And the Legend of the Brick Was Way Hardcore
The baseball stadium era is almost over. Chris Campbell answers your Etihad Park stadium questions.
Editor’s Note: Some questions edited for clarity and flow.
David Pantaleon: “Any updates on our founding member bricks?” | Fantazma: “Will the ‘bricks’ actually be bricks? Where will they be placed inside the stadium?”
No, Founding Members’ “bricks” will not actually be bricks. Founding Members will have their names etched into paint-filled aluminum panels on the east side of Etihad Park, adjacent to the Supporters Entrance. NYCFC dubs this the ‘Founders Wall.’ It will display the club’s original roundel logo above the names of Founding Members who hold season tickets when the wall goes up.
In November 2025, representatives from New York City Football Club, including Jon Stemp, City Football Group’s Chief of Infrastructure, delivered a detailed presentation of the Etihad Park signage to the NYC Public Design Commission, including updates to the design of the Founders Wall.
Etihad Park’s design is subject to approval by the NYC Public Design Commission because the stadium sits on city-owned land. No material changes to the Founders Wall design are anticipated, though final approval is still pending.
During the presentation, Public Design commissioners pushed back on the need for the Founders Wall, noting the design’s resemblance to a war memorial and questioning whether something of this size and public-facing nature was necessary to commemorate season ticket holders. Club officials emphasized the wall’s importance to the club’s identity and defended the original promise to Founding Members from the inaugural season.
So no, you’re not getting a brick. You’re having your name etched into an aluminum panel.
But weren’t we promised an actual brick at Etihad Park?
NYCFC CEO Brad Sims told the media in June 2024, “Our plan right now is fans will be getting a brick. We promised a brick. Founding members, I should say, will be getting a brick.”1
But were we really promised a brick?
Not really.
During the club’s inaugural season, the Founding Members page listed perks, including “The opportunity to have your name etched in stone and on display at our future soccer-specific stadium.” That doesn’t quite sound specifically like a brick.
Almost certainly, ‘name etched in stone’ reads to NYCFC fans as the standard commemorative brick familiar from venues across the country— Queens fans knew exactly what that looked like from the inscribed bricks surrounding Citi Field. The first specific mention of Founding Members receiving their name on a brick appeared on Twitter/X in July 2015 and on NYCFC Forums that November. From there, the vision of an engraved brick became what kept many Founding Members renewing their membership.
Although the club never explicitly promised an engraved brick, it crossed its own wires in true NYCFC fashion, sending mixed messages at every turn. And Sims’ 2024 quote to the media wasn’t the first time someone put ‘brick’ on the record.
When the club announced the stadium deal in November 2022, Sims sent a note to Founding Members detailing specifics of the stadium proposal.
He followed that up in April 2023 with another email to Founding Members.
The club may have been using ‘Founding Member bricks’ loosely — a placeholder for the idea of memorialization, not a promise of a specific object. Sims intimated in that 2024 interview that they were still working on the details of exactly how the Founding Members wall would look. But the club’s repeated use of the word ‘brick’ — after never specifically promising one — gave Founding Members an expectation they’re not getting.
The Founders Wall design falls short of what I imagined. The war memorial comparisons aren’t wrong, and years of the club saying “brick” had me picturing something else entirely. They’re trying to honor a decade-old promise under real constraints — and aluminum panels will outlast any engraved brick, which fades and erodes over decades. But the gap between what fans expected and what they’re getting is one the club created.
In his heart, he knew
The stadium must be true
But the legend of the brick
Was way past due
Its_Ace1: “Any possibility of a ferry stop from Bronx to Queens on match days?”
Currently, there are no plans in place to add a ferry stop at Willets Point. Neither the Willets Point Phase 2 Development (Etihad Park and affordable housing) nor the Metropolitan Park Development included specific plans to add a ferry stop. However, Mets owner (and Metropolitan Park lead) Steve Cohen has been a strong proponent of adding a ferry stop in Willets Point to service both new attractions.
The NYC Ferry currently has stops that service Queens via Long Island City, Hunters Point South, and Astoria, but nothing else.
City Councilmember Francisco Moya, the engine behind the Willets Point development, introduced legislation in 2024 to mandate ferry service between Willets Point and Manhattan. The council never took it up before the 2025 session closed.
NYC Economic Development Corporation, the city entity that is responsible for the NYC Ferry, is currently developing a Vision for the Future of Ferries in New York Harbor, expected to be completed in Fall 2026. This vision includes identifying the need for and feasibility of adding additional ferry stops across the five boroughs, specifically Willets Point.
With Etihad Park opening in 2027 and Metropolitan Park breaking ground soon, I imagine adding a ferry stop in Flushing Bay would be very popular.
jgcd1983: “What are the dimensions of the field? Where will the Maxi Moralez statue be placed?”
Based on architectural drawings from September 2023, The Outfield estimated the pitch at 114.1 yards long and 74.8 yards wide. In April 2024, Stemp confirmed to The Outfield that the dimensions were set at 105 by 68 meters, or approximately 114 by 74 yards. That’s the standard across all CFG pitches worldwide — and nearly 850 additional square yards compared to Yankee Stadium.
The club has been mum so far on any statues at Etihad Park, commemorating players or club moments. However, plans are underway to add three permanent sculpture installations along Seaver Way outside the stadium.
In October 2025, an artist selection committee comprising members of NYCEDC, NYCFC, Queens Community Board 7, and others interviewed six artists for the aforementioned sculpture installations and art installations on Etihad Park’s Southeast Facade Walls, near the proposed entrance to City in the Community.
The artists interviewed included:
Sarah Morris (Southeast Facade Walls)
Jen Lewin (Seaver Way Sculptures)
Iman Raad (Southeast Facade Walls)
Christian Moeller (Southeast Facade Walls and Seaver Way Sculptures)
Wendy Letven (Seaver Way Sculptures)
Jason Middlebrook (Southeast Facade Walls)
It is not clear whether the sculpture installations will be club-focused or more general art installations aimed at connecting with the local community. Per the stated Artist’s Scope of Work, the selected artists are to work with the Project Development Team to understand project goals and then develop a conceptual design. Perhaps this could result in some club-legend commemoration, but it is not yet clear.
What is clear is that the selected artists should have plenty of resources at their disposal. The published budgets for the Seaver Way Sculptures and Southeast Facade Walls are $500k and $400k, respectively.
With nearly $1 million going into exterior artwork, NYCFC is building Etihad Park as a sporting and cultural destination — not just a soccer ground.
offlinecloudletters: “Are they planning to install heaters in the new stadium?” | Luis Gomez: “Any plans for seat heaters and modular cold mitigation, since we’re now potentially playing outdoors when it’s sub-30 degrees?” | Kitchen-Ad2839: “Are they going to outfit the new stadium with some heaters for the chilly days?”
It’s unclear whether the club is specifically planning to install heaters at Etihad Park. But they are clearly thinking about fan comfort in winter.
The timing is actually lucky: MLS switched its calendar while Etihad Park was still going up, which means the club can design for cold-weather comfort rather than retrofit for it.
Brad Sims told media members in 2025, “There’s obviously some very real challenges for cold-weather cities. I think more so than New York. I think for us, we’re building a brand new facility, [and] we have a contingency plan. We’ve set up knowing that it’s cold.”
Corey Clayton: “Also, another big issue – what happens in the playoffs for the sprint season if the Yankees’ and Mets’ schedules don’t allow NYCFC to host matches? Do we go to Red Bull Arena when the stadium sits there ready to go? Or do they open it early out of necessity?”
The sprint season finale absolutely, 100%, NEEDS to be hosted in Yankee Stadium or Citi Field. With NYCFC ditching the baseball stadiums for their own soccer-specific stadium in Summer 2027, we all need this last moment to relish in the mockery the rest of the league has for the Pigeons’ home stadium situation.
If all else fails, hosting an MLS Cup at Red Bull Arena for the first time in that stadium’s history would also be quite hilarious.
Roddy Russell Jr.: “Probably highly optimistic, has the stadium been designed to allow any future expansion?”
No, not really. The stadium sits on a compact footprint and is already being built to its limits — it’s a soccer stadium in Queens, not an open field in Harrison. What you see is what you get.
Councilmember Francisco Moya told The Soccer View Podcast in 2023 that the stadium was planned to be 25,000 and could expand, but “not much more.” This interview was before shovels hit the ground, so I’m not sure if there are any updates since then. But if there were an ability to expand, it certainly would not be by anything material.
Corey Clayton: “The test events Sims mentioned for Etihad Park have to include the standards like the flush test (every toilet flushed at once), the Season Ticket Holder ‘Pick your seat’ in-person visit, etc. Wondering if there’s an arena grand opening concert event planned?”
In his most recent media availability, the NYCFC CEO divulged details about the test events. Sims specifically mentioned the “flush test” to radio broadcasters Glenn Crooks and Roberto Abramowitz, along with potential concerts, soccer friendlies, and other events, to test stadium readiness across all parts of Etihad Park.
One event we can rule out is a baseball game or a charity softball event — buried in NYCFC’s parking agreement with the Mets is a Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions that puts several hard limits on Etihad Park’s use.
This document includes a list of restrictions on the uses of Etihad Park that keep the Mets’ interests in mind, such as:
Any signage visible from the exterior of Etihad Park needs to be submitted to and reviewed by the Mets in advance, including specific limitations on signage facing Citi Field
The stadium is required to be designed in a manner that would not allow anyone to view “a significant portion of the infield playing area of [Citi Field]
No baseball merchandise can be sold at the NYCFC Team Store planned on Seaver Way
But also added to the list of restrictions for Etihad Park’s use is: “in no event shall the Soccer property be used for baseball or other sports based on or derived from baseball, such as softball and t-ball.”
So don’t expect the club to host any charity softball, t-ball, or kickball tournaments at Etihad Park. Those kinds of events would be threatening to Steve Cohen.
Ornery-Brush-7349: “Make stadium beers and food affordable again. Not a question, just a statement.”
Louder for those in the back. ❧
Image: John Byam Shaw, The Black Cat
Okay, nobody specifically asked these questions. I’m posing them anyway.