’s a look at some of the major players in our thriving $1.1 billion Sports and Leisure sector:
Amazin’: The New York Mets
Queens has been the home to the New York Mets, the city’s National League baseball team, since 1964. The team’s current home, Citi Field, has a capacity of nearly 42,000 and is located at the end of Flushing Bay. In 2015, during the team’s last World Series appearance, the Mets generated an estimated $11.6 million for the city’s economy for each home game during the Major League Baseball playoffs.
Despite the difficulties generated
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QUEENS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE
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